Insights & Publications
Interview
Putting Big Data and advanced analytics to work
September 2012
Big data and analytics have climbed to the top of the corporate agenda—with ample reason. Together, they promise to transform the way many companies do business, delivering performance improvements not seen since the redesign of core processes in the 1990s. As such, these tools and techniques will open new avenues of competitive advantage. Many executives, however, remain unsure about how to proceed. They’re not certain their organizations are prepared for the required changes, and a lot of companies have yet to fully exploit the data or analytics capabilities they currently possess. McKinsey director David Court describes a way forward, with insights that also appear in a recent Harvard Business Review article written together with McKinsey’s global managing director, Dominic Barton. Court advises companies to focus on the big decisions where better data and models will improve outcomes. Leaders also need to transform their organizations so that frontline managers are comfortable using the potent new tools. This article is also available in a summary format. The video and edited transcript below are excerpts from Court’s September 2012 conversation with McKinsey Publishing’s Frank Comes.
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