Being with Data

Integrate big data into business to drive competitive advantage and sustainable success Big Data MBA brings insight and expertise to leveraging big data in business so you can harness the power of analytics and gain a true business advantage. Based on a practical framework with supporting methodology and hands-on exercises, this book helps identify where and how big data can help you transform your business. You'll learn how to exploit new sources of customer, product, and operational data, coupled with advanced analytics and data science, to optimize key processes, uncover monetization opportunities, and create new sources of competitive differentiation. The discussion includes guidelines for operationalizing analytics, optimal organizational structure, and using analytic insights throughout your organization's user experience to customers and front-end employees alike. You'll learn to “think like a data scientist” as you build upon the decisions your business is trying to make, the hypotheses you need to test, and the predictions you need to produce. Business stakeholders no longer need to relinquish control of data and analytics to IT. In fact, they must champion the organization's data collection and analysis efforts. This book is a primer on the business approach to analytics, providing the practical understanding you need to convert data into opportunity. Understand where and how to leverage big data Integrate analytics into everyday operations Structure your organization to drive analytic insights Optimize processes, uncover opportunities, and stand out from the rest Help business stakeholders to “think like a data scientist” Understand appropriate business application of different analytic techniques If you want data to transform your business, you need to know how to put it to use. Big Data MBA shows you how to implement big data and analytics to make better decisions.

Don't simply show your data—tell a story with it! Storytelling with Data teaches you the fundamentals of data visualization and how to communicate effectively with data. You'll discover the power of storytelling and the way to make data a pivotal point in your story. The lessons in this illuminative text are grounded in theory, but made accessible through numerous real-world examples—ready for immediate application to your next graph or presentation. Storytelling is not an inherent skill, especially when it comes to data visualization, and the tools at our disposal don't make it any easier. This book demonstrates how to go beyond conventional tools to reach the root of your data, and how to use your data to create an engaging, informative, compelling story. Specifically, you'll learn how to: Understand the importance of context and audience Determine the appropriate type of graph for your situation Recognize and eliminate the clutter clouding your information Direct your audience's attention to the most important parts of your data Think like a designer and utilize concepts of design in data visualization Leverage the power of storytelling to help your message resonate with your audience Together, the lessons in this book will help you turn your data into high impact visual stories that stick with your audience. Rid your world of ineffective graphs, one exploding 3D pie chart at a time. There is a story in your data—Storytelling with Data will give you the skills and power to tell it!

Make information memorable with creative visual design techniques Research shows that visual information is more quickly and easily understood, and much more likely to be remembered. This innovative book presents the design process and the best software tools for creating infographics that communicate. Including a special section on how to construct the increasingly popular infographic resume, the book offers graphic designers, marketers, and business professionals vital information on the most effective ways to present data. Explains why infographics and data visualizations work Shares the tools and techniques for creating great infographics Covers online infographics used for marketing, including social media and search engine optimization (SEO) Shows how to market your skills with a visual, infographic resume Explores the many internal business uses of infographics, including board meeting presentations, annual reports, consumer research statistics, marketing strategies, business plans, and visual explanations of products and services to your customers With Cool Infographics, you'll learn to create infographics to successfully reach your target audience and tell clear stories with your data.

The datafication of our world offers huge challenges and opportunities for social science. The ‘data-drivenness’ of computational research can occur at the expense of theoretical reflection and interpretation. Additionally, it can be difficult to reconcile the ‘quantitative’ dimensions of big data with the ‘qualitative’ sensibilities needed for its understanding. At the same time, this opens up possibilities for reimagining key principles of social inquiry. 

In this experimental and provocative book, Simon Lindgren argues that a hybrid approach to data and theory must be developed in order to make sense of today's ambivalent, turbulent, and media-saturated political landscape. He pushes for the development of a critical science of data, joining the interpretive theoretical and ethical sensibilities of social science with the predictive and prognostic powers of data science and computational methods. In order for theories and research methods to be more useful and relevant, they must be dismantled and put together in new, alternative, and unexpected ways. 

Data Theory is essential reading for social scientists and data scientists, as well as students taking courses in social theory and data, digital methods, big data, and data and society.

Crest the data wave with a deep cultural shift Winning with Data explores the cultural changes big data brings to business, and shows you how to adapt your organization to leverage data to maximum effect. Authors Tomasz Tunguz and Frank Bien draw on extensive background in big data, business intelligence, and business strategy to provide a blueprint for companies looking to move head-on into the data wave. Instrumentation is discussed in detail, but the core of the change is in the culture—this book provides sound guidance on building the type of organizational culture that creates and leverages data daily, in every aspect of the business. Real-world examples illustrate these important concepts at work: you'll learn how data helped Warby-Parker disrupt a $13 billion monopolized market, how ThredUp uses data to process more than 20 thousand items of clothing every day, how Venmo leverages data to build better products, how HubSpot empowers their salespeople to be more productive, and more. From decision making and strategy to shipping and sales, this book shows you how data makes better business. Big data has taken on buzzword status, but there is little real guidance for companies seeking everyday business data solutions. This book takes a deeper look at big data in business, and shows you how to shift internal culture ahead of the curve. Understand the changes a data culture brings to companies Instrument your company for maximum benefit Utilize data to optimize every aspect of your business Improve decision making and transform business strategy Big data is becoming the number-one topic in business, yet no one is asking the right questions. Leveraging the full power of data requires more than good IT—organization-wide buy-in is essential for long-term success. Winning with Data is the expert guide to making data work for your business, and your needs.

A «how-to» guide to boosting sales through predictive and prescriptive analytics Data Driven is a uniquely practical guide to increasing sales success, using the power of data analytics. Written by one of the world's leading authorities on the topic, this book shows you how to transform the corporate sales function by leveraging big data into better decision-making, more informed strategy, and increased effectiveness throughout the organization. Engaging and informative, this book tells the story of a newly hired sales chief under intense pressure to deliver higher performance from her team, and how data analytics becomes the ultimate driver behind the sales function turnaround. Each chapter features insightful commentary and practical notes on the points the story raises, and one entire chapter is devoted solely to laying out the Prescriptive Action Model step-by-step giving you the actionable guidance you need to put it into action in your own organization. Predictive and prescriptive analytics is poised to change corporate sales, and companies that fail to adapt to the new realities and adopt the new practices will be left behind. This book explains why the Prescriptive Action Model is the key corporate sales weapon of the 21st Century, and how you can implement this dynamic new resource to bring value to your business. Exploit one of the last remaining sources of competitive advantage Re-engineer the sales function to optimize success rates Implement a more effective analytics model to drive efficient change Boost operational effectiveness and decision making with big data There are fewer competitive edges to gain than ever before. The only thing that's left is to execute business with maximum efficiency and make the smartest business decisions possible. Predictive analytics is the essential method behind this new standard, and Data Driven is the practical guide to complete, efficient implementation.

Thanks to the Internet, it has never been so easy to become the person of your wildest dreams. Immersive 3D worlds such as Second Life and THERE.com provide an escape route from the ordinary, into a virtual world where you have the power to mould your life in any way you please. Forget about walking, wheelchair users can fly. Pensioners wipe away the pains of age, discovering youthful exuberance and making young friends once more. No wonder it has become harder than ever to honestly answer the question: who am I? In Being Virtual, Davey Winder looks at how an increasing number of us are living part-real, part-virtual lives, and how it affects who we are. He looks at the opportunities and dangers that a virtual identity offers us, how we juggle our real and online lives, and what happens when one spills over into the other… He uses his own personal experiences to bring the issues to life, and backs them up with the real-life stories of others and testimony from the experts. Along the way, he looks at some fascinating questions such as: Are you a virtual liar? What happens when our virtual and real worlds collide? Why will you talk to anyone online, but nobody on the train to work? Why do so many middle-aged men transform into teenage girls online? Is it possible to have any secrets in such a connected world? Being Virtual gives a glimpse into the future of human identity, and is a must-read for anyone who uses the Internet to enhance – or escape from – their 'ordinary' life. About the author Davey Winder has been a freelance journalist for 16 years, and is Contributing Editor of the best-selling IT magazine, PC Pro. He has picked up many awards including Technology Journalist of the Year and IT Security Journalist of the Year. A founder member of the Internet Society of England and author of more than 20 books, his blog can be found at: http://happygeeknewmedia.blogspot.com/

Master the art and science of data storytelling—with frameworks and techniques to help you craft compelling stories with data. The ability to effectively communicate with data is no longer a luxury in today’s economy; it is a necessity. Transforming data into visual communication is only one part of the picture. It is equally important to engage your audience with a narrative—to tell a story with the numbers. Effective Data Storytelling will teach you the essential skills necessary to communicate your insights through persuasive and memorable data stories. Narratives are more powerful than raw statistics, more enduring than pretty charts. When done correctly, data stories can influence decisions and drive change. Most other books focus only on data visualization while neglecting the powerful narrative and psychological aspects of telling stories with data. Author Brent Dykes shows you how to take the three central elements of data storytelling—data, narrative, and visuals—and combine them for maximum effectiveness. Taking a comprehensive look at all the elements of data storytelling, this unique book will enable you to: Transform your insights and data visualizations into appealing, impactful data stories Learn the fundamental elements of a data story and key audience drivers Understand the differences between how the brain processes facts and narrative Structure your findings as a data narrative, using a four-step storyboarding process Incorporate the seven essential principles of better visual storytelling into your work Avoid common data storytelling mistakes by learning from historical and modern examples Effective Data Storytelling: How to Drive Change with Data, Narrative and Visuals is a must-have resource for anyone who communicates regularly with data, including business professionals, analysts, marketers, salespeople, financial managers, and educators.

Tools and techniques from the trailblazers in data-based education reform Over a period of several years, Amanda Datnow and Vicki Park visited public schools with a reputation for being ahead of the pack in data-driven decision making. The results of this pioneering study reveal how education leaders can make data work for students and teachers, rather than against them. This book is an essential guide to meeting the challenges of high-stakes accountability, building performance-based schools, and improving student outcomes. By following the advice in this book, you’ll be able to transform data overload into a data-positive school culture. You’ll learn the difference between “data-driven leadership” and “data-informed leadership,” and how to use distributed leadership to inspire collaboration and guided analysis. Incorporating narrative reflections drawn from real educators and administrators, the authors refine their observations and interviews into practical conclusions that leaders can put to use immediately. This book empowers leaders to support inquiry, build trust in data-based initiatives, establish goals for evidence use, and provide educators with the skills they need to mobilize data for the good of all stakeholders. “Datnow and Park’s ideas are easily accessible and grounded in clear examples, and their seven ‘calls’ about what needs to be done nail the problem and the solutions. Use this book as your action guide and you’ll be rewarded with better results in student learning.” —Michael Fullan, professor emeritus, University of Toronto “Datnow and Park uncover, at last, what it means to use data to inform leadership. Documenting the four P’s (people, policies, practices, and patterns) in schools, we learn about the organization and dynamics of reform informed by data. A must read!” —Ann Lieberman, senior scholar, Stanford University