Business analytics: Concept and applications

Abstract

The word business analytics has become a buzzword in the present era of experience economy. Primarily, the proliferation of the Internet and information technology has made business analytics a robust application area. On the other hand, it is equally impossible to deny its significant impact on the fields of information technology, quantitative methods and the decision sciences (Cegielski and Jones-Farmer 2016). Both industry and academia seek to hire talent in these areas with the hope of developing organizational competencies to sustain competitive advantage. Hopkins et al. (2007) and Hair et al. (2003) assert that adequate knowledge on business analytics techniques enables the analysts-practitioners, managers, etc-with capabilities that enable them to take quick and smart decisions and provide stable leadership to the organization to compete in the market effectively. On the other hand, it provides a platform for the researchers and academicians to lay down path for the theory development. However, Hawley (2016) pointed that business analytics focuses more on understanding the organizational culture than mere technology. Thus, for successful implementation and harnessing the benefits of business analytics the knowledge of an organization’s motivation, strengths and weaknesses is necessary (Hawley 2016).