Analytics at Work: Smarter Decisions, Better Results by Thomas H. Davenport, Jeanne G. Harris, and Robert Morison

A Book Corner Review

By Leo Mallette, EdD

Analytics at Work: Smarter Decisions, Better Results
By Thomas H. Davenport, Jeanne G. Harris, and Robert Morison
Harvard Business Press, 2010

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This book is about improving performance in key business domains using data and analysis. Analytics at Work by Davenport, Harris, and Morison is built in-part on the first two authors’ previous book (Competing on Analytics, Harvard Business Press, 2007) but this one is more of a how-to book— oriented to fact-based decision making. The authors show that analytics can start as simply as identifying key activities, creating simple metrics, reporting on them on a regular basis, and acting on the patterns that emerge. (p. 4)

The authors provide a five-element model with five stages of transitions (or levels of analytical focus) in the first half of the book. The five elements have the useful mnemonic of DELTA. D-Data: you can’t be analytical without data. E-Enterprise: you need to be integrated across organizational silos. L-Leadership: they determine how analytical an organization will be. T-Target: apply the analytical efforts where they will do the most good. A-Analysts: finding, developing, managing, and deploying analysts. Each of these elements are taken through the five stages of transition. Stage One is analytically impaired; Two is localize analytics; Three is analytical aspirations; Four is analytical companies; and Stage Five is analytical competitors. Table A1 in the appendix is a 5×5 matrix that nicely summarizes the five elements in their five stages.

To the authors’ credit, they included a section entitled When Are Analytics Not Practical? (p. 10) and suggest that there are times when judgment should overtake analysis. The second half of the book is devoted to organizations staying analytical, especially in Stages Three to Five. This focuses on three hallmarks of analytical organizations: Analytics are embedded, they continually reinforce a culture of analytical decisions, and continually review its assumptions and analytical models.

This little book (6 by 9.5 inches, 214 pages) is a great introduction to the subject, and leads the reader to want to learn more. It is easy to read, is a good introduction to the subject, and provides a formula for implementing analytics. The book has 11 chapters, a very nice index, plenty of examples from the authors’ experiences, and is sprinkled with several tables and figures. I was especially enamored with the chapter on how to manage analysts! I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in learning about the subject, a process for thinking about analytics, and taking their company or organization to the next level.

About the Author(s)

Leo Mallette, EdD, provides technical and programmatic support at The Aerospace Corporation to a national security spacecraft program with the communications subsystem as his primary area of responsibility. Previously, he worked in system engineering and project management of satellite systems at the Boeing Company for 30 years. He is nationally known for his expertise in quartz and atomic clocks and his strengths are building relationships with aerospace contractors and gathering the best resources to apply to technical issues. He received the BS and MS degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Central Florida and the MBA and Ed.D. (in organizational leadership) degrees from Pepperdine University. He is co-author of the book Writing for Conferences (Greenwood, 2011), co-editor of The SPELIT Power Matrix (CreateSpace, 2007), and author of Images of America: Rancho Mirage (Arcadia Publishing, 2011). Dr. Mallette is a supporting business faculty at Pepperdine University and the University of Phoenix’s doctoral program, and was an Instructor of Engineering at the University of Central Florida. He is a member of the Board of Visitors for Pepperdine University, a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, a member of the advisory board for the Precise Time and Time Interval Conference, and a board member of the Society of Educators and Scholars.