Rudolph Bedeley

Business Analytics and Organizational Value Chains: A Relational Mapping

ABSTRACT Given the increased interest and investment in business analytics (BA) applications, it is important to have an understanding of what analytics capabilities firms use to enhance value through their value chain activities. We illustrate exemplar uses of BA applications, tools, and technologies by presenting a mapping of the (BA) capabilities of a firm from a value chain perspective espoused in Porter’s [52] internet capabilities framework. The mapping of BA capabilities was carried out based on the generally accepted classification of analytics – descriptive, predictive, and prescriptive. The study uses both secondary and primary data sets. Results suggest that organizations currently focus on application of analytics where outcomes are easily measurable in terms of direct value creation/addition.

Business Analytics Capabilities and Use: A Value Chain Perspective

This paper presents a mapping of the business analytics (BA) capabilities of a firm from a value chain lens similar to Porter’s (Harv Bus Rev 79:62–78, 2001) internet capabilities framework. The generally accepted classification of analytics: descriptive, predictive and prescriptive, is used as basis for mapping BA capabilities. Using an extensive search of the academic and practitioner literature, analytics applications were analyzed and mapped onto the value chain framework. Given the increased interest and investment in BA, it is important to have a good understanding of what analytics capabilities firms use to enhance value through its value chain activities. We illustrate exemplar uses of BA applications, tools and technologies used by firms. Preliminary results suggest that organizations are focusing on application of analytics where the outcome is easily measurable compared to application of analytics in other activities where it is harder to measure a direct value.