Wiley & sas business Series

   Expanding the Culture 
 Organizations that have hit this point truly understand the value of 
business analytics. They ’ve seen the benefi ts, they know the potential, 
and like an addict, they crave more. Their focus moves from delivery 
to transformation; like missionaries, everyone involved in the project 
starts proselytizing the benefi ts to anyone who will listen. Their goal 
is not to just increase the value they ’re generating. Instead, it ’s to con-
vert nonbelievers and transform the  entire  organization. 
 Assuming the organizational is already heavily focused on value 
creation, it 
’s at this point where it becomes about more than just 
business analytics. Instead, it becomes about organizational strategy. 
Expanding the culture further involves a broad organizational com-
mitment to directly compete on data. Not every organization needs to 
go this far; realistically, most probably don ’t. There are many sources 
of competitive differentiation. In the context of broader strategy, busi-
ness analytics is just another option from many. 
 There are, however, signifi cant advantages to establishing it as a 
cornerstone. Digitization will continue to affect every industry sector 
over upcoming decades. And, coping with the age of uncertainty will 
require ever-increasingly complex analytical capabilities.  Every  organi-
zation benefi ts from a better ability to analyze the information it has 
access to. 
 Anything beyond value creation and continuous improvement 
requires clear and overt senior executive commitment. It implies a new 
business model, one centered on information. In some organizations, 
this is simply a logical step. In others, it ’s a revolution fueled by an 
internal visionary. In both cases, it ’s impossible without the backing of 
the board, the leadership team, and potentially even the shareholders.