Organizations have implemented various software solutions to manage many processes, from ERP to power consumption to supply chain management. But when it comes to the most critical component of supply chain management – “Human Capital”, many companies are still playing catch-up. However, nowadays more organizations are turning to labour optimization solutions. These solutions not only keep track of operations, but also use predictive models and algorithms to determine future labour needs. Labour optimization software also analyze orders and resources to predict warehouse throughput. Then it automatically schedules the right balance of full-time, part-time, and temporary workers to meet demand. Managers receive alerts when labour levels don’t meet requirements. Optimization solutions have been used successfully for years in operations such as call centres, which needs to examine historical call patterns to predict future call volumes and ensure that they have the right people with the right skills in the right channels. Such intelligent technology has enormous potential in a manufacturing setting, helping companies do more with less.

To read more about this aspect, please visit Tracey Schelmetic’s article link as given below:

http://www.thomasnet.com/journals/techtrends/articles/labor-optimization-solutions-make-best-use-of-human-capital

Nowadays patients are demanding more and higher quality healthcare provisions. These have posed challenges to the healthcare facilities. Insurance companies in the healthcare sector are striving to keep claims at minimal. In most of the cases, these companies bear a negative perception in the minds of patients which forces them to leave hospitals prematurely. Also, they do not get critical treatments or medicines.

However, a shift is taking place with Lean Six Sigma’s holistic approach. Insurance companies are now looking for effective ways to bring their costs down while at the same time providing medical cover for improved healthcare provisions.

CIGNA, a health insurance company describes how it is using Six Sigma to bring down medical costs while simultaneously improving the outcomes. To know about it, please click here: http://ciaranmay.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/focusing-power-of-ss-in-healthcare-insurance-industry.pdf

Eric Siegel, Ph.D., founder of Predictive Analytics World and Text Analytics World and Executive Editor of the Predictive Analytics Times, talks about how businesses can incorporate predictive analytics to upgrade their process.  A predictive model will help to know which new customers are likely to return and which are probably one-timers. He also mentioned about various benefits of retaining new customers. Moreover, by adopting this model, the first time customer can become a loyal customer.

For more information follow  http://www.predictiveanalyticsworld.com/customer_retention.php

Data analysis is an important part of BFSI organisations. It helps to manage huge customer database of the organisations. It also automates the day-to-day transaction process. An article by Mohan Jayaraman, Managing Director of Experian Credit Information Company of India Pvt. Ltd. and Country Manager of Experian India describes that it is necessary to bridge the gap between information and its effective usage. For this, data analytics solution requires ability to manage and draw interferences from large amounts of data.

 For more information, please go through: http://www.informationweek.in/informationweek/perspective/287791/indian-banks-improve-customer-lifecycle-analytics?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=how-indian-banks-can-improve-the-customer-lifecycle-by-using-data-analytics

Many marketers find themselves faced with overwhelming amount of data and organizational complexity, rapidly changing customer behaviors, and increased competitive pressure. Data or information has always been the USP, but now people are not using that USP in their advantage. If an investment is made in big data, one can extract only the relevant information and analyze it to transform the business decisions for the future.

Please go through the link for more details:http://www.marketingprofs.com/charts/2014/24321/marketers-and-big-data-in-2014-barriers-budgets-and-opportunities

A survey conducted by Cerulli Associates, a global analytics firm, reveals that 93% of the asset managers rely heavily on secondary market intelligence. This study was based on government agencies, trade organizations and research firms.

For more information: http://www.opalesque.com/650204/Majority_of_asset_managers_rely_on_secondary_market020.html          

Analytics can help businesses greatly to increase their online sales. Surprisingly, the potential of analytics is not yet fully uncovered. In most of the cases, either the business owners or the managers do not take the full advantage of it or they don’t know how to use it.

So, how should businesses use Analytics and interpret them to decrease attrition rates and increase sales on their website? See the tips here: http://cio.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/business-analytics/8-ways-to-use-web-analytics-to-increase-online-sales/32728371

Research firm Gartner has predicted that half of the large organizations will have internal Facebook-like social networks by 2016, and that 30 percent of these will be considered as essential as email and telephones are today. It also noted that 80 percent of social business efforts will not achieve the intended benefits due to inadequate leadership. A report on “unified communication and collaboration” (UCC), by another research firm, Frost & Sullivan, pointed out that employees have become accustomed in recent years to simple and user-friendly interfaces of free online communications tools, such as Gmail and Facebook, which allow them to collaborate in only a few clicks.

To know more about this talk-of-the-town topic, read Author Al Bredenberg’s article by visiting the following link:

http://www.thomasnet.com/journals/techtrends/articles/companies-want-to-get-social-in-their-enterprise-collaboration

Inventory optimization (IO) solutions are meant to help managers match supply volume to customer demand over a large number of stock keeping units or SKUs. One significant drawback of single-echelon solution is that safety stock can only be managed at the individual facility level, which can result in excessive inventory if a company operates in multiple functions. Multi-echelon solutions allow safety stock to be managed and optimized over the entire network & are required for complex situations in which facilities are considered as parts of a network. With the time, business houses had realized the value of inventory optimization for improving gross margin. The potential benefits are substantial, albeit many managers had conveyed that cutting back too much on inventory can cause delays in order fulfilment and hence, there is a high chance of increased customer attrition. However, a recent survey revealed that best-in-class firms actually improve service levels and financial performance through their use of inventory optimization solutions. Hence, balancing inventory and service levels doesn’t have to be a win/lose exercise.

Author Al Bredenberg had given a detailed view on this aspect in his recent article. To read, visit the following link:

http://www.thomasnet.com/journals/techtrends/articles/inventory-optimization-helps-straddle-the-line-between-shortage-and-excess

Whether it is elections in India, or a service delivery model of a market leader in any sector, the incumbent is always at a disadvantage. Be it their government, their services like banking or healthcare, or their retail experience, the consumer wants them to continuously evolve in a direction which they perceive as beneficial to them. As time bound service contracts become passé, disruptive technology becomes available at affordable prices (think 3D printers, e-books, digital content, Google fiber, multi-core smart phones) today’s consumers and clients are exposed to a plethora of choices. With lowered exit cost barriers it is becoming imperative that a business does all it can to retain their customers.

Organizations realize that they not only have to ward off direct competitors but also cope up with tangential attacks from substitutes powered by disruptive technology. The choice between a successful well proven business model and a new idea is never easy. In the first case the organization risks its immediate client base by diverting significant funds and effort for turning an innovative idea into a winning product. This strategy has a high probability of failure which might cost them a significant market share. HTC lost a large portion of its small-medium priced phone market share in its bid to create a premium flagship smartphone model. In the second case, it believes in its business model and tries to take incremental steps to make it more robust till it is too late for them. Blockbuster, Blackberry and Borders are examples of organizations which could not counter the threat of new market players like Netflix, Android (Samsung, LG etc.) and Amazon. There is also a third case of the likes of Barnes & Noble and Nokia where the incumbent tries to play it safe by not going all out for the new technology but yet has a back-up plan to survive. So what’s the magic mantra? To me it remains the quintessential quest.

Though one thing I firmly believe in, is that the fickle consumer / client has become even more choice aware and will try out the new flavor of the month if they feel that their implicit or explicit objectives are not being met in the vendor-client relationship. Thus it is essential that organizations know the pulse of their clients and consumers and be geared towards meeting their changing demands. Analytics can play a key role here. Predictive analytics can help organizations preempt attrition by taking mitigating measures while social media and web analytics can help them know what some of their consumers are thinking and provide insights into their future behavior.

While the objective of analytics i.e. to provide actionable insight, remains the same, the demands of the information consumer have drastically changed. They want a lot more data crunched in much shorter time frames and yet presented with all the bells and whistles. With today’s scalable cloud computing infrastructure like AWS available and tons of reporting packages which play well with them it’s almost possible. It is also possible for the security conscious to invest and manage the requisite infrastructure in-house. The JIT (Just in time) lean principle applies here as well. An organization should only generate information and insights at the speed which it can take action on. Anything more could be a waste of resources.

Thus at the end of day, know the customer’s pulse, make an informed choice between evolutionary and revolutionary changes to your business model and be prepared to be blind-sided by someone your organization may have never heard of. To be or not be is an incumbent’s curse but making an informed choice and being prepared for change must never be a dilemma.

In this era of advanced analytics, there are many new challenges involving privacy and security of individuals, as computing power allows nonprofits, businesses, and researchers to gather ever-larger troves of information. Though it can be observed that there is a colossal increment in the amount of available data, we still only have two eyeballs and one brain! How a traditional library will look without a librarian, or an encyclopedia without an index? Scale that prospect up to the realms of web analytics, astronomy, high-speed finance, or even basketball statistics, and the problem becomes clear.

Research scientist Fernando Pérezof, University of California, Berkeley, recently spoke about it at a symposium titled “Weathering the Data Storm: The Promise and Challenges of Data Science,” hosted by the Institute for Applied Computational Science (IACS) at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS).

To read more, Please visit Harvard university article link given below:

http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2014/01/the-promise-of-big-data/

By engaging more people in conversations/discussions related to company offerings via social media, organizations are creating brand awareness among mass. Today, creating hype for a soon to be launched product is easy & convenient with the help of social media, as it saves promotional cost as well as it helps in understanding consumer sentiment beforehand. By indulging in various social media conversations, people are actually acting like brand ambassadors & reviewers. Though chances of negative publicity cannot be ruled out entirely, still with a good structured online marketing strategy, immense benefits can be achieved. Few notable real time online advertising strategies deserve to be mentioned, such as following conversations and then joining them, saying no to discipline, getting legal permissions to use material, ensuring that the brand is never silent on social media, moving on when content gets stale, never ignoring negative feedback etc.

To read more, visit wall street journal article link given below:

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303801304579407284034257414?mg=reno64-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB10001424052702303801304579407284034257414.html

Communication is an absolute essential entity to allow successful improvement in healthcare industry. Effective communication will allow relevant and correct flow of data through the organization. With more relevant data, analysis will also be more accurate and will automatically lead to improvement in the healthcare industry.

Please go through the link for more details http://healthcareanalytics.info/2012/03/successful-healthcare-improvement-requires-analytics-and-effective-communications/#.UyhlIqIyX4s

An article by Carolyn Sokol, President of CompareHRIS.com, talks about how a Professional Employer Organization (PEO) can give your Human Capital Management function a more strategic perspective, rather than your in-house HCM team. The usual perspective of an HCM team is to provide services like recruiting and hiring, new hire on-boarding, training development, performance management, regulatory compliance, payroll and benefits delivery. A PEO would provide more strategic inputs like strategic staffing, policy development, career development, transition planning and company-wide communication.

CompareHRIS.com puts companies in touch with vendors who offer Human Resource Information Systems, Human Resource Management Software, & Payroll Software that most closely match their needs. 

For more information:

http://blog.peocompare.com/blog/bid/69688/What-s-Your-Human-Capital-Management-Team-Really-Accomplishing

SigmaWay has experience in delivering operational efficiency across processes in Human Capital Management, by applying Analytics and Lean Six Sigma methodologies. For more information on how we can help your HCM team achieve their full potential, reach us at contact@gosigmaway.com 

Six sigma can help healthcare providers to improve patient care and reduce uncertainty for care givers. This article speaks about how six sigma can be introduced in healthcare industry and improve the quality of care givers.

For more details please visit http://www.isixsigma.com/industries/healthcare/applying-six-sigma-patient-care

With the advancement of new technologies, big data and internet, young professionals are getting opportunities for new career options. With the growth of facebook and twitter, different organisations of BFSI sector require more professionals for their work like collecting data, prediction and forecasting revenue. So doors for new jobs are being opened in front of the young pool of talents.

For more information, please go through: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/jobs/rise-in-demand-for-social-media-experts-in-fmcg-bfsi-pharma-companies/articleshow/29500508.cms

Balancing privacy, policy, and innovation is important to achieve harmony in health care, but, it is also difficult. While both population health and patient centered care seek to improve health care, at some level they are fundamentally at odds. Managing the health of population in a sustainable and scalable way requires uniformity of care across large groups for prevention, wellness, resource utilization, etc. Often, the most predictive clues about our health, exist in information that lives outside of traditional health care. This can be unearthed with the help of new innovations in Big Data. With the right policies and safeguards in place, trust can be established that will give individuals greater comfort and confidence to share information with their healthcare providers.

Harry Greenspun, MD and Senior Advisor for Health Care Technology and Transformation at the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions talks more about it here: http://blogs.deloitte.com/centerforhealthsolutions/2014/03/balancing-privacy-policy-and-innovation-to-achieve-harmony-in-health-care.html?id=gx:2sm:3tw:chsblog:awa:chs:032214:deloittehealth#