MIT Sloan Management Review Article on Using Analytics to Improve Customer Engagement

MIT Sloan Management Review’s eighth annual data and analytics survey, conducted in 2017, reveals a continued rise in the number of companies reporting that their use of analytics helps them stay ahead of the competition. These survey results include responses from 1,919 managers, executives, and data professionals from companies around the globe. Survey respondents came from a number of sources, including MIT alumni, MIT Sloan Management Review subscribers, and other interested parties.

To provide further insight and context, we interviewed 17 subject matter experts from a number of industries, who uncovered some of the practical issues organizations face while using analytics. We have incorporated their perspectives in our assessment of how analytics is currently being used in a variety of organizations.

In this report, the term analytics refers to the use of data and related business insights developed through applied analytical disciplines (for example, statistical, contextual, quantitative, predictive, cognitive, and other models) to drive fact-based planning, decisions, execution, management, measurement, and learning.

About the Author

Sam Ransbotham is an associate professor in the Information Systems Department at the Carroll School of Management at Boston College, as well as guest editor for MIT Sloan Management Review’s Data & Analytics Big Ideas initiative.

David Kiron is the executive editor of MIT Sloan Management Review.

Learn more about MIT SMR.