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The increasing volume and velocity of data, has created possibilities for analytics to explore phenomena in business and society with mathematics. Large, multinational manufacturing companies are also looking for new ways to use data analytics to serve their customers better. For such companies, the increasing amount of data, has created opportunities for analytics to explore different aspects of business and operations from the strategic perspective.

The growing interest to analytics has focused on technologies and methods in analytics, but less have been studied what constitutes the overall analytics capability in a multinational corporation and how to organize it for better impact on business.

Ilari Alén will graduate as M.Sc.(Tech.) from the Department of Industrial Engineering and Management (Operations and Service Management) on June 16.

A Master’s thesis project conducted by Ilari Alén at DIEM in collaboration with an industrial partner operating in a high-tech B2B industry focuses on these questions. The study demonstrates that the analytics capability of an organization is multidimensional challenge. 

The results indicate that one of the most important dimensions in the analytics capability is a favorable organizational culture, which is a requirement for the analytics capability to reach its potential in an organization. In addition, the results indicate that the creation of relevant databases, as well as data management, are important parts of the analytics capability. It is crucial to understand the dualistic nature of the data analytics when organizing it in practice: While it would be beneficial to control data management centrally for greater efficiency, data analysis needs to be close to decision makers for it to ensure that the results of analytics are relevant and have an impact on actions.

Implications from this research include that the analytics capability is a broader concept than just the technologies and data in use. There are many avenues for developing the analytics capability in the organizational setup, with understanding importance of culture, a common vocabulary, and the differences between projects and processes.

More information Ilari Alén, 040 5453 797 / ilari.alen@aalto.fi