Abstract
Medieval guilds and assembly plants are unlikely metaphors in an information-based economy. My experience with advanced analytics suggests that such descriptions are nevertheless apt. This paper explores two distinct situations within a single firm. In one department, predictive models were generated through adopting a craft style approach. In another department, a production type of approach was deployed. The reasons for their adoption are explored, followed by their consequences for job satisfaction, performance, staffing, change-management, and more. Craft and production approaches have implications not just for modeling analysts and their managers but also for senior leaders, business partners, and human resources staff. Finally, I describe the pressure to adopt a production approach, and attempt to unravel the extent to which this reflects broader cultural and technological influences or firmspecific traits. This reflection ends with a call for professionals to share their encounters with advanced analytics.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
DOI
10.20429/jamt.2013.040106
Publication Date
6-2013
Recommended Citation
McCrary, Michael (2013). Carving a wheel or assembling a widget? Insights into the management of advanced analytics. Journal of Applied Marketing Theory, 4(1), 62-74. ISSN: 2151-3236. https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/jamt/vol4/iss1/6