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Big Data's Human Component

Harvard Business Review

We forget that it is not about the data; it is about our customers having a deep, engaging, insightful, meaningful conversation with us — if we only learn how to listen. Here's how to put that insight into practice: Understand that expertise is more important than the tool. Understand how to present information.

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Stop Trying to Predict Which New Products Will Succeed

Harvard Business Review

One study , of an industrial conglomerate, found that estimates of cost-saving initiatives, line extensions, and new products had average accuracy of of 1.1, First recognize if the product is solving a real problem and people will buy it, then figure out how to scale production and distribution in situations of success.

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What an Economist Brings to a Business Strategy

Harvard Business Review

All businesses seek to control costs; they don’t need an economist to tell them why it’s important or how to do it. Firms in these industries and their customers who thereby benefit from lower prices (admittedly through processes they never see) benefit greatly. But there are some very important exceptions.