Friday, May 29, 2020
Business Intelligence and Analytics 66
1 Who Gets What When Supply Chains Are Disrupted?
https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/who-gets-what-when-supply-chains-are-disrupted/
The COVID-19 pandemic has upended normal life and many supply chains. Between hoarding (such as toilet paper), unexpected demand surges (such as yeast, for baking), and spot supply shortages (because of factories or warehouses closed due to infection or mandate), some products are in short supply. The most tragic examples, of course, involve shortages of ventilators, personal protective equipment, and pharmaceutical supplies required to care for people infected with the coronavirus.
2 Building a flexible supply chain
https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/advanced-electronics/our-insights/building-a-flexible-supply-chain-in-low-volume-high-mix-industrials
For many industrial companies, supply-chain problems are a fact of life. Although these businesses have attempted to simplify their product portfolios, customers increasingly want freedom to configure appliances, commercial vehicles, aircraft equipment, and other goods. But industrials often have difficulty getting the parts they need to support low-volume, high-mix manufacturing when needed for production. The requested quantities can be relatively small, and suppliers often prioritize their larger customers when fulfilling orders.
3 Elevating customer experience excellence in the next normal
https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/operations/our-insights/elevating-customer-experience-excellence-in-the-next-normal
The impact of COVID-19 on customer behavior has been sweeping and immediate. Spending across most industries is down, purchases have shifted from in-person to digital channels, and public safety has become a top priority for companies and consumers alike. Executives who had carefully crafted omnichannel strategies to create unique, compelling customer experiences have had to throw out their playbooks and improvise to keep pace.
4 Marketing Beyond the Gender Binary
https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/marketing-beyond-the-gender-binary/
From Philip Morris’s 1954 introduction of the Marlboro Man to promote a “universally masculine appeal” to Dr Pepper Ten’s 2011 launch of a diet soda that was proudly “not for women,” marketers have long capitalized on traditional gender beliefs to sell their products. But now, a decade after Old Spice’s “Smell Like a Man, Man” campaign, brands can no longer rely solely on outdated tropes to connect with increasingly diverse, empowered consumers. Traditional Western views on gender — where people fit neatly into predefined concepts and behaviors of masculinity and femininity — are giving way to inclusivity that allows more individualized and authentic manifestations of gender beyond the binary model.
5 Monte Carlo Method and Price Testing: Old Solution for Modern Problems
https://insidebigdata.com/2020/05/28/monte-carlo-method-and-price-testing-old-solution-for-modern-problems/
In this special guest feature, Vladimir Kuchkanov, Pricing Solution Architect at Competera, examines how data scientists often forget about classics while good old algorithms are still relevant and efficient. In particular, Monte Carlo method (MCM) pops up in mind. Among many fields of its application, MCM has established itself as a solid solution in price prediction and automation of pricing rules in retail. Like any analytical approach, MCM has limitations and inaccuracies. Despite this, many fields, including retail, still utilize it.
6 How to Think Like a Data Scientist or Data Analyst
https://www.kdnuggets.com/2020/05/think-like-data-scientist-data-analyst.html
Data science is a new and maturing field, with a variety of job functions emerging, from data engineering and data analysis to machine and deep learning. A data scientist must combine scientific, creative and investigative thinking to extract meaning from a range of datasets, and to address the underlying challenge faced by the client.
There is an ever-growing amount of data generated in all areas of life — from retail, transport and finance, to healthcare and medical research.
7 10 Useful Machine Learning Practices For Python Developers
https://www.kdnuggets.com/2020/05/10-useful-machine-learning-practices-python-developers.html
Sometimes as a data scientist, we forget what we are paid for. We are primarily developers, then researchers, and then maybe mathematicians. Our first responsibility is to quickly develop solutions that are bug-free.
Just because we can make models doesn’t mean we are gods. It doesn’t give us the freedom to write crap code.
Since my start, I have made tremendous mistakes and thought of sharing what I see to be the most common skills for ML engineering. In my opinion, it’s also the most lacking skill in the industry right now.
8 Looking for Opportunity in the Midst of Crisis
https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/looking-for-opportunity-in-the-midst-of-crisis/
In nature, stampedes occur when herds of animals are fleeing the threats of predators. Likewise, among humans, we have countless examples of herd behavior, including riots, sporting events, and the hoarding of goods in times of crisis. As researchers who study organizations, we wondered whether the current economic panic concerning the COVID-19 pandemic was also leading to some (understandable) herd behavior among leaders.
9 COVID-19 speeds up global manufacturing, steel production shift
https://blogs.platts.com/2020/05/28/global-manufacturing-steel-production-covid19/
Global manufacturing was in the doldrums for much of last year, pulled down by weak demand in key consumer-driven segments amid ongoing trade tensions and slower economic growth.
Countries such as Japan, South Korea and Germany that rely on exports found it tougher to sell to overseas customers, while the downturn in auto sales in the United States exemplified what was happening to the sector internationally. When the coronavirus outbreak hit in early 2020, it was akin to kicking manufacturing when it was already down.
10 COVID-19: The toughest leadership test
https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/leadership/the-toughest-leadership-test
The coronavirus pandemic has been an epic test of character and determination for millions of people around the world. Nothing compares with the sacrifice of workers on the front lines in hospitals and other essential services. In the business context, CEOs have had to cope with extraordinary demands: for them, the pandemic has been an ultimate leadership test.
11 Conference calamity: Thousands of jobs wiped out as business events grind to a halt because of COVID-19
https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/buckner-events-convention-industry-shut-down-1.5584748
It’s no surprise that an industry dedicated to bringing large groups of people together in enclosed spaces would be crippled by the global pandemic.
But the scale of devastation caused by COVID-19 to Canada’s business events industry is mind-boggling.
Hotels, airlines, taxis, event planners, keynote speakers, providers of audio-visual services, restaurants, entertainers — even family farms that supply fresh ingredients to caterers — are all hurting.
12 Is The U.S. Prepared For War With China?
https://oilprice.com/Geopolitics/International/Is-The-US-Prepared-For-War-With-China.html
Mid-2020 saw the world at war, actual strategic war as far as the Forbidden Palace in Beijing was concerned. This was almost disbelievingly acknowledged by some in Washington, DC, London, Canberra, Ottawa, New Delhi, and Tokyo. It was a war that was viewed tentatively and with incredulity in much of the West because it was a war of a very new type. And it was a war in which the West — for the first time in a century or more — did not write the rules of engagement.
