{"id":608,"date":"2015-12-04T13:35:57","date_gmt":"2015-12-04T13:35:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/grbn.org\/?p=608"},"modified":"2019-10-12T14:43:40","modified_gmt":"2019-10-12T12:43:40","slug":"making-data-smarter-bigger-can-take-care-of-itself","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/grbn.org\/making-data-smarter-bigger-can-take-care-of-itself\/","title":{"rendered":"Making Data Smarter: Bigger Can Take Care of Itself!"},"content":{"rendered":"By Denyse Drummond-Dunn, C3Centricity.<\/strong>\r\n\r\nIn 2007 the MREB ran a study to understand why some MR departments were rated better than others. They concluded that the two major areas in which MR provides value to business are the new learnings from conducting projects and the accumulation of knowledge over time. They also identified three stages in the development of MR departments to achieving true value and information ROI:\r\n
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  1. Methodological experts<\/b>, data collection and provision to business with just an explanation of findings.<\/li>\r\n \t
  2. Insight generators<\/b> where researchers act as consultants, interpreting the \u201cso what\u201d and supporting decision-making.<\/li>\r\n \t
  3. Synthesizers and socializers<\/b>, actively participating in day-to-day business decisions, by not only facilitating insight generation, but also by synthesizing knowledge from multiple sources.<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\nThey discovered that most MR departments sit in the first two stages, and yet it is the third stage that brings most value to business. In the last eight years, I don\u2019t think much has changed, do you?!\r\n\r\nA second study shows that top management complains they can\u2019t find the information they want when they need it, and anyway get emails and spread-sheets, rather than the (mobile) dashboards they would prefer.\r\n\r\nA third study reported that over two-thirds of CMOs feel unprepared for the current data explosion, especially from social media. They appreciate there\u2019s knowledge and understanding lurking in it, but have trouble keeping up with the rapidly changing marketplace.\r\n\r\nThe growth in Big Data offers a huge opportunity for market researchers from both the client and supplier sides. It\u2019s vital the profession shows its superior skills of analysis and synthesis, and gets much closer to the action, before someone else does. It\u2019s time we led the transformation from Big Data to Smart Data.\r\n
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    \r\n\r\nSmarter Data Integration\r\n\r\n<\/div><\/blockquote>\r\nIt is claimed that the typical large company has around 14,000 databases on average and yet most of that data sits in individual departments never being reviewed, let alone integrated. Management\u2019s preference for dashboards requires data to be both consistent and comparable.\r\n\r\nIn one CPG company, I found five<\/u> initiatives being run concurrently, which each needed the creation of a master data file. By combining efforts, we managed to generate one larger enterprise MDS with a single list of values, definitions and processes, to which each project connected. This resulted in significant savings of resources and better collaboration between project teams.\r\n
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    \r\n\r\nSmarter Business Understanding\r\n\r\n<\/div><\/blockquote>\r\nMost research is conducted in relative isolation from the rest of the business, but we now should incorporate the bigger data flowing into our companies from other sources. However this comes with the prerequisite of an important culture change.\r\n\r\nOne CPG company developed a Global Project Management System, but two issues arose:\r\n