1.Describe the kinds of data being analyzed by the companies in this case.
- The different companies mentioned in the case analyze different kinds of data. To begin with are the companies that specialize in the e-book market, and these include Scribd, Oyster, Entitle, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Good reads. These include data on preferred reading materials, frequency of reading, and most desired topics. Analyzing such information would guide the e-book companies on what to supply to their readers. Secondly are companies in the airline industry such as British Airways, Delta Airlines, Qantas Airways, and United Airlines.
- These continue to strive to improve customer experiences by collecting data of frequent fliers such as frequency of travel, desired in-flight services, hotel preferences, types of credit cards, and expenditures on airfare,. These data helps airlines make sound decisions on improving customer service, which is through serving customers based on their preferences. Finally are companies in the automobile industry. The Ford Motor Company collects and analyses data such as fuel economy, performance, and safety issues, annual vehicle demands worldwide, and customer income levels. These help the company to make better innovations in trying to improve customer satisfaction from products offered.
- Scribd, Oyster, Entitle, Barnes, Noble, and Amazon (e-book market): these companies are collecting assortment of data including whether a book is completed, if pages are skimmed or skipped, and which genres are most often finished. Then, writers can use this data to tailor their work to their readership and book editors can use it to choose which manuscripts to publish.
- United Airlines, Qantas, British Airways (airline industry): these companies are collecting all kinds of passenger data that can be consolidated to build comprehensive customer profiles. Cabin crews can then use the data to identify certain characteristics about on-board passengers and personalize the flying experience.
- Ford Motor Company (car companies): Ford began exploring how integrating databases and using complex algorithms to match car lot inventory to buyer demand. With these data, the vehicle turnover rate improved and the price a consumer pays minus the manufacturer subsidy rise, increasing Ford Motor Company’s profits. Ford also collecting data for performance monitoring such as fuel economy data, mechanical failures, and other safety and performance metrics which helps to improve product engineering.
2.How is this fine-grained data analysis improving operations and decision-making in the companies described in this case? What business strategies are being supported?
E-book
The data being collected can helps the publisher to tailor their work to suit the preference of the reader and as well the book editors can use it to choose which manuscripts to publish.
Business strategy being supported:
Focus on market niche
The publisher and book editors can focus on the market niche and target the right readers with the right ingredients to ensure the books are able to sell.
Airlines
The data being collected like customer’s profile and preferences can help to enhance the passenger’s experience with the airlines and it could help to improve the customer service as the customer will feel like the services are tailor-made for them.
Business strategy being supported:
Product differentiation
The services that provided by the cabin crews are all tailor-made for a specific passenger based on their profiles and preferences mentioned in the data collected.
Customer intimacy
The cabin crews are clear on the preferences and characteristics and so they provide them with the best fit services and it makes the passenger feel like they are being respected and valued.
Automobile company
The data being collected is to help the automobile company to clear of what the customer really need and what kind of features they are looking for at the moment. Based on the data, they can get to know what they can do to improve the features and services to their customers and fit their preferences even the customers are from many different parts of the world. The automobile company can as well get to know which car is selling better in every country and so they can enhance their marketing on a certain car type.
Business strategy being supported：
Customer intimacy
If the company able to improve and develop the technologies and features that the customer need, the customer will feel like they are being valued and will be loyal to the brand.
Product differentiation
From the data collected, the automobile company will get to know which type and design of the car is popular in a certain country and so they could enhance on the features and design the car type that suit the preferences of the people in that country.
3.Are there any disadvantages to mining customer data? Explain your answer.
- When the companies are mining too much data on the customers, it may upset the customers and turning them against the company due to privacy issue. There are customers complaints that companies are collecting too much data and integrating it from too many sources but companies defend that the uses of demographic data is not covered under their privacy policies and this brought both parties into trouble.
- Most customers want a line drawn between data collection to facilitate useful offers and data collection that is too intrusive. Even customers who accepted the unavoidable of profiling are annoyed when they receive some unsuitable offers based on faulty personal information. This issue may cause the customer to feel annoy and fed up to the company and the reputation of the company may drop if the customer spread out the news.
4.How do you feel about airlines mining your in-flight data? Is this any different from companies mining your credit card purchases or Web surfing?
- I consider that airlines mining my in-flight data does not violate any of privacy rights, and is just a way of trying to improve in-flight service delivery so as to improve flying experiences of customers. I believe that airlines should take advantage of the technology and information age to stitch customers’ information to create profiles that can then be used to reveal details of most fliers.
- I believe that this approach is not different from companies trying to mine credit card number purchases or web surfing. However, in real sense, data mining on credit card purchases is considered sensitive and a violation of privacy rights depending on the perspective with which it is viewed.
Very helpful
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