BUS 237: Chapter 17: Data and Competitive Advantage/Blockchain

Big Data

the collection, storage and analysis of extremley large, complex, and often unstructured data sets that can be used by organizations to generate insights that would otherwise be impossible

Business Intelligence

a term combining aspects of reporting data exploration and ad hoc queries, and sophistaced data modelling and analysis

analytics

A term describing the extensive use of data, statistical and quantitative analysis, explanatory and predictive models, and fact-based management to drive decisions and actions.

machine learning

a type of AI that leverages massive amounts of data so that computers can improve the accuracy of actions and predictions on their own without additional programming

data leverage is at the center of a firms:

competitive advantage

dynamic pricing

when a firm sets prices in real or near real time in order to maximize sales and profits

- modesl refine by considering additonal factors like weather, number of people, customer feedback, reviews etc.

why is dynamic pricing tricky

1. can leave consumers feeling taken advantage of

2. tricky in situations where consumers make repeated purchases and are more likley to remeber past prices or when consumers have alternative choices

beacons

A Bluetooth technology that emits location data to help identify user location. Its uses include distributing real-time promotions and advertising, and to aid in navigation.

data

raw facts and figures

information

data presented in a context so that it can answer a question or support decision making

knowledge

insight derived from experience and expertise (based on info and data)

database

single table or a collection of related tables

database management systems (DBMS)

software for creating, maintaining and manipulating data

Structured Query Language (SQL)

a language used to create and manipulate databases

Database administrator

job title focused on directing, performing, or overseeing activites associated with a database or set of databases

table or file

A list of data, arranged in columns (fields) and rows (records).

column or field

A column in a database table. Columns represent each category of data contained in a record (e.g., first name, last name, ID number, date of birth).

row or record

A row in a database table. Records represent a single instance of whatever the table keeps track of (e.g., student, faculty, course title).

relational database

most common standard for expressing databases whereby tables are related based on common keys

serverless computing

a type of cloud computing where a third party vendor manages servers, replication, fault tolerance, computing scalability, and certain aspects of security, freeing software developers to focus on building businss solutions and eliminating the need to spend time and resources managing the technology complexity of much of undertlying IT solution

transaction processing systems

Systems that record a transaction or some form of business-related exchange, such as a cash register sale, ATM withdrawal or product return.

transaction

any kind of business exchange

loyalty program

A system that provides rewards and usage incentives, typically in exchange for a method that provides a more detailed tracking and recording of customer activity. In addition to enhancing data collection, loyalty cards can represent a significant switching cost.

data aggregators

Firms that collect and resell data.

- accuracy concerns

- committing erros

legacy systems

Older information systems that are incompatible with other systems, technologies, and ways of conducting business

data warehouse

a set of databases to support decision making in an organization

data mart

database focused on addressing the concerns of a specific problem or business unit

online analytical processing (OLAP)

A method of querying and reporting that takes data from standard relational databases, calculates and summarizes the data, and then stores the data in a special database called a data cube.

data cube

A special database used to store data in OLAP reporting.

three V's of Big Data

volume, velocity, variety

data lake

a catch-all term for storage and access technologies used in Big Data

Hadoop

a set of mostly open-source tools to manage massive amounts of unstructured data for storage, extraction, and computation

data cloud

Refers to a cloud service that provides tools to extract and transform data from disparate sources so that it can be interrogated as needed.

four primary advantages when using Big Data technologies in a data cloud

flexibility

scalability

cost effectivness

fault tolerance

ETL

Extract Transform, Load; process of extracting data, transforming it for purposes of analysis, and loading it into the final target database.

query tools

Tools to interrogate a data source or multiple sources and return a subset of data, possibly summarized, based on a set of criteria.

python

A general purpose programming language that is also popular for data analytics.

R

A programming language specifically created for analytics, statistical, and graphical computing.

Graphical query tools

Allow a user to create a query through a point-and-click or drag-and-drop interface, rather than requiring programming knowledge.

canned reports

Reports that provide regular summaries of information in a predetermined format.

ad hoc reporting tools

Puts users in control so that they can create custom reports on an as-needed basis by selecting fields, ranges, summary conditions, and other parameters

dashboards

A heads-up display of critical indicators that allow managers to get a graphical glance at key performance metrics.

data visualization

A graphical representation of data

generative AI

a type of artificial intelligence technology that can produce various types of content, including text, imagery, audio and synthetic data

data mining

The process of using computers to identify hidden patterns in, and to build models from, large data sets.

over engineer

Build a model with so many variables that the solution arrived at might only work on the subset of data you've used to create it.

three critical skills of data mining

1. information technology

2. statistics

3. business knowledge

Blockchain

is a distributed, peer to peer system that makes use of cryptographically linked dchain of blocks and consenus algorithms to create a secure digital ledger that contains all transactions

- decentralized, tamper proof and evident

- chain of blocks whereby each block contains the hash of value of the previous block

hash function

A mathematical function that converts a variable length input into a fixed-length output.

chaining

transactions are cryptographically signed using the private key and goes into the block data of a block in a blockchain

- blocks are chained together through a hash digest of the previours block header

mining

a process of continuous validation of new transactons and recording of them on the blockchain

- mining is done by solving complex math problem called proof of work to produce blocks