STRATEGY ANALYTICS

INDIAN INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT KOZHIKODE

SM07-09 [2 credits], EPGCSM-07/EPGP-06

Instructor: Prof. Deepak Dhayanithy

deepak@iimk.ac.in
Outline
Strategy Analytics is the quantitative analysis of any combination of customers, competition, and
resources to drive high-value decision making in organizations. At the heart of Strategy Analytics is the
access to data, information and business acumen. The concerns in the two quotes from Pirsigs book,
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values reflect the subject matter dealt
with in this course:
Who really can face the future? All you can do is project from the past, even when the past
shows that such projections are often wrong. And who really can forget the past? What else is
there to know?
When analytic thought, the knife, is applied to experience, something is always killed in the
process.
The course will develop the skills required to run strategic analytics projects as a business manager. The
course looks at strategic decisions in a variety of industry settings. Its focus is to understand the analytics
problem structure vis--vis business, data, assumptions, pitfalls, and implications for strategic decisionmaking. Rather than the how to focus of a technical course, Strategy Analytics deals with what models
to build, general awareness of the modeling and maintenance process, as well as the most critical perhaps:
the interpretation of results. In this way it deals directly with the managerial challenge of using historical
data, experience, simulation, modeling and other methods to make good strategy decisions.
Evaluation
Quizzes best 2 out of 3 2 X 10 =

20

Class Participation

25

End Term Examination

55

Total

100

Class Schedules
Session Plan 6 sessions X 3hours per session
1. INTRODUCTION LECTURE AND DISCUSSION
a. Davenport TH & Harris JG. Analytics and business performance.
b. Davenport TH & Harris JG. Competing on analytics with internal processes.
c. Davenport TH & Harris JG. Competing on analytics with external processes.
2. COMPETING ON ANALYTICS WITH INTERNAL PROCESSES STUDENTS LED CASE
STUDY [Quiz]
a. Amarcord Incorporated: Combating money laundering using data analytics [case*]
b. Enhancing call center performance using data analytics [case*]
3. COMPETING ON ANALYTICS WITH EXTERNAL PROCESSES STUDENTS LED CASE
STUDY [Quiz]
a. Managing the demand for medical examinations using predictive analytics [case*]
4. ADVANCED TOPICS 1 PAPER DISCUSSION [Quiz]
a. Loss Aversion
i. Is Tiger Woods Loss Averse? [Pope DG & Schweitzer E. 2011. Is Tiger Woods
loss averse? Persistent bias in the face of experience, competition and high
stakes. American Economic Review, 101 (Feb 11) [RP^]
b. Larry Steffen: valuing stock options in a compensation package. [case*]
5. ADVANCED TOPICS 2 PAPER DISCUSSION
a. Initiating bargaining
i. Goldreich D & Pomorski L. 2011. Initiating Bargaining. Review of Economic
Studies 78(4), 1299-1328. [RP^]
b. Spatial dynamics
i. Linden L & Rockoff JE. 2008. Estimates of the impact of crime risk on property
values from Megans Laws. American Economic Review, 98 (3) 1103-1127
[RP^]
6. MULTI-SIDED MARKETS LECTURE AND DISCUSSION & RECAP
a. Hagiu A. 2014. Strategic decisions for multi-sided markets. MIT Sloan Management
Review, 55 (2).
b. Sahoo BK, Singh R, Mishra B & Sankaran K. 2015. Research productivity in
management schools of India: A directional benefit-of-doubt model analysis [RP^]

* These cases have associated MS Excel data file supplements which will be made available to the
students once the classroom sessions commence.
^ RP Research paper