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The purpose of this paper is to analyse current challenges and to articulate the preconditions for data-driven, fact-based product portfolio management (PPM) based on commercial and technical product structures, critical business processes, corporate business IT and company data assets. Here, data assets were classified from a PPM perspective in terms of (product/customer/supplier) master data, transaction data and Internet of Things data. The study also addresses the supporting role of corporate-level data governance.

The study combines a literature review and qualitative analysis of empirical data collected from eight international companies of varying size.

Companies’ current inability to analyse products effectively based on existing data is surprising. The present findings identify a number of preconditions for data-driven, fact-based PPM, including mutual understanding of company products (to establish a consistent commercial and technical product structure), product classification as strategic, supportive or non-strategic (to link commercial and technical product structures with product strategy) and a holistic, corporate-level data model for adjusting the company’s business IT (to support product portfolio visualisation).

The findings provide a logical and empirical basis for fact-based, product-level analysis of product profitability and analysis of the product portfolio over the product life cycle, supporting a data-driven approach to the optimisation of commercial and technical product structure, business IT systems and company product strategy. As a virtual representation of reality, the company data model facilitates product visualisation. The findings are of great practical value, as they demonstrate the significance of corporate-level data assets, data governance and business-critical data for managing a company’s products and portfolio.

The study contributes to the existing literature by specifying the preconditions for data-driven, fact-based PPM as a basis for product-level analysis and decision making, emphasising the role of company data assets and clarifying the links between business processes, information systems and data assets for PPM.

This paper provides evidence based quantification of both “actual” disruption of industries as well as a measure of disruption “hype”. The data cover a seven-year period from 2012 to 2018 across 12 industries. The authors’ complemented the research with a survey of 2000 business executives. Whereas there has been some measures of disruption in the past, no research to the authors’ knowledge has been conducted that measure both actual disruption and disruption hype.

The current fascination with disruption hides an awkward truth, we assume it is happening, but do we really know for sure? Disruption is rarely defined and almost never measured. Equally, the influence of the hype around disruption is hard to gauge. The authors do not know to what extent hype is driving management action. This is worrisome as the disruption “noise level” can lead to unhealthy collective thinking and bad business decision-making. Some rigour is required. To craft winning strategies, executives should take a more evidence-based approach for managing disruption.

The authors’ failed to find evidence of any correlation between the hype around an industry disruption and actual disruption within that industry. So the important conclusion for executives is “do not believe the hype”. We found some surprising differences by industry between actual disruption and the hype by industry.

Disruption is one of the most talked about subject in the field of strategy, yet there is little quantification. With this research, the authors’ aim is to advance the fact-based understanding of disruption. Disruption hype is never measured but has a strong influence on executives. The authors have quantified hype using online, search, social media and survey sources. Much more is needed to be able to measure hype more accurately.

The authors’ recommend a set of practical guidelines for executives to support fact-based strategy formulation: analysis of actual disruption, scenario planning and strategic responses.

The “noise” around industry disruption is so high that it is assumed to happen. Much of what is written is quasi-fake news. The authors need to rebalance the debate with fact-based analysis.

To authors’ knowledge, there has never been any fact-based analysis of both actual and hype disruption levels.

The goal of this paper is to use three condensed case studies to present an analytical ROI framework that helps marketers make sense of complex and seemingly chaotic marketing investment patterns and allows them to quickly reach conclusions about future marketing commitments.

The article focuses on three marketing science techniques with roots in econometric analysis. The three techniques are: structural equation modeling, historical analyses, and in‐market experiments.

The case studies give evidence of hard returns not only in terms of marketing funds conserved but also in terms of revenue gains, more positive brand equity, and greater marketing efficiency. The article suggests that changes in marketing practices to include the new ROI techniques will yield measurable benefits.

The article will be of value to marketing leaders, brand managers, and senior executives who seek quantifiable returns from their marketing functions. The three quantitative techniques described make sense of previously inscrutable marketing choices such as spending more on word‐of‐mouth campaigns than on national advertising or selecting one direct‐mail approach over another.

To date, marketing ROI work has been constrained by confusion over ROI definitions, by decisions about what data to collect, and by an emphasis on pricing, coupons, and promotions rather than broader marketing questions about, say, the efficacy of direct mail or the impact of regional advertising. The article reports on a fresh approach termed marketing science – techniques whose fact‐based analyses make it easier for managers to decide where to invest.

This paper seeks to document an approach to reduce scrap losses using the root cause analysis technique in a lean manufacturing environment.

The study uses lean manufacturing root cause problem solving (RCPS) technique. The study starts with the collection phase, followed by the analysis phase and ends with the solution phase. Supporting data are presented using a Pareto chart to prioritise wastage in order to be more focused for improvement. The Toyota Production System's 5‐whys analysis is performed to analyse the cause of wastages, to formulate and implement corrective actions.

The application of the 5‐whys analysis in a manufacturing industry (XYZ Corporation) provides a fact‐based and structured approach to problem identification and correction that not only reduces, but also totally eliminates defects. Corrective action has permanently eliminated the top defect, which is the “last piece material scratch” and this results in zero scrap thereafter. In this study it was also proven that with sound understanding of manufacturing coupled with possible solutions using the 5‐whys analysis the authors were not only able to eliminate waste, but also to do it with zero‐cost.

The approach documented in the paper can be extended to other areas in the manufacturing industry to help improve overall equipment efficiency, breakdown, time loss, customer complaints, etc.

In business activities and transactions the focus is often on tangible figures, although “soft” factors are often equally or more important. Environmental and social management schemes identify related intangibles in business operations, making them subject to fact‐based decision making. The applicability of these schemes is reduced when confronted with new situations such as mergers, acquisitions, and other asset transactions. Here due diligence (DD) procedures review factors deemed material to such a transaction including, since recently, also environmental and social ones. The purpose of the paper is to describe and conceptualize a DD procedure addressing social and environmental factors.

The paper describes an indicator‐based algorithm for the systematic identification of social and environmental risk factors in asset transactions. The application of the method is demonstrated and tested by example of case studies.

The paper presents and discusses an environmental and social DD procedure. The performance of the procedure is discussed on the basis of concrete case studies.

The DD‐method is applicable in a wide range of firms operating in cost‐driven markets for identifying social and environmental risk, putting a price tag on it, and thereby enables the firm to manage it.

Starting from fieldwork by one of the authors the paper introduces formally a social and environmental due diligence procedure.

Driven by the rapidly accelerating pace of technology-enabled developments within human resource management (HRM), human resource (HR) analytics is infiltrating the research and business agenda. As one of the first in its field, the purpose of this paper is to explore what the future of HR analytics might look like.

Using a sample of 20 practitioners of HR analytics, based in 11 large Dutch organizations, the authors investigated what the application, value, structure, and system support of HR analytics might look like in 2025.

The findings suggest that, by 2025, HR analytics will have become an established discipline, will have a proven impact on business outcomes, and will have a strong influence in operational and strategic decision making. Furthermore, the development of HR analytics will be characterized by integration, with data and IT infrastructure integrated across disciplines and even across organizational boundaries. Moreover, the HR analytics function may very well be subsumed in a central analytics function – transcending individual disciplines such as marketing, finance, and HRM.

The results of the research imply that HR analytics, as a separate function, department, or team, may very well cease to exist, even before it reaches maturity.

Empirical research on HR analytics is scarce, and studies on scenarios, values, and structures of expected developments in HR analytics are non-existent. This research intends to contribute to a better understanding of the development of HR analytics, to facilitate business and HR leaders in taking informed decisions on investing in the further development of the HR analytics discipline. Such investments may lead to an enhanced HR analytics capability within organizations, and cultivate the fact-based and data-driven culture that many organizations and leaders try to pursue.

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the empirical literature of the macroeconomic effect of trade facilitation reforms by examining the impact of the latter on tax revenue in both developed and developing countries. The relevance of the topic lies on the fact that at the Bali Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2013, Trade Ministers agreed for the first time since the creation of the WTO (in 1995) on an Agreement to facilitate trade around the world, dubbed Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA). The study considers both at-the-border and behind-the border measures of Trade Facilitation.

To conduct this study, the authors rely on the literature related to the structural factors that explain tax revenue mobilization. The authors mainly use within fixed effects estimator. The analysis relies on 102 countries (of which 23 industrial countries) over the period 2004-2007 (based on data availability). A focus has also been made on African countries, within the sample of developing countries.

The empirical analysis suggests evidence of a positive and significant effect of trade facilitation reforms on non-resources tax revenue, irrespective of the sample of countries considered in the analysis.

This finding should contribute to dampening the fear of policymakers in developing countries, including Africa that the implementation of the TFA would entail higher costs, without necessarily being associated with higher benefits. An avenue for future research would be to extend the period of the study when data would be available.

To the best of the authors knowledge, this study had not been performed in the literature of the determinants of tax revenue mobilization, although fact-based analysis was performed.

The purpose of this paper is to improve the yield of a particular model of a car windshield, as the organization faces losses due to poor performance and rejection.

The Six Sigma DMAIC (define, measure, analyze, improve and control) methodology is used to reduce variation and defects in the process. It is a methodology based on data-driven and fact-based analysis to find out the root cause of the problem with the help of statistical analysis. A worst performing model is selected as a case study through the scoping tree. The preprocess, printing, bending and layup process defects are reduced by analyzing the potential causes and hypothesis testing.

This paper describes Six Sigma methodology in a glass manufacturing industry in India for automotive applications. The overall yield of a car windshield achieved 93.57 percent against the historical yield of 88.4 percent, resulting in saving 50 lacs per annum. Due to no rework or repairing in the glass, low first-time yield causes major losses. Process improvement through focused cross-functional team reduces variation in the process. Six Sigma improves profitability and reduces defects in the automotive glass manufacturing process.

This case study is applied in automotive glass manufacturing industries. For service and healthcare industries, a similar type of study can be performed. Further research on the common type of processor industry would be valuable.

The case study can be used as a problem-solving methodology in manufacturing and service industries. The tools and techniques can be used in other manufacturing processes also. This paper is useful for industries, researchers and academics for understanding Six Sigma methodology and its practical implementation.

This case study is an attempt to solve automobile glass manufacturing problems through DMAIC approach. The paper is a real case study showing benefits of Six Sigma implementation in the manufacturing industry and saving an annual cost of 50 lacs due to rejections in the process.

Suggests that in many companies that have adopted value‐based management, there is a need to shift the focus of management attention from the measurement of value, to the creation of wealth. Argues that shareholder wealth creation is a creative endeavour on the part of the management and employees of a business – and that wealth will only be created for shareholders if management delivers financial performance that exceeds market expectations. This requires the successful implementation of higher value strategies developed from new ideas – not simply the adoption of value‐based measurement and incentive systems.

To exploit the main implications of the revised series of quality assurance standards ISO 9000:2000 for the certified organisations. The paper aims to identify the anticipated benefits of the changes in the series, as well as the main barriers and pitfalls that may deprive organisations of these benefits.

The paper combines the ideas and views of different authors and studies in this subject and organises them accordingly, based on the author's previous experience and empirical studies on ISO 9000 implementation, in order to fully describe the subject for the reader.

The paper finds that although the revised series of standards may offer important benefits to the certified organisations in areas which were previously considered to be the weak areas of the standards, there are still important dilemmas regarding the degree to which companies will be able to overcome a number of barriers and implementation pitfalls.

The paper is not based on official empirical research, since it is still too early to empirically test the results of the new standard to the certified organisations. However, this would be the focus of a future survey.

The paper offers important information to certified organisations, regarding the main benefits of the new ISO 9000:2000 series and the barriers that they will have to overcome in order to realise them.

The paper is the first one to bring all these ideas regarding the new standard's implementation together, offering a complete, comprehensive review of the new standard, and raising important questions that will have to be answered through further research.