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This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting‐edge research and case studies.

This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.

The leaders of business functions are turning increasingly for competitive insights to the massive data they can now capture. But human resources departments have lagged behind the efforts of marketing, IT, CRM and other functions. Jeanne G. Harris et al. of Accenture Institute for High Performance, in Boston, MA, demonstrate how executives can start using data to measure and improve HR's contributions to business performance.

The paper provides strategic insights and practical thinking that have influenced some of the world's leading organizations.

The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy‐to digest format.

This paper aims to set out key steps in the development, engagement and retention of analytical leaders, showing why they are such a core resource, highlighting the key types of analytical talent and focusing on the core skills needed to attain analytical proficiency.

The research is based on a comprehensive survey of 799 analytical professionals employed by large US companies across a range of industries carried out in July 2008, as well as on the book Analytics at Work by Thomas Davenport, Jeanne Harris and Robert Morison, which was published in 2010.

The research identified the core skills requirements for each of the four main types of analytical talent, highlighting the skill set needed by analytical leaders. Where developing and retaining this vital resource is concerned, it was found that analysts who understood their roles were six times more likely to be engaged than those who did not.

Organizations need to take steps to develop, care for and retain their analytical talent. This is a prerequisite for establishing analytical leadership in a recruitment market where competition for analytics talent is increasing all the time.

As well as drawing on exclusive research, the paper shows that Accenture uses case studies based on in‐depth interviews and thought leadership to demonstrate analytical leaders' unique qualities.

This paper seeks to present a best practice guide to using analytics as a tool for leaders at every organizational level to drive their companies towards better decision making.

The piece is based on the book Analytics at Work by Thomas Davenport, Jeanne Harris and Robert Morison, which was published in 2010.

Accenture research shows conclusively that high‐performing businesses have a much more developed analytical orientation than other organizations. In fact they are five times more likely than their competitors to view analytical capabilities as being core to the business.

Senior executives are playing a crucial role in moving their organizations towards analytical decision making. Experience shows that, if leaders support analytical initiatives, they are much more likely to succeed. This is partly because of the powerful influence they exert over business culture, and partly because they can deploy the people, money and time needed to develop effective analytics capabilities. That said, senior executives are not the only people needed to build an analytical business. Almost any employee can play a vital role as an analytical leader.

Accenture uses case studies based on in‐depth interviews and thought leadership to demonstrate how individuals at different organizational levels have succeeded in driving their business towards analytical decision making – with impressive results.

Because analytics are increasingly becoming a key source of competitive advantage, attracting, engaging and retaining analytical talent and building an organizations' analytical capability is now a key skill top management needs to learn. This paper aims to investigate this issue.

Given that analytics is a relatively new management discipline and that only a few leading companies manage the talent it requires as a strategic resource, the authors collected their best practices.

The paper specifies the four main practices that top executives need to follow to create and develop a talent‐powered analytical organization.

The authors offer anecdotal research on leading companies.

What distinguishes talent‐powered analytical organizations is their ability to unleash their analysts' talents to maximize and continually expand the company's analytical capabilities.

By building and aligning the four key talent management capabilities revealed in this paper, organizations can maximize the strategic impact of their analytical talent and continually expand the organization's collective analytical capabilities.

What does it take for an executive to manage effectively in the new economy? While the explosion of Internet‐centered business has produced an unrelenting focus on e‐commerce strategies, new business models, and processes, surprisingly little attention has been paid to how e‐business is changing the competencies needed to manage effectively in this new business environment. The authors describe the findings of research by the Accenture Institute for Strategic Change to discover the unique competencies that managers need to excel in the new economy. While some management competencies have changed little, research shows that e‐managers need to develop new or stronger competencies in six key areas: fast decision making; partnering; knowing the technology; staying focused in spite of information overload; making sense of the future; and attracting and retaining talent.

More and more, the leaders of business functions are turning for competitive insights to the massive data they can now capture. But to date, human resources departments have lagged behind the efforts of marketing, IT, CRM and other functions. The purpose of this article is to show how executives can start using data to measure and improve HR's contributions to business performance.

The article identifies six analytical tools that HR can use to connect HR efforts to business performance. Survey results underscore the value of an analytical approach while revealing that many HR departments are heavily focused on internal measures rather than business outcomes. Each analytical tool is exemplified through case studies. A model is presented to suggest how executives can get started by focusing on five key areas.

Leading companies are using six analytical tools to improve the connection between HR investments and business returns: employee databases; segmentation of talent; targeted investments; customization of the employee value proposition; long‐term workforce planning; and talent supply chains.

As the case studies reveal, the tools identified here can help HR leaders actively shape their organization's future – managing talent and directing programs toward the long‐term needs of the business. Survey data shows that most companies increasingly seek to use analytics for long‐term advantage, and the model presented here can help HR executives take the first critical steps.

Enterprise systems packages have long been associated with process change. However, it was assumed that most organizations would simultaneously design and implement process change while implementing the systems. A survey of 163 organizations and detailed interviews with 28 more suggests that enterprise systems were still being implemented even among early adopters of the technology, and that process change was being undertaken on an ongoing basis. After the prerequisites of time, critical mass of functionality, and significant expenditures were taken care of, the factors most associated with achieving value from enterprise systems were integration, process optimization, and use of enterprise‐systems data in decision making.

Once upon a time, there was a magician's closet. It was filled with all sorts of wonders. The problem was that nobody knew exactly what was in the closet, and anyone brave enough to open the door risked having a cascade of bowling balls, snow shoes, Ouija boards, and Erlenmeyer flasks come down on his head. This closet, metaphorically speaking, was Dow Chemical's patent archive—a disorganized mess of intellectual capital. In recent years, Dow undertook the necessary task of putting the closet in order, and thus entered the nebulous world of knowledge management.