Sense And Respond Input

There will be many sources and types of input to your sense and respond framework, to the point where it may seem that the volume and the sources become overwhelming.  It is important in these cases that you first capture information and the source or circumstances of the information so that it can be analyzed at a later date.  Remember you do not have to analyze and understand how all information fits at the time it is collected, you simply must collect it.  This will short circuit the sense of overwhelming that is a natural experience.  Remember there are two steps to this process; the first is the collection and storage of the information and the second is the analysis of the information.

The sources of input are important to understand and encourage, they come from so many different directions, people and activities that it can be easy to overlook a piece of information that may be important.  In this practice it is important to collect the data without evaluation, the evaluation must be done based on all of the information that is collected.  This is somewhat counter intuitive because the normal practice and response to information input is an evaluation and determination how it fits into and with the other information you have at hand.  It is important to break this habit in order to increase the value of your analysis and evaluation.

Big data analysis practices this type of analysis based on the entirety of the data in order to improve the outcome of the analysis.  This process to evaluate based on the all off the data is providing essentially a restart to the analysis every time you look at it.  This is important from a data perspective however you must also take into account the points where you have implemented a change.  It is important that you collect an analytical picture of the data from the point prior to the change so that you can then perform a valid comparison of the analytical results after the change in order to measure these results.  It is critical to base your analysis and change on the data and the more data that you have to compare, the more accurate your analysis and evaluations of results.

The input of data must continuously be expanded in order to increase the value from the analysis and evaluations.  You probably notice a theme in the continuous nature of expansion and evaluation, this is important because as your understanding and the impact of your consumer community expands you must expand the input that you collect to perform analytical evaluations.  These broad and changing inputs are the foundation of your future success in utilizing and expanding the consumer collaboration community.   Direct surveys of consumers only provide a limited picture where the analytical evaluation of actual data can provide a more accurate picture of the demands and desires of the community members.  When you couple this information with your external partners’ information related to sales, manufacturing and supply chain, you can make more accurate and informed decisions to grow your business and retain the consumer.

And now for the audience participation portion of the show…

ECommerce will have wide ranging impacts on both the retail and manufacturing sectors.  How can you focus these abilities to improve the consumer's experience?  Improving the consumer’s experience will require a re-evaluation of the sales channels, the manufacturing channels and practices and the supply chain channels and practices from the raw materials to the consumers’ homes.  In order to ensure and maintain success in this new reality you must harness the tools and capabilities in many new areas.  How can you support these continuously changing requirements?