weibo.com/pdfmagsweibo.com/pdfmagsweibo.com/pdfmagsBigDataforSkepticsAfewmonthsago,whileIwasattendingadaylongconferenceinNewYork,severalpeopleapproachedmetosaythey’dliketowritesome-thingforHBRabout“bigdata.”Itfeltlikeatippingpoint,soIbeganaskingbusinesspeoplefortheirtakeonthetopic.Isoonfoundthattheyhaveahugeinterestinbigdata,butalsoalackofclarityaboutit.Justwhatdifferentiates“big”datafrommeredata—andhowareorga-nizationssupposedtouseittotheirbenefit?Ialsolearnedthatmanyskepticswonderwhethersomeofthecompaniessellingbigdata“solutions”aresimplycapitalizingontheemerginghype.(Y2K,anyone?)Inthismonth’sSpotlightpackage,whichstartsonpage59,weaimtoclarifythesubject.Theprimarytakeaway:Yes,there’salotofhype.Butcompaniesthatmakeasophisticatedanalysisofthehugedatastreamsnowavailablecanunlockdeepinsightsandvalue—withouthavingtomakemajornewinvestmentsintechnology.Wetappedsomeofthebestmindsinthefieldtoilluminatethetopic.AndrewMcAfeeandErikBrynjolfsson,bothofMIT,makethecasethatbigdatahasthepotentialtorevolutionizetheartofmanagement.McKinsey’sDominicBartonandDavidCourtagree;theydemonstratethatwiththerightorganizationalsup-port,bigdatacanhelppropelcompaniestolevelsofperformancewehaven’tseenintwodecades.TomDavenport,avisitingprofessoratHarvardBusinessSchool,andD.J.Patil,ofGreylockPartners,identifydatascientistsashavingthe“sexiest”jobofoureraandexplainhowtofindandattractthem.Bigdataisoutthere.Thetrickisfindingwaystomakeitworkforyourcompany.AdiIgnatius,EditorinChiefPhotograPhy:EliEhonEinhbr.org12harvardbusinessreviewOctober2012FromtheEditorweibo.com/pdfmagsThecompanyyourepresentisthesinglemostimportantdeterminantofwhetheryouwillbeagreat,average,orbadsales-person.Wherethecompanyispositionedinthemarket—itsproducts,pricing,delivery,andsoon—willoutweighanythingsalespeoplebringtothetable.Toomanyorganizationsbelievegreatsalespeoplewillsomehowmagicallyproducegreatresults.Twosalespeopleworkingforthesamecompanydistinguishthemselvesfromeachotherbyhungerandfocus.DavidKompes,finan...
