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The Numerati: Technology and Strategic Management

Stephen Baker (2008), in a book titled The Numerati, makes the case that workers have become little more than a commodity that functions to generate data, manipulate and store data, transmit data, and use data in a manner that drives business models forward. Indeed, it is Baker's (2008) contention that companies like IBM are building mathematical models of their own employees with the goal of increasing productivity, automating management, and allowing technology to drive managerial decisionmaking. This particular approach to business strategy is being used in places other than IBM although as Baker (2008) is quick to note, IBM may be at the epicenter of this transformation because it has long been a leader in converting all kinds of complex systems into numbers. For example, immediately after World War II, IBM used a new science called operations research to construct a mathematical model of the company's industrial supply chain that drove efficiency and lowered costs.

Henschen (2008) reported that a number of businesses are seeking consultant services to enhance their own ability to build effective mathematical models. For example, banks are trying to implement strategies around customer cross-selling and in the process are using technological models to identify synergies between clients and products and to create a strategic thrust for selling and marketing products to diverse customer segments. Similarly, at Johnson Controls, a project team developed a numerical global performance score carding system that manages performance and takes much of the guesswork out of making important decisions about allocating human and other capital (Heschen, 2008).

Atuahene-Gima and Haiyang (2004) reported that in China, new technologies are increasingly important in shaping all types of strategic management systems and decisions. This is especially important in a developing country like China where there are demand uncertaintie...

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The Numerati: Technology and Strategic Management. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 07:45, March 29, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/2001004.html