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[STK]
[IN] ARO EDU HED
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-- WITH PHOTO -- TO EDUCATION, AND NATIONAL EDITORS:
IDB - SAS Defense Panel Serves Up Advice for Analytics Students at
Kelley School of Business Analytic Summit 2014
CHAPEL HILL, N.C., April 15, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The
Institute for Defense and Business (IDB) and SAS participated on a
panel at Indiana University'sKelley School of Business at their 2nd
Kelley Forum on Business Analytics in Bloomington, Indiana on April 4,
2014. The Forum panel, "Should We Trust Our Instincts - or the Data?
The Role of Analytics in Decision Making" was moderated by IDB's
Program Director Van Noah. The panel also included, IDB Executive
Fellow Lt. Gen. Loren M. Reno, USAF (Ret.). His last assignment before
he retired was Deputy Chief of Staff, Logistics, Installations and
Mission Support, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Washington, DC. He is
currently first Dean of the Cedarville University School of Business
Administration.
"The DoD will benefit from bright, young analytics talent," opined Lt.
Gen. Reno. "Drastic budget cuts never seen before are forcing the
military to make significant and consequential tradeoffs and
decisions. I predict that senior decision makers will increasingly
benefit from analytics in making these tough calls, and those skilled
in analytics will be an increasingly important part of this process."
Other panelists included: LTC (Ret.) Eric Hansen, former Senior
Military Operations Research Analyst for the Joint IED Defeat
Organization's Counter IED Operations Integration Center and he
currently is a Sales Manager at SAS; Dr. Kyle Cattani, an Associate
Professor of Operations Management at the Kelley School of Business
and Dr. Alfonso J. Pedraza-Martinez is an Assistant Professor of
Operations at the Kelley School of Business.
To answer the question posed in the panel title, you need to trust
both. "Analytics can inform decisions and make them more dependable,"
commented Lt. Gen. Reno. But, you have to use your instincts and
question results that seem counterintuitive.
Perhaps the most potent advice to come out of the panel was the need
to establish TRUST and COMMUNICATE effectively with leadership.
Analysts need to:
-- Make sure your analysis is accurate. Thoroughly understand the
data, the algorithm, and the assumptions that go into each model.
-- Simplify things down. If there are tradeoffs or assumptions made,
be able to explain them.
-- Be able to describe the outcome in business terms and articulate
what the decision maker is supposed to do with the information you
provide.
-- Understand the decision maker you are presenting to and how he/she
likes to consume information. Speak in their language.
-- Develop good listening skills too - so you can add real value to
the conversation.
About the IDB & IU Partnership IU has partnered with the IDB for over
a decade on the IU-UNC LogMBA Program. This year IU Bloomington and
the IDB signed a memorandum calling for collaboration on research and
education that serves the needs of the U.S. military, government
agencies and the private sector. This Forum panel was one of our first
events under that expanding collaboration.
About the IDB & SAS Partnership: The IDB established the Executive
Fellows Program to provide selected retired senior leaders from the
Department of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security, and the
military services an opportunity to continue to share their knowledge
and experience. For the ninth consecutive year, SAS, the leader in
business analytics software and services, sponsors the program. IDB
and SAS are also collaborating together on joint education events at
conferences. Please go to www.idb.org/events for more information on
upcoming events.
About the IDB The IDB is a non-profit research and education institute
formed in 1997 by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and
the state of North Carolina. The institute provides custom executive
education programs in the areas of logistics and technology, life
cycle systems, leadership and organizational transformation, strategic
studies, stabilization and economic reconstruction, and the IU-UNC
LogMBA program.
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SU: NPT
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