On My Mind
I’m happy to announce that my research report on “Quality, Analytics, and Big Data” is now available on this website on the RESEARCH page. Here is a summary of the report: “The integration of quality, analytics, and big data guided by the strategic direction of the organization can potentially result in new sources of customer value and a new source of competitive advantage. This research report describes some of the advances related to quality, analytics, and big data and explores the benefits of integrating them in practice. Analytics and big data techniques can help improve product and service quality by generating new customer insights and enhancing decision making. Also, it is argued that analytics and big data initiatives can be improved if quality principles are applied. It is explained that analytics is not just about numbers and big data doesn’t necessarily mean we need millions of data points. A new emergent definition of big data is introduced plus ten ideas for better integrated quality, analytics, and big data practices.” Feel free to pass along the report to others you think might be interested. Best wishes on your analytics journey.

Interesting Stories
World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen recently won the Tata Steel Chess 2016 Tournament out of a field of fourteen grandmasters. Chess is recognized as one of the leading games of strategy. Eight grandmasters will compete in Moscow in March to determine who will challenge Carlsen in November for the World Championship. If you want to enhance your strategic thinking skills, then study chess and follow the elite grandmaster chess tournaments.

Company News
The 2016 schedule for public seminars and courses sponsored by SIS will be finalized soon – here is a sneak peek at the offerings: Yellow Belt for Continuous Improvement Champions (will be held February 22, 2016); Japanese-Style Hoshin Kanri; Innovation Tools for Change Agents; Statistical Methods for Continuous Improvement; and Quality, Analytics, and Big Data. Also, three courses in the Lean Six Sigma Series will be offered: Continuous Improvement Green Belt; Continuous Improvement Black Belt; and Continuous Improvement Master Black Belt.

Intriguing Reads
One of the most comprehensive books on big data is “Big Data Beyond the Hype: A Guide to Conversations for Today’s Data Center” by Zikopoulos, DeRoos, Bienko, Buglio, and Andrews. The five authors are associated with IBM—which is a global leader in analytics. The book provides an easy-to-understand explanation of big data from business and technical perspectives.