MODULE 3

Business Data Analysis: Features of New Generation Computers – Concept of

Data Analysis – Business Data Analysis – Data Analyst – Types of Analysts –
Organisation and source of data, importance of data quality, dealing with
missing or incomplete data – Social Networking Analysis – Big Data Analysis –
Role of Data Scientist in Business & Society – Role of Artificial Intelligence
and Intelligent Agents in e-business – Ethical and Legal Consideration in
Business Analytics.

CHAPTER 3

BUSINESS DATA ANALYSIS

Features of New Generation Computers

1. Speed of Operation

- Modern computers are much faster and can perform even very complex
calculation very fast. A powerful computer is capable of performing
about 3-4 million simple instruction per second.

- The speed of computer is expressed in terms of micro seconds or nano

seconds

2. Accuracy

Computers are also very accurate in processing data. Once the correct
data is entered with a correct program the result will also be correct.If a
wrong input is given the output also will be wrong

3. Storage

Computers have the capacity to store large amount of data and

instructions and can retrieve it as and when we require it. The size of
internal memory of the CPU is limited.
 4. Versatility

Computers are versatile machines and are capable of performing any task as
long as it can be broken down in to a series of logical step. It can be used for a
wide variety of steps.

5. Automatic Operations

A computer can carry out a particular task on the basis of instructions given to it
until a stop instructions is executed.

6. Diligence

Computers can perform large and repetitive jobs. Computer will perform
millions of calculations with the same accuracy.

7. Complexity

Complex mathematical model can be analysed easily with the help of

computers.

8. Reliability

Reliability is measured in terms of the performance with predetermined

standards of operations. The reliability of results processed by a computer is
very high. If a program is executed any number of times with the same set of
data every time the result would be the same.

Concept of Data Analysis

Data Analysis is a process of collecting, transforming, cleaning and modelling

data with the goal of discovering the required information

- The results so obtained are communicated, suggesting conclusions and

supporting decision making.

What is Data?

Data can be defined as “factual information used as a basis of reasoning,

discussion or calculation.”
- Data is numbers, characters, images, or other method of recording in a form
which can be assessed to make a determination or decision about a specific
action.

Data can be in different forms:

1. Qualitative Data

- Qualitative data is data that uses words and descriptions.

- Qualitative data can be observed but is subjective.

- These types of data are collected through focus group, interviews, open
ended questionnaire etc.

2. Quantitative Data

- “Quantitative data” is data that is expressed with numbers

- It can be put in to categories, measured or ranked.

 There are two types of Quantitative data

1. Categorical Data

- It has been placed in to groups. Categorical variables represent types of

data which may be divided in to groups.

- Examples are race, gender, age group etc.

2. Continuous data

- It is numerical data measured on a continuous range or scale. Examples

are a person’s height or weight, temperature.

Business Data Analysis

Business analytics is the process of collating, sorting, processing and studying

business data and using statistical models to transform data in to business
insights.

Importance of Business Analytics

1. A methodology for commercial decision making

 2. Operational efficiency

3. Competitive advantage

4. Valuable information

Types of Data Analysis

1. Descriptive Analysis

 It describes or summarizes a business’s existing data to get a picture of

what has happened in the past or happening currently.

 It applied descriptive statistics to existing data to make it more accessible

to members of organisation

2. Diagnostic Analysis

- Diagnostic data analysis aim to determine why something happened.

- Once descriptive analysis shows that something negative or positive

happened diagnostic analysis can be done to find out the reason.

3. Predictive Analysis

- Predictive data analysis predicts what is likely to happen in future.

- In this type of research trends are derived from past data which are then
used to form predictions about the future.

- Predictive analytics forecast the possibility of future using statistical

models and machine learning techniques.

4. Prescriptive Analysis

- Prescriptive data analysis combines the information found from the above
mentioned types of data analysis and forms a plan of action for the
organisation to face the issue or decision.

- It provides recommendation for the next best action.

Phases of Data Analysis

Data Analysis Process consist of the following phases:

 1. Data Requirements Specification

Based on the requirements of those directing the analysis, the data necessary as
input to the analysis is identified. Data may be separated by age, demographic,
income or gender.

2. Data Collection

It is the process of gathering information on targeted variables identified as data

requirements. It can be done through variety of sources such as computers,
online sources or through personnel.

3. Data Processing

The data that is collected must be processed or organized for analysis. It may
take place on a spreadsheet.

4. Data cleaning

It is the process of preventing and correcting the errors in the processed and
organized data. The data may be incomplete, contain duplication or contain
errors.

5. Data Analysis

Data analysis techniques can be used to derive conclusions based on the

requirements. Statistical data models such as correlation, regression analysis can
be used to identify the relation among variables.

Data visualization may also be used to examine the data in graphical format.

6. Communication

The results of the data analysis are to be reported in a format as required by the
users to support their decision and action.

Components of Business Analytics

1. Data Aggregation

Data aggregation is a type of data and information mining process where data is
searched, gathered and presented in a report-based, summarized format to
achieve specific business objectives or processes.
 2. Data Mining

Data mining is defined as a process used to extract usable data from a larger set
of any raw data. It employs several statistical techniques like Classification,
Regression etc.

3. Association and Sequence Identification

Consumers perform similar actions at the same time or perform similar actions
at the same time or perform predictable actions sequentially.

4. Text Mining

Textual information can be collected from social media sites, blog comments
and this data can be used to develop demand new products, improve customer
service etc.

5. Forecasting

Analysing processes that occur during a specific period or season assist in

forecast of future events or behaviour.

6. Predictive Analysis

Companies can create, use and manage predictive scoring models.

7. Optimization

Companies can identify best case scenarios and next best action by developing
and engaging simulation technique.

8. Data Visualisation

Information drawn from data can be presented with highly interactive graphics
and it allows organisations to use their data to inform and drive new goals for
the business, increase reveneue.

Business Data Analyst

A data analyst collects processes and performs statistical analyses on large

dataset. They discover how data can be used to answer questions and solve
problems.
Business analysts use data to help organisations make more effective business
decisions, while data analysts are more interested in gathering and analyzing
data for the business to evaluate and use to make decisions on their own.

Challenges Faced by Business Analytics

1. Executive Distrust

Analytics is an area viewed with doubt by top level executives and it is difficult
to get the consent of everyone in upper management to implement business
analytics.

2. Poor Collaboration

Poor collaboration creates the risk that analytics won’t provide the information
needed leading to further distrust and potential abandonment of new system.

3. Lack of Commitment

Cost of implementation is high and analytical models develop over time and it
is seen that executives losing trust in the solutions.

4. Slow Information Maturity

Business analytics implementation often fails due to lack or low quality of

available data.

Business Analytics Tools

 Business analytics tools are type of application software that retrieve data
from one or more business systems and combines it in a repository such
as data warehouse, to be reviewed and analysed.

Some of the popular data analytics tools are:

1. R Programming

- It is widely used for statistics and data modelling. It can be used to

manipulate data and present in different ways.

- It runs on UNIX, Windows and MacOS

Tableau Public
 - It is a free software that connects any data source.

- It creates data visualization , maps, dashboards etc. with real time update
presenting on web.

3. Python

- It is an object oriented scripting language which is easy to read, write and

maintain and is a free open source tool.

4. Sas

SAS is easily accessible, manageable and can analyse data from any source.

5. Excel

- It is a basic, popular and widely used analytics tool almost in all

industries.

- It analyses complex task that summarizes the data with a preview of pivot
tables that helps in filtering the data as per client requirement.

6. Rapid Miner

- It is a powerful integrated data science platform

- It performs predictive analysis and other advanced analytics like data

mining, text analytics, machine learning and visual analytics without any
programming.

KNIME

- It is leading open source, reporting and integrated analytics tools that

allow you to analyse and model the data through visual programming.

8. BIRT

- It is a basic open source analytics tool for reports, dashboards and

visualization

- It requires working knowledge of Java, scripts and formatting

Trends in Business Analytics

1. Big Data

Big data refers to the large, diverse sets of information that grow at ever-
increasing rates. More data means more potential insights but the total volume
can be challenging.

2. Artificial Intelligence

AI are being developed and launched in industry such as banking, financial

services, insurance, retail, manufacturing etc.

3. Deep Learning

It involves the advantages of vast computing power to manage enormous data

sets, identifying patterns and delivering predictive results.

4. Neural Networks

Data can be processed and sorted, patterns can be identified along a historical
timeline and future predictions are delivered with an unprecedented level of
accuracy.

5. The Internet of Things

It delivers real time data to organisations worldwide and allowing intimate entry
in to lives of consumers around the globe.

6. Micro Segmentation

It is the ability to separate in to smaller parts which enables the organisations to

accurately define their ideal customers.

7. Cloud Computing

It is the process of using remote servers on the internet to store and manage data
and provides many of the benefits business demands.

Advantages Of Business Analytics

1. Increase efficiency
A large amount of data can be gathered at a fast rate and present it in a visually
appealing way and companies can formulate decision to help achieve specific
goals.

2. Insights through data visualisation

To make decision making more interesting comprehensive charts and graphs

can be used.

3. Keep Updated

Analytics can give insight about how the target market thinks and act. Business
analytics enables organisation to be dynamic at all times to serve the needs of
ever changing consumers.

4. Better decision making

Accessibility to important data gives companies to make accurate decisions.

5. More effective Marketing

Data analytics give useful insights and when company understands its audience
better they can market to them more effectively.

6. Better Customer Service

The data can reveal information about customers communication preferences ,

their interest, concerns.

7. More efficient Operation

Data analytics can help companies streamline their process, save money and
boost bottom line.

8. Plan for the future

Predictive analysis allows business to plan for the future.

Disadvantages of Business Analytics

1. Lack of alignment, availability and trust

The results of analysis are not easily communicated to the business users as it is
only shared with the top executives.
 2. Lack of Commitment

Implementation of business analytics can be very costly and ROI is not

immediate. The business users lose interest as they do not see promised result
immediately.

3. Low quality of transactional data.

Implementation of the solutions provided by the business analysts fail because

the data is not available or the data source is too complex.

Business Data Analyst

Data analyst is a person who is responsible for data analysis in an organisation.

 A data analyst collects processes and performs statistical analyses on

large dataset. They discover how data can be used to answer questions
and solve problems.

Responsibilities of Data Analyst

 Producing reports: Data analysts spend a significant amount of time in

preparing internal and external reports , those reports are very important
for company for improvement.

 Spotting patterns: In order to produce meaningful reports a data analyst

has to be able to see important patterns and trends in the data, for making
proper recommendation to the client.

 Collaborating with others: Analyst has to collaborate with all the

departments in an organization like marketers, executives etc, for making
better results.

 Collecting data & setting up infrastructure: the most technical aspect

of an analyst job is collecting the data itself. This means working together
with web developers to optimize data collection. Streamlining this data
collection is key for data analysts

SKILLS REQUIRED FOR DATA ANALYSTS

 Programming languages: data analyst should be proficient in one

language and have working knowledge of few more. Data analysts use
 programming language such as R and SAS for data gathering, data
cleaning, statistical analysis and data visualization.

 Creative and analytical thinking: curiosity and creativity are key

attributes of good data analysts.

 Strong and effective communication: data analysts must clearly convey

their finding to the audience in making business decisions . Strong
communication is key to success

 Data visualization: a successful data analyst understands what type of

graph to use, how to scale visualization, and know which chart to use
depending on their audience.

 Data warehousing: some data analyst work on back end ,they connects
databases from multiple sources to create a data warehouse and use
querying language to find and manage data.

 SQL databases: SQL databases are relational databases with structured

data. Data is stored in tables and data analysts’ pulls information from
different tables to perform analysis.

 Data base querying language: the most important querying language

data analysts use is SQL and many variation such as SQL,T-SQL etc.

 Data mining and cleaning: Data analyst must use tools to clean and
process unstructured data.

 Advanced Microsoft excel: Data analyst should have a good knowledge

on excel.

Organisation And Source of Data

All decision support system use data, information and knowledge.

 Data

 Information

 Knowledge
Source of Data

Internal Data

1. Accounting resources

2. Sales Force Report

3. Internal Experts

4. Miscellaneous Reports

External Data

1. Government Publications

Government agencies generating data:

a. Registrar General of India

b. Central Statistical Organisation

c. Director General of Commercial Intelligence

d. Ministry of Commerce and industries

e. Reserve Bank of India

f. Labour Bureau

g. National Sample Survey

h. Department of Economics affair

2. Non Government Publications

- The Indian Cotton Mill Association

- Various chambers of Commerce

- The Bombay Stock Exchange

- Various Associations of Press Media

- Export Promotion Council

- Small Industries Development Board of India

Personal Data and Knowledge

Data Collection

Data collection is one of the first steps of the data lifecycle. The need to collect
data from many internal and external resources is one of the complicated tasks.

METHODS OF DATA COLLECTION

PRIMARY DATA:

Primary data are first hand information collected by the surveyor. The data so
collected are pure and original and collected for some specific purpose. Census
is an example of primary data.

Methods of primary data:

 Personal investigation: the surveyor collects the data himself, the dat so
collected is reliable but is suited for small projects.
 Collection via investigators: trained investigators are employed to contact
the respondents to collect data.
 Questionnaire: questionnaires may be used to ask specific questions that
suit the study and get response from the respondents.
 Telephonic investigation: the collection of data is done through asking
questions over the telephone to give quick and accurate information.

SECONDARY DATA

These data are collected and published already by some organisations or

individual’s .statistical data are impure in the sense that they have undergone
statistical treatment at least once.

Methods of secondary data

• Official publications such as ministry of finance, statistical department of the

government etc

• Articles in the newspaper, from journal and technical publications.

DATA QULAITY

Data quality is an extremely important issue because quality determines the

usefulness of data as well as the quality of decisions based on them .Data in
organizational databases are frequently found to be inaccurate, incomplete or
ambiguous the economic damage from poor quality data is severe.

IMPORTANCE OF AND BENEFITS OF DATA QULAITY

Maintaining data quality is a difficult but necessary task. In order to achieve

consistent and reliable customer data , business must consequently manage data
quality so that they build trust and enable quicker, more knowledgeable
decisions. high quality data provides more benefits to the business such as

More informed decision making: improved data quality leads to better decisions
making in an organization. The high quality data gives much confidence in
making decisions.

❑ Better customer targeting: Data quality leads to improved customer

targeting, in the absence of high quality data, marketers are forced to collect
data which is not sufficient.

❑ more effective content and marketing campaigns: Data quality also helps
in improving content and marketing campaign, if the company accurately know
about audience, the more reliably they can create content or ads the appeal to
them.

❑ Improved relationship with customers : Accurate data will improve

relations with customers which is important for success in any industry ,
gathering data about customers helps to know them better , the information
about customers needs and preferences helps in anticipation .this intern helps in
bringing strong relationship with them.

❑ Easy to use : High quality data is also much easy to use than poor quality
data . Quality data increases companies’ efficiency.

❑ Competitive advantage: Having high quality data is much useful to gain

competitive advantage than competitors and it is one of the most important
resources a company have.

❑ Increased profitability: High quality data can lead to increased

profitability, it can help design more effective marketing campaigns and
increased sales.
Components of Data Quality

 Accuracy

It refers to how well the data describes the real world conditions it aims to
describe. The quality of management decisions depends on the accuracy of the
information.

 Completeness

It should include all material facts which are necessary for decision making.
There should not be any gap in the data from what was supposed to be collected
and what was actually collected.

 Consistency

A data item should be consistent both in its content and format. When
comparing the data item or its counterpart across multiple data sets or database,
it should be the same.

 Relevancy

Data gains value if it is relevant to the decision making context. Relevant

information is what increases knowledge and reduces uncertainty surrounding
the problem under consideration.

 Validity

Validity refers to how the data is collected rather than the data itself. Data is
valid if it is in the right format, of the correct type and falls within the right
range.

 Timeliness

Data should be available as and when it is needed. Timeliness refers to how

recently the event the data represents occurred.

How to Collect high quality data?

1. Implement a data collection plan

2. Set data quality standards

3. Create a plan for data correction

 4. Plan for data integration and distribution across departments

5. Set goals of ongoing data collection

Data Integrity

Data integrity refers to the accuracy and consistency (validity) of data over its
lifecycle.

Data integrity can be ensured addressing the following five issues:

1. Uniformity

2. Version

3. Completeness check

4. Conformity check

5. Genealogy check or drill down

Missing Data or Incomplete Data

 Missing data is defined as the data value that is not stored for a variable
in the observation of interest.

 The problem of missing data is relatively common in almost all research

and can have a significant effect on the conclusions that can be drawn
from the data.

Types of Missing Data

1. Missing completely at random (MCAR)

- It is defined as when the probability that the data are missing is not
related to either the specific value which is supposed to be obtained or the
set of observed responses.

2. Missing at random (MAR)

- Data are regarded to be MAR when the probability that the responses are
missing depends on the set of observed responses
 - But it is not related to the specific missing value which is expected to
obtained.

3. Missing not at random

- If the characters of data do not meet those of MCAR or MAR, then they
fall in to the category of missing not at random (MNAR)

Techniques of Handling Missing Data

1. List wise or case deletion

- It removes all data for an observation that has one or more missing value

- This simply omits those cases with the missing data and analyses the
remaining data.

2. Par wise deletion

- It eliminates information only when the particular data point needed to test
a particular assumption is missing

3. Mean Substitution

- The mean value of a variable is used in place of the missing data value
for that same variable.

- The theoretical background of the mean substitution is that the mean is a

reasonable estimate for a randomly selected observation from a normal
distribution.

4. Regression Imputation

- Imputation is the process of replacing the missing data with estimated

values

- This approach preserves all cases by replacing the missing the data with a
probable value estimated by other available information.

5. Last observation carried forward

- This method replaces every missing value with the last observed value from
the same subject.

- Whenever a value is missing it is replaced with the last observed value.

6.Maximum likelihood

- In these the assumptions that the observed data are a sample drawn from
a multivariate normal distribution is relatively easy to understand.

- After the parameters are estimated using the available data, the missing
data are estimated based on the parameters which have just been
estimated.

7. Expectation- Maximization

- It is a type of the maximum likelihood method that can be used to create a

new data set, in which all missing values are imputed with values
estimated by the maximum likelihood methods.

8. Multiple Imputation

- In a multiple imputation instead of substituting a single value for each missing

data, the missing values are replaced with a reasonable set of reasonable
values which contain the natural variability and uncertainty of the right values.

9. Sensitivity Analysis

- It is defined as the study which defines how the uncertainty in the output of a
model can be allocated to the different sources of uncertainty in its inputs.

Social Network Analysis

Social network analysis (SNA) means analyzing various characteristics of the

pattern of distribution of relationship and drawing inferences about the
network as a whole or about those belonging to it considered individually or in
groups.

The aim of social network analysis is to understand a community by mapping

the relationships that connect them· as a network, and then trying to draw out
key individuals, groups within the network ('components'), and/or associations
between the individuals

Basic Terminology of SNA .

a) Centrality
A highly centralized network is dominated by one individual who controls the
information and knowledge flow and may become a hub for communication
failure. A less centralized network has no hub point for failures. So people can
still pass on information even in some channels are blocked.

(b) Betweenness

Betweenness of a node measures the number of paths that pass through each
individual. This can identify the nodes which has the ability to control the flow
of information between different parts of the network.

(c) Closeness

Closeness measures the extent to which an individual is near to all other

individuals in a network either directly or indirectly. It exhibits the ability to
access information through the network members.

(d) Degree

Degree of a node specifies the number of links to other individuals in the

network. Higher the degree of a node, the more influential it is within the
network.

General Applications of Social Network Analysis

Social Network Analysis is being used in a number of fields. Examining

people’s acquaintances and affiliations can be valuable in uncovering various
patterns and anti-patterns including credit card misuse or theft , false insurance
claims, insider trading etc.

• For improved customer targeting, for potential promotions based on

their past purchase history.

• In identifying loyal customers who are vocal, active and passionate and
can be characterized as brand ambassadors.

1. Social Network Analysis for creating usable customer intelligence:

• A good understanding of the segments of social media can make a

valuable contribution to the decision about how to shape and invest in the
organisation's social media and marketing plans.

2. Social Network Analysis in organisational change:

 • Social Network Analysis helps to reveal strategically important networks
that can't be found on the formal organisational charts. It supports
discovering the underlying informal structures that exist in the
organisations.

• Managing human resources in large enterprises by SNA to map and

measure otherwise invisible relationships between people to study how
responsibility, influence and power are disseminated across large groups
of people.

3. Social Network Analysis for understanding health behaviour:

• The results from social network analysis can be used by the Government
for designing health plans, benefits and to take preventive measures
during some disease outbreaks. Pharmaceutical companies can target
demographic groups and specific markets. Health insurance companies
can design their insurance plans in a better way.

BIG DATA ANALYSIS

"Big Data defines a situation in which data sets have grown to such
enormous sizes that conventional information technologies can no longer
effectively handle either the size of the data set or the scale and growth of the
data set.

In other words, the data set has grown so large that it is difficult to manage
and even harder to garner value out of it.

The primary difficulties are the acquisition, storage, searching, sharing,

analytics, and visualization of data"

Dimensions of Big Data

1. Volume:
This dimension refers to the quantity of data,

2. Variety: Variety refers to the increasingly diversified sources and types of

data. There is a need to integrate these complex and multiple data types.

3. Veracity: The massive amounts of data collected for Big Data purposes can
lead to statistical errors and misinterpretation of the collected information.
Purity of the information is critical for value .
4. Velocity: Big data velocity deals with the accelerating speed at which data
flows in from sources like business processes, machines, networks and human
interaction with things like social media sites, mobile devices, etc.

Types of Big Data

1. Structured

- Any data that can be stored, accessed and processed in the form of fixed
format.

2. Unstructured

- Any data with unknown form or the structure is known as unstructured

data.

- Unstructured data poses multiple challenging term in terms of its

processing for deriving value out of it.

3. Semi-structured

- It can contain both the forms of data

- We can see semi-structured data as a structured in form but it is not

actually defined with.

Technologies and concepts of Big Data

 Business Intelligence

- It is a set of process. Architectures and technologies that convert raw data

in to meaningful information that drives profitable business actions.

- It is a suite of software and services to transform data in to actionable

intelligence and knowledge.

 Data mining

- It is the process of finding anomalies, patterns and correlations within

large data sets to predict outcomes

- It is a process used to extract usable data from a larger set of any raw
data.

 Statistical Applications
 - It deliver the sample observations that can be used to study populated
data sets for the purpose of estimating, testing and predictive analysis

 Predictive Analysis

- It is the use of data, statistical algorithms and machine learning techniques to

identify the likelihood of future outcomes based on historical data.

 Data Modelling

- It is a process through which data is stored structurally in a format in a

database.

- It enables the organisation to make data driven decisions and meet varied
business goals.

How Big Data Works?

1. Integrate

- Big data gathers all relevant and pertinent information about individual
from multiple sources collected and compares the information from all
these sources.

2. Manage

- Company can store data in any form they want and bring desired processing
requirements and process engines to those data sets on and on demand basis.

 Analyse

- Big data is most often stored in computer databases and is analysed using
software specifically designed to handle large, complex data sets.

Advantages of Big Data

1. Improved business processes

- It helps businesses to gain a huge competitive advantage.

- Analyzing big data can result in the improvement and optimization of

certain business operations.

2. Business can utilise outside intelligence while taking decisions

 Access to social data from search engines and sites like facebook, twitter are
enabling the organisation to design their business strategies.

3. Improved customer service

Customer service is improved by capturing a huge amount of information from

different sources like Customer Relationship Management and analyzed to
understand tastes and preferences of user.

4. Fraud Detection

Machine learning technologies help banks and other institutions to detect frauds
like fraudulent purchase with credit cards.

5.Early identification of risk to the product/services

Integration of Big Data technologies and warehouse helps an organisation to

offload infrequently accessed data.

Disadvantages of Big Data

 Traditional storage can cost lot of money to store big data

 Lots of big data is unstructured

 Big data analysis violates principles of privacy

 It can be used for manipulation of customer records

 It may increase social stratification

 Big data analysis is not useful in short run

The Data Scientist

 A data Scientist is normally associated with an employee or Business

Intelligence (BI) consultant who excels at analyzing data to help a
business gain a competitive edge.

 The data scientist is usually the team leader during a Big Data analytics
project.
  A data scientist must possess a combination of analytic, machine
learning, data mining and statistical skills as well as experience with
algorithms and coding.

Role of Data Scientist In Business and Society

1. Empowering management to make better decisions

An experienced data scientist is a trusted advisor and strategic partner to the

organisations upper management and they empower the staff maximise their
analytics abilities.

2. Directing actions based on trends

- A data Scientist examines and explores the organisation’s data after which
they recommend and prescribe certain actions that will help improve the
organisations performance, better engage customers and ultimately increase
profitability.

3. Challenging the staff to adopt best practices

- Data Scientist prepares the staff for success with the demonstration of the
effective use of the system to extract insights and drive actions.

4. Identifying Opportunities

- Data Scientist job requires them to continuously and constantly improve the
value that is derived from the organisations' data.

5. Decision making with quantifiable data

- Data Scientist creates models using existing data that reproduce a variety of
potential action.

6. Testing the decisions

- The primary role of data scientist involves making a certain decisions

and implementing those changes also to know how those decisions
affected the organisation.

7. Identification and refining of target audiences

 - The importance of data scientist is based on the ability to take existing
data that is not necessarily useful on its own and combine it with
other data points.

- It helps to generate insights an organisation can use to learn more about

its customers and audience.

Role of Artificial Intelligence and Intelligent Agents in E-Business

 AI helps e-business companies to gather as well as investigate data in real

time and facilitate more efficiency and competence in business.

 The customers are provided with a personalised experience on of

knowledge about their preferences.

 Some Examples of AI in E-Commerce

1. Chatbots

2. CRM

3. Internet of Things

Benefits of AI in E-business

1. Sales Forecasting

- AI helps in analyzing huge volume of user data and on that basis it

offers useful insights about consumer buying patterns.

2. Superior services at affordable costs

- AI automates routine processes thus offering personalized marketing

options.

3. Enhance Customer Satisfaction and promote sales

AI helps in conversational commerce and it is basically real time a human

like interaction between client and messenger or voice chat.

4. Personalized Content

- The AI technology offers any business a huge competitive edge

regardless to its size of operations.
 - This allows the users to pick up any item in any picture online and then
ask to come up with similar things by making use of the image.

5. AI in marketing

- By utilizing AI marketing solutions, companies can come up with the best

marketing strategies and minimise costs.

6. Customer Service

- AI solutions help to present brilliant customer service

Intelligent Agents

 An intelligent agent is software that supports a user with the

accomplishment of some task or activity by collecting information
automatically over the internet and communicating data with other agents
depending on the algorithm of the program.

 Characteristics

1. Agency – describes the degree of independence which the agents exhibit.

2. Intelligence – It is the amount of learned behaviour or possible reasoning

capacity that an agent may possess.

3. 3. Mobility – It is the dimension which makes agents useful in Internet.

Features of Intelligent Agents

1. Mobility

Intelligent agents engaged in e-commerce travel from computer to computer

across different system architecture and platforms and gather information until
search parameters are exhausted.

2. Goal Oriented

Intelligent agent has the ability to accept the user statement of goals and carry
out the task delegated to it.

3. Independent

Intelligent agents communicate independently with repositories of information

and other agents and accomplish the objectives and task on behalf of user.
4. Intelligent

Intelligent agents are able to crawl for data more intelligently.

5.Reduces net traffic

Agents can communicate and co-operate with other agents quickly and enables
them to perform tasks quickly.

6. Multiple tasks

An intelligent agent can perform multiple tasks simultaneously.

Intelligent Agents in e-commerce

1. Identification

- The identification stage of buying behaviour characterises the buyer

becoming aware of particular unmet need by inspiring through product
information.

- Agents can play a significant role for those purchases that are repetitive
(supplies) or predictable (habits)

2. Brokering

- There are two type of brokering namely product brokering and merchant
brokering

- In product brokering once a buyer has recognised a requirement to make

a purchase the buyer has to determine what to buy through a critical
evaluation of available product information.

- In merchant brokering stage combines the consideration set from the

previous stage with merchant specific alternatives to help determine what
to buy from.

3. Negotiation

- In this stage of buying behaviour, price and other terms of the transaction are
settled between merchants and buyers.

4. Payment and delivery

 - This stage can either indicate the end of the negotiation stage or cause to
place another order.

5. Product service and Evaluation

This post-purchase stage contains of product service, customer service and an

evaluation of the satisfaction of the total buying experience decision.

Advantages of Intelligent Agents to Buyers

 Easy Shopping

Intelligent Agents can do shopping for a buyer, taking down specifications and
returning with recommendation of purchase which meet those specifications.

 Identification of stores and brands

Intelligent agents can be sent by buyers to identify stores, brands, product or

categories of service and the desired price.

 Make comparisons

The above capabilities enable the buyers to make comparisons even before
visiting a particular seller’s site.

 Reduce cost

Intelligent agents reduce e-commerce costs and make web shopping more
transparent.

 Act as representative of seller

Intelligent agents provide product or service and sales advice and enable to
tackle customer problems.

 Building relationships

Agents help business organisations in electronic environment to gain

intelligence on the market to create intimate relationship with every customer.

Limitations of Intelligent Agents

 Stealing data and illegal access

Web agents may try to get access to databases they are not permitted to access
or for which there is an access change.
  Free use of resources

Agents try to steal resources from remote hosts.

 Unauthorized program execution

This is also known as Trojan horse and agents can execute programs that are
harmful to the remote hosts.

 Data stripping or alteration

It is a concern for a site that sends out agents to remote hosts and it could
potentially affect other sites.

 Deceitful agent behaviour

Agents can mislead other agents or hosts about their intent and can lie about
transactions.

Ethical and Legal Consideration in Business Analytics

Business organization that makes use of data analytics must address the ethical
use of data. There should be a common code of ethics, and standards to be
followed by analytic professionals similar to other industry.

The following ethical and legal consideration need to be recognised in

connection with business analytics.

 Comply with legal requirements

A company should comply with legal requirements in its use of analytics.

 Cultural and social norms

A company should assess beyond legal requirements whether its use of

analytics reflects cultural and social norms about acceptable activities.

 Interest of stakeholders

A company should assess the impact of its use of analytics on the trust in the
company held by a wide range of stakeholders.

 Accountability
A company should use analytics with accountability. Accountability begins with
an acknowledgment that analytics can have a negative as well as beneficial
impact on the individual.

 Data Protection

A company should implement appropriate safeguards to protect the security

information that it uses in analytics.

 Due Care

A company should assess whether its use of analytics involve sensitive area and
if so accompany it with reasonable safeguards proportionate to the risk.

 Confidentiality

The private data obtained from a person with their consent should not be
exposed for use by other businesses or individuals.