@jabailo, altho it was more than evident that you were casting Nordstoms attempt at technology and analytics in a very negative way, my first reaction to it ( and I am not a Nordstrom's customer or shareholder, if they have any ) was positive; what an interesting hands-on somewhat old fashioned way of customer relations and product placement, certainly not anything to run to the exits about.
Certainly it is very tech-correct to be in favor of analytics certainly at Internet Evolution but to actually practice what you preach is an entirely different matter. Would you prefer a bevy of salespeople with tablets or a bevy with sleeve garters and dogeared customer notebooks?
I always go back to my experience at Nordstrom years ago. Back then they were incredibly technology adverse. Their "analytics tool"? Every sales person kept a written customer journal. They memorized names and faces. They surveyed "their store" -- the boutiques within each floor that they managed. They looked at what customers were buying...and rejecting and moved goods around to push those things that were selling.
I recall at one job where I spent a day with the production team. It was eye-opening to work in their department and see what they did. And it really helped me when I got back to my desk because I changed how I did certain things to simplify their workload when they got my files. Everytime you cross-pollinate departments you have that opportunity to open eyes to new ways of doing things. Crossing into new disciplines is even more exciting. Just consider the businesses owned by former ballet dancers, or painters, or pilots, etc. Because they don't come with an MBA background they have a whole different view of how to run a business. Sometimes they fail, but sometimes they don't (just like the MBAs).
Analytics can be just as much a creative art as a...well, analytical or technical one. Non homogeneous, non relational data, can include all that is available for the eye to see and the ear to hear. Rather than trying to "fill a need", I think employers should think about creating jobs that are more an investigative reporter...someone who combines research, data, snooping, maybe even paying off sources...the whole gamut of finding answers.
Far from trying to square peg and optimize, this is great new way to bring more people into the workforce who know how to use all the web and smart phone technologies and have a general desire to find things out, but maybe aren't from a traditional IT background.
We see it in other industries, too. For example, I live near the Kennedy Space Center, and NASA works closely with FIT and other universities' engineering and space programs to help design courses and degrees that closely meet its criteria.
It reduces the risk of colleges turning out graduates with "Analytics" degrees which turn out not to be applicable in the workplace, which meanwhile has moved on. It seems to me vital that the private sector get involved with this kind of vocational education.
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