Most businesses generate a lot of data, but relatively few use it effectively to create competitive advantage and enable high performance. Accenture’s Dave Rich, Brian McCarthy and Jeanne Harris use research findings and their experience to outline how high-performance businesses are using analytics to pull ahead of competitors and turn data into actionable insights.

In today’s economic climate, high-performance businesses will increasingly set themselves apart by their ability to quickly make smart decisions. Accenture believes that rolling forecasting is not the solution for many companies, and has created a framework for a more pragmatic alternative—event-driven dynamic planning.

Most company executives have an explicit goal for increasing returns to their shareholders. However, while many companies focus on current operations metrics, such as earnings per share, net income, and economic profit, these often only have a modest impact on shareholder value. This research note introduces several new concepts to help executives in achieving their ultimate objective of increasing shareholder return, including the Accenture Total Return to Shareholder Mapping methodology.

Editor's Note: I highly recommend this one...

Despite widespread optimism among their leaders, many companies were unable to turn the last recession to their advantage. What separated the winners from the losers? Research by the Accenture Institute for Strategic Change found that innovative perspectives on existing knowledge, tools and relationships drove sustained post-recession competitive advantage. Read about what actions the winners took to strengthen their positions.