A project’s scope specifies the work needed to deliver a product, service, or result, given specified features and functions. At its core, scoping a project requires accurately predicting the allocation of resources for a given initiative in a way that forecasts answers to questions about performance, including timeline, cost, and deliverables. Such a skill is highly valued by organizations but is
This technical note is designed to be used early in a graduate-level elective course on strategic analysis, though it can be used at multiple levels, including advanced undergraduate and Executive Education. The note assumes some basic knowledge of hypothesis testing or the hypothesis-driven approach as a tool used in strategic analysis, particularly in the context of consulting. Building on this
This note gives an overview of intersectionality, which is a theory, originally from legal scholarship, that explains how multiple forms of social inequality interact to produce individuals' experiences of marginalization. Intersectionality gives us a language to understand the systemic practices and structural barriers that perpetuate social inequities. As a theoretical paradigm, intersectionalit
This final note in the five-part series on competitive-cost analysis introduces the concept of the experience curve, which can be analyzed with a log-log relationship between unit cost and cumulative volume.
This technical note introduces the concept of applying subtractive thinking to problem-solving. The essential work of almost any employee in an organization is to solve problems and make something better. And more often than not, the tendency is to add to what currently exists, not take something away. This note shares obstacles to the use of subtractive ideas for transformations and changes, as w
The Internet of Things (IoT) can be generally explained as a network of objects that collect data regarding their surroundings and transfer it across the internet to various systems. While the addition of more information can improve a business’s data-driven decision-making, should all businesses invest in IoT? This technical note explores IoT technologies, discusses how it is being used in indust
A digital twin can be described as a digital model of a real object. But what makes it different from a prototype? How are digital twins being used in business settings outside manufacturing? How do they relate to machine learning and augmented reality? When digital twins meet their fullest potential, they enable businesses to optimize operations by managing their assets more efficiently, generati
This technical note explores how the macroeconomy affects businesses and individuals in everyday life, from pricing to job prospects to investing. Students of macroeconomics will gain insight into the benefits and usefulness of their studies both while in school and beyond.
This technical note provides a compiled 2022 annual report for the United States of America, consolidated for the public and private sectors. It includes financial statements, accompanying notes, discussion and analysis, and a summary of risk factors. An introductory section specifies the report’s overarching purpose, as well as describing the role of accounting more generally for any defined enti
Logistic regression is a modeling technique often used to predict a binary variable—a variable coded as 1 if an event of interest occurs (e.g., a borrower defaults on a loan) and coded as 0 otherwise. This note details how logistic regression applies the logistic function to generate a probability forecast for a binary event. It also includes an example of how to fit a logistic regression model to
Implicitly or explicitly, product-development teams in digital spaces will go through a process of gathering and employing data to help them create and iterate upon a user experience that invites high engagement. An important part of gathering this data is having actual users test the product, but in order to learn what testable criteria constitute successful user behaviors, managers and teams can
This technical note introduces readers to two important concepts involving design in the digital sphere: continuous design and hypothesis-driven design (HDD). Continuous design applies the proposition that rather than doing a large amount of design and research up front, a team is better off building smaller, specific items, testing them with users, and iteratively changing the design based on wha