Districts where residents have the highest average educational achievement tend to be the smaller ones. Staying true to the tradition of blogging, we're stating this without having conducted any research whatsoever. Still, we're confident in the assertion. Oh, and did we mention that districts where residents have the lowest average educational achievement tend to be the smaller ones. Yep. … [Read more...]
Crowdsourcing big data
Big data is big news. Companies like Amazon, Google and major supermarkets are delivering new services and competitive advantage through analysing their massive datasets. The Economist reports that 30% of Amazon's sales are through its "you may also like" recommendations. Organizations everywhere want to make similar use of their own data. Articles and conferences on "predictive … [Read more...]
Drop-out "early warning" system to promote on-time graduation
Decision Mechanics have been working with Prism Decision Systems, LLC to design an early warning system for identifying high-school students who are at risk of dropping out. The project was undertaken to demonstrate how an agile development approach could—in a matter of weeks, not years—deliver focused, actionable, real-time information to educational decision-makers at all levels. Drop-out … [Read more...]
Decision Mechanics develop Resilient Leader web application for Sunray7
Leadership development consultancy Sunray7 recently retained Decision Mechanics to develop a web application based on their well-regarded "Resilient Leader" assessment and development approach. Sunray7 have helped a range of leading multinational companies develop their future leaders. Their clients include: Barclays British Telecom Orange the UK's Ministry of Defence Decision … [Read more...]
Analyze it like Beckham
With the 2010 (football/soccer) World Cup well underway, it's only a matter of time before some teams will have to face the heartbreak of leaving the competition due to a missed penalty. In the "knockout" stages of a football competition each match must produce a winner. If the teams have scored equal number of goals (after additional playing time), the game will be decided on "penalties". A … [Read more...]