perceptual mapping

In a 1958 article, IBM researcher Hans Peter Luhn used the term business intelligence. He defined intelligence as: "the ability to apprehend the interrelationships of presented facts in such a way as to guide action towards a desired goal.
In the work shop being conducted we are being familiarized with the use of SPSS software. SPSS is a comprehensive and flexible statistical analysis and data management solution. SPSS can take data from almost any type of file and use them to generate tabulated reports, charts, and plots of distributions and trends, descriptive statistics, and conduct complex statistical analyses. SPSS is available from several platforms; Windows, Macintosh, and the UNIX systems. You will find SPSS customers in virtually every industry, including telecommunications, banking, finance, insurance, healthcare, manufacturing, retail, consumer packaged goods, higher education, government, and market research.
A topic which I found immensely useful and interesting was perceptual mapping. Perceptual mapping has been used as a strategic management tool for about thirty years. It offers a unique ability to communicate the complex relationships between marketplace competitors and the criteria used by buyers in making purchase decisions and recommendations. Its powerful graphic simplicity appeals to senior management and can stimulate discussion and strategic thinking at all levels of all types of organizations. Perceptual mapping is useful in my area of Human Resources too. An HR perceptual map is a visual rendering of the action plan for human resources that shows how human resources plans to achieve goals and objectives and meet expectations. It includes long-term plans, key-performance indicators, and can be part of a scorecard or dashboard of performance. For e.g., the HR architecture must be aligned with the requirements of the firm’s strategy. Two dimensions of alignment that HR architecture must achieve:-
– Bundling of all HR activities (internal fit)
– Alignment between strategy implementation and HR system (external fit)
Perceptual mapping of the HR activities and HR deliverables will show us elements where HR is not aligned to HR deliverables (HR outcomes that help in achieving firm’s strategy). The HR department on identifying the elements will take actions to align these HR activities with the firm’s strategy to add value to the organisation. Say perceptual map shows that the company’s human resource planning promotes high talent staffing but has poor execution at the recruitment and selection stage. Then the firm could take steps to improve the recruitment and selection process by having a competency based recruitment and training the recruiters.
The workshop has given us hands on experience on SPSS that is being used across sectors today and is not just another theory class.
Pragya Mishra
12153
SIBM-Bangalore