business focus 29
Chartered accountants Haines Watts presents a series of articles based on its blogs. It offers analysis, reviews and comments and welcomes your feedback at
www.hwca.com/opinion
of the month
Micro-management – small focus, big results writes Simon Garrett, partner at Haines Watts
New technology has led to a recruitment drive for micro- economists (they concentrate on individual markets or companies, rather than dealing with the big ticket items like national interest rates and economic growth rate – that’s the realm of macro-economists).
In the past, micro-economists have created models and then have tested them against the data. With advances in technology, micro-economists are now doing it the other way around starting with the data – and it’s highly lucrative.
The supply by hi-tech businesses of huge amounts of data has enabled a number
of micro-economists to forecast human behaviour exceptionally well. They look for patterns and take into account psychology and are now sometimes included in new product launch teams – their work is even shaping how a company operates.
Big corporations are hiring micro-economists to determine what their customers or employees might do next. For instance, they can look at personnel records to identify staff who are at high risk of leaving or being poached.
Micro-economists’ skills soon pay for themselves by boosting profitability. Uber is a famous example of this – it learnt that
drivers are sensitive to price so, at peak times when demand surges, Uber pushes its prices up, which encourages drivers to go online, with the result that more taxis go onto the roads.
Micro-economists’ work has been used very successfully in online shopping. For example, by looking at the time lapse between clicks when someone goes onto a website, businesses are using relatively new technology to predict whether the viewer is a serious customer or not. The website can then be quickly updated to narrow
the offer down and also show appropriate adverts, thereby enhancing the chances of a sale and improving profitability.
More and more businesses are hiring these sorts of companies who predict outcomes now and, with continual improvements in technology, it’s clear their time has come.
For further details on financial matters visit the website.
Details:
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Restaurants: Protect your concept
A clearly defi ned purpose and character can make a restaurant stronger – but it needs to be protected.
For more information visit:
jelfgroup.com/blog/protecting-concept or to get a quote call 0118 983 9800.
Exceponal
Jelf is a trading name of Jelf Insurance Brokers Ltd (Reg No. 0837227) which is part of Jelf Group plc and is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Registered address: Hillside Court, Bowling Hill, Chipping Sodbury, Bristol BS37 6JX (Registered in England and Wales). Not all products and services offered are regulated by the FCA.
JIB135.07.15 THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – THAMES VALLEY – SEPTEMBER 2015
www.businessmag.co.uk
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