How Can Business Analytics Be Used in Information Warfare - Literature review Example

How business analytics can be used in information warfare Name: Institute: How business analytics can be used in information warfare Abstract The successful management as well as development of data systems in addition to business analytics is vital to the achievement of any company. Novel technological methods and developments for data analysis have permitted businesses to not just enhance their processes and permit for greater effectiveness, but have as well offered organisations with a platform wherein through which they can retain its competitive advantage, plan for the future, and cut costs in the digital age. Notably, business analytics extensively utilise data, predictive and explanatory modelling quantitative and statistical analysis, as well as fact-established management to impel decision making, and it is for that reason that is strongly attached to management science. In the study, we discern that analytics could be utilised as input for decisions made by human or could steer decisions that are completely computerized. In the past years, the hasty advancement in communication as well as information technologies and their growing popularity in the business community has transformed the process of communication and with it the implication along with significances of information warfare. The academic paper seeks to critically discuss about how business analytics can be used in information warfare. INTRODUCTION Business analytics (BA) according to Selvaraju and Peterson (2013) systematic exploration of data in the organisation with much concentration on statistical analysis, and it is utilised by organisations dedicated to data-driven decision making.  Besides that, business analytics is utilised to achieve perceptivity that notify decisions of the business and may be utilised to optimize as well as automate business processes.  Companies that are data-driven handle their information/data as a company asset and balance it to gain competitive edge over their competitors. Effective business analytics relies on the quality of data, experienced analysts who comprehend the technologies as well as the organisation and the business dedication to data-driven decision making. Business are used for data mining (data exploration to find novel relationships and patterns), quantitative and statistical analysis (giving details why a particular outcome arose), multivariate and A/B testing (Experimenting to examine past decisions), and predictive analytics and modelling (predicting future outcomes). On the other hand, Information Warfare in its most all-encompassing sense is a struggle over the process of information and communications, which starts with the arrival of human disagreement as well as communication. Stevens (2013) defines information warfare as the use of destroyer on a great magnitude against information systems and assets, contrary to the networks as well as computers that support the four vital infrastructures (transportation, financial, communications, and power grid). Still, defending against computer infringement even on a lesser magnitude is in the interests of the nationwide security and is imperative in the present discussion concerning information warfare. The big question is how business analytics can be used in information warfare. DISCUSSION Businesses across the globe are causative to the information warfare threat by being unsuccessful to apply fundamental principles for IT security. By being unsuccessful to apply what is acknowledged with regard to how to avert information attacks, Gillon et al. (2014) posit that such organisations are toting up their computing power to unlawful botnets. For instance, the Russian attack on Georgia in term of denial of service is doubtless the case of factual information warfare, but still they demonstrated that cyber attacks may be utilised for military reasons. In this regard, each company can help lessen that threat by making sure their networks are safe, and this time and again amounts to excellent administration of IT system, Data acquisition (DAQ), which frequently entails mining from more than one business systems, data scrubbing, as well as integration into one warehouse like a data mart or data warehouse. According to Gnatovich (2007), analytic paraphernalia range from predictive modelling application as well as multifaceted data mining to spreadsheets with statistical functions. As data patterns as well as relationships are exposed, fresh queries are asked and the analytic process according to MacKay and Munro (2012) iterates in anticipation of meeting the business goal. Furthermore, predictive models deployment entails record scoring in a database as well as making use of the scores to optimize real-time decisions in business processes as well as applications. Business analytics as well braces strategic decision making in reaction to unpredicted occurrences, and in scores of cases the process of decision making is computerized to back real-time responses. The borders between military as well as economic battlegrounds have turn out to be progressively more unclear. Competitors according to MacKay and Munro (2012) use Military principles of Information Operations while opinions of stakeholders are affected through communicating and distributing preferred data. The business reputation is discredited by means of strategic leaks to the Media as well as to influential persons. For instance, when Vattenfall, a Swedish energy company in 2008 set up its promotion Climate Signature in a number of media together with the company website klimaunterschrift.vattenfall.de, the company did not expect its opponent Greenpeace to respond. Instead, Greenpeace countered the promotion with a successful and elegant promotion of its own by buying the domain klimaunterschrift-vattenfall.de. The distinction between the minus in Greenpeace’s website (klimaunterschrift-vattenfall.de) and dot in Vattenfall’s website (klimaunterschrift.vattenfall.de) was stunning and indiscernible. According to Stevens (2013), Greenpeace website was perplexingly akin to that of Vattenfall, but extremely distinct in content, and as a result, Vattenfalls campaign was seen as nothing above an instance of Greenwashing and so the company looked preposterous. Stevens (2013) posits that Vattenfall was careless in not reserving all feasible websites that had a resembling name, as a consequence revealing itself to a successfully planned counter-offensive. These attacks have happen in the past; and they are intensifying owing to the heightened utilisation of the Internet and learnt lessons from the utilisation of disinformation by the Military. Whereas the Military strengthen the application of Information Warfare, more individuals are trained in this area, and ultimately exit to look for well paying jobs in companies where their skills are vital. According to Gillon et al. (2014), some of the people with information warfare skills are used to counter their competitors, even though there is no proven evidence of such actions. These attacks are not substituting the conventional marketing instruments, in a number of companies, but still they are too close to these conventional techniques. The successful application of web 2.0 provides an additional set of arsenal that business use to counter their rivals. The utilisation of all interactive media like Facebook, twitter, blogs, as well as other tools assists agile companies in their struggle with the clumsy (and often big companies or still governments. Therefore, campaigning is no more a scuffle of budgets but of innovative intelligences as well as creative techniques. According to Gnatovich 2007), mastering the web 2.0 channels has turn out to be a decisive factor in the status war, particularly in the world of business. By just placing hearsay in a crucial blog or Facebook can instigate a campaign that can simply unfold further devoid of any additional input from the architect. For instance, a video tactically uploaded on YouTube can lead to the formation of a devoted website, comments on Facebook as well as television coverage, as seen in the Greenpeace and Vattenfall case. However, these activities can flop; for example, AT&T was attacked by Verizon attacked in 2009 due to its contemptible 3G coverage. In retaliation, AT&T counter attacked by using its Facebook to offer an open debate in a sincere effort to turn the dispute to its advantage. The result was less than helpful for AT&T as the majority of the responses were in fact critical of AT&T. These criticisms were on the AT&T site for all to see. Avoidance of these attacks begins much earlier with management issues; thus, a company needs a system for warning and which intends to recognize potential attacks on a reputation of the company beforehand. In this regard, business analytics aspires to bring about transformations in the company which alleviate the threat of warfare on the company’s reputation. This form of attack can take place when a successful organisation comes under pressure from some aggressive stakeholders, and these attacks increases through the utilization of social media platforms and as well plainly during the AGMs. For instance, Ford stakeholders publicly condemned the top management, accusing it of being ineffectual and lethargic, and as a result, the work time for top management was exhausted in several fruitless meetings which did nothing to aid in alleviating the threat of attacks on the company’s reputation. Such a reaction is often seen when there is no crisis plan prepared and Selvaraju and Peterson (2013) terms it as muddling through. Ultimately Ford appointed a director to establish a crisis management as well as issues management team so as to counter the warfare from the stakeholders as well as to put the company resourcefully in order for future warfare. If this plan was ready from the beginning, the warfare might have been swallowed in the bud and harm prevented from the company. For Ford this undertaking was costly both in financially and in loss of reputation, but it make it known that information warfare has turn out to be a part of day after day company business reality, and only business analytics can counter it. For this reason, corporations must be conscious of this reality and are progressively more needed to counter information warfare on their organisations and build up attacks so as to capitalize on business opportunities. The appropriate utilisation of business analytics and the professional intelligence accumulation is hasty turning out to be a strategic benefit for those who comprehend this process. Companies that opt to pay no attention to both the danger inflicted by Information Warfare as well as the chances this field presents will be the ultimate losers. While the global physical and political hurdles are collapsing, every international market is being opened for businesses, generating a ferocious competition in companies to promote their only concerned about the prosperity but as well the continued existence in this tsunami of worldwide reach. Right from the start until now, organisations are utilising business analytics to obtain the information from numerous sources of data concealed in diverse internal systems. CONCLUSION In conclusion, it has been argue that the internet is still a moderately novel phenomenon and it will take a number of years before every consequence and possibility is realised. Information Warfare and Business Analytics is a field which is progressively more utilised by organisations, security is no more a setback that can be resolved technically, but needs a bigger liability and supervision of the Internet information. Besides that, the internet has offered novel opportunities to obtain information, but it has as well provided a limitless number of techniques to manipulate, promote and achieve information devoid of damaging or breaking into systems. Importantly, through business analytics, organisation can understand the threats pose by information warfare as well as the opportunities that come with such threats. REFERENCES Gillon, K., Aral, S., Lin, C.-Y., Mithas, S., & Zozulia, M. (2014). Business Analytics: Radical Shift or Incremental Change?Business Analytics: Radical Shift or Incremental Change? Communications of the Association for Information Systems, 34, 1-22. Gnatovich, R. (2007). Making a case for business analytics. Strategic Finance, 88(8), 46-51. MacKay, B., & Munro, I. (2012). Information Warfare and New Organizational Landscapes: An Inquiry into the ExxonMobil-Greenpeace Dispute over Climate Change. Organization Studies, 33(11), 1507-1536. Selvaraju, S., & Peterson, C. (2013). A Framework to Utilize Business Analytics to Sustain a Lean Transformation. IIE Annual Conference. Proceedings, 1(1), 1014-1023. Stevens, T. (2013). Information Warfare: A Response to Taddeo. Philosophy & Technology, 26(2), 221-225. Read More