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their customer relationship management and their supply chain
management processes. Davenport and Harris (2007) assert that
organizations now compete by looking beyond merely simple statis-
tical analysis and instead focus on “predictive modeling,” integrat-
ing and aggregating internal and external data sources, optimizing
their value chains by gaining greater insight into possible delivery
challenges, and using “historical sales and pricing trends” (p. 84) to
maximize their yields. More organizations are placing importance
on performing trend analysis to drive marketing strategies. It is also
undeniable that high-profile organizations such as American Airlines,
Capital One, Citibank, and Marriott (Davenpor