648 Principles of Supply Chain Management
Other techniques include articial intelligence techniques such as natural-language pro-
cessing, pattern recognition, and machine learning (Lohr 2012).
There is little doubt that the technology of data collection is driving organizations to
confront the issue of what to do with it. Entities of all types are being forced to recognize
they must deal with this issue or suffer the consequences of competitors who do.
Conclusions
Although big data and data analytics are in the spotlight, many companies are unsure
how to proceed. Top managers are hesitant to make large investments until they have a
better idea of how to capitalize on the potential. Many are not convinced their organiza-
tions are ready or they ...