Martin Lindstrom, a modern-day Sherlock Holmes, harnesses the power of “small data” in his quest to discover the next big thing Hired by the world's leading brands to find out what makes their customers tick, Martin Lindstrom spends 300 nights a year in strangers’ homes, carefully observing every detail in order to uncover their hidden desires, and, ultimately, the clues to a multi-million dollar product. Lindstrom connects the dots in this globetrotting narrative that will enthrall enterprising marketers, as well as anyone with a curiosity about the endless variations of human behavior. You’ll learn... • How a noise reduction headset at 35,000 feet led to the creation of Pepsi’s new trademarked signature sound. • How a worn down sneaker discovered in the home of an 11-year-old German boy led to LEGO’s incredible turnaround. • How a magnet found on a fridge in Siberia resulted in a U.S. supermarket revolution. • How a toy stuffed bear in a girl’s bedroom helped revolutionize a fashion retailer’s 1,000 stores in 20 different countries. • How an ordinary bracelet helped Jenny Craig increase customer loyalty by 159% in less than a year. • How the ergonomic layout of a car dashboard led to the redesign of the Roomba vacuum.

How a new understanding of warfare can help the military fight today’s conflicts more effectively The way wars are fought has changed starkly over the past sixty years. International military campaigns used to play out between large armies at central fronts. Today's conflicts find major powers facing rebel insurgencies that deploy elusive methods, from improvised explosives to terrorist attacks. Small Wars, Big Data presents a transformative understanding of these contemporary confrontations and how they should be fought. The authors show that a revolution in the study of conflict--enabled by vast data, rich qualitative evidence, and modern methods—yields new insights into terrorism, civil wars, and foreign interventions. Modern warfare is not about struggles over territory but over people; civilians—and the information they might choose to provide—can turn the tide at critical junctures. The authors draw practical lessons from the past two decades of conflict in locations ranging from Latin America and the Middle East to Central and Southeast Asia. Building an information-centric understanding of insurgencies, the authors examine the relationships between rebels, the government, and civilians. This approach serves as a springboard for exploring other aspects of modern conflict, including the suppression of rebel activity, the role of mobile communications networks, the links between aid and violence, and why conventional military methods might provide short-term success but undermine lasting peace. Ultimately the authors show how the stronger side can almost always win the villages, but why that does not guarantee winning the war. Small Wars, Big Data provides groundbreaking perspectives for how small wars can be better strategized and favorably won to the benefit of the local population.

A comprehensive introduction to flexible, efficient tools for describing massive data sets to improve the scalability of data analysis.

This important book considers the ways in which small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can thrive in the age of big data. To address this central issue from multiple viewpoints, the editors introduce a collection of experiences, insights, and guidelines from a variety of expert researchers, each of whom provides a piece to solve this puzzle.

This book should be of interest to statistics lecturers who want ready-made data sets complete with notes for teaching.

A method to find and connect the small data clues that show what the future’s big picture will look like. “Strategy decisions are like playing high-stakes blackjack, and scanning is the technique for counting cards. Martin Schwirn isn’t a pro gambler, but an expert in scanning.” —Bill Ralston, cofounder of Strategic Business Insights and author of Scenario Planning Handbook An organization’s future success depends on their decision makers’ ability to anticipate changes and disruptions in the marketplace. But how do you get information about tomorrow today? How can your decisions today account for tomorrow’s uncertainties? Small Data, Big Disruptions presents a tool kit to foresee coming changes: Understand why big data will not help you with understanding tomorrow’s disruptions. The future starts with small data—first. Learn the proven 4-step process to capture small data that help envision the future. See examples of how the process anticipated major disruptions. Implement the process in your organization and learn how to initiate meaningful actions. Small Data, Big Disruptions provides the information you need to anticipate the future, understand tomorrow’s market dynamics, and make the necessary decisions to meet the future on your terms. Small Data, Big Disruptions lets you exploit the period between the moment you could know about emerging disruptions and the moment most everybody will know about it. It’s the difference between being ahead of the curve and struggling to catch up.

Now your students can transform their mobile phones and tablets into tools for learning about everything from weather to water quality. Big Data, Small Devices shows you how. This book is designed for Earth and environmental science teachers who want to help students tap into, organize, and deploy large data sets via their devices to investigate the world around them. Using the many available websites and free apps, students can learn to detect patterns among phenomena related to the atmosphere, biosphere, geosphere, hydrosphere, and seasons. Written by veteran teachers, Big Data, Small Devices is organized into two major parts. It covers tools that help you both find real-time data and understand what to do with the data. Then, the authors provide sample app-based activities that you can use as written or adapt to your specific needs. These days, opportunities to learn are as close as your students' personal technology. As the authors of Big Data, Small Devices note, " Allowing students to conduct investigations using their smart phone in app-based activities allows them to be more engaged in science investigations."