Machine‐learning the business: Using data mining for competitive intelligence
Jesus Mena · Competitive Intelligence Review · 1996
Abstract “Data mining” and “data warehouses” are ways of applying artificial intelligence to create competitive intelligence. Induction‐based data mining software uses machine‐learning algorithms to analyze records in a firm's internal and customer databases, discovering patterns, transactional relationships, and rules that can predict future trends and indicate competitive opportunities. Raw data thus transformed is maintained in a data warehouse, providing support for a variety of analytical tasks and competitive decisions. As a result, questions that traditionally required extensive trial‐and‐error queries or statistical segmenting can be answered automatically. Since the machine‐learning algorithms can identify key intervals (ranges) and attributes (variables) in a database, they can compress a database so that only a few attributes are needed to derive predictive intelligence. Recent studies indicate data mining technology will have a major impact across a wide range of industries within the next three to five years. A table is provided of data mining products with vendor names, phone numbers, and Internet addresses. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.