The proliferation and advanced capabilities of data analytics has led to the management of human resources by the numbers in many major corporations.  Companies such as; Google with their People Analytics department; Motorola with their use of arm-mounted terminals; Zynga with their use of an Intel-created employee tracking devise; IBM creating mathematical models of their employee’s skill-sets to aid in efficient deployment and Ann Taylor using computer programs to determine which employees should work when and where.   I want to explore the efficacy of distilling human behavior down into numbers as a means to obtain a competitive advantage by using metrics to control costs, improve quality and create distinctive capabilities.  Employee productivity is the value that a company’s “human resource” adds to the company as increased productivity per employee means an increase to the company’s overall productivity and therefore profitability.  The question of employee value must be addressed.  Numbers do little to provide managers with the tools to manage efficiently.

I believe this trend will only grow in the future as technologies continue to advance.  The Internet has changed the competitiveness landscape forever and it is even more essential that companies learn to manage by numbers through the use of big data to gain a competitive advantage over rivals and to succeed in today’s digital atmosphere.