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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is Available:
ISBN 9781119286554 (Hardcover)
ISBN 9781119286998 (ePDF)
ISBN 9781119286981 (ePub)
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Cover Image: © Ricardo Reitmeyer/iStockphoto
To Luit, Titus, and Fien.
To my wonderful wife, Katrien, and kids Ann-Sophie, Victor, and Hannelore.
To my parents and parents-in-law.
To Cindy, for her unwavering support.
Sandra Wilikens
Secretary General, responsible for CSR and member of the Executive Committee, BNP Paribas Fortis
In today's corporate world, strategic priorities tend to center on customer and shareholder value. One of the consequences is that analytics often focuses too much on complex technologies and statistics rather than long-term value creation. With their book Profit-Driven Business Analytics, Verbeke, Bravo, and Baesens pertinently bring forward a much-needed shift of focus that consists of turning analytics into a mature, value-adding technology. It further builds on the extensive research and industry experience of the author team, making it a must-read for anyone using analytics to create value and gain sustainable strategic leverage. This is even more true as we enter a new era of sustainable value creation in which the pursuit of long-term value has to be driven by sustainably strong organizations. The role of corporate employers is evolving as civic involvement and social contribution grow to be key strategic pillars.
It is a great pleasure to acknowledge the contributions and assistance of various colleagues, friends, and fellow analytics lovers to the writing of this book. This book is the result of many years of research and teaching in business analytics. We first would like to thank our publisher, Wiley, for accepting our book proposal.
We are grateful to the active and lively business analytics community for providing various user fora, blogs, online lectures, and tutorials, which proved very helpful.
We would also like to acknowledge the direct and indirect contributions of the many colleagues, fellow professors, students, researchers, and friends with whom we collaborated during the past years. Specifically, we would like to thank Floris Devriendt and George Petrides for contributing to the chapters on uplift modeling and profit-driven analytical techniques.
Last but not least, we are grateful to our partners, parents, and families for their love, support, and encouragement.
We have tried to make this book as complete, accurate, and enjoyable as possible. Of course, what really matters is what you, the reader, think of it. Please let us know your views by getting in touch. The authors welcome all feedback and comments—so do not hesitate to let us know your thoughts!
Wouter Verbeke
Bart Baesens
Cristián Bravo
May 2017