1. The Evidence-Based Organization:
A Platform for Innovation
Professor Dr Jan Recker
Woolworths Chair of Retail Innovation
Information Systems School, Queensland University of Technology
School

2. “The best way to create the future is to shape it”
y f p
Innovation, research and customer‐orientated transformation are key to
surviving a rapidly changing retail landscape according to Woolworths Ltd CEO
g p y g g p g
Grant O'Brien.
Mr O'Brien addressed the QUT Business Leaders' Forum today saying the
investment of nearly $1 million to fund a Chair of Retail Innovation would help
the sector better recognize the needs of customers
customers.
http://hbr.org/2012/10/data‐scientist‐the‐sexiest‐job‐of‐the‐21st‐century/ar/pr
http://www.news.qut.edu.au/cgi‐bin/WebObjects/News.woa/wa/goNewsPage?newsEventID=56077

3. Evidence means ability to innovate

4. Recognizing the relevance of Evidence
 Seeking an understanding
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of true cause-effect relations
 Using flawed decision models
 Relying on status (confidence)
rather than facts (evidence)
 Realizing the availability of
potential evidence
 Opposing tradition, intuition,
folklore and rules of thumb

5. EVIDENCE-BASED DECISIONS
Basic Concepts
“Relying on valid and reliable evidence
Relying
and translating them into practices that
solve problems and innovate
organizations.”

6. Levels of Evidence
Which level is the basis for your decisions?
le el o r

7. What is your source of evidence?
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 External
 Where have other organizations
produced relevant evidence?
 Where has research produced relevant
evidence?
 Internal
 Where do we produce relevant
evidence?
 Where can we produce relevant
evidence?

8. Example – find your internal evidence
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“What can we learn about success
from within our own company?”
company?

9. Inserting scientific principles
Inserting scientific principles
Positive Deviant
 What is the Positive Deviant
evidence for Positive Deviant
Positive Deviant
success? Positive Deviant
Who is truly
Positive Deviant
Sales proces performance

successful? Positive Deviant
 Why are they truly
y y y
ss
successful? Average
 Which true root
causes can we
insert
elsewhere?
Number of customers

10. Finding the True Root Causes
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11. What Causes Performance?
 “It’s not necessarily the process”
 everyone follows the same process model
f ll th d l
 “It’s not the competition”
 process performance independent from local context
 Reward mechanisms
 budget, incentives, degrees of freedom
 Individual motivation and the willingness to
‘do something extra’
 Culture: focus on safety & on customers
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 Creativity: finding new solutions for products,
display and service; willingly deviate from
standardized process
process.

12. The Underlying Model: “Research as a Service”
Inserting scientific principles into emerging evidence‐
based organizations.
b d i ti
Research as an innovation support service.
Research as an innovation support service
Novel conceptual perspectives
Rigorous scientific principles
Quality empirical evidence
Increased research bandwidth
Unbiased observation
Explores evidence internally
and externally
Ability to develop capability.

13. Wrap‐Up: From Confidence to Evidence
Moving to reliable, valid and ultimately credible decisions
Requires data and scientific analysis capabilities
Requires data and scientific analysis capabilities
Can be provided by university and research institutions, but are
increasingly sought as internal capability
Allows capitalizing on external and i
All i li i l d internal evidence for
l id f
organizational innovation
Means levelling of hierarchies
Means levelling of hierarchies
“If the decision is going to be made by facts, then
everyone’s facts […]are equal. If the decision is going
’ f t [ ] l If th d i i i i
to be made on the basis of people’s opinions, then
mine count for a lot more. “
James Barksdale
13 former CEO Netscape

14. Key Lessons
Innovations require decisions about unstructured and
complex problems. Risk of failure is high.
Evidence-based decision-making increases
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innovation reliability, credibility and ultimately
chance of success.
You do h
Y d have access t – b t not awareness of –
to but t f
internal and external evidence.
Data scientists are becoming an essential resource.
resource

15. Prof. Jan Recker
Woolworths Chair of Retail Innovation
Information Systems School
Queensland University of Technology
e j.recker@qut.edu.au
w www janrecker com
www.janrecker.com
t janrecker