Proceedings of The 20th World Multi-Conference on Systemics, Cybernetics and Informatics (WMSCI 2016)
Managing Analytics through Metaphor
Joseph M. Woodside
Department of Decision and Information Sciences, Stetson University
DeLand, FL, USA
and
Shahram Amiri
Department of Decision and Information Sciences, Stetson University
DeLand, FL, USA
ABSTRACT
Metaphors are a means to gain further insights into human
activity and the world, and through quantitative or qualitative
metaphors a mechanism is created to allow individuals to
understand abstract concepts. As no two things are exact, each
psychological process utilizes an illusion to create sameness
and every thought is at least in part a metaphor. When a
manager selects a metaphor they are also selecting a similar
knowledge set, and metaphors allows conceptual mappings
between domains as managers address similar business
problems. The analytics domain contains a number of
computational metaphors that managers must select and process
accurately, however most managers are not formally trained in
these metaphors or accessing metaphorical management
processes steps. Furthermore there is an ongoing question of
decision trust for using analytical methods vs. managerial
instinct. This paper reviews a set of current analytics
metaphors, and recommends a managerial process for managing
analytics through metaphor.
Keywords: Analytics, Metaphor, Decision Tree, Neural
Network, Association Analysis, Genetic Algorithm
1. INTRODUCTION
Global management challenges are prompting the use of
metaphors to address business complexity. In addition, 1 in 3
business leaders do not trust the information to make and
communicate decisions. This complexity is being driven by
information overload and the rise of Big Data. Big Data
reflects the volume, growth, and types of data, as well as the
tremendous opportunities available to unlock the potential
value. Big Data has expanded into every area of the global
economy with economic activity requiring data similar to
human capital. The growth in multimedia and mobile devices
has also created opportunities for tremendous amounts of
location and personal data. The digital universe is doubling in
size every two years driven by all our connected devices. By
2020 there will be as many digital bits as stars in the universe,
and data generated annually is estimated at 44 trillion gigabytes
[1-3].
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Given Big Data, leaders cannot simply trust instinct as there
may be patterns of information that are being overlooked and
must utilize analytics to offer decision support capabilities. In
addition given the global nature and complexity of
communication for results and dissemination of information is
challenging, unless it can be expressed in an easy to formulate
and interpret manner such as through metaphors [1-3].
A common set of frequently used analytics metaphors include
decision trees, market basket analysis, neural networks, and
genetic algorithms. Each algorithm uses a familiar set of
universal concepts which create the metaphor, and allow better
managerial understanding of the application. A decision tree is
grown or divides a dataset until each division contains members
of the same class. Splits or branches are used, as well as
pruning to avoid overfitting. A branch is an outcome path and
a leaf is the final detailed choice. Business applications of
decision trees include patient and customer segmentation.
Association discovers the relationships between variables.
Market basket analysis is a form of association and as a
business application discovers customer buying habits by
developing marketing for related products. A neural network is
an algorithm that emulates the human brain. The neural
network analyzes massive amounts of information to identify
patterns and perform well within changing environments and
parallel processing. A business application included fraud
detection. Genetic algorithms invoke evolution or survival-of-
the-fittest processes to identify increasingly optimal solutions.
This method is best used to review solutions with millions of
possibilities. An application includes business investment
decisions [4-5].
Analytics capabilities can lead to managerial learning or
creation of new mental models. Mental models can include
routine use of known methods, or development of new
methods. These mental models can be conceptualized and
developed through metaphors [6]. A managerial process for
managing analytics through metaphor contains three primary
steps: 1.) defining business problem or opportunity, 2.) identify
analytics metaphor solutions, 3.) developing mental model.
Managers that are better able to communicate and employ these
process steps will over time contribute to individual and
 Proceedings of The 20th World Multi-Conference on Systemics, Cybernetics and Informatics (WMSCI 2016)
organizational learning leading to sustained competitive
advantages [7].
2. ORGANIZATIONAL METAPHORS
Metaphors are used commonly in business, and organizational
metaphors often drive the way organizations work and how the
organizations make decisions. Typically metaphors must be
designed with appropriate richness and with usage constrains,
such that the metaphors are able to be utilized across varying
cultures and contexts. For example organizations may use a
ship metaphor, bringing new employees "on board" and
"running a tight ship". The organizations also sail in specific
directions as determined by their ³captain´ or CEO. However
this metaphor is losing favor due our turbulent business
environment with ever changing direction, it also limits
underlying empowerment of employees. Organizations may use
sports as a metaphor, building a "team", "keeping the ball in
play", and "winning against the competition" [1, 8].
Information can also be applied as a metaphor through the
conduit metaphor, where ideas or information are objects,
linguistic forms are containers for ideas, and communication is
sending the information through the conduit. Between the
beginning and end common issues include the accuracy of
transmitted information and how well do the symbols
demonstrate the desired meaning. While assumption may exist
that all information is provided, this is often not the case and
additional information must be made available through iterative
questions and answers in a business setting. Information and
organizational knowledge may also take the metaphor of
harvesting, and collecting information from the field to
aggregate in storage silos or knowledge databases. Information
can also be considered as a raw resource metaphor that needs to
be extracted or mined, processed, and refined to become
valuable knowledge for decision making [9].
3. ANALYTICS METAPHORS
Decision Trees
Decision trees are one of the most frequently used analytics
techniques and area based on machine learning classification
and uses a living tree as a metaphor for interpretability and
accessibility of results communication. From an analytics
standpoint the model is constructed from a set of inputs and
output and the method is used to grow the tree until the grown
tree contains an equal dataset of members from the same class.
As in nature, the tree contains branches with varying splits and
leaves. A branch contains the output of a classification of an
input variable. The leaf on the end of the branch contains the
final selection for the pattern. From an algorithmic standpoint
each branch and leaf can followed as a series of increasingly
complex If-Then rules to navigate the tree structure. This initial
buildout of the tree is known as the growth phase, and the can
be iteratively grown to select the best resulting tree. The
growth starts with a root or collection of all items in the dataset
and is grown to separate the dataset items into branches and
leaves. Once the tree is fully grown, the tree must be pruned.
Pruning in nature is used to control growth and maintain
symmetry among the branches, similarly in a decision tree the
final tree is pruned to avoid overfitting the data and reduce the
tree using a validation dataset to the best set of elements. From
an analytic standpoint the Gini Index and information gain can
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be used to evaluate the goodness of the branches or splits and
regrow the tree iteratively as needed following each result.
A decision tree is grown or divides a dataset until each division
contains members of the same class. Splits or branches are
used, as well as pruning to avoid overfitting. A branch is an
outcome path and a leaf is the final detailed choice. Business
applications of decision trees include patient and customer
segmentation [4-5].
Market Basket
Association analytics is another popular analytics methodology
that identifies patterns in the relationships between data
variables and uses a market basket metaphor. This can be
thought of as when a customer adds one product to their
shopping basket or cart which other products are they likely to
add to their shopping basket or cart. The association rule data
mining utilizes an algorithm to find these product relationships
or affinities. To assess the association analysis performance
common methods include using support, confidence, and lift.
Differing from decision drees these are not seeking to classify
an output, and rather is an unsupervised method to discover
these patters. This information can be leveraged by a business
to promote products together or place products together in a
physical or virtual location. Additional applications include
cross-selling, store design, website design, promotions, and
customer navigation [4-5].
Neural Networks
Neural networks is an algorithm modeled after a human brain
metaphor of biological activity. In our brain neurons are
connected and learn over time from experience. Similar to our
brains, the neural network searches and processes massive
amounts of data to identify outcomes in a changing
environment and based on learning. Neural networks use a set
of inputs, hidden layers, and an output to classify and predict
data. This is similar to brain activity where we take a set of
environmental inputs process largely in an unknown
methodology, and output a result. These results are often
informed over time through experience and learning, in neural
networks these are referred to as weights of the variables and
impact these may have on the output. Business applications
include stock trading, fraud detection, customer relationship
management, and engineering [4-5]
Genetic Algorithms
Genetic algorithms are a supervised methodology that utilize
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The metaphor used for genetic algorithms is natural selection.
Steps include mutating or varying the samples, selecting
samples, measuring samples with a fitness function, and
iteratively repeating until a fittest model or survival of the fittest
sample is found. This method is best used to review solutions
with millions of possibilities. Examples of applications include
business investment decisions, traveling salesman, and
transportation and telecommunications data routing. [10].
4. MANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONS
Managers must be able to easily communicate analytics
methods and results to a wide variety of stakeholders. In
addition they must have a repeatable easy to follow process for
consistency and distribution for team training. A managerial
process for managing analytics through metaphor includes three
 Proceedings of The 20th World Multi-Conference on Systemics, Cybernetics and Informatics (WMSCI 2016)

primary steps: 1.) defining business problem or opportunity, 2.)
identify analytics metaphor solutions, 3.) developing mental
model.
Define Business Problem or Opportunity
The first step of clearly defining the business problem or
opportunity is a critical part of the process, though many times
bypassed in favor of immediately staring the technical analytics
solution. However the definition allows the development of
clear expectations and increases the chance of project success.
It also assists with communication, which is also the primary
goal of managing through metaphor. The definition may
include the systems, people, and processes that will be included
in the solution. Data definition or metadata is also documented
to ensure the appropriate analytics metaphor is selected. This
includes the data sources, data types, data definitions, data
quality, and data validation rules. Business requirements are
collected to align the solution with the overall organizational
strategy and interviews are conducted to realize the full
potential of the solution and involve key stakeholders in the
solution process.
Identify Analytics Metaphor
The second step involves selection of the appropriate analytics
metaphor. The first steps facilitates this selection process
through accurate definition. For example decision trees, neural
networks, and genetic algorithms are supervised analytics
methods that accepts continuous or categorical variables for
prediction and classification. Whereas market basket analysis is
an unsupervised analytics method that accepts continuous or
categorical variables. The definition also indicates the analytics
type of classification or prediction based on the expected output.
When a manager selects a particular metaphor, they also
implicitly choosing the best closest epistemological corollary.
Metaphors allow for easy translation from a well-known domain
to an abstract domain. The metaphor permits a method via
which individuals can understand the abstract analytics
algorithms and aids in understanding across a variety of
contexts and cultures. Knowledge is then formed as a result of
the methods or metaphors used to conceptualize the problem.
This knowledge is then captured as a mental model in the next
step for individual and organizational learning.
Knowledge-based theory of the firm posits knowledge as a
strategic firm resource, and a source of sustained competitive
advantage. Learning includes maintaining and building mental
models through new information. Individual and organizational
learning is regulated by the usage of metaphors and managers
must ensure the criteria and foundations are in place to promote
the use of metaphors to lead to increased learning.
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technology, and tasks. Mental models have been linked with
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effectiveness through a shared mental model.
Mental models influence behavior and create reasoning basis,
which improve human decision making, by allowing pre-defined
models, which speed information processing supplemented by
Big Data Analytics. When organizational members share
information or mental model similarity, task processes and
outcomes, they understand perspectives, communicate easier,
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performance. Decisions based on shared knowledge and
understanding yields improved decision making quality.

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