Merged Datasets: An Analytic Tool for Evidence-Based Management
提出一种合并独立数据集的方法，用于进行精确快速的定量分析，支持循证管理中的文化变革、软硬指标关联、前后测比较和项目评估等关键任务。
Many businesses fail to merge and analyze data effectively. When data are merged from diverse independent sources across a business — something that is now practical and inexpensive — it becomes possible to conduct rigorous pretest-posttest comparisons of complex datasets with a precision, speed, and breadth that have not been practical until now. This paper describes a straightforward method for merging independent datasets and using the compiled data to run informative quantitative analyses that facilitate sound decision-making. Our approach can help support several critical tasks in evidence-based management: documenting changes in the corporate culture; measuring linkages between “soft” perceptual variables and “hard” performance metrics; conducting rigorous pretest-posttest comparisons; and evaluating program effectiveness. We provide case-study examples using merged datasets, along with a brief discussion of experimental designs, underlying theory, pitfalls, impediments, and essential features.