Dr. Moore is analyzing the sixth element of deep analytics - staff-resources in terms of 5M (man, machine, material, method and money). In today’s business environment of increasing globalization, rapid technological advancement and knowledge based economy, human capital should be considered as a strategic asset and a sustainable resource of competitive advantage in improving performance of a research organization. Deep analytics should be integrated with human resource information system (HRIS) for intelligent, efficient, consistent and correct decision making of top management on various strategic issues of research and development of emerging technological innovations through data visualization tools (e.g. reports, graphical charts, dashboards, alerts and performance metrics).
Figure 1.9 : Staff-resources analytics
Deep analytics is positively associated with decision taking on human resource management and can predict future workforce planning rationally. Deep analytics is the backbone of HRIS which uses information technologies to acquire, store, manipulate, analyze, retrieve and distribute strategic data for effective management of various HR functions such as workforce planning, employee benefits, administration, payroll, recruitment; induction, orientation and on-boarding, training and development, skills management, personnel administration, time management, travel management, personnel cost planning; and performance appraisal. Workforce planning should be done based on workforce demographic data, headcount development, turnover rates, workforce cost planning and workforce composition. It is useful for headcount planning, budgeting, recruiting, learning and continuous monitoring of performance. Workforce process analytics analyzes the effectiveness of HR processes such as payroll, employee administration, time management, jobs and organizational structures, Talent management analytics highlights skills of human resources for innovation of emerging technologies and also strategic alignment. Deep analytics is expected to combine people, information, skills, technologies, applications and business processes to make better strategic and tactical decisions for the innovation, adoption and diffusion of emerging technologies for humanity.
‘Man’ analyzes various aspects of human capital management of technological innovations such as talent acquisition and retention strategy, training, payment function, compensation, reward, incentive and performance evaluation. ‘Machine’ analyzes the basic aspects of tools and automated / semi-automated / manual machines; ‘material’ analyzes planning of raw materials, equipments, semi-finished and finished goods. ‘Method’ explores various aspects of process innovation, intelligent mechanism and procedure. Finally, ‘money’ highlights optimal fund allocation for R&D, rational investment analytics, intelligent project analytics and portfolio rationalization.
It is crucial to analyze dynamics of technological innovation in terms of sources of innovation and roles of individuals, firms, organizations, government and collaborative networks; various resources required for effective technological evolution and diffusion such as 5M i.e. man, machine, material, method and money; dominant design factors, effects of timing and mode of entry. Method is basically process innovation through process mapping : analyze as-is process; identify gaps and design to-be process. Innovation demands the commitment of creative people. Creativity is the underlying process for technological innovation which promotes new ideas through intellectual abilities, thinking style, knowledge, personality, motivation, commitment and interaction with environment.
Individual inventors may contribute through their inventive and entrepreneurial traits, skills and knowledge in multiple domains and highly curious argumentative mindset. Some users or customers or clients or private nonprofit organizations may innovate new products or services based on their own needs. Many firms set up excellent R&D lab and also collaborative networks with customers, suppliers, academic institutes, competitors, government laboratories and nonprofit organizations. Many universities define sound research mission and vision and contribute through publication of research papers. Government also plays an active role in R&D either directly or indirectly or through collaboration networks and start-ups (e.g. science parks and incubators).
A complex technological innovation often needs collaborative intelligence to manage the gap between demand and supply of a specific set of capabilities, skills and resources. It is possible to control cost, speed and competencies of technological innovations through efficient sharing mechanisms. It is rational to share the cost and risks of new innovations through creation, storage, transfer and application of knowledge among the partners of the innovation ecosystem. There are different modes of collaboration such as strategic alliance, joint ventures, technology licensing, outsourcing and collective research organizations. Collaborative networks are other sources of innovation. Collaboration is facilitated by geographical proximity, regional technology clusters and technology spillovers. Technological spillover results from the spread of knowledge across organizational or regional boundaries; it occurs when the benefits from R&D activities of a firm spill over to other firms. But, it may be hard to control the development of product and process innovation protecting IP of proprietary technologies. The critical success factors of collaborative networks may be the right selection of innovation partners having strategic and resource fit, transparent and flexible monitoring and governance process so that the innovation partners understand their rights and obligations. .
Technological innovation demands the motivation and commitment of creative people. For example, the evolution of electronics and communication technology has been possible because of the involvement of the creative and efficient engineers and scientists in related domains. Most of top technology innovations are not trivial problems; need useful and novel support of creative, skilled, experienced and knowledgeable talent. Creative talent can look at the problems in unconventional ways; can generate new ideas and articulate shared vision through their intellectual abilities, knowledge, novel thinking style, personality, motivation, confidence, commitment and group dynamics. The impact of knowledge on creativity is double- edged. Lack of knowledge is a major constraint to the original contribution in a technological innovation. But, extensive knowledge may be biased and trapped in existing logic and paradigms. It is difficult to conclude that moderate knowledge is adequate for creativity. A creative person is expected to have confidence in own capabilities, tolerance for ambiguity, interest in solving problems and willingness to overcome obstacles by taking reasonable risks. A cooperative and collaborative environment must recognize and reward creative talent in time. Organizational creativity is associated with several critical factors such as human capital management, talent acquisition and retention policy, complex and tacit knowledge management strategy, organization structure, corporate culture, routines, performance evaluation, compensation, reward and incentive policy, social processes and contextual factors.
Resource Allocation Analytics : When the capacity of a firm is more than the total demand of a set of technological innovation projects, the resource manager may like to allocate the required resources such as fund or capital to each project using suitable resource allocation model. However, when the capacity is less than total demand, the resource manager would have to find the combination of projects, which would fit the resource allocation model and give maximum benefit. There are three different types of resource allocation protocols: linear, proportional and selective allocation.
Linear allocation: It is an equal sharing of the pain i.e. shortage of capacity of capital among a set of projects. If that pain exceeds the actual demand of a project, then the project becomes passive. The project Pi is allocated qi = di – (1/n) max (0, 
d*i - C) where n is the number of active projects, C is the capacity of capital of the client.
Proportional allocation : The project Pi is allocated qi = min 
.
Here, n is the number of active projects and C is the total capacity of capital of the client. If the demand is more, more capital will be allocated to that project proportionately.
Selective allocation : It is basically priority based portfolio rationalization where the capital is allocated as per the priority of a set of technological innovation projects. It is an interesting problem to find the allocation of the projects while maximizing the utility of the client under capacity constraints. This is basically a knapsack problem. Let {(u1,d*1),(u2,d*2), ..,(un,d*n), C} be an instance of the knapsack problem – C is the knapsack capacity i.e. total capacity of capital of the client; (ui,d*i) are respectively the utility and demand of capital of the project i. The goal is to choose a subset of projects of maximum utility with total demand of capital at most C. According to this resource capacity allocation strategy, all the projects are not treated equally. In case of any shortage of capacity, several projects may become infeasible. The projects are ranked based on utility and priority and the capital is allocated as per the rank of the projects.
The business analysts should consider a financial investment framework for optimal resource allocation and project portfolio rationalization along two dimensions: strategic objective and technology scope [Figure 1.10]. There are four cells: transformation, experiments, process improvements and renewal. Most of the technology innovation projects fall in transformation and experiments cells. The basic objectives of transformation projects are growing need of application integration, end-to-end business process re-engineering and improved support. It demands process change. But, during economic downturn, it may be a costly option. The expected benefits are efficient customer service, greater accuracy and long-term growth. The basic objectives of experiments are to adopt new business models using new technology; the expected benefits are change of organization structure, infrastructure and business process improvements. The basic objective of process improvement is to yield more profit from improved operational performance. The process owner or a functional unit realizes benefits such as short term profitability. The basic objective of renewal is to replace old shared technology with new cost effective powerful technology maintaining the existing infrastructure and keeping it cost effective. The expected benefits are improved maintainability, reduced support and efficient capacity utilization.
Resource allocation and mobilization are two critical aspects of project management. It is possible to call different types of logic such as linear, proportional and selective resource allocation (as stated above) subject to shortage of capacity. Each strategic project defines a set of objectives, strategies and demand plans and then the resources are allocated to different projects according to the demand plans. It is basically the principle of management by objectives (MBO) which commits the reservation of different types of financial, non-financial and human resources. The sick projects may need new investment for turnaround and renewal; the star projects may need additional fund for continuous strategic growth; the emerging projects may need capital for appropriate technology management and skill development. The old dead assets should be divested; wastage of energy, utilities, materials and products should be minimized and existing capacity should be utilized intelligently.
Figure 1.10 : Financial Investment Framework
The resources are generally allocated to different business units through various types of budgeting such as capital budgeting, performance budgeting, zero based budgeting and strategic budgeting. Capital budgeting is decided based on payback period, NPV, IRR and profitability index. Zero based budgeting evaluates the particular demand and need of each project. It involves identification of decisive projects, analysis of each decisive project, ranking of the demand of each project and then allocation of resources. Strategic budgeting asks a set of fundamental questions: What is the goal of a project in terms of performance and results? What are the key activities or tasks to be done to achieve the goal? The management should be cautious of the risk of resource allocation such as limited resource capacity, competition and past commitments.
Staff-resources Analytics
Objects / entities: sustainable smart cities, smart villages, communities, smart world, smart universe;
Global security parameters: define a set of sustainable development goals. /* refer to scope and system analytics in sections 1 and 2 */
Do estimation, planning , capacity utilization, allocation and distribution of ‘5M’ resources.
Man (human capital management [scientists, engineers, consultants, business analysts, system analysts, project managers], talent acquisition, talent retention, training, reward and recognition);
Machine (tools, machines, computer hardware, software, internet);
Material (raw materials, components, equipments, semi-finished, finished and outsourced goods)
Method (process innovation, product development, R&D);
Money (optimal fund allocation, project portfolio management, investment management, capital budgeting)