Only Your Boss Hates March Madness
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Can hardly wait the two weeks until March Madness kicks off? Your boss can. According to Websense, a San Diego based computer security company, the number of sports-related Web sites has grown 31 percent since March of last year, and the number of gambling Web sites has grown 56 percent, all of which leads to a decrease in network bandwidth and compromises to computer security. "March Madness is the highlight of the year for college hoops fans," said Steve Kelley, director of core products, Websense. "Especially for midsize companies--with limited IT resources and bandwidth, proper Internet use policies combined with automated Web and security filtering tools are essential to providing a work-life balance for employees that allows them to still enjoy the tournament but remain productive and secure during work hours." Security isn't all that's at risk--employee productivity is supposed to take a huge hit in March, not helped at all by the fact that CBS Sports just announced that it'll offer free online viewing of men's college basketball games during the NCAA championship. The firm estimates that the average time spent by the American worker on college hoops sites during the workday is 13.5 minutes--and notes that every 13.5 minutes, the average American worker earns $4.05. Considering that there are 58.5 million workers who are college basketball fans, the cost to employers nationwide over the 16 tournament days could top $3.7 billion. Yet, it stops short of suggesting that employers clamp down on basketball-related activities and websites. "In fact, companies should try to find a way to take advantage of employees' excitement over the tournament. This may not only help build morale, but it may also help the company control the amount of productivity lost." "Additionally, office pools may have other benefits, such as bringing together workers who might not have interacted otherwise. This helps with team building, which leads to greater performance in many areas of business," said Challenger. So next time your bosses grumble that nobody gets any work done in March, just show them that. |
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Comments (1)
March Madness can also be a useful teaching tool to illustrate an emerging business trend.
Two business professors in the Southeastern U.S. have created statistical models related to the NCAA Men�s Basketball Tournament. Their Dance Card model predicts with great accuracy -- 94% of at-large bids over 13 years -- the teams selected for the NCAA Men�s Basketball Tournament. The professors� Score Card predicts Tournament game winners, and over the last 6 years, has correctly predicted winners three-quarters of the time, including many upsets.
As business school professors, these self-described sports fanatics use the models as a fun way to illustrate a broad business trend for their students: the use of and momentum for business intelligence (BI) and analytical software in the business world today.
The same software they use for basketball picks also helps businesses succeed every day by predicting what *will* happen: which customers will respond to a bank's direct mail on home-equity loans, which floor plan will help a retailer sell more designer shoes and which combination of treatments will keep diabetic patients healthy and out of intensive care.
So in a few weeks, when your boss tells you to turn off that game, you can remind him you�re researching one of the hottest areas in business today.
Posted by A Bolen | March 3, 2007 9:48 AM