Databases Reference
In-Depth Information
to fly. Rather than present two eyeballs as an opportunity for an accident,
a carpenter wears safety goggles. A butcher wears safety gloves to reduce
the opportunities to cut off a finger. A construction worker wears a hard
hat to reduce the opportunities to catch a falling bolt with a skull. These
examples show how an enterprise can respond to an Independent object
by reducing the opportunity for that Independent object to occur.
An enterprise cannot discourage the occurrence of a disadvantageous
Independent by inhibiting a s trongly correlated object from occurring
because no strongly correlated object exists. In such cases the enterprise is
left to deal directly with the Independent object. The enterprise can choose
to either discourage the occurrence of the Independent object by remov-
ing the opportunities for it to occur, or the enterprise can attempt to shield
itself from the effects of the Independent object. Despite how bad this may
seem, the ROI in this situation is the awareness that the enterprise is deal-
ing directly with an Independent object, that only a direct approach will
work because there is no correlating object to attack. Instead, the enter-
prise can be aware that an end-run gambit is a waste of time and resources,
and that a direct approach is necessary.
kPIs
Complement objects, Substitute objects, and Independent objects are the
actionable knowledge most frequently associated with Market Basket
Analysis. The discovery of such objects and their aἀ nities provides insight
into the equilibriums within and around the enterprise. These aἀ nities
demonstrate the equilibrium between objects. For example, four quarts of
motor oil and one oil filter would be a natural Itemset for an oil change.
For that Itemset, the equilibrium between quarts of motor oil and oil fil-
ters is four to one—that is, four quarts of oil to one oil filter.
Some of the object aἀ nities will probably be key indicators of the life
and health of the enterprise. Such indicators may be able to predict the
upcoming health of the enterprise. Others may only confirm the current
state of the enterprise. Either way, the KPIs can be predefined and exe-
cuted daily in a batch environment. That way, the KPIs can be monitored
passively by reviewing the output when an analyst is available to review
the results of the Market Basket Reporting.
Market Basket Reporting operates in a batch environment so that it can
monitor KPIs with no manual intervention. The KPIs can themselves be
monitored to raise awareness when the aἀ nity, or lack of aἀ nity, of an
