Level Up to Strategic Data Sharing
MIT Sloan Management Review|Spring 2023
Your data assets are key to developing new value for your customers and giving you clout in digital ecosystems.
Barbara H. Wixom
Level Up to Strategic Data Sharing

MOST ORGANIZATIONS have learned how to share data tactically. They've put technical infrastructure and processes in place so that they can easily transfer data when necessary to M comply with regulations, execute transactions, or provide a service. But far fewer companies have begun to explore the opportunities created by a more strategic approach to data sharing.

In today's digital economy, business leaders need a data-sharing strategy to pursue novel digital solutions and move in new business directions. Strategic data-sharing practices allow an organization to share data quickly and with control for specific opportunities with specific partners, and to share it repeatedly, with an emphasis on value creation. As strategic data-sharing practices mature over time, purposeful, fast, and creative data sharing becomes the basis for business model innovation and the resulting payoffs.

Energy management and industrial automation company Schneider Electric is a case in point. It uses its internet of things platform to share data with its business customers in order to discover and deliver energy management solutions.¹ In 2016, company leaders saw IoT as a significant opportunity to develop new products and services based on the monitoring and analysis of connected assets. Along with the data-sharing platform, they developed a tool to collect both structured and unstructured data about the company's products in use at a customer site, drawing on sensor data and maintenance logs. Using a dynamic risk monitoring algorithm, the tool detects operating risks and their sources, and it allows facility managers who purchase the product to manage the performance of assets themselves or use a Schneider Electric service center.

This story is from the Spring 2023 edition of MIT Sloan Management Review.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

This story is from the Spring 2023 edition of MIT Sloan Management Review.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

MORE STORIES FROM MIT SLOAN MANAGEMENT REVIEWView All
Ask Sanyin: How Do You Build for an Unpredictable Future?
MIT Sloan Management Review

Ask Sanyin: How Do You Build for an Unpredictable Future?

While the pandemic was a wild ride of uncertainty for me and many of my peers in leadership, it feels like we never regained our footing.

time-read
2 mins  |
Winter 2025
What You Still Can't Say at Work
MIT Sloan Management Review

What You Still Can't Say at Work

Most people know what can’t be said in their organization. But leaders can apply these techniques to break through the unwritten rules that make people self-censor.

time-read
7 mins  |
Winter 2025
Make Character Count in Hiring and Promoting
MIT Sloan Management Review

Make Character Count in Hiring and Promoting

Most managers focus on competencies when evaluating candidates but it’s character that will transform the DNA of the organization. Here’s how to assess it.

time-read
10+ mins  |
Winter 2025
Why Influence Is a Two-Way Street
MIT Sloan Management Review

Why Influence Is a Two-Way Street

Managers achieve better outcomes when they prioritize collaborative decision-making over powers of persuasion.

time-read
10 mins  |
Winter 2025
Know Your Data to Harness Federated Machine Learning
MIT Sloan Management Review

Know Your Data to Harness Federated Machine Learning

A collaborative approach to training AI models can yield better results, but it requires finding partners with data that complements your own.

time-read
9 mins  |
Winter 2025
How Integrating DEI Into Strategy Lifts Performance
MIT Sloan Management Review

How Integrating DEI Into Strategy Lifts Performance

Incorporating diversity, equity, and inclusion practices into core business planning can provide a competitive edge.

time-read
9 mins  |
Winter 2025
The Myth of the Sustainable Consumer
MIT Sloan Management Review

The Myth of the Sustainable Consumer

Companies that understand the different kinds of consumers for sustainable products can market to them more effectively.

time-read
10+ mins  |
Winter 2025
A Practical Guide to Gaining Value From LLMs
MIT Sloan Management Review

A Practical Guide to Gaining Value From LLMs

Getting a return from generative AI investments requires a systematic approach to analyzing appropriate use cases.

time-read
10+ mins  |
Winter 2025
Improve Workflows by Managing Bottlenecks
MIT Sloan Management Review

Improve Workflows by Managing Bottlenecks

Understand whether process or resource constraints are stalling work.

time-read
10+ mins  |
Winter 2025
Craft Schedules That Work for Everyone
MIT Sloan Management Review

Craft Schedules That Work for Everyone

Business leaders can improve retention and business performance with schedules that make sense for workers’ lives.

time-read
10+ mins  |
Winter 2025