IS 438

Business Dimensions

• Business dimensions are the core components or categories of a business,

anything that you want to analyze in reports.

• Business dimensions are fundamental to data organization and provide

context for numeric data items, or measures.

• For example, a retail chain-store may categorize its sales data by the

products that it sells, by its retail outlets, and by fiscal periods. This

organization has the business dimensions Product, Location, and Time. The

measures of the business, such as how much it sells, lie at the intersection of

these dimensions. 

• Product: Model name, Model year, Package styling, Product line, Product

category, Exterior color, Interior color ect.

• Dealer: Dealer name, City, State, Single brand flag, Date first operation

• Customer: Age, Gender, Income range, Martial status, House size, Vehicles

owned, Home value, Won or Rent

• Payment Method: Finance type, Term in months, Interest rate, Agent

• Time: Date, Month, Quarter, year, Day of week, Day of month, Season, Holiday

flag.

Business Dimensions

• A business metric is a raw measurement of a business process.

• Measuring a metric is not always enough – needs to use that metric to guide business

decisions and to ensure business is on the right track. 

Examples of Metrics• Sales Metrics

Sales metrics are used to determine your ability to move product and generate

revenue. Make sure to monitor key metrics like sales growth, product performance,

and quote-to-close ratio.

•Marketing Metrics

Marketing teams are driven by having the latest business metrics on hand. Beside the

all-important ROI (return on investment) metric, marketers commonly measure

website and campaign performance, cost per lead, and incremental sales.

• Inventory Metrics

Departmental metrics like inventory/supply-chain metrics are key to

understanding your performance on a tactical level. To be successful, you

need to ensure every part of your business is running smoothly. Monitor key

inventory metrics like turnover, perfect order rates, and order status.

• Call Center Metrics

Call centers provide the perfect example of using business metrics to improve

operational performance. Monitor key metrics like service level, customer

satisfaction, agent performance, and cost per contact to get a tactical view of

your business performance.

• Financial Metrics

The most common business metrics to monitor relate to your financial

performance. Key metrics like gross profit margin, quick ratio, and

debt-to-equity are critical measures of your business performance.