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> Amazon is a pretty data driven company, if MBA's provided no value, or negative value as some HN's readers seem to think, they wouldn't be hiring them. Havin

> Amazon is a pretty data driven company, if MBA's provided no value, or negative value as some HN's readers seem to think, they wouldn't be hiring them. Having been the guy whose job it was to collect, analyze, and present data to these MBAs, I can honestly say that 99% of them are dead weight for their analytic capabilities. MBAs do much better at managing people. And by that, I mean only 70% of them are dead weight. The other 30% were pretty great and are probably the reason I'm not in jail for arson right now.

hkmurakami 9y ago
OP isn't saying MBAs are good at making data driven decisions. He's saying Amazon is good at making data driven decisions and that their decision to continue hiring MBAs is backed up by their data analysis.
- gcb0 9y ago
  you're defending someone who dreamed up something ("Amazon is good at data driven decisions") versus someone presenting a fact ("Amazon does lots of dumb things but got very lucky so far"). why?
  - chollida1 9y ago
    I'm not sure why you had to react so angrily but there are a lot of people who would defend Amazon as being a data driven company. here is one instance. This is not a hard claim to back up by any means. https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/237326 https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/237326 http://www.businessinsider.com/ap-amazons-data-driven-approach-becoming-more-common-2015-8 http://www.businessinsider.com/ap-amazons-data-driven-approa... Here they are being called out for being too data driven http://splinternews.com/the-amazon-way-why-the-data-driven-workplace-is-a-nigh-1793850081 http://splinternews.com/the-amazon-way-why-the-data-driven-w... https://hbr.org/2015/08/data-driven-management-can-also-be-compassionate https://hbr.org/2015/08/data-driven-management-can-also-be-c... And I hope your day gets better:) We've all been there!!
    - saosebastiao 9y ago
      I would agree with this completely: Amazon absolutely is a data driven company ("too data driven" seems to ring true in some aspects). But the MBAs are not the reason for being data-driven. It's more like the real data analysis goes on behind the scenes (levels 5-7, and more likely on the engineering or research scientist side), eventually bubbling its way up to the MBAs who use the mountains of data and analysis to stroke their egos.
    - gcb0 9y ago
      my point is that who claims amazon is data driven are usually pundits and outsiders. in this thread the person who (claim to have) worked there said otherwise. and in your second link Bezos also said otherwise. amazon is as data driven as any other fortune 500. quit fetichising it.
HeyLaughingBoy 9y ago
the reason I'm not in jail for arson right now Lawyer with an MBA get you off? :-)
- logfromblammo 9y ago
  I believe the presumption is that the MBA made the decision to replace that red Swingline stapler at just the right time for ancestor poster to decide not to burn down the entire company.

hkmurakami 9y ago

OP isn't saying MBAs are good at making data driven decisions. He's saying Amazon is good at making data driven decisions and that their decision to continue hiring MBAs is backed up by their data analysis.

gcb0 9y ago
you're defending someone who dreamed up something ("Amazon is good at data driven decisions") versus someone presenting a fact ("Amazon does lots of dumb things but got very lucky so far"). why?
- chollida1 9y ago
  I'm not sure why you had to react so angrily but there are a lot of people who would defend Amazon as being a data driven company. here is one instance. This is not a hard claim to back up by any means. https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/237326 https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/237326 http://www.businessinsider.com/ap-amazons-data-driven-approach-becoming-more-common-2015-8 http://www.businessinsider.com/ap-amazons-data-driven-approa... Here they are being called out for being too data driven http://splinternews.com/the-amazon-way-why-the-data-driven-workplace-is-a-nigh-1793850081 http://splinternews.com/the-amazon-way-why-the-data-driven-w... https://hbr.org/2015/08/data-driven-management-can-also-be-compassionate https://hbr.org/2015/08/data-driven-management-can-also-be-c... And I hope your day gets better:) We've all been there!!
  - saosebastiao 9y ago
    I would agree with this completely: Amazon absolutely is a data driven company ("too data driven" seems to ring true in some aspects). But the MBAs are not the reason for being data-driven. It's more like the real data analysis goes on behind the scenes (levels 5-7, and more likely on the engineering or research scientist side), eventually bubbling its way up to the MBAs who use the mountains of data and analysis to stroke their egos.
  - gcb0 9y ago
    my point is that who claims amazon is data driven are usually pundits and outsiders. in this thread the person who (claim to have) worked there said otherwise. and in your second link Bezos also said otherwise. amazon is as data driven as any other fortune 500. quit fetichising it.

HeyLaughingBoy 9y ago

the reason I'm not in jail for arson right now Lawyer with an MBA get you off? :-)

logfromblammo 9y ago
I believe the presumption is that the MBA made the decision to replace that red Swingline stapler at just the right time for ancestor poster to decide not to burn down the entire company.