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A welcome to Objective Analysis, but what's with the name? |
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Apr 26, 2007 at 01:44 PM |
A new market research/analysis outfit has hung out its shingle: Objective Analysis.
The firm's trio of industry analysts---Jim Handy, Tom Starnes, and Dave Cavanaugh---bring decades of collective experience to bear, with stints at Dataquest, Semico, and many industry players on their respective resumes.
The company's bare-bones Website says that they are "committed to providing clients with the most unbiased evaluation possible of industry status, events, and outlook for the future." Hence the name, I guess, "unbiased" being synonymous with "objective." But aren't all data-based market analyses supposed to be "objective" (although it's no secret that some are more---or less---objective than others)?
Thinking objectively about analysis, or is it analytically about objectivity? (Photo: Tom Cheyney, courtesy of Cantor Museum)
As for another snippet from the site, about not being "influenced by personal feelings, interpretations, or prejudice," good luck with that. Running the numbers isn't an exercise in "just the facts, ma'am." If there's no interpretive skill to make sense of what they mean, then it can become statistics for statistics' sake. What does it really mean if, for example, TSMC's capacity loading takes a hit one quarter and skyrockets the next? Lots of room for interpretation there.
Let's consider names that some firms might choose if they took a similarly generic approach to branding, starting with the obvious "Subjective Opinion" for a management consultancy or blog. Speaking of management consultants, I know a great name---"Strategic Planning"! "Real Food" for a market might work (although that's perilously close to Whole Foods). How about "Balance Sheets" for an accounting firm, or "Contract Chipmaker" for a foundry? Whaddya think, maybe "Media Relations" for a PR firm?
Don't get me wrong. I welcome the OA team into the market research/analysis fray and wish them the best. There's enough room for more and different ways of crunching the semiconductor world o' data, with fresh viewpoints and perspectives a plus. But please guys, do something about that yawner of a name!
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