“This paper firstly provides a general introduction in the most important aspects and ideas of Visual
Analytics. This multidisciplinary field focuses on the analytical reasoning of typically large and complex
(often heterogeneous) data sets and combines techniques from interactive visualizations with computational
analysis methods. Hereby, intuitive and efficient user interactions are a fundamental component which has
to be efficiently supported by any Visual Analytics system” (from the abstract, Kerren and Schreiberm 2012)

Click to access doc%5Cconference%5Cwsc%5C2012%5Cinv133.pdf

“Networked computers are ubiquitous. They come in different shapes and forms (desktop, laptop, mobile phones, tablets, ebook readers, etc.) or are embedded in devices, objects, and systems such as, for example, cameras, washing machines, televisions, cars, heating systems, robots, traffic control systems. Software is usually available in multiple human languages” (Rehm and Uszkoreit, 2013, from the abstract).

http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-642-36349-8_3

http://www.altimetergroup.com/research/reports/evolution-social-business

[Altimeter Group, image and abstract] “Companies are not created equal. Altimeter Group found that companies go through six distinct stages of social business maturity, each with unique risks and opportunities.Based on a series of interviews with organizations that are investing in social media strategies at varying levels, we learned that notable differences exist between companies implementing a social media strategy and those that are building a social business. A social media strategy lays out the channels, platforms, and tactics to support publishing, listening, and engagement. A social business strategy is the integration of social technologies and processes into business values, processes, and practices to build relationships and spark conversations inside and outside the organization, creating value and optimizing impact for customers and the business alike” (from the executive summary, Altimeter Group, 2013)

Image from Egan, “Relationship Marketing” (p.53, source: adapted from Dwyer et al., 1987, p. 14)

Dwyer et al. (1987, p. 14) suggest that the type of relationship that develops between a supplier and a customer is determined by the different amounts of motivational investment that buyers and sellers are prepared to commit to the relationship. They hypothesise that there are four types of active relationships in addition to ‘no exchange’ (Egan, p. 53)

In a social business environment, it’s relevant to measure not just the customer’s sentiment, but also the “sentiment” of all the “value exchangers” in the business networks and ecosystems. Correctly Sandy Carter (in her interesting “Get Bold”, 2012) points out the relevance of measuring both the sentiment of “social customers” and the “social employees” (as well as the sentiment of all the actors involved in the business ecosystem). And of course, in the social business perspective, not only the quantification of “sentiment”, but also the analytics of a wide range of additional social business measures.