Let’s get right to it: just because everyone’s talking about data visualization and data analysis and big data doesn’t mean that any of it’s easy. The best part of having data is using it to make decisions. But if you have bad data, the truth is that you’re only going to make bad decisions.

Pharma companies spend a lot of money in R&D--more than almost any other industry. And the R&D ratio (R&D compared to revenue) is interesting because it can tell us how invested in new product development one company is compared to another.

The secret to making made-in-Excel graphs beautiful and professional? Don't let them look like you made them in Excel.

These two TED talks use data visualizations to communicate in a way that numbers or words can’t. These methods can be especially applicable for financial data.

If entrusting data analysis to those who don’t know how to do it sounds a bit dangerous, it can be. So let’s talk about this data literacy thing and how you can encourage and help those you work with to develop it.

Telling a great story means starting with the story, not the data. So start with your purpose--do you want to convince your CEO to allocate resources differently? Do you need to show your board that you’re growing faster than your competitors--and then stir in the numbers slowly and regularly.

You want to tell your company’s story. And if you’re in charge of defining KPIs and providing insight to executives to help keep your company profitable and competitive, there’s a