Fractals: A More Dynamic & Multidimensional Approach to Business Analytics

This paper has two parts. In the first part, I articulate the short but significant evolution of the study of fractals. In the second part, I discuss the application of fractals to business models and business analytics. "Clouds are not spheres, mountains are not cones, coastlines are not circles, and bark is not smooth, nor does lightning travel in a straight line"(Mandelbrot, 1982, pg. 1). Thus began the study of fractals on a large scale. Fractals in their most common sense are nothing but interesting images. To scientists, however, they represent a fairly untrodden field in mathematics. Until the 1970s, fractals had been identified but not studied due to the lack of adequate technology. With the invention of the computer, however, fractals have been gaining increasing popularity among everyone from artists to businesspeople.