Information enhancement in data mining: a study in data reduction

Data mining can be a powerful tool for information extraction from large amounts of data. One of the techniques used to enhance the information extraction process is data reduction. Based on manufacturing industry data collected from US Economic Census, we use as an example the construction of a typology of inventory strategy according to Porter's five forces model. This study shows that data reduction (e.g., more aggregate data and fewer variables) enhances the information extracted (e.g., clearer patterns).