Brits, Data Analytics and Big Decision-Making

Brits, Data Analytics and Big Decision-Making

80% of senior executives from the United Kingdom say big decision-making has improved in the last two years. Of those respondents, 32% report significant improvement.

24% of respondents say growing their business is the most important decision they expect to make this year. And 21% say their most important decision will be whether to enter a new industry or start a new business.

New technology is allowing data and insights to be shared widely and, as a result, more areas of enterprise are involved in decision-making. Yet only 40% of businesses say data and analytics are changing decision-making the most.

Costs and margin pressure are the main strategic motivations for big decisions, but the most common ones involve competitive collaboration and corporate restructuring. 52% of U.K. respondents expect to decide to collaborate with their competitors in the next year, compared with the global average of 36%.

Although they have a positive attitude toward the use of data and analytics, 41% respondents are concerned about quality, accuracy and completeness of data. In addition, 41% find it difficult to access useful data.

U.K. executives are skeptical about the value of data analysis compared to their counterparts overseas. 61% say relying on data analysis has been detrimental to their business, compared to 34% in Western Europe and 46% globally.

84% of respondents say they have sufficient people with the right skills to analyze the data they collect. This finding suggests that many organizations are rising to the challenge of recruiting personnel and developing technical modeling and data science skills, according to PwC, which expects talent shortages to be rapidly emerging.

81% of respondents say familiarity with data analytics is a prerequisite for senior management.

Big decisions need better analytics, the PwC study concludes. “Companies are increasingly using data analytics successfully to make good strategic decisions—to support but not replace business experience and leave a little less to chance.”