Brits, Data Analytics and Big Decision-Making
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Big Decision-Making Is Improving
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. -
Types of Big Decisions
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. -
Nature of Decision-Making Is Changing
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. -
Collaboration Is Key
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%. -
Quality Concerns
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. -
Differing Opinions About Data's Value
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. -
Analytics Staff Sufficient
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. -
Senior Management and Data Analytics
81% of respondents say familiarity with data analytics is a prerequisite for senior management. -
Better Analytics Needed
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."
Senior business leaders in the United Kingdom are using their intuition, experience, and the advice and experience of others, as opposed to data and analytics, when it comes to making an important decision, according to a new survey by PwC. Asked to rank the most important factors in their decision-making process, 41 percent of the U.K. executives say their intuition and experience are most important, next comes the experience of others at 31 percent, and only 23 percent say data and analytics, which ranks third. Many U.K. executives, compared to their overseas counterparts, are skeptical of the value of data analysis, but that is changing, according to Yann Bonduelle, PwC consulting data analytics leader. "As data become more pervasive, algorithms become more accurate and visualization more intuitive, business leaders are realizing they can make better decisions through using data and analytics more systematically," he says. The PwC report, "Guts & Gigabytes," is based on the responses of 1,100 senior executives worldwide across a range of industries, who work in public, private and family-owned businesses. For the full report, click here.