International business leaders still rely more on their gut instinct and experience rather than data and analytics when taking major strategic decisions.
Nevertheless, this trend could be changing.
These are the findings of a new report published by PwC and written by the Economist Intelligence Unit.
The report, Guts & Gigabytes, explores the changing nature of corporate decision-making and the use of data by companies across the globe. It shows that senior business leaders in the UK are using their intuition and experience, as well as the advice and experience of others in their companies, over and above data and analytics.
When asked about how they make major decisions, leaders ranked data and analytics as the third most important factor (23%) behind their own intuition and experience (41%) and the experience of others (31%).
Over four-fifths (83%) of senior executives from the UK report that their big decision-making has improved in the past two years, with 32% of this group saying there has been a significant improvement.
But for 40% of businesses, the use of internal and external data and analytics is the aspect of big decision-making that has changed the most.
Yet despite a generally positive attitude towards the use of data and analytics, many UK business leaders remain concerned about data quality and information overload. Some 41% say they are concerned about quality, accuracy and completeness of data, and the same percentage find it difficult to access useful data.
Meanwhile, British executives reveal greater scepticism about the value of data analysis, compared with their overseas counterparts. Well over half (61%) say that relying on data analysis has been detrimental to their business in the past, compared with 34% in Western Europe and 46% globally.
The report is based on a survey of more than 1,100 senior executives worldwide, across a range of industries and public, private and family-owned businesses.
Commenting on the report findings, Yann Bonduelle, PwC consulting data analytics partner, said: “Business leaders have long used their own tried and trusted intuition alongside more scientific and financial factors to make decisions and this has served them well in the past. As data become more pervasive, algorithms become more accurate and visualisation more intuitive, business leaders are realising they can make better decisions through using data and analytics more systematically.”
Sally Percy is editor