I have often wondered how decision-making is accomplished in a business, be it in a small organization or a large one. Is decision-making simply a function of wisdom, and sometimes the whims or dictates of the one in charge? Or could there be a more rational approach to how to arrive at a decision based on the tangibles at hand? I think that we are on the cusp of a tectonic shift, where businesses choose to arrive at a decision based on defined tangibles. Most businesses, especially the smaller ones, still go through the established protocol of the manager in charge being instrumental in deciding the action to be taken, but I feel that the decisions taken by these managers are becoming more scientific by the day.
What then are these so-called ‘defined tangibles’? Where do we come across or gather them? The answer quite simply is data. Nowadays, businesses are overwhelmed with the sheer amount of data that is available to them. Data from a quantitative perspective can be defined as a collection of facts, observations, or measurements. These can be gleaned from historical records of the business or through research of the industry the business is in. By capturing this data, businesses can address issues and build on the strengths of the organization.
While there is a multitude of benefits to data-driven decision-making, the biggest advantage of such decision-making is that the biases we carry as individuals while making decisions would be relegated to a minimum once we do decide to go the data analytics way.
In my journey as a student of economics and computer science, I would like to delve a bit deeper into the fascinating world of data and its role in driving decisions throughout the next few blogs. I will share my learnings through this blog and would invite your support and participation.
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