Importance of Data in Decision-Making

Abstract

The ability to make effective decisions is crucial to an organization’s survival in today’s tumultuous business environment. In order for firms to evaluate alternatives and make informed choices they must have reliable and timely data upon which to make their decisions. Consequently, the development of effective data management techniques is of central importance to an organization. Yet, many firms are learning that this is no easy task as they find themselves inundated with nearly overwhelming amounts of data. Assessing the specific data management issues firms face and the development of an effective methodology to address these issues is a central focus of this chapter. Specifically, this chapter explores data management from a cybernetic approach and focuses on methods of transforming various forms of structured and semi-structured data into structured, useful data that an organization can utilize to make effective, informed decisions.