News: Performance Management
'Misinterpretation of data by business leaders costs £67 billion a year'
05 March 2008
Difficulties interpreting business data by managers results in a loss of £67 billion to the economy each year, it has been claimed.
Organisations and businesses believe that using information more effectively would make them on average 29 per cent more productive, research by technology consultancy Capgemini has found.
This would add £46 billion to UK private companies and reduce public sector administration costs by £21 billion.
Two-thirds of business leaders surveyed said they make more than five critical decisions a week without the right information.
In The Information Opportunity report Capgemini found two common errors that prevent business leaders from obtaining the information they need to make decisions, reports Management Today.
'Information islands' are caused when information is not shared effectively between different parts of the organisation and 'fragmented truths' occur when a company has several versions of the same data.
"The UK must begin to value information as a business asset and in doing so ensure that any investments in IT solutions are not just quick fixes, but actively enhance and improve the information culture," said Ramesh Harji, head of information exploitation at Capgemini.
The report was based on interviews with leaders from FTSE 350 companies and UK public sector organisations.
