{"id":571,"date":"2019-04-15T18:50:53","date_gmt":"2019-04-15T18:50:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-organizationalbehavior\/?post_type=chapter&#038;p=571"},"modified":"2024-04-24T22:44:00","modified_gmt":"2024-04-24T22:44:00","slug":"using-data-to-make-a-decision","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-organizationalbehavior\/chapter\/using-data-to-make-a-decision\/","title":{"raw":"Using Data to Make a Decision","rendered":"Using Data to Make a Decision"},"content":{"raw":"<div class=\"textbox learning-objectives\">\r\n<h3>Learning OUtcomes<\/h3>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Identify the steps to effectively use data in decision making<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/div>\r\nNow that we\u2019ve discussed how an individual or a group can arrive at a good decision, let\u2019s talk about some of the things they need to consider when they\u2019re making that decision. And by \u201csome of the things,\u201d we mean <strong>data<\/strong>.\r\n\r\n<img class=\"alignright wp-image-626\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4052\/2019\/04\/16174635\/stephen-dawson-670638-unsplash.jpg\" alt=\"Photo of a computer screen showing charts indicating a Quality Score, which has gone down, and a CTR, which has gone up.\" width=\"350\" height=\"252\" \/>Years ago, companies struggled and toiled over reports that would provide data on which to base a decision. Now, in this computerized universe, data is everywhere. It\u2019s just a matter of harnessing it for your organization, reading it correctly, and making it work for you. Companies that use data in their decision making processes are more flexible and agile and stay competitive.\r\n\r\nSo how does an organization use data in its decision making processes? Well, let\u2019s say that data just became available for the first time to your organization yesterday. These steps might be a good way to for you to approach the use of data in your decision making:\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li>Decide on your strategy<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Identify key areas and target data<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Collect the data<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Analyze the data<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Make a decision about the data<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Present your findings<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\nNow, let's dive a bit deeper into each of these steps!\r\n<h2>Step 1: Decide on Your Strategy<\/h2>\r\nIt\u2019s easy to get overwhelmed with all the data that\u2019s out there to use, so when you\u2019re incorporating data into your decision, it\u2019s best to start with the strategy. What is it that you want to accomplish on behalf of the organization? What business areas do you want to improve? Get your action plan in place. If your goal is to increase the response speed to customers calling into your company\u2019s service line, then you know where to start looking for information.\r\n<h2>Step 2: Identify Key Areas and Target Data<\/h2>\r\nWhich questions do you want to answer about your customers calling into your company\u2019s service line? You might want to know how many customers call in on average each day, but it might also be valuable to know which days are the busiest and which are the slowest. You may want to know how many customer service representatives are scheduled at any one given time and how long each of them spends on a call or email.\r\n<h2>Step 3: Collect the Data<\/h2>\r\n<img class=\"alignright wp-image-627\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4052\/2019\/04\/16174805\/files-1614223_1920.jpg\" alt=\"Stacks of papers with makers separating annual segments from the year 1991 to 2012.\" width=\"350\" height=\"274\" \/>Where is your data coming from? Is it from internal sources, or are you looking to purchase external data? It\u2019s likely you\u2019ll need to contact data owners and harvesters and put in your request. If you want to see all data on product sales for the last quarter, you will probably have to contact the people in finance to handle that. If you want to understand your organization\u2019s turnover, someone in HRIS might be your best bet.\r\n\r\nIn many cases, departments will set up reports to run with a certain set of criteria. An HR department\u2019s turnover reports might include salary level, title and job classification. If you want to see length of employment or department added to their regular reporting, this will likely take a little extra time and a few extra work hours to accomplish. Allow for that extra time when you\u2019re planning your own work schedule.\r\n\r\nData can also be purchased. You may look to a company that collects and sells their customers\u2019 personal information, like their addresses, income range, age, and buying habits. These lists are valuable for companies that want to employ direct mail to sell their product. Another kind of data that is often purchased by organizations is industry data. For instance, the American Pet Product Association (APPA) produces a \u201cbible\u201d of information for veterinarians, pet retailers and pet service providers. For a few thousand dollars, the APPA will share their research on the growth of the pet industry, how many US households own pets, what kind of pets they own, what kind of income they have, how many kids they have, and so on.\r\n\r\nWhatever data you\u2019re collecting, keep your strategy in mind as you request it. Will the data help you make educated decisions around your strategy? If not, don\u2019t ask for it, because that would be a waste of your time and everyone else\u2019s.\r\n<h2>Step 4: Analyze the Data<\/h2>\r\nYou\u2019ve come this far, now it\u2019s time to look at the data that\u2019s been provided and determine trends and information that can help your strategy. It could be that you have just a small slice of data, a page or two of numbers that isn\u2019t hard to sift through. Or, you could have a terabyte hard drive full of stats and figures that would be almost impossible to go through by hand. No worries\u2014there are computerized platforms that will help you get through this part. We\u2019ll cover those a bit later.\r\n\r\nYou may also have to \u201cclean\u201d the data up as you analyze it. Are there items showing up in the reporting that you know shouldn\u2019t factor in to your final decision? Maybe you\u2019re looking at a turnover report, and it includes all people who were fired in their first 90 days on the job. You may have to back that data out of the report to get a true idea of how many employees (who aren\u2019t in their probationary period) are choosing to leave the company.\r\n\r\nAs you come to conclusions about the data, make sure they\u2019re accurate and insightful, that there aren\u2019t any bogus \u201ccorrelations\u201d included in your interpretations.\r\n<h2>Step 5: Make a Decision about the Data<\/h2>\r\n<img class=\"alignright wp-image-628\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4052\/2019\/04\/16174916\/digital-marketing-1433427_1920.jpg\" alt=\"Photo of a table showing some marketing data. It shows how much internet traffic comes from direct traffic, search engines, and referring sites. There's also a chart showing visitors to the site over time.\" width=\"350\" height=\"234\" \/>Be cognizant of the biases and other things that can trip you up as you make your decisions about the data, but determine the next steps for your strategy based on the information in front of you. Remember, the numbers never lie\u2014but you can also make them say pretty much whatever you want. Don\u2019t fall victim to confirmation bias when you\u2019re lining up the data.\r\n<h2>Step 6: Present Your Findings<\/h2>\r\nSomeone, somewhere, is interested in what you\u2019re doing. Organizationally speaking, there are people who have hitched their wagons to your strategy\u2019s star, and they\u2019re waiting on your analysis to take action. Show them what you think the data is telling you, how you came to that decision, and how it will affect your decisions on your strategy moving forward. Agree, together or on your own, that you\u2019re going to turn this data-based conclusion into action.\r\n<div class=\"textbox tryit\">\r\n<h3>Practice Question<\/h3>\r\nhttps:\/\/assess.lumenlearning.com\/practice\/2965d5d5-ee1d-4a6a-9bf8-87119f764eff\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\nThose are the steps to using data to support decision making. Now let\u2019s take a look at \u201cbig data\u201d and how a person can get .\u00a0.\u00a0. well, a little overwhelmed with the amount of data that\u2019s available to today\u2019s decision maker.","rendered":"<div class=\"textbox learning-objectives\">\n<h3>Learning OUtcomes<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Identify the steps to effectively use data in decision making<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p>Now that we\u2019ve discussed how an individual or a group can arrive at a good decision, let\u2019s talk about some of the things they need to consider when they\u2019re making that decision. And by \u201csome of the things,\u201d we mean <strong>data<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-626\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4052\/2019\/04\/16174635\/stephen-dawson-670638-unsplash.jpg\" alt=\"Photo of a computer screen showing charts indicating a Quality Score, which has gone down, and a CTR, which has gone up.\" width=\"350\" height=\"252\" \/>Years ago, companies struggled and toiled over reports that would provide data on which to base a decision. Now, in this computerized universe, data is everywhere. It\u2019s just a matter of harnessing it for your organization, reading it correctly, and making it work for you. Companies that use data in their decision making processes are more flexible and agile and stay competitive.<\/p>\n<p>So how does an organization use data in its decision making processes? Well, let\u2019s say that data just became available for the first time to your organization yesterday. These steps might be a good way to for you to approach the use of data in your decision making:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Decide on your strategy<\/li>\n<li>Identify key areas and target data<\/li>\n<li>Collect the data<\/li>\n<li>Analyze the data<\/li>\n<li>Make a decision about the data<\/li>\n<li>Present your findings<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Now, let&#8217;s dive a bit deeper into each of these steps!<\/p>\n<h2>Step 1: Decide on Your Strategy<\/h2>\n<p>It\u2019s easy to get overwhelmed with all the data that\u2019s out there to use, so when you\u2019re incorporating data into your decision, it\u2019s best to start with the strategy. What is it that you want to accomplish on behalf of the organization? What business areas do you want to improve? Get your action plan in place. If your goal is to increase the response speed to customers calling into your company\u2019s service line, then you know where to start looking for information.<\/p>\n<h2>Step 2: Identify Key Areas and Target Data<\/h2>\n<p>Which questions do you want to answer about your customers calling into your company\u2019s service line? You might want to know how many customers call in on average each day, but it might also be valuable to know which days are the busiest and which are the slowest. You may want to know how many customer service representatives are scheduled at any one given time and how long each of them spends on a call or email.<\/p>\n<h2>Step 3: Collect the Data<\/h2>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-627\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4052\/2019\/04\/16174805\/files-1614223_1920.jpg\" alt=\"Stacks of papers with makers separating annual segments from the year 1991 to 2012.\" width=\"350\" height=\"274\" \/>Where is your data coming from? Is it from internal sources, or are you looking to purchase external data? It\u2019s likely you\u2019ll need to contact data owners and harvesters and put in your request. If you want to see all data on product sales for the last quarter, you will probably have to contact the people in finance to handle that. If you want to understand your organization\u2019s turnover, someone in HRIS might be your best bet.<\/p>\n<p>In many cases, departments will set up reports to run with a certain set of criteria. An HR department\u2019s turnover reports might include salary level, title and job classification. If you want to see length of employment or department added to their regular reporting, this will likely take a little extra time and a few extra work hours to accomplish. Allow for that extra time when you\u2019re planning your own work schedule.<\/p>\n<p>Data can also be purchased. You may look to a company that collects and sells their customers\u2019 personal information, like their addresses, income range, age, and buying habits. These lists are valuable for companies that want to employ direct mail to sell their product. Another kind of data that is often purchased by organizations is industry data. For instance, the American Pet Product Association (APPA) produces a \u201cbible\u201d of information for veterinarians, pet retailers and pet service providers. For a few thousand dollars, the APPA will share their research on the growth of the pet industry, how many US households own pets, what kind of pets they own, what kind of income they have, how many kids they have, and so on.<\/p>\n<p>Whatever data you\u2019re collecting, keep your strategy in mind as you request it. Will the data help you make educated decisions around your strategy? If not, don\u2019t ask for it, because that would be a waste of your time and everyone else\u2019s.<\/p>\n<h2>Step 4: Analyze the Data<\/h2>\n<p>You\u2019ve come this far, now it\u2019s time to look at the data that\u2019s been provided and determine trends and information that can help your strategy. It could be that you have just a small slice of data, a page or two of numbers that isn\u2019t hard to sift through. Or, you could have a terabyte hard drive full of stats and figures that would be almost impossible to go through by hand. No worries\u2014there are computerized platforms that will help you get through this part. We\u2019ll cover those a bit later.<\/p>\n<p>You may also have to \u201cclean\u201d the data up as you analyze it. Are there items showing up in the reporting that you know shouldn\u2019t factor in to your final decision? Maybe you\u2019re looking at a turnover report, and it includes all people who were fired in their first 90 days on the job. You may have to back that data out of the report to get a true idea of how many employees (who aren\u2019t in their probationary period) are choosing to leave the company.<\/p>\n<p>As you come to conclusions about the data, make sure they\u2019re accurate and insightful, that there aren\u2019t any bogus \u201ccorrelations\u201d included in your interpretations.<\/p>\n<h2>Step 5: Make a Decision about the Data<\/h2>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-628\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4052\/2019\/04\/16174916\/digital-marketing-1433427_1920.jpg\" alt=\"Photo of a table showing some marketing data. It shows how much internet traffic comes from direct traffic, search engines, and referring sites. There's also a chart showing visitors to the site over time.\" width=\"350\" height=\"234\" \/>Be cognizant of the biases and other things that can trip you up as you make your decisions about the data, but determine the next steps for your strategy based on the information in front of you. Remember, the numbers never lie\u2014but you can also make them say pretty much whatever you want. Don\u2019t fall victim to confirmation bias when you\u2019re lining up the data.<\/p>\n<h2>Step 6: Present Your Findings<\/h2>\n<p>Someone, somewhere, is interested in what you\u2019re doing. Organizationally speaking, there are people who have hitched their wagons to your strategy\u2019s star, and they\u2019re waiting on your analysis to take action. Show them what you think the data is telling you, how you came to that decision, and how it will affect your decisions on your strategy moving forward. Agree, together or on your own, that you\u2019re going to turn this data-based conclusion into action.<\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox tryit\">\n<h3>Practice Question<\/h3>\n<p>\t<iframe id=\"assessment_practice_2965d5d5-ee1d-4a6a-9bf8-87119f764eff\" class=\"resizable\" src=\"https:\/\/assess.lumenlearning.com\/practice\/2965d5d5-ee1d-4a6a-9bf8-87119f764eff?iframe_resize_id=assessment_practice_id_2965d5d5-ee1d-4a6a-9bf8-87119f764eff\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"border:none;width:100%;height:100%;min-height:300px;\"><br \/>\n\t<\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Those are the steps to using data to support decision making. Now let\u2019s take a look at \u201cbig data\u201d and how a person can get .\u00a0.\u00a0. well, a little overwhelmed with the amount of data that\u2019s available to today\u2019s decision maker.<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t <section class=\"citations-section\" role=\"contentinfo\">\n\t\t\t <h3>Candela Citations<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t <div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <div id=\"citation-list-571\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <div class=\"licensing\"><div class=\"license-attribution-dropdown-subheading\">CC licensed content, Original<\/div><ul class=\"citation-list\"><li>Using Data to Make a Decision. <strong>Authored by<\/strong>: Freedom Learning Group. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: Lumen Learning. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/\">CC BY: Attribution<\/a><\/em><\/li><\/ul><div class=\"license-attribution-dropdown-subheading\">CC licensed content, Specific attribution<\/div><ul class=\"citation-list\"><li>Data Studio. <strong>Authored by<\/strong>: Stephen Dawson. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: Unsplash. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/unsplash.com\/photos\/qwtCeJ5cLYs\">https:\/\/unsplash.com\/photos\/qwtCeJ5cLYs<\/a>. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/about\/cc0\">CC0: No Rights Reserved<\/a><\/em>. <strong>License Terms<\/strong>: Unsplash License<\/li><li>Paper Files. <strong>Authored by<\/strong>: Ag Ku. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: Pixabay. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/pixabay.com\/photos\/files-paper-office-paperwork-stack-1614223\/\">https:\/\/pixabay.com\/photos\/files-paper-office-paperwork-stack-1614223\/<\/a>. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/about\/cc0\">CC0: No Rights Reserved<\/a><\/em>. <strong>License Terms<\/strong>: Pixabay License<\/li><li>Digital Marketing Technology. <strong>Authored by<\/strong>: Photo Mix. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: Pixabay. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/pixabay.com\/photos\/digital-marketing-technology-1433427\/\">https:\/\/pixabay.com\/photos\/digital-marketing-technology-1433427\/<\/a>. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/about\/cc0\">CC0: No Rights Reserved<\/a><\/em>. <strong>License Terms<\/strong>: Pixabay License<\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t <\/section>","protected":false},"author":17,"menu_order":8,"template":"","meta":{"_candela_citation":"[{\"type\":\"original\",\"description\":\"Using Data to Make a Decision\",\"author\":\"Freedom Learning Group\",\"organization\":\"Lumen Learning\",\"url\":\"\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc-by\",\"license_terms\":\"\"},{\"type\":\"cc-attribution\",\"description\":\"Data Studio\",\"author\":\"Stephen Dawson\",\"organization\":\"Unsplash\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/unsplash.com\/photos\/qwtCeJ5cLYs\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc0\",\"license_terms\":\"Unsplash License\"},{\"type\":\"cc-attribution\",\"description\":\"Paper Files\",\"author\":\"Ag Ku\",\"organization\":\"Pixabay\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pixabay.com\/photos\/files-paper-office-paperwork-stack-1614223\/\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc0\",\"license_terms\":\"Pixabay License\"},{\"type\":\"cc-attribution\",\"description\":\"Digital Marketing Technology\",\"author\":\"Photo Mix\",\"organization\":\"Pixabay\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pixabay.com\/photos\/digital-marketing-technology-1433427\/\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc0\",\"license_terms\":\"Pixabay License\"}]","CANDELA_OUTCOMES_GUID":"0298155e-b82c-4cfa-80c1-cc4ebf482e31, 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