Business Intelligence: Management is often unaware of the benefits
A new study by the HWZ confirms: The importance of business intelligence and data science for the development of a company is recognized more by employees than by management. In principle, there is a consensus in companies about the importance of data, but they often feel that the quality and quantity of their data is insufficient.
To gain decisive competitive advantages, a company can use Data Science to come up with new, innovative ideas. In order to analyze how far the use of Data Science has progressed in Swiss SMEs and what the challenges and opportunities of Data Science are in this environment, the HWZ conducted a comprehensive study. The results of this were recently published.
Get out of the comfort zone
Especially in very small companies, forecasts are still made on the basis of historical data with simple time trends. However, small and medium-sized companies also make too little use of the potential of more complex evaluation options. This is due to lack of know-how, lack of financial resources and generally too little awareness of the topic. "In this context, our findings are surprising, according to which, across all company sizes, a need is expressed for more forecasts on future customer wishes and trends of customer segments as well as products and services. This shows that companies theoretically have a great need for more business intelligence to supplement existing evaluations with more sophisticated, progressive evaluations, but that companies are too little aware of this. The level of digitization among SMEs is still too low," as Prof. Dr. Evangelos Xevelonakis (pictured), Head of the Center for Data Science & Technology at the HWZ Hochschule für Wirtschaft Zürich, points out.
Discrepancy between knowledge and implementation
It is noteworthy that there are large asymmetries between employees and managers of SMEs when it comes to assessing the challenges with regard to business intelligence. According to the current study, the greatest challenges for the use of data science in Swiss SMEs lie in the lack of transparency and communication between the various hierarchical levels, the resulting lack of a sense of responsibility on the part of management, and too little awareness of the benefits of data science.
Business intelligence must also reach SMEs
In order to drive digitization forward and increase the use of data science in SMEs, the benefits of data science must be made clear to the management of SMEs. They should see the need for action and invest more resources in the further education and training of their employees. This is where universities can play an important role in ensuring that potential employees receive appropriate training and that SMEs are kept up to date on data science topics so that they do not lose touch with their global competitors. The most important conclusions from the study are:
- Management is not sufficiently aware of the benefits of business intelligence.
- The know-how of employees is underestimated by management.
- Employees complain about a lack of responsibilities.
- There is too little communication between the hierarchy levels.
- The digitization of SMEs is too little advanced.
- SMEs expect universities to support them.
It is clear from the findings that SMEs must take organizational, technical and social measures in order to hold their own in an increasingly competitive environment. Universities can make an important contribution to this, as the study concludes with a recommendation for action.
Source and further information: www.fh-hwz.ch
