5

Data

Creating great choices requires imagination more than data.

Underlying the practice and study of business is the belief that business decisions must be driven by rigorous analysis of data. The explosion of big data has reinforced this idea. In a recent EY survey, 81 percent of executives said they believed that “data should be at the heart of all decision-making,” leading EY to enthusiastically proclaim that “big data can eliminate reliance on ‘gut feel’ decision-making.”

Managers find this notion appealing. Many have a background in applied sciences. Even if they don’t, chances are, they have an MBA—a degree that originated in the early twentieth century, when Frederick Winslow Taylor was introducing “scientific management.”

MBA programs ...

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