Intelligent Enterprise

A new study shows that at least 40 percent of execs aren't happy with their firms' decision-making abilities, yet most aren't taking steps to improve the process. In fact, the decision-making process may be one of the least-understood and poorly defined processes in the enterprise, seldom analyzed and almost never the target of best practices.

The DecisionROI Institute, a group created by the Business Performance Management (BPM) Forum, launched the "Business Traction From Better Decision Action" initiative in Q2 2006 to explore the state of decision-making and come up with suggestions for best practices. Based on interviews with more than 300 executives and funded by Cognos, the institute's "Business Traction" report found that:

• More than 70 percent of respondents said bad decisions had either a significant, alarming or degrading impact on their company's performance

• There's a huge confidence gap between C-level titles and the management team: More than 60 percent of C-level execs said they are confident in their decision-making capabilities versus less than 22 percent for VP/Director/Managers

• Only 26 percent of organizations surveyed have a decision-making process or policy in place

• The root causes of poor decision-making fall primarily in the corporate arena, including:
-- Poorly defined processes and practices
-- Unclear corporate vision, mission and goals
-- Unwillingness of leaders to take responsibility
-- A lack of reliable, timely information

Cognos senior VP Dave Laverty, a DecisionROI Advisory Board member, says the report shows that "cultural, structural and technological issues are hindering the ability for stakeholders to receive clean and consistent data that enables informed decision-making."

More info is available at www.BPMForum.org.