How Data Science Can Improve Your Business Decision Making?

Thomas Jefferson famously said on multiple occasions “knowledge is power”. Nowhere is this fact more apparent than in the modern business world. Information, or data science, is one of the most valuable digital assets a business can have. Virtually every business generates vast quantities of data during its day-to-day operations. It can range from things like your business’ Cox gigablast data usage to the volume of customer support requests you receive. However, this data is only useful if it is captured, analyzed, and utilized correctly. This is where modern data science comes into play. 

What Is Data Science and How Can It Help Business Decisions 

Data science is a scientific field of study involving the use of complex techniques, algorithms, and data systems. The focus is on extracting meaningful knowledge from data and further using this knowledge to supplement business decisions. Business decisions supported by the correct interpretation of business data are more likely to prove successful. Business data can come from nearly every business function and an understanding of data science can help improve these functions, particularly:

1. Evidence-Based Decision Making 
2. Product Improvement 
3. Acquiring Growth-Focused Talent 
4. Supplement Training and Onboarding
5. Locating More Relevant Audiences  

Let’s examine these in more detail below.

Evidence-Based Decision Making  

Having strong business instincts is a valuable trait for a business leader. But gut feelings alone cannot construct good business decisions 100% of the time. Instincts can often turn out to be wrong. However, data is usually based on facts. Armed with the knowledge extracted from business data, business leaders can make stronger, evidence-backed decisions. Data scientists on your staff can help analyze the data various business functions generate and offer actionable and accurate information to the relevant business decision-maker.

Product Improvement 

A successful product is the goal of virtually every consumer business. Unfortunately, many forget that the product needs to be not just consistently good, but also relevant as time progresses. Data science can help you analyze historical product data, market information, comparative competitor data, and other useful information. This information can offer a deep understanding of business products and services as well as valuable insights into consumer patterns and behaviour. Ultimately, this information can be used to periodically upgrade and enhance the product/service, or keep it relevant to changing needs.  

Acquiring Growth-Focused Talent 

Why are businesses like Google, Facebook, and Apple so successful? Yes, they had unique, game-changing business ideas. But so do tons of other businesses, yet they still fail. So what is the ingredient they are missing? The short answer is: the right people in their workforce to realize their business goals. Hiring the right talent is essential for businesses to maintain a growth trajectory or kickstart new directions. 

The problem is, like any market, the hiring market is extremely competitive. This can often make recruiting the right talent a very challenging task. Unless, of course, you utilize data science in your hiring efforts. Businesses can gather data from various points like corporate databases, social media platforms, job advert sites, and even third-party staffing firms. This data can then be analyzed to locate the best-fit candidates for any given role. If managed correctly, these candidates should also have a lower risk of turnover.  

Supplement Training and Onboarding

Even if you have hired the best team for the job, you can’t expect them to know everything from day one. In particular, many businesses have work cultures, protocols, and workflows very different from their competitors. A new candidate may not always understand or know of these minute details. However, by gathering data on what obstacles and difficulties employees face, you can create training programs and onboarding processes with a larger degree of success. This is because the data can offer useful insights into gaps in employee knowledge. You can use these insights not just to create a passive employee knowledge resource, but an active system that offers updates employees on things that new workers commonly get wrong. 

Locating More Relevant Audiences  

Businesses aren’t the only ones who generate data. Consumers do too, and this data is just as valuable as the data you generate internally. Thanks to search engines like Google, social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram, and e-commerce stores, businesses can access huge volumes of useful consumer data. Using scientific techniques and analytical processes, businesses can leverage this information to locate new and more relevant audiences with better conversion probabilities.