How Do Organizations Collect Data For Decision Making?

There are many ways through which organizations collect data for decision making. While we will go through more advanced options later in the term, let us take a simple example in order to illustrate what data an organization might collect.

A mid-size bakery offers different options for their clients to purchase their goods. One option is to visit their traditional brick-and-mortar establishment in order to purchase items. A second option is to order online via their online ordering system. Below are three examples that this business may collect data to inform its decision making.

1. For planning, legal, and tax purposes, businesses must keep records of their sales. The bakery may choose to use a platform that tracks what items they sell, and the quantity of those items sold each week.
2. Since the bakery has invested in an online ordering tool, they have equipped their website with Google Analytics (GA). Using GA, they know how many visitors are coming to their website, through what channels, and how many of those visitors actually become customers.
3. The lead baker is an adventurous person but has a hard time convincing management to try new recipes. To help provide some evidence for changing the menu, the baker decides to pass out samples and conduct a briefly survey to determine customers’ likelihood of purchasing these items.

These are just three examples of how an organization may collect data. The first example includes operational data collect through daily operations. The second option provides data collected through the organization’s online retailer. Finally, the third option illustrates how an organization may use more formal research methods in order to collect information to drive decision making.