g-f(2)111 THE BIG PICTURE OF THE DIGITAL AGE, HBR, Why Is It So Hard to Become a Data-Driven Company?

Extra-condensed knowledge

• Thriving as a mainstream company today means being data driven.
• For the third consecutive year, investment in data and AI initiatives has been nearly universal, with 99.0% of firms reporting investment in data and AI according to findings from a newly released executive survey from NewVantage Partners, a strategic advisory firm that I founded in 2001 to advise Fortune 1000 companies on data leadership issues. But this year, despite growing investment, it appears most companies are struggling to maintain momentum.
• This year, a record 76.0% of respondents held the role of Chief Data Officer or Chief Analytics Officer. Survey respondents comprised the most senior corporate executives with oversight and responsibility for data within their firms.

Genioux knowledge fact condensed as an image

Condensed knowledge  

• Thriving as a mainstream company today means being data driven.
• For the third consecutive year, investment in data and AI initiatives has been nearly universal, with 99.0% of firms reporting investment in data and AI according to findings from a newly released executive survey from NewVantage Partners, a strategic advisory firm that I founded in 2001 to advise Fortune 1000 companies on data leadership issues. But this year, despite growing investment, it appears most companies are struggling to maintain momentum.
• This year, a record 76.0% of respondents held the role of Chief Data Officer or Chief Analytics Officer. Survey respondents comprised the most senior corporate executives with oversight and responsibility for data within their firms.
• Findings from this year’s survey suggest that even with record levels of committed investment, firms are continuing to struggle to derive value from their Big Data and AI investments and to become data-driven organizations.
• Often saddled with legacy data environments, business processes, skill sets, and traditional cultures that can be reluctant to change, mainstream companies appear to be confronting greater challenges as demands increase, data volumes grow, and companies seek to mature their data capabilities.
• Becoming a data-driven organization does not happen overnight. Building a data culture is a process. These efforts unfold over time. Today, Big Data and AI are mainstream, but there is still much work to be done.
• After nearly a decade of investment in data initiatives, are firms continuing to struggle in their efforts to become data-driven? 
• One answer is that becoming data-driven takes time, focus, commitment, and persistence. 
• Too many organizations minimize the effort or fail to correctly estimate the time which these kinds of wholesale business transformations require.
• Chief Data Officers and corporate data leaders should consider three pragmatic recommendations:
1. Organizations can benefit by focusing their data initiatives on clearly identified high-impact business problems or use cases. By starting where there is a critical business need, executives can demonstrate value quickly through “quick wins” that help a company realize value, build credibility for their investments in data, and use this credibility to identify additional high-impact use cases to build business momentum.
2. Companies must reexamine the ways that they think about data as a business asset of their organizations. Data flows like a river through any organization. It must be managed from capture and production through its consumption and utilization at many points along the way.
3. Data-driven business transformation is a long-term process that requires patience and fortitude. Organizations must show that they are in it for the long haul and stick with these investments and not lose patience or abandon efforts when results are not immediately forthcoming.

Category 2: The Big Picture of the Digital Age

[genioux fact produced, deduced or extracted from HBR]

Type of essential knowledge of this “genioux fact”: Essential Deduced and Extracted Knowledge (EDEK).

Type of validity of the "genioux fact". 

• Inherited from sources + Supported by the knowledge of one or more experts + Supported by a survey.

Authors of the genioux fact

Fernando Machuca

References

Why Is It So Hard to Become a Data-Driven Company?, Randy Bean, February 05, 2021, Harvard Business Review, HBR.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Randy Bean (@randybeannvp) is an industry thought leader, author, and CEO of NewVantage Partners, a strategic advisory and management consulting firm that he founded in 2001. He is a contributor to MIT Sloan Management Review, Forbes, Harvard Business Review, and The Wall Street Journal. Contact him at rbean@newvantage.com.

g-f(2)34 MIT SMR: Why Chief Data Officers (CDO) Must Assume Leadership for Data Success

Extra-condensed knowledge

• In their efforts to become data-driven, Fortune 1000 companies face the common challenge of identifying the right leadership that will enable them to overcome cultural and business roadblocks. 
• As companies struggle to manage data as a vital business asset, they must develop the leadership skills, expertise, and organizational structure to effectively manage and communicate the business value of data. 
• Companies must ensure that the chief data officer (CDO) has the necessary tools and support for executing on his or her data vision. 

Genioux knowledge fact condensed as an image.

The “genioux facts” Knowledge Big Picture (g-f KBP) chart

Condensed knowledge 

• Why Chief Data Officers (CDO) Must Assume Leadership for Data Success. As companies struggle to manage data as a vital business asset, they must develop the leadership skills, expertise, and organizational structure to effectively manage and communicate the business value of data. 
• Now more than ever, it is incumbent upon them to establish strong data leadership that will define and deliver on a data vision that supports the greater business vision of the company.
• In their efforts to become data-driven, Fortune 1000 companies face the common challenge of identifying the right leadership that will enable them to overcome cultural and business roadblocks.
• For most businesses, cultural issues manifest themselves in a variety of ways — resistance to change, antiquated business processes, a lack of clear coordination and communication of business imperatives and business value, ineffective organizational alignment, and uncertain leadership and commitment to data initiatives.
• These issues all point to serious gaps between ambition and execution that most organizations confront when embarking on data transformation efforts. 
• The Emergence of the Chief Data Officer (CDO). Today, the chief data officer role has emerged as a standard for most Fortune 1000 companies, but it comes with serious issues and challenges as companies struggle with how best to shape the role to achieve successful business outcomes.
• While a majority of CDOs — 54.6% — are now focused on revenue initiatives (offensive), a significant minority — 45.4% — remain focused on risk factors (defensive). Only 12.3% of CDOs have assumed direct revenue responsibility thus far, suggesting that moving into an offensive business-generation role will take some time.
• The Need for Business-Driven Data Leadership. Data challenges remain an issue for most companies — with only 37.8% reporting that they have established a data-driven organization, and only 26.8% saying that they have forged a data culture.
• The Data-Driven Business Imperative. Those companies that have learned to harness data, particularly as part of the digital experience, have been rewarded with rapid growth, customer expansion, and dominant market share and market value.
• Success is not assured. The long-term outlook for the role of the chief data officer remains uncertain. In 2019, 17.5% of survey respondents suggested that the CDO role was unnecessary.
• Companies must ensure that the chief data officer has the necessary tools and support for executing on his or her data vision. Only then will businesses be able to legitimately claim that they have earned the right to be called data-driven.

Category 2: The Big Picture of the Digital Era

[genioux fact extracted from MIT SMR]

Authors of the genioux fact

Fernando Machuca

References

Why Chief Data Officers Must Assume Leadership for Data Success, Randy Bean, November 30, 2020, MIT Sloan Management Review.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Randy Bean (@randybeannvp) is an industry thought leader, author, and CEO of NewVantage Partners, a strategic advisory and management consulting firm that he founded in 2001. He is a contributor to MIT Sloan Management Review, Forbes, Harvard Business Review, and The Wall Street Journal. Contact him at rbean@newvantage.com.

g-f(2)28 Latest Golden Knowledge Containers at MIT SMR, 7/12/2020

VIRAL KNOWLEDGE: The “genioux facts” knowledge news

Extra-condensed knowledge

• The week’s must-reads for managing in the digital age, curated by the MIT SMR editors.
• The New Elements of Digital Transformation.
• CULTURE 500. Explore the ultimate culture scorecard.
• The New Leadership Mindset for Data & Analytics.

Genioux knowledge fact condensed as an image.

The “genioux facts” Knowledge Big Picture (g-f KBP) chart

Condensed knowledge 

1. The Best of This Week, The MIT SMR Editors, December 04, 2020, MIT Sloan Management Review.
2. The New Elements of Digital Transformation, Didier Bonnet and George Westerman, November 19, 2020, MIT Sloan Management Review.
• g-f(2)8 The Evolution of Digital Transformation at MIT SMR: Digital Masters to Transform Digital Technology into Business Advantage, Fernando Machuca, November 21, 2020, "genioux facts", blog.geniouxfacts.com.
• g-f(2)9 The Evolution of Digital Transformation (DT) at MIT SMR: DT grow increasingly complex, competitive advantages have evolved and it is needed a more systematic approach to strategy and execution, Fernando Machuca, November 23, 2020, "genioux facts", blog.geniouxfacts.com.
3. CULTURE 500. Explore the ultimate culture scorecard. Donald Sull and Charles Sull, MIT Sloan Management Review.
• g-f(2)2 Measuring Culture in the Age of Parallel Disruptions, Fernando Machuca, November 17, 2020, "genioux facts", blog.geniouxfacts.com.
4. Leading With Decision-Driven Data Analytics, Bart de Langhe and Stefano Puntoni, December 7 2020, MIT Sloan Management Review.
5. Me, Myself, and AI / A Podcast on Artificial Intelligence in Business, A Podcast on Artificial Intelligence in Business, November 17, 2020, MIT Sloan Management Review.
6. Why Chief Data Officers Must Assume Leadership for Data Success, Randy Bean, November 30, 2020, MIT Sloan Management Review.
7. Changing Culture Is Central to Changing Business Models, Lanham Napier, Barry Libert, and K.D. de Vries, November 23, 2020, MIT Sloan Management Review.
• g-f(2)12 Organizational culture and leadership are at the core of disruptive business models, Fernando Machuca, November 24, 2020, "genioux facts", blog.geniouxfacts.com.
8. The New Leadership Mindset for Data & Analytics, MIT Sloan Management Review.
• In order to derive meaningful business value from data and analytics, leaders need to adopt a new mindset and shift their way of thinking about cultural and business challenges. This MIT SMR Executive Guide offers new insights and strategies for how leaders can help accelerate their companies’ data efforts, from identifying the type of talent they need to shaping a company vision that supports a data-driven culture.
9. How Large Companies Can Grow Their Data and Analytics Talent, Thomas H. Davenport, November 18, 2020, MIT Sloan Management Review.
• g-f(2)4 Companies need to identify the type of talent they need in order to become data-driven, Fernando Machuca, November 18, 2020, "genioux facts", blog.geniouxfacts.com.
10. Developing the Data-Driven Organization: Leadership, Culture, and Learning, Ishit Vachhrajani, interviewed by MIT SMR Connections, November 18, 2020, MIT Sloan Management Review.

Category 2: The Big Picture of the Digital Era

[genioux fact extracted from MIT SMR]

Authors of the genioux fact

Fernando Machuca

References

1. The Best of This Week, The MIT SMR Editors, December 04, 2020, MIT Sloan Management Review.
2. The New Elements of Digital Transformation, Didier Bonnet and George Westerman, November 19, 2020, MIT Sloan Management Review.
• g-f(2)8 The Evolution of Digital Transformation at MIT SMR: Digital Masters to Transform Digital Technology into Business Advantage, Fernando Machuca, November 21, 2020, "genioux facts", blog.geniouxfacts.com.
• g-f(2)9 The Evolution of Digital Transformation (DT) at MIT SMR: DT grow increasingly complex, competitive advantages have evolved and it is needed a more systematic approach to strategy and execution, Fernando Machuca, November 23, 2020, "genioux facts", blog.geniouxfacts.com.
3. CULTURE 500. Explore the ultimate culture scorecard. Donald Sull and Charles Sull, MIT Sloan Management Review.
• g-f(2)2 Measuring Culture in the Age of Parallel Disruptions, Fernando Machuca, November 17, 2020, "genioux facts", blog.geniouxfacts.com.
4. Leading With Decision-Driven Data Analytics, Bart de Langhe and Stefano Puntoni, December 7 2020, MIT Sloan Management Review.
5. Me, Myself, and AI / A Podcast on Artificial Intelligence in Business, A Podcast on Artificial Intelligence in Business, November 17, 2020, MIT Sloan Management Review.
6. Why Chief Data Officers Must Assume Leadership for Data Success, Randy Bean, November 30, 2020, MIT Sloan Management Review.
7. Changing Culture Is Central to Changing Business Models, Lanham Napier, Barry Libert, and K.D. de Vries, November 23, 2020, MIT Sloan Management Review.
• g-f(2)12 Organizational culture and leadership are at the core of disruptive business models, Fernando Machuca, November 24, 2020, "genioux facts", blog.geniouxfacts.com.
8. The New Leadership Mindset for Data & Analytics, MIT Sloan Management Review.
• In order to derive meaningful business value from data and analytics, leaders need to adopt a new mindset and shift their way of thinking about cultural and business challenges. This MIT SMR Executive Guide offers new insights and strategies for how leaders can help accelerate their companies’ data efforts, from identifying the type of talent they need to shaping a company vision that supports a data-driven culture.
9. How Large Companies Can Grow Their Data and Analytics Talent, Thomas H. Davenport, November 18, 2020, MIT Sloan Management Review.
• g-f(2)4 Companies need to identify the type of talent they need in order to become data-driven, Fernando Machuca, November 18, 2020, "genioux facts", blog.geniouxfacts.com.
10. Developing the Data-Driven Organization: Leadership, Culture, and Learning, Ishit Vachhrajani, interviewed by MIT SMR Connections, November 18, 2020, MIT Sloan Management Review.