B.C.’s executives have a little more room on their desks this year. Only 38% of B.C.-based executives say they suffer from “information overload” compared with 52% in 2010, according to an online SAS Canada survey.
The results of the poll, which surveyed 1,000 senior-level executives, are less positive elsewhere.
Nearly half of Canadian executives maintain the amount of information they have to deal with for their business continues to overwhelm them, showing little improvement year over year.
The solution, executives said, is being able to access the right information immediately.
In fact, 80% of executives surveyed said they’d make better business decisions if they had the right tools in place to analyze information more effectively, but nearly 25% said they don’t have the right information to make effective decisions.
“Organizations often need to make significant procedural changes to effectively address information overload,” said Kathryn Brohman, professor of management information systems at Queen’s University.
“For organizations to be successful combating information overload, they need both the right technology and the right procedures.”
The survey also found that 30% of business executives believe their IT department is unable to support their information needs, and 51% believe that data is the most underused asset in their organization.
Elie Elia, a professor in the department of management and technology at the Université du Quebec ŕ Montreal, said many business people just aren’t sharing information effectively.
“While access to accurate and up-to-date information is critical to business success, there is a substantial amount of untapped business value that can be gained by sharing information more effectively,” Elia said.
Joel McKay