April 2023 - BANK OF SOUTHERN SUDAN

bankofsouthernsudan.org – People feel overwhelmed and under qualified to use data to make decisions and this is hurting their quality of life and business performance, according to a new study—The Decision Dilemma— and Seth Stephens-Davidowitz, New York Times bestselling author. The study of more than 14,000 employees and business leaders across 17 countries found that people are struggling to make decisions in their personal and professional lives at a time when they are being forced to make more decisions than ever before.

The number of decisions we are making is multiplying and more data is not helping

People are overwhelmed by the amount of data and this is damaging trust, making decisions much more complicated, and negatively impacting their quality of life.

74 percent of people say the number of decisions they make every day has increased 10x over the last three years and as they try to make these decisions, 78 percent are getting bombarded with more data from more sources than ever before.
86 percent say the volume of data is making decisions in their personal and professional lives much more complicated and 59 percent admit they face a decision dilemma—not knowing what decision to make—more than once every single day.
35 percent don’t know which data or sources to trust and 70 percent have given up on making a decision because the data was overwhelming.
85 percent of people say this inability to make decisions is having a negative impact on their quality of life. It is causing spikes in anxiety (36 percent), missed opportunities (33 percent), and unnecessary spending (29 percent).
As a result, 93 percent have changed the way they make decisions over the last three years. 39 percent now only listen to sources they trust and 29 percent rely solely on gut feelings.

Decision distress is creating organizational inertia

Business leaders want data to help and know it is critical to the success of their organizations, but don’t believe they have the tools to be successful which is eroding their confidence and ability to make timely decisions.

85 percent of business leaders have suffered from decision distress—regretting, feeling guilty about, or questioning a decision they made in the past year—and 93 percent believe having the right type of decision intelligence can make or break the success of an organization.
97 percent want help from data. In an ideal world, they want data to help them: make better decisions (44 percent), reduce risk (41 percent), make faster decisions (39 percent), make more money (37 percent), and plan for the unexpected (29 percent).
In reality, 72 percent admit the sheer volume of data and their lack of trust in data has stopped them from making any decision at all and 89 percent believe the growing number of data sources has limited the success of their organizations.
Managing different data sources has required additional resources to collect all the data (40 percent), made strategic decision making slower (36 percent), and introduced more opportunities for error (26 percent).
Business leaders do not believe that the current approach to data and analytics is addressing these challenges. 77 percent say that the dashboards and charts they get do not always relate directly to the decisions they need to make and 72 percent believe most data available is only truly helpful for IT professionals or data scientists.
Business leaders know this needs to change. They believe the right data and insights can help them make better HR (94 percent), finance (94 percent), supply chain (94 percent), and customer experience (93 percent) decisions.

Data needs to be relevant to the decisions people make or they will give up on it

Collecting and interpreting data has driven people to their breaking point at a time when the stakes are incredibly high for business leaders.

70 percent of people say the headache of having to collect so much data and interpret it is too much for them to handle.
This is particularly evident in the business world. 78 percent of business leaders say people often make decisions and then look for the data to justify them, 74 percent of employees believe businesses often put the highest paid person’s opinion ahead of data, and 24 percent feel that most decisions made in business are not rational.
The situation is so challenging that 64 percent of people—and 70 percent of business leaders—would prefer for all these difficulties to just go away and to have a robot make their decisions.
Despite their frustrations with data in their personal and professional worlds, people know that without data their decisions would be less accurate (44 percent), less successful (27 percent), and more prone to error (39 percent).
People also believe that an organization that uses technology to make data-driven decisions is more trustworthy (79 percent), will be more successful (79 percent), is a company they’re more likely to invest in (76 percent), partner with (77 percent), and work for (78 percent).

Supporting Quotes

“People are drowning in data,” said Seth Stephens-Davidowitz, data scientist and author of Everybody Lies and Don’t Trust Your Gut. “This study highlights how the overwhelming amount of inputs a person gets in their average day—internet searches, news alerts, unsolicited comments from friends—frequently add up to more information than the brain is configured to handle. People are tempted to throw out the confusing, and sometimes conflicting, data and just do what feels right. But this can be a big mistake. It has been proven over and over again that our instincts can lead us astray and the best decision-making is done with a proper understanding of the relevant data. Finding a way to get a handle on the stream of data at their fingertips, to help businesses distinguish between the signal and the noise, is a crucial first step.”

“When our drivers are racing at more than 200 miles per hour, they have to make critical decisions very quickly. The correct race strategy decisions like when to pit and which tires are best for the conditions on the track can mean the difference between winning and losing,” said Christian Horner, Team Principal and CEO at Oracle Red Bull Racing. “With Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, our team can take advantage of data by running billions of race strategy simulations during a Grand Prix weekend, ensuring that we make the best decisions in response to the performance of the cars, changes happening on the track, and the actions of our competitors during the race.”

“As businesses expand to serve new customers in new ways, the number of data inputs they need to get the full picture expands too. Business leaders that make critical decisions about how to manage their companies ignore that data at their own risk,” said T.K. Anand, executive vice president, Oracle Analytics. “The hesitancy, distrust, and lack of understanding of data shown by this study indicates that many people and organizations need to rethink their approach to data and decision making. What people really need is to be able to connect data to insight to decision to action. With our span of connected cloud capabilities, ranging from foundational data management, to augmented and applied analytics, to our suite of operational applications, we are uniquely positioned to meet this need.”

Methodology

This global sample of 14,250 people were surveyed in January 2023. In each country, the sample represented employees and business leaders, including titles such as President, CEO, Chairperson, C-Level Executive, CFO, CTO, Director, Senior Manager, HR Manager, and other select leadership roles, confirmed by consumer-matched data accessed via the global insights platform Prodege. Employee samples were calibrated, where possible, to reflect the age and gender demographics of the nation’s workforce.

DKC Analytics conducted and analyzed this survey with a sample procured using the Pollfish survey delivery platform, which delivers online surveys globally through mobile apps and the mobile web along with the desktop web. No post-stratification has been applied to the results.

bankofsouthernsudan.org – The Transparency International 2022 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) released earlier this year indicates a fourth consecutive year of stagnating corruption levels across the region. The report reveals that leaders in the region have ignored anti-corruption efforts, instead emphasizing economic recovery at the expense of other priorities. Furthermore, governments have maintained or even expanded restrictions on civic space and basic freedoms imposed during the pandemic, increasing concerns over authoritarianism.

Ilham Mohamed, the Asia Regional Advisor of Transparency International, expressed concern that corruption is worsening in some of the world’s most populous countries. Governments are also restricting basic rights and freedoms that allow people to hold those in power accountable. Inclusive growth must come with efforts to curb corruption, and public voices must be heard with the upcoming 2023 elections. Governments across Asia Pacific must recommit to stopping corruption.

Highlights

The CPI ranks 180 countries and territories based on their perceived levels of public sector corruption, on a scale of zero (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean). The Asia Pacific average has remained constant at 45 for four years, and over 70% of countries rank below 50. New Zealand (87), Singapore (83), Hong Kong (76), and Australia (75) lead the region, while Afghanistan (24), Cambodia (24), Myanmar (23), and North Korea (17) are the lowest in the region. Singapore (83) and Mongolia (33) are at historic lows this year. While many countries have stagnated, countries in Asia Pacific made up nearly half of the world’s significant improvers on the CPI since 2017.

South Korea (63), Vietnam (42), and the Maldives (40) were among the significant improvers. In contrast, Malaysia (47), Mongolia (33), and Pakistan (27) declined over this time. Governments across Asia Pacific have claimed they will tackle corruption, but few have taken concrete action, leaving the situation dire. Pervasive corruption and crackdowns on civic space are the root causes.

For instance, Malaysia has been declining for years as it struggles with grand corruption in the wake of the monumental 1MDB and other scandals implicating multiple prime ministers and high-level officials. India, the largest democracy in the world, continues to consolidate power and limit the public’s ability to demand accountability. Massive protests erupted in Sri Lanka due to financial mismanagement by the government, with Sri Lankans demanding anti-corruption reforms. Meanwhile, Australia is showing positive signs this year, with the government passing historic legislation for a new National Anti-Corruption Commission. Nevertheless, more comprehensive whistleblower protection laws, caps and real-time disclosure on political donations, greater transparency, and longer cooling-off periods are necessary.

In parts of the Pacific, governments have interfered in elections, denying the public the opportunity to have their voices heard. Papua New Guinea’s August election was its worst ever amid numerous irregularities, stolen ballot boxes, and even bouts of violence. In the Solomon Islands, frustration with reported collusion between politicians and foreign companies boiled over into violent civil unrest late last year. The government’s decision to delay elections scheduled for 2023 has raised further concerns over the abuse of executive power.

Transparency International calls on governments to prioritize anti-corruption commitments, reinforcing checks and balances, upholding rights to information, and limiting private influence to finally rid the world of corruption – and the instability it brings. Governments must open up space to include the public in decision-making, from activists and business owners to marginalized communities and young people. In democratic societies, people can raise their voices to help root out corruption and demand a safer world for all.

Here is how the countries of the Asian subcontinent stack up against each other