Business executives in UAE putting risk mitigation ahead of potential success
Business executives in the UAE are under immense pressure when making critical business decisions and as a result, many are putting risk mitigation ahead of potential success.
The study, Unlocking Growth by Oracle NetSuite, found that that 83% of UAE executives experience more pressure when making a big decision at work than in their personal life.
96% of respondents from more than 1,000 business executives in the UK, France, Germany, UAE, Benelux and the Nordics said that they are overwhelmed by data when making decisions.
One-third of UAE executives are putting risk mitigation ahead of potential success to avoid impacting their career, and 33% rely on gut feel and intuition to make critical decisions.
Nicky Tozer, Vice-President for EMEA at Oracle NetSuite, said that there’s a lot of talk about a changing economic, technological and political backdrop, but when you step back, organisations in the UAE have an increasing number of growth opportunities if they can focus their time and resources in the right places.
The report showed that 83% of UAE executives experience more pressure when making a big decision at work than in their personal life.
The top four areas UAE executives are concerned about are – fears about negatively impacting revenue (49%), losing their job (23%), damaging personal reputation (13%), and adversely impacting co-workers (10%).
Tozer said that risk aversion is even higher amongst organizations that define themselves as high-performers – 62% admit they actively pursue risk-averse decisions, even in the knowledge their choice may not be as successful.
To achieve that focus, he said that organisations need to address the decision-making and planning challenges identified in this study so they can use data to adapt to change faster than their competition and unlock new growth opportunities.
Turning to a robot for support
The report showed that 49% of UAE respondents expect to turn to a robot as a source of support when making critical decisions in the next year as information overload, time pressure and a lack of trust in senior management is strangling the decision-making process and leading executives to default to ‘gut feel’ to inform their decision-making strategy.
“Almost 96% of UAE executives are overwhelmed by data during the decision-making process. Executives in France (99%) reported the biggest issues with data, while executives in the UK (92%) reported the least.
As executives across countries and industries expect their organisations to grow, the report showed that they need to rethink the planning process to ensure data can be used to adjust business plans and that everyone is working towards a clear plan for success.
More than 83% of UAE executives say their organisation is good at capitalising on new opportunities, but there are serious concerns about the planning process.
“Only 38% say they are proficient at adjusting business plans based on data analysis and 29% do not think senior management provides a clear plan for success, dropping to just 16% in the Nordics,” report showed.
Business executives in the UAE are under immense pressure when making critical business decisions and as a result, many are putting risk mitigation ahead of potential success. The study, Unlocking Growth by Oracle NetSuite, found that that 83% of UAE executives experience more pressure when making a big decision at…
