Trends and Challenges towards Effective Data-Driven Decision Making in UK Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises: Case Studies and Lessons Learnt from the Analysis of 85 Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises

The adoption of data science brings vast benefits to Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) including business productivity, economic growth, innovation and job creation. Data science can support SMEs to optimise production processes, anticipate customers’ needs, predict machinery failures and deliver efficient smart services. Businesses can also harness the power of artificial intelligence (AI) and big data, and the smart use of digital technologies to enhance productivity and performance, paving the way for innovation. However, integrating data science decisions into an SME requires both skills and IT investments. In most cases, such expenses are beyond the means of SMEs due to their limited resources and restricted access to financing. This paper presents trends and challenges towards effective data-driven decision making for organisations based on a 3-year long study which covered more than 85 UK SMEs, mostly from the West Midlands region of England. In particular, this study attempts to find answers to several key research questions around data science and AI adoption among UK SMEs, and the advantages of digitalisation and data-driven decision making, as well as the challenges hindering their effective utilisation of these technologies. We also present two case studies that demonstrate the potential of digitisation and data science, and use these as examples to unveil challenges and showcase the wealth of currently available opportunities for SMEs.