Caveat emptor: Avoiding pitfalls in data-based decision maki

It is the essence of the manager's job to make the decisions which guide day-to-day activities and chart the future course of the organization. A number of factors may interfere with good decision making processes and negatively affect the quality of the resulting decisions. An effort is made to identify factors that may impede the quality of data-based decision making. To demonstrate the importance of these factors, the uses and misuses of data from a classic study are offered as an illustration and a learning tool. Specific issues drawn from the interpretation of these data highlight the risks of casual data-based decision making. Finally, general recommendations are offered to guide decision makers and to serve as catalysts to assessing and enhancing decision making proficiency.