PD fallacy #7: data is only relevant for quality assurance

One of the human behaviors that never ceases to amaze me is the gap between what people say they do and what they actually do. In management research, this is often referred to as espoused theory versus theory in use.

When it comes to digitalization and working with data, I see a similar pattern in many companies I work with. On the one hand, many consider data to be incredibly important and they don’t want anyone else to have access to it. As a consequence, companies are very restrictive about making their data available to suppliers and partners. When asked what they’re doing with the data, people often hide behind arguments concerning confidentiality and secrecy.