Business innovation is the lifeblood of most enterprises – and given the inherent high uncertainty, a high level of decision quality is essential. Many parties are involved in the decision-making process, and often they have conflicting values, motivations, perspectives, personalities and power bases. These organizational issues are reinforced with analytical complexities such as the large number of interrelated inputs, the high level of uncertainty inherent in early-stage developments, and potentially conflicting decision criteria.
In recognition of this complexity, global fast moving consumer goods supplier Unilever – which has a portfolio of over 400 brands – developed its unique Decision Making Under Uncertainty (DMUU) approach. Combining a disciplined, methodical and structured method with DecisionTools Suite software ensures that project teams fully understand the scope of their decisions, and have the tools and the knowledge to make informed and high-quality choices that prevent opportunities and threats being overlooked.
DMUU and the use of the DecisionTools Suite is now a standard part of Unilever’s innovation process and probabilistic business cases are required for all big and complex projects. Focusing on an effective decision-making process improves decision quality, facilitates faster decision-making and ultimately increases the company’s agility in the market place.
» Case Study: Unilever uses DecisionTools Suite software to inform decisions on innovation
