Abstract
Big Data Analytics (BDA) is an emerging phenomenon with the reported potential to transform how firms manage and enhance high value businesses performance. The purpose of our study is to investigate the impact of BDA on operations management in the manufacturing sector, which is an acknowledged infrequently researched context. Using an interpretive qualitative approach, this empirical study leverages a comparative case study of three manufacturing companies with varying levels of BDA usage (experimental, moderate and heavy). The information technology (IT) business value literature and a resource based view informed the development of our research propositions and the conceptual framework that illuminated the relationships between BDA capability and organizational readiness and design. Our findings indicate that BDA capability (in terms of data sourcing, access, integration, and delivery, analytical capabilities, and people’s expertise) along with organizational readiness and design factors (such as BDA strategy, top management support, financial resources, and employee engagement) facilitated better utilization of BDA in manufacturing decision making, and thus enhanced high value business performance. Our results also highlight important managerial implications related to the impact of BDA on empowerment of employees, and how BDA can be integrated into organizations to augment rather than replace management capabilities. Our research will be of benefit to academics and practitioners in further aiding our understanding of BDA utilization in transforming operations and production management. It adds to the body of limited empirically based knowledge by highlighting the real business value resulting from applying BDA in manufacturing firms and thus encouraging beneficial economic societal changes.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Agarwal, R., & Dhar, V. (2014). Editorial—big data, data science, and analytics: the opportunity and challenge for IS research. Information Systems Research, 25, 443–448.
Auschitzky, E., Hammer, M., & Rajagopaul, A. (2014). How big data can improve manufacturing. McKinsey&Company.
Babiceanu, R., & Seker, R. (2015). Manufacturing operations, internet of things, and big data: towards predictive manufacturing systems. In T. Borangiu, A. Thomas, D. Trentesaux (Eds.) Service orientation in holonic and multi-agent manufacturing. Springer International Publishing.
Barney, J. (1991). Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage. Journal of Management, 17, 99–120.
Benbasat, I., Goldstein, D. K., & Mead, M. (1987). The case research strategy in studies of information systems. MIS Quarterly, 11, 369–386.
Benitez-Amado, J., & Walczuch, M. R. (2012). Information technology, the organizational capability of proactive corporate environmental strategy and firm performance: a resource-based analysis. European Journal of Information Systems, 21, 664–679.
Benitez‐Amado, J., Llorens‐Montes, F. J., & Perez‐Arostegui, M. N. (2010). Information technology‐enabled intrapreneurship culture and firm performance. Industrial Management & Data Systems, 110, 550–566.
Bhattacharya, P. J., Seddon, P. B., & Scheepers, R. (2010). Enabling strategic transformations with enterprise systems: Beyond operational efficiency. In M. Lacity, S. March, & F. Niederman (Eds.), 31st international conference on information systems. St. Louis: Association for Information Systems.
Bi, R., Davidson, R., Kam, B., & Smyrnios, K. (2013). Developing organizational agility through IT and supply chain capability. Journal of Global Information Management (JGIM), 21, 38–55.
Cassell, C., & Symon, G. (1994). Qualitative methods in organizational research: a practical guide. London: Sage Publications.
Chakravarty, A., Grewal, R., & Sambamurthy, V. (2013). Information technology competencies, organizational agility, and firm performance: enabling and facilitating roles. Information Systems Research, 24, 976–997.
Chen, X., & Siau, K. (2011). Impact of business intelligence and IT infrastructure flexibility on competitive performance: An organizational agility perspective. In C. Beath, M. D. Myers, & K. K. Wei (Eds.), 32nd infernational conference on information systems. Shanghai: Association for Information Systems.
Chen, H., Chiang, R. H. L., & Storey, V. C. (2012). Business intelligence and analytics: from big data to big impact. MIS Quarterly, 36, 1165–1188.
Chen, Y., Wang, Y., Nevo, S., Jin, J., Wang, L., & Chow, W. S. (2014). IT capability and organizational performance: the roles of business process agility and environmental factors. European Journal of Information Systems, 23, 326–342.
Davenport, T. H., Barth, P., & Bean, R. (2012). How big data is different. MIT Sloan Management Review, 54, 43–46.
Davern, M. J., & Kauffman, R. J. (2000). Discovering potential and realizing value from information technology investments. Journal of Management Information Systems, 16, 121–143.
Davis, F. D., & Golicic, L. S. (2010). Gaining comparative advantage in supply chain relationships: the mediating role of market-oriented IT competence. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 38, 56–70.
Dezdar, S., & Sulaiman, A. (2010). The influence of organizational factors on successful ERP implementation. Management Decision, 49, 911–926.
Dutta, D., & Bose, I. (2015). Managing a big data project: the case of ramco cements limited. International Journal of Production Economics, In Press.
Eisenhardt, K. M. (1989). Building theories from case study research. The Academy of Management Review, 14, 532–550.
Firestone, W. A., & Herriott, R. E. (1983). The formalization of qualitative research: an adaptation of “soft” science to the policy world. Evaluation Review, 7, 437–466.
Fosso Wamba, S., Akter, S., Edwards, A., Chopin, G., & Gnanzou, D. (2015). How ‘big data’ can make big impact: findings from a systematic review and a longitudinal case study. International Journal of Production Economics, Forthcoming.
Galliers, R. D., & Whitley, E. A. (2007). Vive les differences? Developing a profile of european information systems research as a basis for international comparisons. European Journal of Information Systems, 16, 20–35.
Gandomi, A., & Haider, M. (2015). Beyond the hype: big data concepts, methods, and analytics. International Journal of Information Management, 35, 137–144.
Goodhue, D. L., Chen, D. Q., Boudreau, M. C., Davis, A., & Cochran, J. (2009). Addressing business agility challenges with enterprise systems. MIS Quarterly Executive, 8, 73–88.
Grover, V., & Malhotra, M. K. (1999). A framework for examining the interface between operations and information systems: implications for research in the new millennium. Decision Sciences, 30, 901.
Hong, K.-K., & Kim, Y.-G. (2002). The critical success factors for ERP implementation: an organizational fit perspective. Information & Management, 40, 25–40.
Hvolby, H.-H., & Steger-Jensen, K. (2010). Technical and industrial issues of advanced planning and scheduling (APS) systems. Computers in Industry, 61, 845–851.
Kiron, D. (2013). Organizational alignment is key to big data success. MIT Sloan Management Review, 54, 1-n/a.
Kiron, D., Prentice, P. K., & Ferguson, R. B. (2012). Innovating with analytics. MIT Sloan Management Review, 54, 47–51.
Kiron, D., Prentice, P. K., & Ferguson, R. B. (2014). Raising the bar with analytics. MIT Sloan Management Review, 55, 29–33.
Kretzer, M., Maedche, A. & Gass, O. Barriers to BI&A generativity: which factors impede Stable BI&A PLATFORMS FROM ENABLING ORGANIZATIONAL AGILITY? 20th Americas Conference on Information Systems, 2014 Savannah, GA, USA. Association for Information Systems.
Lavalle, S., Lesser, E., Shockley, R., Hopkins, M. S., & Kruschwitz, N. (2011). Big data, analytics and the path from insights to value. MIT Sloan Management Review, 52, 21–32.
Lee, J., Lapira, E., Bagheri, B., & Kao, H.-A. (2013). Recent advances and trends in predictive manufacturing systems in big data environment. Manufacturing Letters, 1, 38–41.
Mata, F. J., Fuerst, W. L., & Barney, J. B. (1995). Information technology and sustained competitive advantage: a resource-based analysis. MIS Quarterly, 19, 487–505.
Mcafee, A. & Brynjolfsson, E. (2012). Big data: the management revolution. Harvard business review, 3–9.
McLaren, T. S., Head, M. M., Yuan, Y., & Chan, Y. E. (2011). A multilevel model for measuring fit between a firm’s competitive strategies and information systems capabilities. MIS Quarterly, 35, 909–929.
Melville, N., Kraemer, K., & Gurbaxani, V. (2004). Information technology and organizational performance: an integrative model of IT business value. MIS Quarterly, 28, 283–322.
Miles, M. B., Huberman, A. M., & Saldana, J. 2014. Qualitative data analysis: a methods sourcebook. Thousand Oaks, CA.
Mithas, S., Ramasubbu, N., & Sambamurthy, V. (2011). How information management capability influences firm performance. MIS Quarterly, 35, 237–256.
Mithas, S., Lee, M. R., Earley, S., Murugesan, S., & Djavanshir, R. (2013). Leveraging big data and business analytics. IT Professional, 15, 18–20.
Munirathinam, S. & Ramadoss, B. (2014). Big data predictive analtyics for proactive semiconductor equipment maintenance. IEEE International Conference on Big Data, 893–902.
Oh, W. & Pinsonneault, A. (2007). On the assessment of the strategic value of information technologies: conceptual and analytical approaches. MIS Quarterly, 239–265.
Popovič, A., Hackney, R., Coelho, P. S., & Jaklič, J. (2012). Towards business intelligence systems success: effects of maturity and culture on analytical decision making. Decision Support Systems, 54, 729–739.
Popovič, A., Hackney, R., Coelho, P. S., & Jaklič, J. (2014). How information-sharing values influence the use of information systems: An investigation in the business intelligence systems context. The Journal of Strategic Information Systems, 23, 270–283.
Powell, T. C., & Dent-Micallef, A. (1997). Information technology as competitive advantage: the role of human, business, and technology resources. Strategic Management Journal, 18, 375–405.
Ray, G., Muhanna, W. A., & Barney, J. B. (2005). Information technology and the performance of the customer service process: a resource-based analysis. MIS Quarterly, 29, 625–652.
Sambamurthy, V., Bharadwaj, A., & Grover, V. (2003). Shaping agility through digital options: reconceptualizing the role of information technology in contemporary firms. MIS Quarterly, 27, 237–263.
Santhanam, R. & Hartono, E. (2003). Issues in linking information technology capability to firm performance. MIS quarterly , 125–153.
Sharma, R., Mithas, S., & Kankanhalli, A. (2014). Transforming decision-making processes: a research agenda for understanding the impact of business analytics on organisations. European Journal of Information Systems, 23, 433–441.
Tallon, P. P., & Pinsonneault, A. (2011). Competing perspectives on the link between strategic information technology alignment and organizational agility: insights from a mediation model. MIS Quarterly, 35, 463–484.
Tanriverdi, H. (2005). Information technology relatedness, knowledge management capability, and performance of multibusiness firms. MIS Quarterly, 29, 311–334.
Teece, D. J., Pisano, G. & Shuen, A. (1997). Dynamic capabilities and strategic management. Strategic Management Journal, 509–533.
VAN Oosterhout, M., Waarts, E., & VAN Hillegersberg, J. (2006). Change factors requiring agility and implications for IT. European Journal of Information Systems, 15, 132–145.
Wade, M., & Hulland, J. (2004). Review: the resource-based view and information systems research: review, extension, and suggestions for future research. MIS Quarterly, 28, 107–142.
Waller, M. A., & Fawcett, S. E. (2013). Data science, predictive analytics, and big data: a revolution that will transform supply chain design and management. Journal of Business Logistics, 34, 77–84.
Wixom, B. H., & Todd, P. A. (2005). A theoretical integration of user satisfaction and technology acceptance. Information Systems Research, 16, 85–102.
Wixom, B. H., Yen, B., & Relich, M. (2013). Maximizing value from business analytics. MIS Quarterly Executive, 12.
Yin, R. K. (2012). Applications of case study research. Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications, Inc.
Yin, R. K. (2014). Case study research: Design and methods. Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications, Inc.
Zelbst, P. J., Green, K. W., Jr., Sower, V. E., & Abshire, R. D. (2011). Radio frequency identification techonology utilization and organizational agility. Journal of Computer Information Systems, 52, 24–33.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Popovič, A., Hackney, R., Tassabehji, R. et al. The impact of big data analytics on firms’ high value business performance. Inf Syst Front 20, 209–222 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10796-016-9720-4
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10796-016-9720-4