A longitudinal study of the actual value of big data and analytics: The role of industry environment

Despite the popularity of big data and analytics (BDA) in industry, research regarding the economic value of BDA is still at an early stage. Little attention has been paid to quantifying the longitudinal impact of organizational BDA implementation on firm performance. Grounded in organizational learning theory, this study empirically demonstrates the impact of BDA implementation on organizational performance and how industry environment characteristics moderate the BDA-performance relationships. Using secondary data regarding BDA implementation from 2010 to February 2020, we find that BDA implementation has a significant impact on two types of business value creation: operational efficiency and business growth. Furthermore, the impact of BDA on operational efficiency is amplified in less dynamic and complex environments, while the BDA-business growth relationship is more pronounced in more dynamic, complex, and munificent environments. Collectively, this study provides a theory-centric understanding of BDA's economic benefits. The findings offer insights to firms about what actual benefits BDA implementation may generate and how firms may align the use of BDA with the industry environments they are operating in.