Organizational Use of Big Data and Competitive Advantage - Exploration of Antecedents

The use of Big Data can hold considerable benefits for organizations, but there is as yet little research on the impacts of Big Data use on key variables such as competitive advantage. The antecedents to Big Data use aiming at competitive advantage are also poorly understood. Drawing from prior research on the ICT-competitiveness link, this research examined the relationship of organizational use of Big Data and competitive advantage – as well as certain hypothesized antecedents to this relationship. Data was collected from a nationwide survey in Japan which was addressed to Big Data users in private companies. The result shows that the competitiveness is influenced by the systematic and extensive use of Big Data in the organization, and top management understanding for Big Data use. Antecedents of systematic and extensive Big Data use were found to be the cross-functional activities of analysts, proactive attitude of users, secured data management, and human resources. Future research should strive to verify these respondent opinions using longitudinal approaches based on objective financial data.