Big Data (BD) is a vital cog in Industry 4.0 technology that modern organizations adopt to gain competitive advantage. Although the factors that lead BD usage are documented in the literature, there is lack of understanding as to how these factors are related to one another in predicting and explaining BD usage. This study fills the gap by developing and empirically testing a theoretical model, using the Sri Lankan industry as the context. Technical, Organizational and Environmental (TOE) Framework is used as the theoretical lens for theory building.
The seven constructs of the theoretical model were identified by sifting through a large volume of literature to identify the critical success factors (CSFs) of BD usage. The relationships between the constructs were also hypothesized from the extant literature. The model posited that Top Management Support drives the organization’s Analytics Culture and Information Systems Competence to enhance its Analytics Capacity, to cause BD usage. In addition to Analytics Capability (the internal factor), the study posits that Competitive Pressure and Government Pressure also act as additional causal antecedents of BD usage.
A questionnaire was developed to capture different manifestations of the seven constructs and partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) technique was used to analyze the data collected.
In the main, the data supported the hypotheses underpinning the theory. Analytics Capability and Competitive Pressure found to have strong and medium effects on BD. The only exception was that the Government Pressure was found to have no effect on BD usage (p=0.332). Having demonstrated construct validity of all seven constructs, the study estimated the strengths of the theoretical relationships between the constructs; the latter also enabled the researcher to provide suggestions to top managers as to how BD usage can be increased in their firms.
To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first to formulate a theory that explains how different organizational elements work together to improve the BD usage. The questionnaire and the practical implications of the empirical findings will be useful to BD organizations for continuous improvement.