Big Data, Analytic Culture and Analytic-Based Decision Making Evidence from Australia

Abstract

This study investigates how managerial decision making is influenced by Big Data, analytics and analytic culture. The results of a cross-sectional survey (n = 163) of senior IT managers reveal that Big Data Analytics creates an incentive for managers to base more of their decisions on the analytic insights. However, we also find that the main driver of analytic-based decision making is analytic culture. Considering that culture – in contrast to Big Data Analytics tools and skills – is a resource which cannot be change easily or quickly, we conclude that firms with a highly analytic culture can use this resource as a competitive weapon. Finally, our analysis reveals that managers in smaller organizations are significantly more likely to base their decisions on analytic results than managers in large organizations, which suggests the former use analytics to remain competitive against their larger counterparts.