Investigating the Determinants of Big Data Analytics Adoption in Decision Making: An Empirical Study in New Zealand, China, and Vietnam

Abstract

Background: As a breakthrough technology, big data provides an opportunity for organizations to acquire business value and enhance competitiveness. Many companies have listed big data analytics (BDA) as one of their top priorities. However, research shows that managers are still reluctant to change their work patterns to utilize this new technology. In addition, the empirical evidence on what determines their adoption of BDA in management decision making is still rare. Method: To more broadly understand the determinants affecting managers’ actual use of BDA in decision making, a survey was conducted on a sample of 363 respondents from New Zealand, China, and Vietnam who work in different managerial roles. The dual process theory, the technology–organization–environment framework, and the key associated demographic characteristics are integrated to form the theoretical foundation to study the internal and external factors influencing the adoption. Results: The findings illustrate that the common essential factors across countries linking BDA in decision making are technology readiness, data quality, managers’ and organizational knowledge related to BDA, and organizational expectations. The factors that are more situation-dependent and evident in one or two countries’ results are managers’ predilection toward valuing intuition and experience over analytics and organizational size. Conclusion: The findings enrich the current literature and provide implications for practitioners on how they can improve the adoption process of this new technology.