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Big Data Analytics, Firm Size, and Performance

Author

Listed:
  • Raffaele Conti

    (ESSEC Business School, Department of Management, 95000 Cergy, France)

  • Miguel Godinho de Matos

    (Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Católica Lisbon School of Business and Economics, 1600-178 Lisbon, Portugal)

  • Giovanni Valentini

    (Department of Business and Management, Luiss University, 00199 Rome, Italy)

Abstract

Big data analytics (BDA) is one of the most important general-purpose technologies. Despite the increasing pervasiveness of BDA across industries and some preliminary evidence indicating that BDA adoption is positively related to firm productivity, previous studies have not fully investigated how BDA benefits actually materialize. To address this question, we explore the effect of BDA on the innovation process, a key determinant of firm productivity. Our findings indicate that both large and small firms can gain from BDA, yet size is a critical organizational attribute determining the most relevant performance gains captured: BDA benefits for value-added are particularly salient for large firms, whereas benefits for sales are more relevant in small firms. This suggests that the relative propensity to use BDA to decrease costs and enhance efficiency through process innovation vs. to increase sales through product innovation is increasing in firm size.

Suggested Citation

  • Raffaele Conti & Miguel Godinho de Matos & Giovanni Valentini, 2024. "Big Data Analytics, Firm Size, and Performance," Strategy Science, INFORMS, vol. 9(2), pages 135-151, June.
  • Handle: RePEc:inm:orstsc:v:9:y:2024:i:2:p:135-151
    DOI: 10.1287/stsc.2022.0007
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    3. Young Hou & Christopher Poliquin & Mariko Sakakibara & Marco Testoni, 2025. "Using Smartphone Location Data for Strategy Research," Strategy Science, INFORMS, vol. 10(4), pages 281-299, December.

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