Strategic Decision Making: The Effects of Big Data

This study aimed to understand the emerging effects big data is having across different business functions as well as how much the insights gathered, from big data sets, are starting to influence business strategy. The literature highlights a lack of understanding around big data, with very little research focusing on big data’s applications outside of short term marketing strategies. This research investigated the potential barriers to big data integration within businesses, and sought to understand how these could be removed. In order to achieve an in depth understanding, an interview based approach was used. A wide range of business sources were examined to further understand the gaps identified by previous research. Primary research took the form of in-depth interviews. Respondents were carefully selected based on industry knowledge and experience, working for companies such as Ebiquity PLC, Satalia and Barclays. The interviews were used to compare and contrast the experts’ opinions and establish whether the key themes identified in the literature held true in the primary research. This approach enabled real insight to be gathered in order to concisely examine and critique the current literature as well as enabled further themes to be investigated. This investigation found how critical big data is becoming to business success, including understanding an emerging gulf between those who have adopted data big sets and those who have not. It was also understood that, on the whole, knowledge and understanding is lagging far behind benchmarks set by some businesses. The paper concludes by explaining why big data is not influencing business strategy. A focused understanding approach is outlined as the preferred solution to bridge the gulf between the ‘haves’ and ‘have not’s’.