Big Data Analytics Capabilities and Performance : Evidence from a Moderated Multi-Mediation Model

Big data analytics (BDA) have the power to revolutionize traditional ways of doing business. Nevertheless, the impact of BDA capabilities on a firm’s performance is still not fully understood. These capabilities relate to the flexibility of the BDA infrastructure and the skills of the management and the firm’s personnel. Most scholars explored the phenomenon either from a theoretical standpoint or neglected intermediate factors, such as organizational traits. This article builds on the dynamic capabilities view to propose and empirically test a model exploring whether organizational ambidexterity and agility mediate the relationship between BDA capabilities and organizational performance. Using data from surveys of 259 managers of large European organizations, we tested a proposed model using bootsrapped moderated mediation analysis. We found that organizational BDA capabilities impact a firm’s ambidexterity and agility, which, in turn, affect its performance. These results establish ambidexterity and agility as positive mediators in the relationship between organizational BDA capabilities and a firm’s performance. Furthermore, the organizational resistance to the implementation of information management systems and the fit between the organization and these systems also moderated this relationship. Practical implications for managers are also discussed.