Factors influencing big data decision-making quality

Abstract

Organizations are looking for ways to harness the power of big data (BD) to improve their decision making. Despite its significance the effects of BD on decision-making quality has been given scant attention in the literature. In this paper factors influencing decision-making based on BD are identified using a case study. BD is collected from different sources that have various data qualities and are processed by various organizational entities resulting in the creation of a big data chain. The veracity (manipulation, noise), variety (heterogeneity of data) and velocity (constantly changing data sources) amplified by the size of big data calls for relational and contractual governance mechanisms to ensure BD quality and being able to contextualize data. The case study reveals that taking advantage of big data is an evolutionary process in which the gradually understanding of the potential of big data and the routinization of processes plays a crucial role.