Big Data Capability, Customer Agility, and Organization Performance : A Dynamic Capability Perspective

This paper responds to the continual call from both academic scholars and industry professionals to theorize about the influence of “big data” on organization competitiveness and performance. To resolve the ambiguity surrounding “big data” term we propose a new construct called “big data capability.” We consider “big data capability” as a higher-level construct consists of three sub lower- level constructs: big data infrastructure capability, big data management capability, and big data science capability. We argue that big data capability improves customer sensing capability, and we clarify that this impact is moderated by both the organization market orientation and the data-driven decision making practice. We further stress that creating the competitive action that contributes to the organization performance requires the alignment and fit between the two components of customer agility: customer sensing capability and customer responding capability. To illustrate the potential utility of our model, we use the case of Alibaba and its Internet finance platform, Yu'e Bao, as an example from the fund market industry in China. The paper provides an important theoretical and practical contributions. From the theoretical perspective, the paper contributes to the strategic IS literature by extending the dynamic capability theory through introducing the big data capability as a precedent to customer sensing agility, the dynamic capability. The paper also extends the theory by introducing both market orientation and data driven culture as moderators to the impact of big data capability on customer sensing agility. From the practical perspective, the paper provides useful insights for business and IT leaders who are interested in building their big data capability to improve their organizations competitiveness in the market