Distinctive organisational business imperatives of Big Data: a literature review

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this study was to identify the business imperatives characteristic of an organisation that will benefit from the use of Big Data, to give business managers, knowledge workers and librarians guidance as to whether their business will benefit from the use of this technology. Design/methodology/approach A literature review was conducted to identify and categorise Big Data benefits into four overall benefit categories. This provided a basis to identify the business imperatives distinctive of an organisation that would be able to benefit from the use of Big Data. As a final step, the degree of impact of each of the benefit categories was concluded to assist business managers in the better understanding and evaluation of whether Big Data would be a suitable technology for their specific organisation. Findings The competitive advantage that a business can gain from the use of analysing large amounts of data (Big Data) is because it is equipped to utilise the information obtained through analysing the data in such a way that it provides better knowledge management within the organisation. The business imperatives and benefits identified in this study will assist organisations in evaluating whether Big Data will be a suitable technology for their organisation. Originality/value This paper provides a better understanding of business imperatives distinctive of organisations that can benefit from the use of Big Data.