The Duality of Big Data in Explaining Decision-Making Quality

The purpose of this paper is to test a model that captures the duality of big data in explaining decision-making quality in firms. Whereas existing literature has examined the impact of big data on firm decision-making quality, the findings have not been consistent. In this study, we examine key conditions that help translating the availability of big data into improvements in decision-making quality and hence resolve existing tensions. While the availability of big data affords data analytics use and indirectly contributes to increased decision-making quality, it also increases work stress and indirectly diminishes decision-making quality. We examine the model with data from 299 managers. The findings show that big data is a double-edged sword that can indirectly increase and reduce decision-making quality; and that these effects depend in part on the levels of autonomy and employee skills. The results were further validated and enriched with applicability checks.