Abstract:

With continuous advancements and use of digitalization, the business ecosystem has changed. One of the effects of this trend is an increase in the generation of data. Prior studies have shown that the use of data contributes to the growth of large corporations. These corporations, most often, have resources to try new innovations or developments. Meanwhile, little is known about the use of data in small organizations. These organizations are characterized with insufficient resources to utilize the latest innovations. Therefore, this article investigated how the small organizations could use their data within their budget to improve their operations and maximize their profit. To achieve its goal, the article employed theory of diffusion as its theoretical framework and a case study method for its research methodology. The case project consisted of 4 pilots. All documents related to the pilots, such as, meeting notes, interview transcriptions, pilot reports, scholarly articles, and professional study reports were analyzed with the content analysis method. Altogether, 121 documents were analyzed. The article found that lack of business expertise in data analytics teams, lack of business goals in data analytics projects, and the protection of business secrets were the main challenges facing small organizations in the use of their big data. These findings revealed that the small organizations considered the use of data analytics as a technical issue and paid less attention to the business or management aspects of it. The finding revealed further that the small organizations assembled their data analytics teams with people that have technical skills. Thus, these results provide insight for scholars and practitioners on their debates on the use of big data analytics in the small organizations.

Keywords:

Big data, Data Analytics, Small Organizations.