Small Business, Big Data: An Assessment Tool for (Big) Data Analytics Capabilities in SMEs

Though firms are investing a lot in big data analytics (BDA), it is not well-understood how this creates business value. Prior research identified important dimensions of BDA capabilities (BDACs) of large organizations, but these capabilities are also relevant for small and medium- sized enterprises (SMEs) in order to sustain and improve their competitiveness. However, due to major differences between large and small organizations, BDAC dimensions are not directly transferrable to SMEs. Therefore, this research aims to develop a framework to assess BDACs of SMEs. A preliminary assessment framework is developed from a systematic literature review that in a later stage is validated by semi-structured interviews with BDA experts. The interviews are also used to customize and augment the framework for SMEs. Our findings indicate that whereas many BDACs dimensions are relevant for both large and small organizations, SMEs should devote attention to non-technical aspects of BDACs as well. Specifically, regarding the knowledge and resource constraints of SMEs, they require more outsourcing and external collaborations for developing BDACs. Our framework contributes to the research on digital transformation of SMEs in general, and specifically, to the assessment of their BDACs. The paper's practical implication lies in its usefulness for SME to successfully develop BDACs and to survive today's competitive environment.