Running Head: HYPOTHESIS AND RESEARCH DESIGN 1

Assignment 4: WK6 Hypothesis and Research Design

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Hypothesis:

H1: Organizational productivity is positively impacted by the use of big data analytics assets.

Big data analytics creates business value by creating a conceptual link between organizational

performance and information management capabilities. As conceptualized by Sharma (2014),

one of the first-order effects of big data analytics is its ability to improve decision making which

in turn enhances organizational performance. In PriceWaterHouseCoopers (2017) terms, big data

analytics gains strength based on information theory. Big data makes information for

organizations greater and right in volumes, fine-grained, better distributed, and less noisy to be

utilized by managers in the decision-making process. Big data analytics also make it better for

managers to plan for data, transfer it from point of origin to the decision-making point.

Collectively, technology improves data collection and distribution improving the quality of

decision making.

H2: IT-intensive firms extract the best value of big data analytics resources than other firms in

influencing organizational performance. As theorized by Teece (2018), the impact of IT on the

productivity of a company is moderated by industry-level factors such as data intensity. The

argument is grounded on the fact that profitable organizations but incorporate innovation and

other capable assets in almost all cases. For instance, CRM enables businesses to visualize large

datasets or build predictive models as they act as their data sources. Taken together, evidence

given by Tambe (2014) suggests that businesses with low availability of IT intensity face

difficulties extracting value from big data resources.

The Research Design (Methodology) Section:

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The research will be based on a qualitative research design because the design generates a

well-positioned hypothesis and can be used to interpret and curate big data eliminating

redundancy claims. According to Gibson (2002), qualitative research takes the central form of

data whether they are primary documents, interview transcripts, observations, or notes. The

methodology includes a diverse array with distinctive strengths since it is not homogenous or

monotheistic. This is suitable for the research because it prompts participatory action (Bassett,

2015). Since the rise of the internet, the researcher can also make great use of relevant text data

across a broad range of models in books, legislations, social media content, images, and archives.

This will also be combined with review analysis of previous interviews, ethnographic

observations, and focus groups available online. Therefore, the research was based on a design

that depended on the number of study population factors. The study conducts a survey based on

how big data has impacted organizational performance.

Variables

Organizational performance was taken to be the ordinal variable in the study. Some of the

factors under this include the number of employees, uncertainty of the external environment,

levels of competition, availability of key resources, and unpredictability of environmental

change. On the other side, independent variables will be broadly organized into three. Namely,

data visualization and presentation tools, machine learning solutions, and foundational database

technologies. Foundational database technologies include database and computing applications

both on the cloud and in the premise. This is designed to handle unstructured data such as social

media data. Machine learning solutions include unsupervised algorithms for predictive analysis,

social media analysis, and text mining. Visualization deals with intelligence or self-service

interface for users.

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Sampling plan

Non-random sampling will be used in this study. Due to the nature of the research, we

may experience difficulties ensuring that the sample is large enough to allow desegregated

analysis. Thus, we reduced the sample to a selection bias by selecting study participants from the

current company and nearby companies using IT, either intensively or less intensively in the

industry. This targeted a sample of 50 participants.

Data collection

A questionnaire was used to collect data for this study. Questionnaires will be sent via

email to the selected participants and will be completed anonymously. The tool will attempt to

gather information related to how big data analytics have been helpful in creating business value

and how intensity in IT has facilitated the process. Since the questionnaire will be administered

online, awareness of the MBM controls and BYOD policy on mobile devices is enacted.

Analysis of data

Results from the 50 questionnaires shared and received via email will be analyzed by the

researcher manually. Primarily, the computer will be used to record and score the analyzed

responses. When analyzing the data, we will try to research the employee and the organization to

assess if other factors such as employee harassment may have influenced their responses. The

main aim is to determine the impact of big data on businesses.

Limitations

While understanding the evaluation approach, certain limitations impact the research

process. First is a challenge in evaluation design. Identifying unintended outcomes and

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evaluating complex programs is unavailable to define the experimental designs. There are

sample design problems when ensuring that the sample is large enough. In terms of data

collection, it was difficult to reach the right person because we had to incorporate other forms of

research to assess participant's other characteristics such as behavioral change. This impacted the

timely evaluation of findings and implementation of different formats.

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References

Sharma, R., Mithas, S., & Kankanhalli, A. (2014). Transforming decision-making processes: a

research agenda for understanding the impact of business analytics on organisations.

European Journal of Information Systems, 23(4), 433-441. Retrieved from

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1057/ejis.2014.17

PriceWaterHouseCoopers. (2017). Investing in America’s data science and analytics talent.

Business Higher Education Forum, April 2017 (available at

https://www.pwc.com/us/en/publications/assets/investing-in-america-s-dsa-talent-

bhefand-pwc.pdf).

Teece, D. J. (2018). Profiting from innovation in the digital economy: Enabling technologies,

standards, and licensing models in the wireless world. Research Policy, 47(8), 1367-

1387.

Tambe, P. (2014). Big data investment, skills, and firm value. Management Science, 60(6),

1452-1469. Retrieved from

https://pubsonline.informs.org/doi/abs/10.1287/mnsc.2014.1899

Gibson, M (2002). Doing a doctorate using a participatory action research framework in the

context of community health. Qualitative Health Research 12(4): 546–588.

Bassett, C (2015). Plenty as a response to austerity? Big data expertise, cultures and

communities. Eurpoean Journal of Cultural Studies 18(4–5): 548–516.