International Journal of Information Management 34 (2014) 387–394

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International Journal of Information Management

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Data quality management, data usage experience and acquisition

intention of big data analytics
Ohbyung Kwon a,1 , Namyeon Lee a , Bongsik Shin b,∗
a
College of Management, Kyung Hee University, 26 Kyunghee-daero, Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul 130-701, Republic of Korea
b
Management Information Systems, College of Business Administration, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA 92182, United States

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Big data analytics associated with database searching, mining, and analysis can be seen as an innovative IT
Available online 13 March 2014 capability that can improve firm performance. Even though some leading companies are actively adopting
big data analytics to strengthen market competition and to open up new business opportunities, many
Keywords: firms are still in the early stage of the adoption curve due to lack of understanding of and experience
Big data analytics with big data. Hence, it is interesting and timely to understand issues relevant to big data adoption.
Resource-based view
In this study, a research model is proposed to explain the acquisition intention of big data analytics
Data quality management
mainly from the theoretical perspectives of data quality management and data usage experience. Our
IT capability
Data usage
empirical investigation reveals that a firm’s intention for big data analytics can be positively affected
by its competence in maintaining the quality of corporate data. Moreover, a firm’s favorable experience
(i.e., benefit perceptions) in utilizing external source data could encourage future acquisition of big data
analytics. Surprisingly, a firm’s favorable experience (i.e., benefit perceptions) in utilizing internal source
data could hamper its adoption intention for big data analytics.
© 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction impacts on reducing business costs, kindling business insights, and

Advanced IT devices, social media services, and corporate
information systems are continuously churning out very large
amounts of structured and unstructured data (dubbed big data) and
businesses are increasingly facing challenges in managing and cap-
italizing them to their advantage. Characterized by volume, variety,
velocity, and value (Chen, Chiang, & Storey, 2012), big data analyt-
ics is believed by industry practitioners to be the next ‘blue ocean’
in nurturing business opportunities. We define big data analytics
as technologies (e.g., database and data mining tools) and tech-
niques (e.g., analytical methods) that a company can employ to
analyze large scale, complex data for various applications intended
to augment firm performance in various dimensions. With that def-
inition, high-tech data storage, management, analysis capability,
and visual technologies are all part of big data analytics (Chen et al.,
2012). Through big data analytics, a firm can do better in monitoring
acceptance of products/services in the marketplace and in under-
standing its business environment, potentially fueling competitive
advantages (Davenport, 2012). Already there is no shortage of evi-
dence that big data analysis, if adequately done, can unleash major
∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 619 594 2133.
E-mail addresses: obkwon@khu.ac.kr (O. Kwon), luciano0107@gmail.com
(N. Lee), bshin@mail.sdsu.edu (B. Shin).
1
Tel.: +82 2 961 2148; fax: +82 2 961 0515.
unraveling strategic information, and subsequently boosting qual-
ity and effectiveness of corporate decision making.
Some firms have already jumped on the “big data” bandwagon.
In fact, unlike technology firms (e.g., Google, IBM, and Apple) who
are at the forefront of big data analytics and thus highly bullish
about its business potentials, a large share of the industry and
academia are divided over its strategic values. First of all, many
companies are still un-decisive in adopting big data analytics.
Although this may be due to a lack of relevant understanding and
experience, the situation points to the need for more research to
comprehend issues (e.g., key facilitators) pertaining to big data
adoption. Second, some scholars take a position similar to Boyd
and Crawford (2012) to whom big data is “a cultural, technological,
and scholarly phenomenon that rests on the interplay of technol-
ogy, analysis, and mythology that provokes extensive utopian and
dystopian rhetoric”. To them, big data may be a socio-technical phe-
nomenon whose real benefits should be critically questioned and
carefully examined.
Grounded on the theoretical lens of the resource based view
(RBV) and isomorphism, this research intends to empirically
investigate how firm attributes, mainly in terms of data quality
management and data usage benefits, affect the adoption inten-
tion of big data analytics. RBV implies that the capability of big data
analytics, data quality management, and data usage experience are
all intangible firm resources. In this study, therefore, we take the
position that big data analytics is an innovative IT capability and

0268-4012/$ – see front matter © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2014.02.002
388 O. Kwon et al. / International Journal of Information Management 34 (2014) 387–394
a strategic resource that can render competitive advantages to an
adopting firm. Grounded in that position, this research examines
the dynamics among firm level data quality management and its
impact on data usage and adoption intention of big data analytics.
2. Theories
We draw on two theoretical perspectives to explain the adop-
tion intension of big data analytics at a firm: resource based
view (RBV) and isomorphism. RBV is useful in understanding
innovation-related activities and performance through the theo-
retical perspectives of organizational resources and capabilities
(Dosi, 1988). RBV portrays physical IT infrastructure as a tan-
gible resource, whilst experience, technology competence, and
knowledge, such as employees’ skills and knowhow (Lieberman
& Montgomery, 1998), are seen as intangible resources derived
from combinations of internal investments and external appraisals.
Strength in such tangible and intangible resource assets grows
overall IT capability of a firm and this can lead to competitive
advantages and ultimate performance superiority (Barney, 1986;
Kim & Tsai, 2011). IT capability thus obtained plays an important
role in affording a firm’s competitive strength as an imperfectly
imitable and non-substitutable resource that other competitors pay
considerable costs in order to acquire the same capability (Lim,
Stratopoulos, & Wirjanto, 2011).
The richer a company’s resources, the more the company is
able to adopt new resources in an agile manner (Lieberman &
Montgomery, 1998). Adopting big data analytics as a firm-level
innovation aims to achieve firm heterogeneity and hence affords
higher value and awareness in securing sustainable advantages.
Drawing on the RBV perspective, this study examines the theoreti-
cal relationship wherein capability of data quality management and
data usage experience constitute intangible assets (or resources)
that lead a firm to higher IT capability. There may be a causal
relationship between the two dimensions in which better manage-
ment practice of corporate databases in their quality furnish people
with more confidence in data-driven decision making. In this light,
heightened quality of corporate data could be a positive force in
shaping an organizational culture that encourages usage of inter-
nal and external data for operational and strategic decision making.
The expanded IT capability in data management and utilization is
expected to become a virtuous force in furthering adoption of new
data-related IT capability (i.e., big data analytics) and in sustaining
the firm’s competitiveness and growth (Argyris, 1996).
Besides RBV, isomorphism could also explicate a firm’s inten-
tion to adopt an innovative IT such as big data analytics. According
to neo-institutional isomorphism, the purpose of organizational
innovations is not only to increase efficiency, but also to pur-
sue similarities with benchmarked organizations. The classic view
of neo-institutional isomorphism states that an organization’s
IT innovation tends to be affected by the fact that other, more
recognized organizations have already adopted the technology
regardless of its efficiency or rationality of doing so (Radaelli, 2000).
Latecomer organizations usually seek legitimacy of such innovation
adoption by describing it as a critical business trend or a socially
desirable value. Thus, an organization’s behaviors reflect rational-
ized norms and values shared within a society (Meyer & Rowan,
1977). As a form of social contagion, therefore, the spread of an IT
innovation such as big data analytics among leading companies or
competitors may motivate other firms to investigate and deploy the
technology even if precise and exact measurement of its benefits is
hard (Cavusoglu, Hu, Li, & Ma, 2010).
Akin to the ‘external’ isomorphism, ‘internal’ isomorphism may
also be found where such a source of contagion (e.g., cognitive
learning or benchmarking) is internal to an organization. That is,
past internal success such as large scale management of inter-
nal data and resulting rewarding usage experience may facilitate
adoption of in-kind innovations. Previous success performing sim-
ilar tasks with innovative ITs could aid bold technology adoption
despite its inherent uncertainties. In-depth case studies of a tech-
nology and relevant training can also be helpful. In addition, the
neo-institutional view implies that uncertainties about core tech-
nologies make a firm depend more on such isomorphism. The less
specific information that they have about the technology, the more
a company can follow existing practices or draw on past experi-
ence. Consistent with the neo-institutional view, decision-making
regarding big data analytics may be significantly affected by the
success of past similar projects when subject knowledge is limited
at a firm.
3. Research model
A research model is proposed to predict the intention to obtain
big data analytics through the lens of RBV and ‘internal’ (rather
than ‘external’) isomorphism (Fig. 1). In that model, a firm’s control
in maintaining corporate data quality is expected to significantly
boost benefit perceptions from the usage of corporate data. Mean-
while, successful experience with data usage, as a form of important
human capital (Kim & Tsai, 2011), should become a positive force in
pursuing innovative big data analytics. The data usage experience
as an intangible asset is divided into two types: that of internal
data and that of external data. The term, internal data, refers to any
data that are produced internally by a firm as a direct or indirect
result of business operations. Those regarding employees, products
and services, the production line, management decisions, customer
profiles and transaction records, and corporate resources are repre-
sentative types. External data are obtained from sources over which
a firm has little or no control such as additional customer informa-
tion, the market, competitors, macroeconomics, and those of the
firm’s natural environment. In the context of big data analytics,
capitalizing such external information may turn out to be highly
valuable for corporate decision making or accumulating business
knowledge (Chen et al., 2012). Thus, processing external data for
sense making becomes an integral part of big data analytics. A data
source that particularly interests big data adopters is customer-
generated information from social media or social networking
services, stored in multiple locations across several geographies
(Griffin, 2012). Besides the variables of data quality management
and usage-driven benefits, it is anticipated that a firm’s proactive
culture in capitalizing on new IT capability is a key facilitating force
of innovation adoption, and therefore included in the model as a
control variable (i.e., resource facilitating condition).
Fig. 1. Research model: the process of resource acquisition.
 O. Kwon et al. / International Journal of Information Management 34 (2014) 387–394
The research model presented in Fig. 1 has the following
features. First, while the majority of existing RBV models have
placed their emphasis on learning the impact of currently avail-
able resources, this model focuses on the process of developing
intangible assets relevant to a firm’s data-related IT capability.
In particular, relations are projected between future IT capability
(through the adoption intention of big data analytics) and current or
past IT capability in terms of corporate data management and usage
practice. From the RBV viewpoint, processes of obtaining intangi-
ble resource (i.e., IT capability) include infrastructure management
capability, successful usage experience with current IS, and early
adoption capability for future innovative IS. Thus, acquisition of
big data analytics is viewed as a process of growing IT capabil-
ity. Secondly, inspired by Maritan and Peteraf (2011), we examine
how the heterogeneous resource positions that lie at the core of the
RBV come into existence. Accordingly, we build upon two separate
mechanisms associated with the accumulation of experience that
make use of external (e.g., environmental) and internal business
data. After all, today’s IT impacts business performance primarily
through its vital role in effectuating corporate data and process
management. The management knowhow and usage practice of
internal and external source data, therefore, may have a significant
bearing on future IT capability of a firm that adopts an emerging
technology ahead of others.
4. Hypotheses
4.1. Data quality management and usage benefits
In the early years of RBV, studies focused on establishing theo-
retical and empirical relationships between the presence of various
resource types and the development of sustained competitive
advantages. More recently, other theories explicating the process
of resource acquisition and development rather than just deter-
mining presence or absence of strategic resources have become
more appealing (Barney, Ketchen, & Wright, 2011). Wernerfelt
(2011) studied the processes in which a firm can acquire intan-
gible resources, arguing that its current stock of resources may
create asymmetries in competition for obtaining new resources.
This motivates us to examine the effects of internal capability in
managing data quality and enhancing data usage experience at a
company. As for data quality management, we focus on two vari-
ables of data quality: data consistency and data completeness.
Data consistency and data completeness are two central dimen-
sions of data quality (Garvin, 1988; Huang, Lee, & Wang, 1999). Data
consistency is about keeping data uniform as they move across
the network and are shared by various applications and systems
within a company or between companies (e.g., supply chain). Data
completeness refers to the degree to which all data necessary for
current and future business activities (e.g., decision making) are
available in the firm’s data repository. As key data quality dimen-
sions, data consistency and completeness are vital conditions of
a firm’s IT infrastructure, a major business resource and a key
asset necessary to attain long-term competitive advantages (Keen,
1991; Bharadwaj, 2000). Well-managed data through their quality
ensures production of reliable information and fosters its tactical
and strategic usage. Thus, in this study, we use data completeness
and consistency as primary indicators of quality management of
corporate data resources.
Once data inconsistency or incompleteness becomes an issue
due to some intentional or accidental faults such as flawed system
design, data input errors, and data operator’s subjective judgment
(Strong, Lee, & Wang, 1997), trust in data quality can be signifi-
cantly impaired. To make the matter worse, the extent of business
damages due to missing and inconsistent data is difficult to assess
389
as it becomes virtually impossible to restore the data quality. This
undoubtedly discourages data-driven decision making. Then, the
decision maker can be forced to rely on alternative solutions includ-
ing resorting to subjective knowledge, observing other’s behaviors
through social comparison or even random walk (Kim & Tsai, 2011).
Eventually, neglecting or bypassing the data-driven approach in
decision making can make it difficult to accumulate successful
experience with corporate data usage, regardless of the sources (i.e.,
internal or external). Maintaining data consistency and complete-
ness is, therefore, expected to foster accumulation of rewarding
experience in using business data.
In particular, data consistency requires that common definitions
of data elements are applied throughout corporate data sources and
a certain level of steadiness is maintained in data input and man-
agement practices (Rai, Patnayakuni, & Seth, 2006). The issue of
data consistency becomes more salient when data are managed in
a distributed setup. Lack of data consistency may become a real
obstacle in successfully processing ‘big data’ that stores its inter-
nal and external-source data in a distributed manner and joins
them through a specific key(s). For commonly used inter-firm data
such as those of supply chains, data uniformity is also critical to
implement big data. To maintain data consistency, all methods of
expressing the same data should conform to the same standards. To
ensure uniformity of expressions, users should specify and utilize
metadata. Thus, IT capability of maintaining consistency in corpo-
rate data elements can encourage usage of available data and thus a
firm may find more benefits from their successful utilization. Thus,
we present the following hypotheses:
H1. High degree of data consistency in corporate data sources
is positively associated with perceived benefits in using external
source data.
H2. High degree of data consistency in corporate data sources
is positively associated with perceived benefits in using internal
source data.
Since data completeness represents the extent to which all nec-
essary data are successfully stored and managed (Malhotia, Gosain,
& El Sawy, 2005), incompleteness of available data makes decision
making less effective and demands more caution in interpreting
the outcome of processed data. Deficiency in data completeness
due to such reasons as data inaccessibility or data owner’s denial
to deliver data into a repository leads to a gap between what data
users expect and the type of service they receive – the larger the
gap, the more dissatisfied the data users (Brohman, Watson, Piccoli,
& Parasuraman, 2003). As a result, those (i.e., the data users) who
suffer from incomplete data may have a less rewarding experi-
ence from data usage regardless of their sources (i.e., internal or
external). Thus, we hypothesize that:
H3. High degree of data completeness in corporate data sources
is positively associated with perceived benefits in using external
source data.
H4. High degree of data completeness in corporate data sources
is positively associated with perceived benefits in using internal
source data.
4.2. Data usage benefits and big data intention
The RBV portrays positive experience as an intangible resource
derived from combinations of internal investments and exter-
nal appraisals. Positive experience is “a general organizational
attribute” (Roberts & Dowling, 2002: 1078) whose value is derived
from interconnections of factors that lead to causal ambiguities,
competitive advantage, and ultimately, performance superiority
(Boyd, Bergh, & Ketchen, 2010). That is, the experience of utilizing
390 O. Kwon et al. / International Journal of Information Management 34 (2014) 387–394

a company’s data and infrastructure (i.e., to manage the company’s Table 1

Descriptive statistics of respondents and their companies (N = 306).
digital data and analysis experience) becomes IT capability that
can be mustered for competitive advantages (Bhatt and Grover, Category Frequency %
2005). In this light, positive experience with prior IT projects can Industry Automobile 22 7.2
strengthen a firm’s intention to use other information technology. Electronics 19 6.2
Extending the logic, a close relationship can be projected between Shipbuilding 15 4.9
the rewarding experience of data usage and adoption intention of Mechanics 15 4.9
Steel 8 2.6
big data analytics. Past successful experience with data usage may
Metal 10 3.3
become a proxy for big data usage in lessening uncertainties about Food 15 4.9
the new endeavor. Thus, positive benefits accrued from the usage Logistics 14 4.6
of internal and external source data are expected to boost a firm’s Software 15 4.9
E-Commerce 3 1.0
expectation of benefits that the big data analytics-driven business
Telecommunication 8 2.6
operation and decision making affords and thus motivation to cap- Textile/Apparel 24 7.8
italize the innovation. Aeronautical 25 8.2
Big data analytics is in general geared toward the processing Machinery 22 7.2
of heterogeneous and informal data from external sources (e.g., Electronic machinery 13 4.2
Foundry 12 3.9
data from social media etc.), while conventional business intel-
Chemical 12 3.9
ligence technologies mainly utilize formal and internal source Paper 9 3.0
data (e.g. performance index, ERP database etc.). As the scope of Construction 12 3.9
big data extends beyond internal sources to include sensor data, Information Services 16 5.2
Wholesale 11 3.6
social network data, and consumer-authored information pro-
Publishing 6 2.0
duced externally, more possibilities for strategic and competitive Position rank CEO 33 10.3
advantages can unfold. External source data are however vast and Middle manager (IT procurement) 273 89.7
their relevance is difficult to prove. In this light, companies with
positive benefit experience through external as well as internal data
usage may be more inclined to try big data analytics. In other words, procurement specialists identified from broad industry sectors and
if a company has a successful history of developing competence for their feedback was gathered. Based on their input, another round
processing data and of benefiting from its usage experience, this of minor adjustments in the survey took place and also their survey
history may work as an instigator of big data analytics. Thus, we responses were used for pre-testing of the survey items to improve
posit the following hypotheses. their reliability and validity. This procedure yielded 18 survey
measures as indicators of 6 different constructs (see Appendix A).
H5. Benefit perceptions of a firm in utilizing external source data
positively affect its intention to adopt big data analytics. 5.2. Sample and data collection
H6. Benefit perceptions of a firm in utilizing internal source data
positively affect its intention to adopt big data analytics. To identify participants, we used the sampling pool of com-
panies that appears in the FnGuide 2012, a software tool that
5. Research method lists companies, their financial data, and contact information. The
tool classifies companies in 22 industries according to the Korean
A survey was conducted to test the proposed hypotheses. Details Standard Industrial Code. Among the companies listed, 969 firms
of the survey are described as follows. were randomly selected and surveyed for 2 weeks by 2 full-time
researchers. The validated survey instrument was distributed to
5.1. Measures the target firms’ IT procurement representatives by a governmental
institute and this government-sponsorship gave more credibility
A survey was designed to gather data from a representative of to the data gathering process. In total, 306 responses from 969
selected firms. Measures for successful internal and external data companies were returned with the response rate of 32.8%. Table 1
usage experience and resource facilitating conditions were devel- summarizes the distribution of surveyed firms in terms of the
oped based on Rai et al. (2006). Measures regarding data quality industry category and the respondent’s job position.
efforts (i.e., practice for data consistency and completeness) were
derived from Malhotia et al., 2005 work. Survey items for measuring 6. Results
resource facilitating conditions in terms of a firm’s proactive culture
in deploying new and emerging ITs are newly developed. All sur- 6.1. Measurement validation
vey items drawn from previous studies were adequately adapted
to serve the big data context of this study. A seven-point Likert Structural equation modeling based on partial least squares
scale ranging from “strongly disagree” (1) to “strongly agree” (7) analysis was conducted using SmartPLS 2.0. Descriptive statis-
was used to measure responses. tics are shown in Table 2. We assessed reliability and construct
Development and validation of survey questions was under- validities (convergent and discriminant validities) of measurement
taken over a six month period. Candidate survey items for each
construct were mainly identified from prior studies and adapted Table 2
to the study context. Initially, the originally designed survey items Descriptive statistics of study constructs.
were reviewed by three industry professionals of IT procurement Construct Mean S.D.
and seven academicians, with much focus on content validity in
IXP 2.29 1.06
the context of big data analytics. Necessary modifications were EXP 2.33 0.85
applied to the survey items and the updated survey was reviewed FAC 2.98 0.41
again by the same group of people interviewed previously. Sub- COM 2.26 1.26
sequent feedback enabled the second-round adjustment of the CON 2.39 1.24
ACQ 2.90 1.09
survey items. The survey, thus constructed, was distributed to 50 IT
 O. Kwon et al. / International Journal of Information Management 34 (2014) 387–394 391

Table 3
Results of AVE testing.

Cronbach’s Alpha Composite reliability IXP EXP FAC COM CON ACQ

IXP 0.938 0.960 0.943

EXP 0.927 0.948 0.866 0.906
FAC 0.955 0.828 0.442 0.444 0.831
COM 0.938 0.960 0.837 0.826 0.497 0.944
CON 0.970 0.978 0.890 0.856 0.443 0.893 0.958
ACQ 1.000 1.000 0.024 0.139 0.515 0.115 0.062 1.000

Note. IXP, experience with usage of internal data; EXP, experience with usage of external data; FAC, resource facilitating conditions; COM, data completeness; CON, data
consistency; ACQ, acquisition intention of big data analytics.

models first. As for convergent validity, all test statistic values of
Cronbach’s alpha and composite reliability exceeded the recom-
mended threshold values, 0.70 for Cronbach’s alpha and 0.70 for
composite reliability, as shown in Table 3. The exploratory fac-
tor analysis (see Appendix B) further displayed convergence of
construct items. The factor analysis also demonstrated discrimi-
nant validity. Additionally, values of average variance extracted
(AVE) were greater than the square of correlations between the
constructs, indicating satisfactory discriminant validity of all con-
structs. To assess the common method bias, Harman’s single-factor
test was conducted (Podsakoff et al., 2003). All variables were
included in an exploratory factor analysis and the first factor
explained less than 50% of variance (48.76%), indicating that com-
mon method bias is not of great concern in this study.
6.2. Structural model
The results of the structural model are presented in Fig. 2 includ-
ing structural coefficients and R2 values. The R2 values of IXP, EXP,
and ACQ are at 0.801, 0.751, and 0.343 respectively. The standard-
ized path coefficients indicate the relative strength of the statistical
relationships among the constructs (Deutsch-Salamon & Robinson,
2008). As Fig. 2 shows, all paths but one link were significant at
p = 0.05 (“perceived benefits of external data usage” to “acquisition
intention of big data” were significant at 0.1). The results indicate
that a company’s IT capability in terms of data quality management
and benefits perceptions of data usage could have significant impli-
cations on the adoption intention of big data analytics. One notable
discovery was that, unlike the proposed hypothesis, the more a firm
benefitted from utilizing its internal data, the less likely it is to pur-
sue big data analytics. This implies that past usage experience in
internal source data can actually discourage intentions for big data
analytics. The results also reveal that better data quality manage-
ment at a firm increases its data usage benefits regardless of the
Perceived
0.58
benefit
Degree of (4.78) ***
data consistency
of external data
usage
(R2=0.751)
0.71
(7.35) ***
Resource
facilitating
condition 0.60
(8.44) ***
0.31
(2.59) ***
Perceived
Degree of benefits
of internal data
data
completeness 0.21 usage
(2.19) ** (R2=0.801)
* p<0.1, **p<0.05, ** p<0.01
Fig. 2. Structural model and path coefficients. *p < 0.1, **p < 0.05, **p < 0.01.
data source (i.e., external or internal). IT capability relevant to data
quality management thus has an indirect effect on big data adop-
tion through data usage experience. Lastly, it was shown that the
resource facilitating condition reflecting a firm’s proactive stance
in adopting innovative ITs has a powerful impact on the adoption
intention of big data analytics.
7. Discussion
As hypothesized, we found that endogenously accumulated IT
capability through data quality management and rewarding usage
experience has a positive effect in shaping intention to adopt big
data analytics at a firm. The analysis indicates that the usage expe-
rience of data from external sources could be a positive force,
although not overly strong in our study, in launching big data
efforts (Fig. 2). It becomes an indication that when a firm is ready
to make use of external source data for strategic decision-making
and for other business opportunities, possibly gravitated by usage
experience of internal data and subsequent buildup of relevant IT
capability in data usage, it is more likely to acquire big data analytics
(Chen et al., 2012).
It is quite interesting to find that successful harvesting of bene-
fits from internal data sources was negatively associated with the
dependent variable, acquisition intention of big data analytics (H6).
This implies that rewarding experience utilizing a firm’s own data
is actually working against the firm’s motive to obtain big data
analytics that might be able to improve its IT capability in tak-
ing advantage of environmental data. In other words, a company’s
past practice of capitalizing its own internal data can become a
roadblock in furthering efforts to acquire, process and sense-make
external source data. In fact, firms with rewarding experience in
utilizing internal data sources may not be too enthusiastic about
such innovations as big data analytics demands costly investment
in its deployment and has a stiff learning curve (Adam, 2009; Juha
et al., 2012). These firms may be reluctant to take risks and to adopt
an innovative IT resource not directly related to their current skills
and experience (Rogers, 1995; Son & Han, 2011).
From the theoretical perspective of isomorphism, the results
0.33(1.87) * offer interesting insights into the adoption of big data analytics.
Initially, following the theory of ‘internal’ isomorphism in which
a firm’s own positive experience can boost in-kind efforts, it was
anticipated that advantageous use of available data (regardless of
Acquisition
intention of big external or internal source) grows the appetite for big data ana-
data analytics lytics. The results, however, reveal that such virtuous dynamics
(R2=0.343)
of ‘internal’ isomorphism take place only when the firm’s in-kind
experience is grounded on external data sources, but not necessar-
ily internal data sources. This may be explained by the corporate
-0.52 decision-makers’ often-observed attitude of the “anchor effect” or
(-3.74)***
“anchoring”, a tendency to depend heavily on past experience in
decision-making. Kleinman and Palmon (2007) defined anchoring
as “an insufficient adjustment from an initial value, with insuffi-
ciency being defined as the amount of adjusting required for the
situation (p.12).” Anchoring effects might form a sort of cognitive
bias emanating from human’s common tendency to rely on the
392 O. Kwon et al. / International Journal of Information Management 34 (2014) 387–394
first piece of information offered when making decisions (Craig &
Tversky, 1995). Dependence on past experience is found in many
business decisions (e.g., assessing cost (Schiffels, Fugener, Kolisch,
& Brunner, 2014) and negotiation (Tversky & Kahneman, 1974))
facing information uncertainties. In this light, it is not surprising
that the easiness with which people can come up with an initial
estimate is inversely related to the degree to which they would
engage in effortful adjustments (Epley & Giolvich, 2006). This lack
of motive for further engagement may also reflect a firm’s struc-
tural inertia that avoids risking uncertainties, which may cost the
firm in the long run by forgoing emerging opportunities and sub-
sequently making itself vulnerable to such disruptive technology
paradigm.
Strong positive interrelationships were found between the
corporate capability of data quality (i.e., consistency and complete-
ness) management and compensating experience in data (of both
internal and external sources) usage. Data consistency and data
completeness are primary dimensions of data quality and a firm’s
ability to sustain adequate quality level of corporate data is fun-
damental to capitalize the IT asset as an operational and strategic
value source (Garvin, 1988). Judging that IT’s key role in growing
a firm’s competitive position is mainly through effective man-
agement of data/information and business processes, managerial
capability of corporate data quality constitutes its core IT capabil-
ity (Rai et al., 2006). Such data management capacity is believed to
strengthen another key corporate IT resource, application system
capacity (Chen, 2012). When corporate data is reliable in quality
dimensions, decision making at a firm can be more data-driven
and subsequently it can find greater benefits from application data
usage. Initially, this virtuous cycle may begin with quality man-
agement and usage of internal data sources. With growing benefits
realized, meanwhile, corporate decision makers may be gravitated
toward using external data sources as well and find their strategic
values.
Internal source data are used for both business operations and
strategic decision making (Argyris, 1996). Meanwhile, external
source data are expected to be more for enhancing effectiveness
in strategic decision making than for day to day operation. In that
light, our survey questions measured the strategic value side of
external data in terms of demand prediction, understanding cur-
rent market conditions and customer demands, and new market
opportunities. Our analysis reveals that successful usage experi-
ence of external data through business application systems could
prompt the adoption intention of big data analytics, which might
further galvanize a firm’s competitive advantage, a chain effect in
strengthening IT capability of a firm (Bharadwaj, 2000; Lim et al.,
2011). Lastly, resource facilitating conditions in the form of a firm’s
spirited DNA in pursuing new IT solutions for business applications
are quite germane to its intention for big data analytics (Chen et al.,
2012).
Overall, our study reaffirms that a firm’s overall “readiness” to
launch big data efforts is fundamental to make it happen. Such
big data readiness should be embedded in both business opera-
tions (i.e., data quality management and data usage) and corporate
culture (i.e., probing new IT-enabled opportunities) (Adam, 2009;
Son & Han, 2011). Nowadays, the proliferation of technology-based
products and services can afford business customers benefits if
done well and also frustration over their wasteful deployment. In
this light, a firm’s preparedness for big data analytics should be
crucial for their successful adoption and continued usage.
8. Practical implications
The empirical findings of this study have implications con-
cerning the strategic use of adaptation mechanisms by big data
technology developers and vendors. With high expectations placed
on big data and publicity of success stories, big data technology
producers may be overly optimistic about its widespread adop-
tion (Bughin, Michael, & James, 2010; Davenport, 2012). However,
the results of this study imply that the acquisition intention by
a business can be swayed by its experience of data usage. To be
more specific, companies that have successful engagement in uti-
lizing internal source data may be reluctant to adopt big data
analytics, whereas those with gratifying experience utilizing exter-
nal source data (e.g., environmental data) may be more likely to
explore big data analytics. Given the countering effect of internal
data usage, big data developers may put forth promotional efforts
on highlighting the complementary nature of their products in
compensating limitations of current internal/external data driven
systems and in improving firm performance by aligning them with
existing systems. To make this possible, it may be necessary for
a vendor to analyze a target customer firm in terms of its cur-
rent practice of internal and environmental data usage in order to
better understand the complementary nature of big data analyt-
ics at the firm and subsequently to develop a tailored promotional
plan.
As the analysis result implies, a firm with successful use experi-
ence of environmental (i.e., external source) data such as consumer
needs and market demands may be more inclined to adopt big
data analytics (Taylor & Todd, 1995; Waarts, van Everdingen, &
van Hillegersberg, 2002). For instance, big data analysis could be
deployed to understand customer’s unmet needs through such
feedback channels as SNS or through historical data analysis of
customer behaviors such as usage patterns. As such, those with
richer experience in large-scale data management through signifi-
cant online presence (e.g., e-commerce and mobile commerce) may
find it easier to adopt the big data application. Indeed, global inter-
net companies including Google, Yahoo, Amazon, and Facebook are
aggressively moving into the realm of big data application and the
development of big data-related technology. In this light, any com-
pany that considers successful deployment of big data in order to
secure strategic, competitive edges may place much effort on secur-
ing relevant IT capability, a pre-condition of successful big data
adoption.
9. Conclusion
This study is an initial investigation into big data adoption.
In academia, most scholarly research about big data still focuses
on technical algorithms or system development. However, there
is a great potential to extend the discussion of big data to other
research terrains, including a firm’s internal and external condi-
tions that stimulate big data analytics. For example, evidence from
non-scholarly outlets indicates that such external conditions as
global economic situation, market pressure to introduce better ser-
vice/products, new business opportunities, adoption of political
regulations, and public images are expected to sway much of a
company’s big data decision (Davenport, Paul, & Randy, 2012). Our
research that included variables related to data quality manage-
ment, usage benefits, and the pro-IT culture as an indicator of a
firm’s willingness to build additional IT capability confirms a sig-
nificant role of internal conditions in kindling big data endeavors.
Very few companies have adopted big data as yet in the business
world. Many have begun carefully examining the possibility of uti-
lizing big data and are actively considering its adoption (Bughin
et al., 2010). With the growing potential of the big data paradigm
in furnishing various benefits to adopting firms, future research
may be conducted to further identify organizational variables and
other conditions significant in motivating big data efforts.
 O. Kwon et al. / International Journal of Information Management 34 (2014) 387–394 393

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Ohbyung Kwon is presently a full professor at School of Management, Kyung Hee
University, Korea, where he initially joined in 2004. In 2002, he worked at Institute
of Software Research International (ISRI) at Carnegie Mellon University to perform
a project on context-aware computing, web service and semantic web. He received
BA at Seoul National University and Ph.D. degree at KAIST in 1988 and 1995, respec-
tively. He was also an adjunct professor at San Diego State University. His current
research interests include data science, context-aware services, e-commerce and
DSS. He has presented various papers in leading information system journals includ-
ing Journal of Management Information System and Decision Support Systems.
Namyeon Lee is presently a Post Doctor at Center for Advanced Information Tech-
nology (CAITech), Kyung Hee University, South Korea. In 2007, he worked at CINDI,
Department of Industrial Engineering at Wayne State University to perform a project
on man–machine interfaces of ubiquitous devices. He received his MS and PhD from
Kyung Hee University in 2008 and 2013, respectively. His current research interests
include big data analysis, context-aware services, HCI, sustainable digital ecosystem
and self-growing user interface.
Bongsik Shin is a professor of MIS at San Diego State University. He earned a Ph.D.
from the University of Arizona and taught at the University of Nebraska at Omaha
before joining San Diego State University. His research interests include IT man-
agement & strategy, big data, research methodology, and trust issues in e-business.
His research has appeared in such journals as MIS Quarterly, IEEE Transactions (Engi-
neering Mgt & SMC), Journal of AIS, European Journal of IS, Journal of MIS, Information
Systems Journal, Communications of the ACM, Information & Management, and Deci-
sion Support Systems. He recently wrote a book ‘Principles of Data Communications
and Network Security: Practice Orientation’.