Role of big data analytics capabilities to improve sustainable competitive advantage of MSME service firms during COVID-19 – A multi-theoretical approach

Abhishek Behl, Jighyasu Gaur, Vijay Pereira, Rambalak Yadav and Benjamin Laker

Journal of Business Research, 2022, vol. 148, issue C, 378-389

Abstract: The extant literature suggests that digital technologies (big data analytics, artificial intelligence, blockchain) help firms gain a competitive advantage. However, the studies do not focus on the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) sector. Moreover, MSMEs face various challenges, including significant supply chain disruption due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Hence, there was an urgent requirement to shift to digital technologies to survive during this difficult time. In the context of MSME, various positive changes are discussed in the recent literature. However, a dearth of studies discusses the role of big data analytics capabilities (BDAC) to gain sustainable competitive advantage (SCA). Our study aims to fill this gap and answer this question – How do BDAC help MSMEs gain SCA? To understand the phenomenon, we receive theoretical support from organizational information processing theory (OIPT) and institutional theory (IT). We develop a conceptual framework that links BDAC and SCA through supply chain coordination, swift trust, and supply chain risk. Additionally, the age and size of the firm are used as control variables. The data is collected from Indian service sector employees of MSMEs, resulting in 497 usable responses. We use PLS-SEM using Warp PLS 7.0 to test the hypotheses. A critical finding is that the BDAC indirectly impacts the SCA. Finally, the other findings, limitations, and scope for future research are discussed.

Keywords: Supply chain disruption; Supply chain coordination; Big data analytics; Sustainable competitive advantage; MSME; Service firms (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (21)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0148296322004325
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:148:y:2022:i:c:p:378-389

DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2022.05.009

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Business Research is currently edited by A. G. Woodside

More articles in Journal of Business Research from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().