Factors Influencing Adoption of Business Analytics in Indian Firms

Abstract

The collection of technologies, skills, processes, and applications to collect, store, and analyze data for facilitating business decisions is Business Analytics (BA). BA has widespread applications across the value chain activities in firms. Firms realize the need to adopt BA for achieving business benefits and improving their competitiveness. A large number of firms find successful BA adoption as a complex and challenging activity. newlineIn the years starting 2010, the research studies on BA adoption have increased significantly, but many of these studies have focused on BA adoption from a technology perspective. A relatively lesser number of research studies have empirically investigated the BA adoption in firms by focusing on the organizational and environmental factors. There is a need to study the comprehensive effect of organizational, environmental, and technology factors on BA adoption in firms. newlineBA is an Information Technology (IT) innovation, and the diffusion of IT innovations happens in various stages. The adoption stages of BA consist of firms evaluating the benefits of BA, followed by the usage of BA technologies, and finally assimilation of the use of BA in business activities. At the evaluation stage, the scope is to become aware of the potential benefits and the costs associated with the implementation. Firms in the BA usage stage aims towards increasing the use of BA in their decision making. The objective of the assimilation of BA across value chain activities in firms is towards achieving the operational and strategic benefits from BA. The objectives of these adoption stages are different, and firms need to develop their BA adoption readiness at each of the stages. newlineA number of studies have found significant differences in the BA adoption in firms in various countries, specifically between the developed and the developing countries. India, a developing country, has recorded high growth in the analytics industry over the last decade and is estimated to grow significantly.