Big data analytics managerial skills and organizational agility: a moderated mediation model

Abstract

Purpose

Although big data analytics managerial skills (BDAMS) offer opportunities for firms to foster organizational agility, existing studies present inconclusive indications of this impact, with an overlooking of the intermediate pathways involved. This study explored how BDAMS affect organizational agility by investigating the mediation effect of data-driven organizational learning (DDOL) and the moderating roles of technological and market turbulence.

Design/methodology/approach

This study employed mediation and moderated mediation analyses to test the hypotheses using data collected from listed Chinese firms. Furthermore, we performed a fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) as a supplementary approach to identify the configurations that lead to organizational agility.

Findings

This study shows that DDOL partially mediates the relationship between BDAMS and organizational agility. Besides, technological and market turbulence positively moderate the effect of DDOL on organizational agility and the mediation effect of DDOL. Our additional analyses also reveal several patterns of conditions that facilitate agility.

Originality/value

This study offers a comprehensive exploration of the relationship between BDAMS and organizational agility by verifying the mediating effect of DDOL and moderating effects of technological and market turbulence. In addition, the fsQCA results highlighted the combinatorial effects of key factors in this study, reinforcing and refining the moderated mediation results.

Citation

Zhang, M., Wang, Y. and Wang, W. (2024), "Big data analytics managerial skills and organizational agility: a moderated mediation model", Industrial Management & Data Systems, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/IMDS-01-2024-0053