A novel mechanism for business analytics value creation: improvement of knowledge-intensive business processes

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

18 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Purpose: This paper focuses on the “how” of business analytics (BA) value creation, which remains an open research problem and a practical challenge. The main purpose of this paper is to propose a novel BA value creation mechanism that is BA-enabled improvement of Knowledge-intensive Business Processes (KIBPs), with experiential knowledge of decision makers as the key to a more sustainable BA-enabled competitive differentiation.

Design/methodology/approach: This research uses a qualitative research case study, conducted in a large retail distribution company. The research insights were observed through a combined lens of work systems theory and the knowledge-based view (KBV) of the firm, using an interpretive approach.

Findings: The proposed theoretical model identifies three stages of KIBP improvement through BA and explains how they lead to a sustainable BA-enabled competitive differentiation. Stage 1 focusses on BA support for individual knowledge-intensive tasks, Stage 2 focusses on individual decision makers and their ability to gain KIBP-related analytical insights and turn them into action; and Stage 3 on sharing of the acquired experiential knowledge amongst decision makers using BA.

Originality/value: In addition to proposing a novel mechanism for BA value creation, this research demonstrates the importance of leveraging experiential knowledge of decision makers as a pathway to a more sustainable competitive differentiation through BA. This, in turn, creates new opportunities for knowledge management researchers to engage in BA-related research. It also opens a new approach for BA researchers to investigate BA value creation mechanisms through the lens of KBV, rather than more common resource-based or capability-based views.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)17-44
Number of pages28
JournalJournal of Knowledge Management
Volume26
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 6 Jan 2022
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • BA value creation
  • BA value creation mechanisms
  • Knowledge-Intensive business processes (KIBPs)
  • Knowledge-based view (KBV)
  • Business analytics (BA)
  • KIBP improvement, Work systems theory (WST)
  • Case study research

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