Searching for big data: How incumbents explore a possible adoption of big data technologies

Big data is often described as a new frontier of IT-enabled competitive advantage. A limited number of exemplary firms have been used recurrently in the big data debate to serve as successful illustrations of what big data technologies can offer. These firms are well-known, data-driven organizations that often, but not always, are born digital companies. Comparatively little attention has been paid to the challenges that many incumbent organizations face when they try to explore a possible adoption of such technologies. This study investigates how incumbents handle such an exploration and what challenges they face. Drawing on a four-year qualitative field study of four large Scandinavian firms, we are able to develop a typology of how incumbents handle the exploration of and resistance to adopting big data technologies. Directly affecting the incumbents’ exploration are two aspects that separate the adoption of big data technologies from that of other technologies. First, being an elusive concept, big data technologies can mean different things to different organizations. This makes the technologies difficult to explain before an investing body, while it simultaneously opens up possibilities for creative definitions. Second, big data technologies have a transformative effect on the organization of work in firms. This transformative capability will make managers wary as it might threaten their position in the firm, and it will create ripple effects, transforming other systems besides those directly connected to the technology.