Performance measurement in data intensive organisations: resources and capabilities for decision-making process

Many organisations are increasingly dealing with massive amounts of data to face new competitive challenges. However, even if powerful technologies support data collection and analysis, the lack of appropriate resources and capabilities for handling socio-technical systems often hinders effective decision-making. Hence, this study aims to investigate how performance measurement systems should develop and drive appropriate resources and capabilities to enable effective decision-making for creating a competitive advantage in data-intensive organisations. A case study approach was adopted with seven data-intensive organisations using one-to-one semi-structured interviews, personal observation, and secondary sources such as company documentation, meetings notes, reports, etc. The findings highlight the relevance of organisational structure and cross-functional communication to cultivate senior management commitment and drive to develop data capturing and analytical capabilities to support effective decision-making. The findings also suggest that to enable superior data capturing capability, organisations should leverage on a higher degree of automation, a higher degree of awareness on data value, and data variety for providing accurate and timely information as well as developing new business insights. Similarly, to enable superior data analytics capability, organisations should develop analytical skills, data visualisation, and data-driven culture to make effective decisions.