Big data for sustainability: a qualitative analysis

Abstract

In this time and age, companies are facing difficult times to sustain their competitive advantages. The emergence of disruptive technologies, the bloody competition between rivals, the abrupt change of customer behaviors and the shortage of natural resources, all of these are drivers that push companies to think out of the box and to change the way business is done. Digital capabilities, and especially big data, comes as a new tool to use in order to continue creating and capturing value in a sustainable manner. This paper is a try to broaden the literature about this subject. A qualitative analysis was conducted inside three big size Moroccan companies in order to assess the impact of using big data on these firm's economic performances, social footprints and environmental negative externalities. The finding showed that embracing this technology has helped these companies for their quest to reach sustainability.