Big Data and Organizational Decision Making

Abstract

Big data promises a significant change in the nature of information processing, and hence, decision making. The general reaction to this trend is that the access and availability of large amounts of data will improve the quality of individual and organizational decisions. However, there are also concerns that our expectations may not be entirely correct. Rather than simplifying decisions, big data may actually increase the difficulty of making effective choices. We synthesize the current state of research and explain how the fundamental implications of big data offer both a promise for improvement but also a challenge to our capacity for decision making.