Date of Award

Spring 1-1-2020

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Business Administration Degree

Department

Computer Information Sciences

First Advisor

Henry, Raymond

Second Advisor

Dr. Sreedhar Madhavaram

Third Advisor

Dr. Radha Appan

Abstract

Business analytics (BA) continues to be one of the top technology trends in recent years as well as one of the top priorities for CIO’s in many large enterprises. Business analytic tools can significantly help small businesses in quickly responding to changing market conditions and improving their organizational performance. However, prior studies report that the adoption rate of business analytics in small businesses is extremely low such that only 32 percent small businesses have adopted Business Intelligence (BI) and analytics solutions till now (SMB Group, 2018). As small businesses constitute a major force in the US economy, a slow rate of adoption of significant technological innovations, such as BA, may be a critical concern that can affect the economy in the longer run. Despite this, the extant small business literature as well as the information systems literature fails to provide an understanding of why small businesses are not receptive to current BA trends. Therefore, drawing upon the theoretical underpinnings of organizing vision theory, strategic orientation literature, and theory of upper echelon, this study investigates the willingness of small businesses to adopt newer innovations in BA. More specifically, this study investigates the impact of the reception of organizing vision of BA by owner managers, learning orientation of small businesses, analytics orientation of small businesses, and personal characteristics of owner-mangers on small businesses’ willingness to adopt BA. By drawing its motivation from prior strategic orientation and v BA literature, this study is also among the first one to propose, formally develop, and validate the measurement construct of analytics orientation.

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