Adoption of Innovative Technology for Business Transformation with Big Data in an Oil and Gas Company in South Africa

Abstract

Today, it is a known fact that Big Data (BD) lead to a competitive advantage for organisations. While several methodologies have been introduced to gain insights using BD, there is a lack in research regarding the adoption and usage of this knowledge within organizations for effective decision-making. By analysing a case of a South African oil and gas company, results of current research of innovation adoption have been adapted in order to find the reasons for the problem and fill this gap in current research. To collect data for this thesis, eight managers have been interviewed. The findings have then been analysed and assigned to a set of categories.

The result of this research are three major criteria. Depending on the fulfilment or lack of the criteria, they act as enabler or barriers. The first criterion is the quality of the system, most important being data quality, next to performance and up-to-date data. Second is support and training, most important to find the right people for the right position and train them how to access the BD analytics and what is available. The right people have a passion for analysing data and bring with them creativity and innovativeness. The third influencer is (missing) features. It describes the possibilities to access information gained by BD. In the case of the oil and gas company, it was missing mobile reporting, predictive analytics and unstructured data. These three categories create a perceived value, which influences the adoption of BD analytics. The perceived value also effects the management, which themselves have been found as an influencer for the adoption.