The Impact of Big Data on Board Level Decision Making

This paper investigates how board members perceive the reliability of Big Data (BD) as a new source of information for their decision making. To understand the dilemma "real time and effective vs reliable and compliant information", we analyse a real case, addressing this problem to reflect on the decision making of a board of directors. In detail, within the context of a digital bank, we explore how the board assessed the quality of BD, gathered from social media and processed in the form of indicators, to define worthwhile measures for monitoring the bank reputational risk. Our data reveal interesting findings in two areas. First, there is evidence of a shortfall in cognitive capabilities concerning BD. Second, we show how BD impacts responsibility/control within the board context. This study points to areas for development at three levels of our analysis: individual directors' cognitive capabilities in relation to BD, the board as a collective intelligent decision maker and at the organisational level, supporting a broader view of the big data flows in and out the firm's boundaries.