Strategy Formulation and Service Operations in the Big Data Age: The Essentialness of Technology, People, and Ethics

Studies have shown that the sensible operation of big data may yield powerful insights that can improve the organisations’ strategic decision-making process and contribute to achieving an enhanced competitive advantage. In this manuscript, we explore the promise of big data in redefining strategy in service operations management (SOM) by means of investigating a rich range of bibliographic material. The SOM field has a plethora of research opportunities to capitalise on, which are enhanced by the presence of big data. SOM research in the big data age implies a shift in attention from being increasingly integrative across themes to being integrative across multiple disciplines, requiring the expertise of and tuning between different actors and expertise domains. Our aim is to stimulate debate in the field and set out a renewed research agenda by means of calling for additional considerations of strategic aspects, namely technology, people, and ethics, that can help guide and move the field forward.