The opportunities of big data analytics in supply market intelligence

Firms need comprehensive knowledge and understanding of the opportunities available in the market by creating supply market intelligence (SMI). SMI can facilitate in finding the best partners and combination of capabilities within collaborative networks (CN). However, despite of its evident managerial relevance, SMI is still little researched topic. Simultaneously, big data analytics (BDA) has developed rapidly, becoming vital for businesses across industries. The objective of this paper is recognizing the importance of SMI and opportunities of BDA through qualitative research. The data derives from two focus group discussions of 75 purchasing professionals and six qualitative interviews of BDA experts. This research contributes to our understanding of the opportunities of BDA in creating systematic SMI to reinforce strategic collaboration, and to the understanding of knowledge as a strategic resource for forming strategic CN. Collaborative big data intelligence creates value through, for instance, creating transparency in business processes and discovering market changes.