Big Data Analytics Capability and Firm Performance in the Hotel Industry: The Mediating Role of Organizational Agility

The emergence of the Covid-19 pandemic and restrictions on international mobility have negatively impacted the tourism market. Tourism players, particularly the hotel industry, have turned to big data analytics to mitigate uncertainties and offer better products and services. Nonetheless, the central question for researchers and practitioners is how the usage of big data analytics can help the hotel industry improve firm performance. Drawing on the resource-based view and dynamic capability theories, this study analyses the relationship between big data analytics capability and firm performance in the hotel industry. This study expands the current research by examining the role of organizational agility in mediating the relationship between big data analytics capability and firm performance. To empirically test the research model, the author used survey data from 115 star-rated hotels throughout Malaysia. Through partial least square equation modeling, the findings revealed that big data analytics capability positively affects organizational agility and firm performance. The result also demonstrated that organizational agility mediates the relationship between big data analytics capability and firm performance. This study can also guide hoteliers to identify resources required to build big data analytics capability and further highlight the significance of organizational agility in improving firm performance in the hotel industry.