The last decade has witnessed a tremendous proliferation of big data, providing organizations with the opportunity to leverage this information for real time and effective decision making. In the new milieu, the constraints of collecting and storing information have been largely taken care of, making data widely accessible. However, what organizations actually do with this information is more important, and there still remain challenges regarding how to make sense of the information and leverage it for effective decision-making.

In addition to technology, a company’s big data strategy has important implications for its leadership, talent management, decision making, and organizational culture. Moreover, privacy and data security have also become key concerns in the wake of evolving cyber threats such as malware, ransomware, and increased instances of data breaches.

In this era of digitization, it is getting increasingly more necessary for organizations to get their big data strategy right. So, how are leading companies giving shape to their big data strategy?

The case studies included in this collection look at issues and challenges in formulating and implementing a big data strategy in some of the world’s top companies. The first three case studies show ways in which organizations cutting across different industries are trying to capture and employ data and the associated challenges. For instance, there are case studies on global furniture retailer IKEA; an online fashion startup, Stitch Fix; and a leader in parks and resorts, Walt Disney World.

The next five case studies are on IBM, an IT behemoth; Amazon.com, a leading e-commerce and technology company; Netflix, a leader in digital streaming; Procter & Gamble, a leader in the consumer packaged goods industry; and, Baidu, a Chinese tech giant. Together, these case studies highlight different aspects of big data strategy.

The collection includes six prize winning case studies. It is a good mix of contemporary as well as classic case studies on big data strategy that have withstood the test of time. For instance, the Netflix case study has been a global bestseller right from the time it was published in 2013.

In addition to raising critical issues, these cases are also a source of best practices in this emerging area. With the amount of digital data set to explode in coming years, the implications for the big data revolution are vast, and organizations cutting across industries can ill-afford to not have a holistic big data strategy in place aligned to their business strategy.