Antecedents to firm performance and competitiveness using the lens of big data analytics: a cross-cultural study

PurposeThe study aims to understand how big data analytics capabilities of tech startups help them gain competitive advantage and improve their firm performance. The study is performed for two countries: India and China. A comparative analysis is also discussed in the study.Design/methodology/approachThe study collected responses from tech startups from both India and China. A total of 502 responses were collected with 269 from India and 233 from China. The results were analyzed using Warp PLS 6.0 after testing for common method bias, endogeneity and reliability of data. The study tested five primary hypotheses and also tested the effect of two control variables: country of origin of startup and age of the startup.FindingsWe found that big data analytics capabilities have a positive and significant impact on the firm performance and competitive advantage of tech startups. While organizational culture proved to have a positive impact as a moderator, innovation was found to have non-significant effect. The results also found to have non-significant effect of age of the firm while its country of origin does play an important role in defining its success.Originality/valueThe study offer key insights for the tech startups operating in two countries which are geographically neighbors but differ in the tech expertise from each other. Moreover, the study offers key insights on how does the origin of the country contributes significantly to explaining the success and competitiveness of the firm.