The Impact of Leadership on Establishing a Data-Driven Organization: a qualitative study

This paper analyzes the impact of leadership on a data-driven culture (DDC) as part of establishing a data-driven organization (DDO). As the costs for gathering, storing and processing data decrease and the volume of data increases, the trend of “democratization of data” continues. It is a concept to make data available to as many employees as possible, across all organizational departments and thereby breaking down organizational and hierarchical silos. In parallel, artificial intelligence will play a pivotal role in changing workplace processes, particularly in how data is handled and interpreted. Therefore, organizations pursue data-driven initiatives to improve decision-making, develop innovative business models and gain a competitive advantage. Those initiatives and trends can be challenging for employees at all levels, regardless of managerial responsibility. They require considerable effort to acquire new knowledge and to re- or upskill one’s skill set. Establishing a DDC is essential to supporting employees and thus organizations in becoming more data-driven. This includes fostering continuous learning, adapting to new technologies, and collaborating cross-functionally. In this transformation, the eminent role of leadership teams comes into play, as the required leadership skills are changing as well. The concept of DDOs has drawn academic and practical attention in previous research. The different aspects of a DDO are researched from various perspectives and theories and a new discipline is evolving by combining leadership research and information systems research. Based on a socio-technical framework, this article examines the impact of leadership on establishing a DDO from a DDC perspective. By drawing upon the existing literature on leadership in DDO and enriching the results with semi-structured expert interviews conducted in a German multinational corporation, we identifiy critical factors for leaders while implementing a DDC, offering guidance for both academic research and practical application. As a result, we contribute to a common understanding of the leadership requirements and the impact of leadership in a DDO by fostering a DDC.