Dr Yuanzhu Zhan BSc, MSc, PhD, FHEA

Today, firms can access to big data (tweets, videos, click streams, and other unstructured sources) to extract new ideas or understanding about their operations, products, customers, and markets. According to research by McAfee and Brynjolfsson (2012), of MIT, companies that inject big data and analytics into their operations show productivity rates and profitability that are 5% to 6% higher than those of their peers. Thus, managers increasingly view data as an important driver of innovation and a significant source of value creation and competitive advantage. However, to get the most out of the big data (in combination with a firm’s existing data), a more sophisticated way of handling, managing, analysing and interpreting data is necessary. There is a lack of data analytics techniques to assist firms to capture the potential of innovation afforded by data and to gain competitive advantage.

Sustainable development and environmental protection are the themes of the day. According to McKinsey (2010), for most companies environmental issues have become a significant topic. researchers point out that balancing environmental and economic performance has become more and more significant for organisations facing regulatory, competitive and community pressures. Especially, due to the increasingly discussions concerning climate change, organisations in developing countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines and China find themselves facing increased pressure from government and customers to do business in an environmentally responsible manner, which generally requires extra investment. Therefore, success in fulfilling environmental concerns may offer new chances to create value to key business programmes as well as great opportunities for competition in today's rapidly changing business environment.