Big Data: Implications for Organizations

Big Data is a term used for data sets that are very large, dynamic, and varied. Often, use of the term Big Data also implies a set of analytic techniques, uniquely suited to these data sets. When applied to human resources or talent management, Big Data can offer new insights to organizations, such as improving selection, retention prediction, and team structures. However, Big Data also brings risks, especially in the area of data privacy.

Large organizations often use data sets that include tens or hundreds of thousands of rows of data. Big Data, as applied to organizations, may not increase the number of individuals studied, instead focusing on the number of data points associated with each. For example, a social network analysis may gather a thousand ...