Big Data,Empowering Leadership And Decision Performance–Evidence From Ghana

Contemporary,communication,socialization,spending leisure,education,conducting business,administration and many other activities are done on the Internet.The Internet is generally referred as a global network connecting millions of computers-has provided the platform for easy access to information and communication.This has helped and brought about the creation and explosion of a large stock of data.The purpose of this study is to find out how the use of big data(perceived use and perceived ease of use)influence empowering leadership.Also,to investigate the use of big data(perceived use and perceived ease of use)on decision-performance.In addition,the study also examined the role of empowered leadership in the relationship between the use of big data and decision performance.Data in recent years has become very significant in the life of the individual,firm and government.Without it researchers are not able to establish precise information,health practitioners become incomplete without it and as well all other professionals cannot do without it.Its availability is beneficial to most and all sectors inasmuch as it is associated with risks.Some salient questions that could emanate from the study are;how does the use of big data(perceived use and perceived ease of use)influence empowering leadership? How does the use of big data(perceived use and perceived ease of use)influence decision-performance? What role does empowered leadership play in the relationship between the use of big data and decision performance?Empowered leadership is showing trust in your followers' qualifications through four dimensions.These are;the meaning of work,enhance the participation of decisionmaking,confirm leader's confidence in the high performance and provide autonomy for bureaucratic constraints.Decision performance necessitates identifying a situation which requires a decision,gathering information to identify the different options,estimate outcome,compare different options,make a decision and evaluate the result.Quantitative methodology was adopted;the use of factor analysis,precisely confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation model(SEM)were used for the analysis.SEM simultaneously examined the direct and indirect relationships among the constructs.SEM was employed because it is easy and has a wide applicability in modelling multivariate relations.Therefore,SEM with AMOS 22(Analysis of Moment Structures)was employed to test fit between the hypothesized structural model and the data obtained.This helped in ascertaining and assessing the influence of big data on leadership and decision performance.Findings realized were that the perceived use and ease of use of big data facilitate and enhance the decision performance of leaders which in turn stands as one of the catalysts for empowering leadership.The study found out that gender and ICT experience has a direct impact on the relationship between big data and empowered leadership.Finally,the study recommends that various infrastructure related to the use of big data and data generation should be provided.This will help ensure that various ministries are able to come by requisite data to help leaders empower their subordinates and make the best decision for excellent performance and policy formulation.