Data strategies for global value chains: Hybridization of small and big data in the aftermath of COVID-19

Senior executives must make strategic decisions on (re)configuring global value chains (GVCs) in a post-COVID-19 world, with digital technologies playing a decisive role in enabling decision-making on both the reconfigurations and their implementation. Against this backdrop, the paper explores in depth how executives can leverage and combine big and small data analytics into their GVC (re-)configuration decisions. We draw on a longitudinal single-case study of an analytics firm supporting decision makers in agri-food GVCs, enriched through multiple interviews with experts from the industry. Our analysis reveals an interesting shift towards hybrid data strategies combining big and small data to arrive at new forms of decision-making processes after the outbreak of COVID-19. Through this hybridization, executives aim to improve their understanding of GVCs as well as their own agility and flexibility in decision-making to ensure GVC resilience and efficiency.