Big Data Analytics in Basketball Versus Business

Nowadays, because of the advancements in technology and the spread of globalization, information about game / player statistics or demographics of local and national workforce is only one click away. Information, or data, plays a very important role in basketball as it can make a difference in the selection process of players. On the other hand, human resources departments from various businesses can analyze big data from an internal (ex.: talent analytics) and external (ex. local and national demographics) perspective. Big data analysis is an activity that has gained more and more importance throughout time as it proved that it could help organizations make not only better decisions but also to better prepare for future games / negotiations. That is why, the purpose of this paper is to identify if and how basketball clubs and businesses - through their human resources department, use big data in order to attract and select the right people for their teams. More so, how big data is used in order to provide basketball clubs and businesses with a competitive advantage in the championship / on the market. By comparing how organizations such as basketball clubs use and interpret big data and how human resources departments of various businesses do it, some similarities but also big differences have been identified. Furthermore, the results also show that big data analytics can help basketball clubs and businesses to better identify the best-suited candidates for their teams. In conclusion, through the use of big data, basketball clubs and businesses can make more objective decisions regarding the people they recruit and how to develop them.