Exploring the relationship between data management, decision-making, and innovation: The mediating role of data governance and data ethics

Authors Guido Ongena
Published in International Journal of Information Management Data Insights
Publication date 2026
Research groups Process Innovation and Information Systems
Type Article

Summary

Despite the growing practical emphasis on data management, limited empirical research has examined the role of its capabilities. This study addresses this gap by exploring the relationships among data management, data-driven decision-making, decision-making performance, and innovation capability. Additionally, it explores the mediating roles of data governance and data ethics. We propose that data management strengthens an organization’s data-driven decision-making, thereby improving decision-making performance. Furthermore, it enhances both incremental and radical innovation capabilities. To test our research model, we conducted a survey study and applied partial least squares structural equation modeling. Our findings indicate that data-driven decision-making strongly supports incremental innovation, while its effect on radical innovation is not supported. Additionally, decision-making performance appears to positively influence radical innovation and, to a certain extent, incremental innovation. However, while data governance does not mediate the relationship between data management and data-driven decision-making, data ethics shows a marginally significant negative mediating effect.

On this publication contributed

  • Guido Ongena | Researcher | Process Innovation and Information Systems
    Guido Ongena
    • Professor
    • Research group: Process Innovation and Information Systems
Language English
Published in International Journal of Information Management Data Insights
Key words Data management capability, Data ethics, Decision-making performance, Innovation
Digital Object Identifier 10.1016/j.jjimei.2026.100437