Influence of big data and predictive analytics and social capital on performance of humanitarian supply chain Developing framework and future research directions Shirish Jeble Department of IT and Operations, ICFAI Business School, Pune, India Sneha Kumari Vaikunth Mehta National Institute of Co-operative Management, Pune, India V.G. Venkatesh Ecole de Management de Normandie, Le Havre, France, and Manju Singh Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Malaviya National Institute of Technology, Jaipur, India Abstract Purpose – The purpose of this paper is threefold: first, to investigate the role of big data and predictive analytics (BDPA) and social capital on the performance of humanitarian supply chains (HSCs); second, to explore the different performance measurement frameworks and develop a conceptual model for an HSC context that can be used by humanitarian organizations; and third, to provide insights for future research direction. Design/methodology/approach – After a detailed review of relevant literature, grounded in resource-based view and social capital theory, the paper proposes a conceptual model that depicts the influence of BDPA and social capital on the performance of an HSC. Findings – The study deliberates that BDPA as a capability improves the effectiveness of humanitarian missions to achieve its goals. It uncovers the fact that social capital binds people, organization or a country to form a network and has a critical role in the form of monetary or non-monetary support in disaster management. Further, it argues that social capital combined with BDPA capability can result in a better HSC performance. Research limitations/implications – The proposed model integrating BDPA and social capital for HSC performance is conceptual and it needs to be empirically validated. Practical implications – Organizations and practitioners may use this framework by mobilizing social capital, BDPA to enhance their abilities to help victims of calamities. Social implications – Findings from study can help improve coordination among different stakeholders in HSC, effectiveness of humanitarian operations, which means lives saved and faster reconstruction process after disaster. Second, by implementing performance measurements framework recommended by study, donors and other stakeholders will get much desired transparency at each stage of HSCs. Originality/value – The findings contribute to the missing link of social capital and BDPA to the existing performance of HSC literature, finally leading to a better HSC performance. Keywords Performance measurement, Disaster management, Humanitarian supply chain, Social capital, Humanitarian operations, Big data predictive analytics Paper type Conceptual paper 1. Introduction In recent years, there has been an increasing trend of disasters in different parts of the world (Pateman et al., 2013). Each disaster has a long-term social, environmental and economic impact on the region. The community affected by the disaster loses its ability to recover its Benchmarking: An International Journal Vol. 27 No. 2, 2020 pp. 606-633 © Emerald Publishing Limited 1463-5771 DOI 10.1108/BIJ-03-2019-0102 Received 6 March 2019 Revised 25 August 2019 Accepted 7 September 2019 The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at: www.emeraldinsight.com/1463-5771.htm 606 BIJ 27,2