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1 – 5 of 5Anil Bilgihan, Fevzi Okumus, Khaldoon “Khal” Nusair and David Joon‐Wuk Kwun
This paper aims to propose a conceptual framework that illustrates how information technology (IT) applications may lead to competitive advantage in hotel companies.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to propose a conceptual framework that illustrates how information technology (IT) applications may lead to competitive advantage in hotel companies.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper is written based on a synthesis of previous literature in this area.
Findings
Multiple areas need to be carefully evaluated in developing and implementing IT projects so that they can lead to competitive advantage in hotel companies. There are four closely related areas when analyzing IT decisions in hotels, which include coherence between the business strategy and IT decision, types of IT applications, intended benefits of IT decisions, and decision‐making style. Technology sophistication, management skills, and integration of resources are key issues when implementing IT decisions. Investments into IT applications in hotel companies can lead to superior IT competencies and IT capabilities, which can subsequently result in lower cost, agility, innovation, added value for customers, and better customer service. However, not all IT investments may result in positive outcomes or their sustainability may be short lived. In addition, there can be a lag time between making IT investment decisions and seeing their intended outcomes.
Practical implications
There are multiple areas and issues that need to be considered in making and implementing IT investment decisions if they are to contribute to the company's competitive advantage. Hotel companies need to be selective in their IT investment decisions and look at each IT investment from the strategic management perspective.
Originality/value
This is one of the first articles in the hospitality field that offers a theoretical framework on how IT applications can lead to competitive advantage in hotels. It also offers numerous theoretical and practical implications. Therefore, this paper should help hotel executives and researchers in evaluating IT projects in hotel companies.
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Sonia Bharwani and David Mathews
The hospitality industry the world over is transforming from a product-focused, physical-asset-intensive business to a customer-focused, experience-centric one. This research aims…
Abstract
Purpose
The hospitality industry the world over is transforming from a product-focused, physical-asset-intensive business to a customer-focused, experience-centric one. This research aims at evolving a typology of customer-centric hospitality innovations. It attempts to explicitly capture the intrinsic DNA of hospitality innovations in the Indian context by exemplifying the typology posited with customer service innovations adopted by contemporary hoteliers that provide new ways of managing and enhancing customer experience.
Design/methodology/approach
This study is based on primary research through qualitative interviews conducted with select hospitality professionals, supplemented by secondary research in the form of a review of academic literature, as well as other secondary data sources such as company websites and travel websites which shed light on customer service innovations in the Indian context.
Findings
To develop and sustain competitive advantage, hospitality businesses are increasingly channelizing their efforts to provide innovative and holistic experiential service offerings. Service innovations are being tailored to cater to the unique personal tastes and requirements of hotel guests to connect with individual guests on a personal and emotional level to create memorable hospitality experiences.
Research limitations/implications
Practitioners, researchers and educationists in the hospitality industry would find the implications of this study useful in the context of the present customer-centric business environment where hotels are constantly striving to meet the exponentially rising bar of guest expectations.
Originality/value
The research highlights that it is critical to keep the customers’ perspectives central while designing innovative hospitality products. Further, it is important to create a cadre of innovation champions and service enthusiasts who can engender a culture of service innovation within the organisation.
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Maria-Eugenia Ruiz-Molina, David Servera-Francés, Francisco Arteaga-Moreno and Irene Gil-Saura
The purpose of this paper is, first, to review the main conceptual proposals for the study of information and communication technologies (ICT) in tourism companies, and second, to…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is, first, to review the main conceptual proposals for the study of information and communication technologies (ICT) in tourism companies, and second, to develop and validate a formative scale for measuring the degree of technological advancement in hotels, based on the perceptions of a sample of Spanish hotel guests.
Design/methodology/approach
After a literature review on the measurement of technology advancement in tourism, a formative scale for ICT advancement in hotels from the guest perspective is developed and validated through a multiple-indicator, multiple-cause model estimated through partial least squares regression with data from 197 Spanish hotel guests.
Findings
Results of the empirical research allow validating the proposed formative scale for measuring technological advancement in hotels, identifying solutions that hotel guests mainly associate with highly technified establishments.
Research limitations/implications
The proposed and validated formative scale for measuring the degree of technological advancement of hotels is expected to enable the proposal of models where the relations between central variables in consumer behaviour research (e.g. value) and their dependent variables (e.g. satisfaction) may be influenced by guests’ perception of hotel technology.
Originality/value
This paper presents an initial attempt to develop a scale for measuring the degree of technological advancement of tourism companies, a topic that has received scant attention in acad`emic research in spite of the importance of technology in this industry.
研究目的
本论文研究目的, 第一, 审阅关于旅游公司的信息通信技术(ICT)相关理论研究;第二, 以西班牙酒店客户为样本, 编制和验证酒店科技先进度的形成性量度。
研究设计/方法/途径
本论文首先审阅了旅游产业中科技先进度测量的相关文献, 然后通过MIMIC模型编制了从酒店客户角度出发的测量酒店ICT的形成性量度, 最后通过197份西班牙酒店客户样本和偏最小二乘回归来验证模型。
研究结果
本论文验证了衡量酒店科技先进度的形成性量度, 并且发现各种解决方案, 其酒店客户用来评价高科技酒店个体的标准。
研究理论限制/意义
编制和验证的衡量酒店科技先进度的形成性量度, 表明消费者行为学核心概念(比如, 价值)和消费者满意度之间, 是可以由酒店客户对酒店科技度的感知因素来影响的。
研究原创性/价值
本论文首次编制衡量旅游公司科技先进度的量度。尽管科技在行业中被视为很重要, 但是这个话题在科研界受到较少的关注。
关键词
科技先进度、信息通信科技、形成性量度、反应性量度、酒店
纸张类型
研究论文
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Sonia Bharwani and Vinnie Jauhari
The purpose of this paper is to identify and map competencies required by frontline employees to enhance guest experience in the hospitality industry, in the context of an…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to identify and map competencies required by frontline employees to enhance guest experience in the hospitality industry, in the context of an emerging experience economy.
Design/methodology/approach
Secondary research through extensive review of relevant literature in the area of experience economy and hospitality management.
Findings
This study proposes a new construct of “Hospitality Intelligence” (HI) encompassing mainly Emotional Intelligence (comprising Interpersonal Intelligence and Intrapersonal Intelligence), Cultural Intelligence and Hospitality Experiential Intelligence dimensions.
Practical implications
Practitioners and HR professionals in the field of hospitality would find the Hospitality Intelligence construct useful in recruiting and training frontline employees, while educationists could use the findings of this study in designing curricula and pedagogical interventions for developing the right skill set for the hospitality industry.
Originality/value
This study proposes a competencies framework and develops a construct of Hospitality Intelligence required by frontline employees in the hospitality industry to elevate guest experience from a simple interaction to a memorable experience.
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Lili Zheng and Nathalie Montargot
The use of information technology (IT) in the hospitality industry is driven by the need to improve and refine customer service. However, it is unlikely that new IT will be…
Abstract
Purpose
The use of information technology (IT) in the hospitality industry is driven by the need to improve and refine customer service. However, it is unlikely that new IT will be successfully implemented if employees' roles and emotions are overlooked. The purpose of this study is to examine the interplay of negative emotions (anger and fear), coping strategies (venting anger and psychological distancing), perceptions of an IT innovation and intention toward adopting it.
Design/methodology/approach
A research model is developed based on the cognitive appraisal theory of emotion, coping theory and innovation diffusion theory. An online survey was conducted among employees working for hotels that had deployed a new reservation system, and 234 responses were collected.
Findings
The results indicate that employees' negative emotions (anger and fear) have negative and significant effects on their perceptions of adopting a new reservation system through coping strategies (i.e. venting anger and psychological distancing). Furthermore, employees' perceptions of adopting an innovative reservation system have a positive effect on their adoption intention toward the system.
Originality/value
To the best of our knowledge, this is the first research to address the impact of distinct emotions on IT innovation adoption, as well as explaining the relation between affective and cognitive effects. The findings demonstrate the importance of examining negative emotions in IT innovation adoption. In addition, the model developed in this study confirms that an appraisal tendency approach better specifies the conditions under which different emotions are triggered to predict and explain how emotions relate to IT use through adaptation behaviors when compared with a valence-based approach.
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