Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
companies with new competitive instruments. The emphasis of research on the relationship
between strategy and ICT in the strategic management literature tends to focus on how ICT
infl uences competitive, distribution and procurement strategies. The symbiotic relationship is
largely ignored and recently Beckinsale
et al
. (2011), while recognizing the important role of
ICT in strategy, have emphasized the role of strategy in ICT adoption. This re-conceptualization
and reassessment of the causal direction is critical to demonstrate how different types of strategies
affect levels of adoption for technology-based innovations.
Porter (2001) suggests that technological change, such as ICT, is one of the most important
forces that can alter the rule of competition. This is because a majority of activities in an
organization create and use information and this will be more powerful for industries
where information is the key product. Until recently travel agents have operated with
privileged information as their primary stock in trade (Cheyne
et al
. 2006). They argue that the
Internet is a major source of information and so the agencies' stock is at risk due to the availability
of information to end users in an unprecedented manner. They now need to fi nd new ways to
gain and maintain a competitive advantage. David (2007) argues that competitive advantage is
essential for the long term success of any organization or industry. It is therefore not suffi cient to
simply gain competitive advantage but to also achieve a sustained competitive advantage for the
economic sustainability of industries and organizations. Firm strategy discourse must, however,
consider how strategy decisions are made within fi rms. Strategy decisions fall within the scope
of theories of organizational decision-making, which will also provide a framework within
which to discuss technology adoption decision models.
Technology diffusion
The diffusion and adoption paradigm saw growth in the 1940s with research from Ryan and
Gross (1943). Almost two decades later the research in this area was limited due to the insularity
of the research to the specifi c fi eld. In 1962 Rogers created a transferable generic theory which
allowed for this paradigm to be accepted across disciplines. This therefore led to the theory of
diffusion and adoption of innovations being applied extensively. The work of Everett Rogers
(1962, 1976, 1983, 1994 and 2003) has provided the foundation for much of the discussion
on innovation diffusion. In his text
Diffusion of Innovations
he grapples with why obviously
advantageous ideas take such a long time to be adopted. Diffusion is defi ned by Rogers (2003)
as the process in which an innovation is communicated through certain channels over time
among the members of a social system. The key variable is that new ideas are being communicated.
He therefore describes the four key elements of diffusion as:
1 innovation;
2 communicationchannels;
3 time;and
4 socialsystem.
Rogers (2003) makes a clear distinction between innovation and technology and refers to
innovation as any perceived new idea, practice or object. While this includes technology it is not
limited to technological advancement. The critical variable here is 'newness' of anything which
is being introduced. In many cases technology is a fairly new introduction into organizations and
Latzer (2009) has taken a look at the possibilities of technological innovations being disruptive
or sustainable as opposed to the earlier approaches of simply identifying these innovations as
positive (see for example Bagozzi
et al
. 1992). Keller (2008) sums the discussion up very well in
