e-Readiness Proposal

7/31/2019 e-Readiness Proposal

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A p r o p o s a l t o s t u d y t h e

E-READINESS

OF TOURISM ENTERPRISES: A

STUDY

DEPARTMENT OF TOURISM STUDIES

PONDICHERRY UNIVERSITY

Proposal submitted to:

The EMERALD GROUP OF PUBLISHING

Principal Investigator

Babu P George,


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PROJECT OVERVIEW AND RATIONALE

The importance of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) as

strategic, tactical, and operational tools for businesses in the new

millennium, especially businesses that are in the services sector, is

widely recognized. Now that the dot-com boom and burst are over,

realistic appraisals of the impact of technology and technological futures

are being reworked in various quarters. Such attempts have been

instrumental in help bringing the much required order and clarity to the

industrys collective thinking about the appropriate use of ICT. The

proposed research is a humble but serious initiative to bring together

the diversity of expert voices, data from the field of practice, and a

wealth of analysis under one roof with a view to map the present as well

as to portray probable directions for the future.

The structure as well as the conduct of the tourism industry has been

radically altered by ICT revolution. The networked travel industry has

been a very quick development and hence our knowledge about the new

surroundings, the rules and exceptions of the game, are but scanty.Also, remarkable variation and fuzziness are visible while one looks at

the few studies conducted in other sectors and geo-cultural regions. In

the context of developing countries, there have been a lot of differences

in the preparation of businesses to adopt the electronic platform across

a number of variables. The larger question here is what prompts and

what inhibits entrepreneurs and managers in their decision making to go

electronic, which remains by and large an unexplored area. Currently

undertaken e-readiness researches are mostly either at the national or

at the enterprise level. Industry specific studies are extremely rare and

studies incorporating the unique dimensions of regions within broad

national boundaries are almost nil. More importantly, available studies

from market research firms focused primarily on measuring the


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aggregate rate of penetration and less on the factors influencing the

propensity of adoption, because of which no reliable model has so far

been developed to guide planners and decision-makers in successfully

implementing the new e-technological system in their organizations. The

initial steps towards building such a model are to understand what

criteria, if any, are employed by the decision makers in deciding whether

to go electronic, what motivate them, and what the diverse

environmental factors are that speed up or slow down e-migration. The

present studys main focus is an appreciation of these dynamics and it

tries to analyze the factors that are important for the stakeholders

involved in the e-migration process of tourism enterprises in South India.

The major outcome of the proposed project would be a conceptual

model that defines the essential elements of an e-readiness strategy for

tourism enterprises. Such a model would be useful for the purposes of

guiding the efforts of developing an e-readiness climate as well as

assessing the success of concerted e-readiness related actions of

tourism enterprises. The model would specify both the success

dimensions of e-readiness as well as indicate specific outcome

measures and metrics for success. These outcome metrics must be in

place before e-readiness implementation to ensure that the strategy is

correctly interpreted and followed.

Thus, the project has the following vision: to rethink about ICT and

tourism business and their inter-relationships in new and multiple ways.

Actionable outcomes that we promise are the quantitative and

qualitative findings of a detailed survey on e-preparedness of tourism

enterprises in the region of South India. Most important component of

the study outcomes will be a thick assemblage of locally rooted wealth

of knowledge on the factors motivating and hindering entrepreneurs and

managers in their decision making on whether to go electronic or not,


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under what conditions, and up to what degree. We shall endeavor to

undertake intra and cross-case analyses to provide insights about the

comparative position of tourism enterprises on e-readiness across a

number of criteria in the selected region for the present study. We

earnestly hope that the findings shall be valuable inputs for informed

decision making by the players in the industry and for the public sector

regulatory authorities to offer the much vital assistance to the industry

members to plan and carry out their e-business vision and to better

measure, analyze, understand and benchmark the results of their

actions. Parallel to this, we may also develop some valuable theoretical

concepts of a by and large un-chartered terrain. Finally, we as a college

of researchers are motivated by the good news that the adoption of the

new technologies in a sustainable manner can greatly improve

stakeholder life and business success in a developing nation like ours at

a relatively low cost. This promise, however, can be realized if and only if

we know the rules of the new game better, into an investigation of which

is this study planned.

PROJECT OBJECTIVES

Pilot surveys conducted by us as well as industry communiqus indicate

that a majority of the tourism enterprises in India are still at the e-take

off stage and that additional assistance is needed to accelerate the

process of IT adoption. In the light of this, the proposed study attempts

to determine the capacity and willingness of tourism enterprises to

implement and manage E-Commerce applications, or rather assess the

E-Readiness of these enterprises. This study aims to:

Provide a discussion on the structure and conduct of the tourism

industry in the region under study, and the effects of technologies


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particularly the Internet and the mobile commerce technologies on the

current level of business practice;

Undertake qualitative, exploratory studies on the e-preparedness of

the selected enterprises from out of a cross-section of tourism

enterprises in South India;

Outline a locally meaningful framework both for creating and

sustaining an appropriate e-readiness climate that facilitates the

adoption of electronic technologies by tourism enterprises and for

evaluating e-tourism success;

Propose and test strategies, with which to evaluate the e-readiness of

enterprises in the South Indian tourism industry;

Illuminate the factors influencing the entrepreneurial and managerial

community in its various decisions related to going electronic;

Examine if there exist differences with respect to ICT capability in

terms of the sectors comprising the tourism industry and across the

state-boundaries;

Examine if there exist differences with respect to the various types of

business functions enabled by e-commerce;

Examine the type of technologies and systems used across differentsectors constituting the industry and across the state-boundaries;

Focus specifically on the needs of small and medium-sized enterprises

(SMEs) in tourism and showcase various governmental and non-

governmental e-readiness initiatives aimed at them;

Provide future directions for planners and inputs for regulatory bodies

to facilitate them in enhancing their pro e-tourism developmental

efforts;

Generate theories and perspectives that shall add to and probably

reshape the nascent body of pure, academic knowledge about the e-

tourism phenomenon.


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BACKGROUND LITERATURE

A. Conceptualizing e-readiness

E-readiness is the level of preparedness pertaining to the ability of being

able to exploit e-technology for economic progress through the rapid

adoption of e-business. Wilson (1998) conceptualized e-readiness as the

preparedness of an organization to use e-commerce for selling products

over electronic media like the Internet. While it is true that the Internet

does not all-encompass the entire gamut of doing e-business,

convergence technologies permit integration by scale and scope hitherto

unimaginable. According to Kalakota and Robinson (1999), e-

preparedness is the level of ability to deal with the complex fusion of

business processes, enterprise applications and organizational

structures necessary to create a high-performance business model.

Hartman and Sifonis (2000) coined the term net readiness and

incorporated a unique combination of leadership, governance,

competencies and technologies as drivers enabling enterprises to deploy

web-enabled business processes and to participate in the new businessenvironment.

B. ICT in the Tourism Industry

Widely looking, tourism system may be thought of as comprising:

i) Transport sector, which includes air, water and surface transport;

(ii) Accommodation sector, all types of establishments that offer lodging

to visitors (hotels, motels, guesthouses, resorts, caravans, etc.);

(iii) Attraction sector that comprises manmade and natural attractions,

which are developed to satisfy visitors educational, recreational,

aesthetic needs etc.,;

(iv) The tourists, both domestic as well as international; and


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(v) The intermediaries that liaison all the above

The transformation from most of the worlds industrial economies into

service economies has been effected by the applications of Information

and Communication Technologies (ICT). Dominant economies today

have as their major activities the search, collection, processing and

distribution of information in order to provide services to customers.

Organizations increasingly adopt ICT to enhance service, satisfy

customer, shut out competition, improve business process and make

sustainable profit. Innovations in ICT are getting diffused ever quickly

among travel businesses, including SMEs (Miles et al 1999) and those in

the third world mainly because of the fact that barriers to adoption has

been systematically lowered by lower costs, open standards and the

user-friendly and high potential internet based tools. Technologies such

as the Internet will enable tourism products to be more easily packaged

together, and customized, especially so in the case of the travel

offerings. No matter how travel is bought, all that the purchaser initially

receives after the transaction is a slip of paper, and this suggests that

the web can fulfill this exchange more efficiently than traditional ways.The use of e-mail to communicate is preferred by travelers, because it

allows them to do things in their own time. For the industry, the use of

ICT will reduce overall operation costs, increase returns substantially and

give unparalleled efficiency in all areas of the businesses.

World Tourism Organization (1998) has portrayed a vivid picture about

the evolving scenario of e-tourism highlighting the following:

Increased popularity and capabilities of the Internet for a wide

spectrum of applications for electronic services in tourism, making

distribution channels less dependent from traditional CRS/GDS of

airlines;


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Internet and supporting services will significantly transform, if not

eliminate, the role of traditional travel intermediaries (travel agents

working on commission basis);

Direct on-line bookings by customers will make up a significant market

share by 2010 with access available to most of the population in

industrialized countries;

Virtual tourists will have an increasing demand for multi-media

travel information;

Interactive TV and mobile devices will increasingly be used for the

distribution of tourism products and services;

The majority of tourism organizations will also use Intranets;

Various types of smart agents supporting both tourism suppliers and

customers will emerge;

Products and services will reach a much higher level of personalization

together with a corresponding demand;

The increasing share of economically rich ageing population in the

industrialized countries will affect a higher demand for e-services related

to foreign travel, particularly to long haul destinations and travel for

culture purposes as well as eco-tourism; Further growth of time poor money rich people will entail a high

demand for short time holidays while, on the other hand, all-inclusive

holidays will be demanded by a large number of people with needs for

complete, unburdened relaxation and release from job pressures;

Particular uses of electronic technology will include smart cards for a

variety of functions, including the management of destination loyalty

schemes (discounts in exchange for customer data and loyalty), bonus

schemes for environment-protective behavior, etc.;

Internet video telephony will allow customers to take test-drives for a

particular destination by pictures from cameras placed at various sites in

the holiday locality and transmitted via Internet;


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Ticketing automation (satellite ticket printers) will be widespread and

e-ticketing including mobile phone based forms will make up a major

portion of air travel as well as railway travel during the next decade;

Efforts to build up central databases of traveler information will be

continued for use to get extensive insight into individual preferences and

behavioral patterns so that the information can be used for active

marketing;

Mobile city guides will be widespread and electronic brochures in the

form of CD-ROMs will increasingly replace paper brochures;

Tourism providers will more easily and more often form e-strategic

partnerships, offering complementary products;

Small and medium sized businesses will be forced to take a more

strategic approach on doing business; new mediators on the market will

assist in doing so;

Tourism regions will increasingly have to employ extensive e-based

branding and marketing strategies;

The scenarios presented above means that the future of tourism

enterprises lies in how much they understand the evolving techno-centric business environment and adapt themselves to the same. We

also need innovative entrepreneurship that not only follow the winds and

cycles of technology but also direct these forces for the sustainable

advantage of every stakeholder concerned. At least in the preliminary

stage, facilitation from governmental institutions and local authorities is

essential to unify the efforts by the disparate groups as well as to ensure

that the mightiest few do not swallow the rest, especially the SMEs.

C. The e-decision making: Whether to or not?

Decision-making is about how those empowered to do so go about

making decisions, their consequences and how these decisions can be


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improved via good marketing analyses. Stripped down to its essentials,

business is about one thing: making decisions. A decision is an

allocation of resources which is made in order to further some

objectives.

The decision maker will make decisions consistent with his values, which

are those things that are important to him. Values may be economic

value, i.e. maximizing wealth or personal values like happiness or social

values like equitability. Decision theory is quite well advanced with the

micro economic perspective that includes the neo-classical theory of

firm, agency theory and transaction cost analysis. All these theories, in

general, assume that decision-making is based on the economic

objective to maximize the expected utility and normatively lay down the

consequences for organizational behavior from each decision

alternative. These positive perspectives assume rationality or at least

bounded- rationality behind each decision as against the complex

politico-social negotiations and culturally rooted assumptions that the

behavioral paradigm examines.

The obvious determinants of new technology adoption are the benefitsreceived by the user and the costs of adoption. There are many reasons,

those normatively prescribed in textbooks as well as those practicing

decision-makers consider as important, behind the decision on whether

to go in for the electronic platform or not and in choosing a particular e-

strategy. Factors may range from personal to technological, institutional,

social, and economic ones. Past research in innovation highlights the

importance of individual factors, technological factors, organizational

factors, and the environmental factors for successful adoption of

innovation (Zaltman, Duncan & Holbeck, 1973;Tornatzky & Klein, 1982).

Everett Rogers (1995) Diffusion of Innovations Theory has been used for

many years to explain the adoption of innovations such as information

technology, though Rogers himself has not done any study worth with


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regard to his models applicability in the area of ICT adoption. The

innovation- decision process is, according to him, essentially, an

information-seeking and information-processing activity in which an

individual obtains information in order to decrease uncertainty about the

innovation. However, no significant quantum of research has been done

in the case of organizational adoption of technological innovations

except in industries where innovations had very high impact on the

business process redefinement or any other fundamental and radical

change. Also, while studies aim at scientific precision for the proposed

models, they cannot simultaneously provide an in-depth discussion and

examination of the factors critical to the adoption and utilization of IT in

developing countries and non-western cultural contexts. It is important

that the local conditions of potential innovations are considered to the

same extent as the technology because of their potentially important

role in the selection and implementation process. Whats more, existing

models do not have much to tell as to why some firms proactively adopt

ICT even to change the fundamental business model while others can/

do not do so for most of whom it is just a means for better

communication and much research is required to be done to fill this everwidening gap between theory and practice.

Some of the considerations the decision makers may be assumed as

having are:

Expand market reach

More visibility in the target market

Increased responsiveness to customers

Enhanced scope for relationship marketing

Network effect efficiency

Increased customer loyalty

New and Value added services


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Availability and sharing of real time data

Alliances and networking with businesses

Cost reduction in product, process, service and support

Shortest time to market

Pressure for compatibility with other players in chain

Mass customized and flexible communication

Scope of more channels to select from

Minimize media changes in transit of the message

Free surrogate samples of products on offer

Sophisticated new breed of customers

Decreasing product life cycle

Availability of already existing complementary assets

Competitors are going electronic

Become the first mover and the market leader

These and many other pros notwithstanding, decision makers weigh (or

are influenced by, directly or indirectly) a number of factors as cons in

the way of adopting the e-way. Typical barriers include: Conservative

and inward looking behavior (We have been successful in the existingways of doing business and will be too etc); Fear of viability; Unstable

technology; High switching cost; Employee resistance to change;

Governmental regulations are unfriendly; Traditional investments and

competences may become redundant; Inter channel conflict;

Competition will grow to a global scale; Less access to credit and cash;

Fear of privacy and security in transactions; Lack of laws binding

worldwide; Customers may not accept; Intangibility of outcome; Less

people to people involvement; Reduced loyalty; Price comparison easier

and prices may drop; Stiffer quality based competition and more

investment in quality and add on services.


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Adoption influences may range from the decision makers experience as

a user/ customer, Social network effect, Trust, Ownership, Firm age,

Size, Organizational structure, Capital intensity, Cost to the Origin of

technology. Informational sources used by decision makers vary from

the Sources internal to the firm, Other firms of the group, Competitors,

Clients, Suppliers of equipment and software, Suppliers of raw materials

and components, Market research firms, Universities and higher

education establishments, Public research organizations and non-profit

research institutes, Patent publications, Technical journals and

conferences to Shows and exhibitions.

A TENTATIVE FRAMEWORK FOR ANALYZING E-READINESS AND

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The best approach, we believe, begins with the circumstances: what

kind of assessment is needed and for what purposes? What is already

known, and which assessment process is most appropriate? Available

literature identifies dimensions like Technology, People, Awareness and

Organizational Commitment for the analysis of e-readiness. But, what weintend in this research is not to separately look into each of these as

watertight compartments exhibiting different patterns and demanding

different solutions but as a symbiotic socio-technical system with

complex inter-linkages among micro, meso and macro dimensions. Since

in our proposed study the idiosyncrasies of the local socio-cultural

environment will be treated as a moderator, our hope is that we ought to

get a more regionally meaningful picture about e-readiness and its

multiple dimensions, less hanging in the abstract academic space than

most of the generic models available with us.

The study is designed in two stages: First, exploratory cases will be

prepared on selected tourist enterprises (sample inclusion is


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judgmentally determined) in the region of South India, including Kerala,

Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Goa and Andhra Pradesh, focusing on their e-

initiatives. Case studies will employ interviews, open-ended

questionnaires as well as ethnographic techniques as necessitated by

the direction in which the study takes in its course.

This will be followed by intra and cross case analyses. Insightful leads

generated out of case analyses shall become inputs to finalizing the

survey instrument, along with other inputs like those from relevant

literature and our own previous studies in the area. (A tentative

questionnaire developed for a previous pilot survey is included herewith

in Appendix II).

Sample selection for the descriptive survey will be random and our

preliminary guess at this stage is that a sample size of 100 organizations

will be required. The random sapling may be done from industry

directories and source books. As may be evident from the attached

sample questionnaire, our aim is to design a comprehensive yet concise

feedback form that is easy to use. E-mail version of the questionnaire

too shall be prepared and it is also planned to launch a web-basedversion of the same if found useful. The questionnaire includes elements

to unearth General business information, Actual and planned e-

commerce capabilities, Expected and desired business transactions to

be conducted using E-Commerce, E-Commerce leadership and strategy

within the organization, Perceived potentials of E-Commerce within the

Industry, Perceived limitation on development of E-Commerce

capabilities within their individual organization and Organizational

perception and awareness of E-Commerce.

The analysis of quantitative data shall be done with the help of statistical

packages like SPSS and SYSTAC available with the University. The

findings will be coordinated and published as a report. It is also aimed to


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bring out a few monographs at different intermediate stages in the

research, provided time and resources so permit. The research findings

will be deliberated at both the national and international conferences

and enriched suitably . We are also planning to organize workshops by

bringing the practicing managers, academicians, administrative planners

and others who matter to discuss the various implications of the findings

and bring out a manual for adoption by the tourism enterprises. A brief

sketch of the time requirement is as follows:


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RESOURCE

AVAILABILITY AND REQUIREMENTS

Pondicherry University has been involved with a number of pure and

applied research projects in the area of tourism, including consultancy

assignments, both national and international, from time to time. The

university offers Programs in the area of tourism at the post-graduate

and doctoral level and has an active tourism studies group too. It has a

Research Tasks Duration

(In

months)

In-depth review of literature

Case studies

Case analyses

Case report/ monograph

Sample-survey/Questionnaire

design

Questionnaire response collection

Data analyses

Report preparation and

Publication

Total Time Requirement

3 months

9 months

3 months

3 months

3 months

6 months

3 months

6 months

36

months


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well-equipped library having online subscription of a number of quality

journals and other publications. Our resources include a number of

statistical and qualitative analyses software tools. The faculty time of the

Centre for Tourism Studies and that of other colleagues in different

contributory disciplines may be employed if required as per the

availability. Certain segments of the project may be divided into sub-

modules and given to post-graduate students as minor projects too.

Also, the School of Management of which Centre for Tourism Studies is a

part, has fully air-conditioned, multi-media equipped seminar hall/

conference room etc, which too can be shared for conferences,

workshops and public relation programs to be conducted at various

stages of the research. Notwithstanding these, we require assistance

from the funding agency with regard to the following items:

1. Research Assistant (1 Post)

A Research Assistant (RA) is needed to assist the investigators in the

administration of the project for the entire duration of 3 years. The RA

will be delegated the partial responsibility of handling correspondences,organizing for case studies, focus groups, interviews, surveys, etc. We

would prefer to recruit an all round personality who can handle matters

with minimal supervision from the investigators. Ideally, he/she should

be a fresh a post-graduate in an allied field with good aptitude for

research. It is proposed that the research assistant shall be paid a

stipend/ salary equal to that of a Junior Research Fellow (JRF) as

prescribed by UGC viz.,Rs.8 000/- month, consolidated.

Sub-total: Rs.8,00036 months=Rs.,2,88,000/-

2. Travel/ Accommodation Expenses


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Since the research necessitates extensive travel, especially at the stage

of doing case studies, to and fro the five Southern State capitals and to

tourist destinations spread across these States, some of them remote

from the main cities, we require essential fund towards travel and

accommodation. Also, it is indispensable that the research findings be

discussed and disseminated across at least one or two national and

international fora during conferences/seminars/ symposia/workshops

and this too requires unavoidable travel and stay away from home town.

In addition to this, there is a need for travel and related expenses

during the first three months earmarked for literature review during

which period libraries of other institutions of higher learning have to be

consulted for relevant literature. Keeping all these in mind, we request

you to sanction an amount of Rs. 2,00,000/-

Sub-total: Rs.2, 00000/-

3. Books and Journals

It may be required to buy books and subscribe to journals that are notavailable with the university library, especially since the area of research

is an ever-growing one. Most of the new developments in the area that

have taken place are getting published abroad for which domestic

editions may not be available. Therefore, there is a dire need to

subscribe to various national and international journals in the relevant

field of research. In this regard, we propose that a sum of Rs.1,00,000/-

be sanctioned.


4. Publication


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It is expected to publish one monograph after the case-analyses and the

final report in the end in book form. An amount of Rs. 50,000/- is

requested from the funding agency in this regard.


5. Printing/ /Postage/Communication/Stationery items

The university cannot support fully expenses towards stationery items

like cartridges, ink, papers, envelopes, gum, markers, postage, etc.

Roughly, 1000 questionnaires, each containing 9-10 pages, have to be

printed and posted along with stamped envelops for reply from the

respondents. Also, part of the interviews with the selected respondents

will be via telephone and e-mail with a view to minimize the travel cost

and this too require funds. We may require launching an online version

of the questionnaire and this entails web-hosting charges. With these in

view, an amount of Rs. 1,00,000/- is requested from the funding agency.


6. Equipments:

Even though the essential equipments are available with the university

for the successful completion of the research, we lack the availability of

portable laptop computers that would be of extreme use especially

during the fieldwork stage. A couple of laptops with peripherals and

software would practically meet our indispensable need and an amount

of Rs. 1,20,000/- is requested towards this.


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To carry out our research, the University will only provide a room with

electric power connection. We need to equip our research room with the

following equipments:

Two Multimedia Personal Computers Rs.-- 80,000

One Printer and one Scanner -- 15,000

Two Air Conditioner -- 40,000

Furniture -- 20,000

Photocopier -- 30,000

--------------

1,85,000

---------------

Since we plan to organize series of workshops/ training programs to

disseminate the research findings and also to gain additional insights in

the research area from the industry participants and academics which

may even continue beyond the tenure of present research, we need the

following audio-visual aids :

One LCD Projector Rs. -- 80,000

One Overhead Projector with Screen Rs. -- 20,000

------------1,00,000

------------

Sub-total: Rs.1,20,000/- + Rs.1,85,000/- + Rs.1,00,000 = Rs.4,05,000

7. Contingency grant and overheads

For special needs unmet by the aforementioned items, an amount of Rs.

20,000/- per annum is requested for the entire duration of the project.


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Sub-total: Rs.20, 0003 years=Rs. 60,000/-

Thus, Total Amount Requested: Rs.2,88,000/- + Rs.2,00000/-+

Rs.1, 00000/- + Rs.50, 000/- + Rs.1, 00000/- + Rs.4,05,000/- + Rs.

60,000/- = Rs.12, 03,000/-

CONCLUDING REMARKS

With the rapid diffusion of the Internet worldwide, there has been

considerable interest in the e-potentials of the business firms in the

developing countries. Business entities require well-defined e-readiness

strategies if they wish to obtain competitive advantage from this

revolutionary technology.

First generation e-readiness studies assumed a fixed, one-size-fits-all set

of requirements, regardless of the characteristics of individual countries,

the investment context, or the demands of specific applications, whichobscures critical information for investors or policy analysts seeking to

reduce uncertainties and/or make more educated decisions. It is an

afterthought that e-Readiness could mean different things to different

people, in different contexts, and for different purposes, meaning that

western models analyzing e-readiness need to be modified incorporating

the contextual nuances while studying the e-readiness of enterprises

elsewhere. Moreover, many of the available e-readiness models have

been developed to study the e-readiness of manufacturing enterprises,

and incremental modifications of these models will not help us in getting

a perspective on the e-readiness of tourism enterprises.


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Our attempt is to fill this gap and is a point of great departure, as

detailed in the main body of this proposal. This is a lofty attempt,

because, unless the current tourism industry is enabled to improve its

competitiveness by utilizing the emerging ICTs and innovative

management methods, there is a great danger for exogenous players to

enter the marketplace to jeopardize the position of the existing ones.

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Swanson, E.B. (1994). Information Systems Innovation AmongOrganizations. Management Science, 40(9), 1069-1092

Thomas, Louis A. (1999). Adoption Order of New Technologies in

Evolving Markets. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 38(4),

453-482.

Weill, P. and Vitale, M., (2001). Place to Space. Harvard Business School

Press, USA

Werthner, H and Klein, S. (1999). Information Technology and Tourism

A Challenging Relationship. Springer, Wien and New York

WebPages Referred:

http://europa.eu.int/ISPO/esis/default.htm

http://www.usaid.gov/regions/afr/leland/enduser.htm


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http://www.iplaninc.com/BOISE/boiasmnt.htm

http://www.rhsmith.umd.edu/pr/NTRS.doc

http://www.bridges.org/ereadiness/comparison.html

http://som.csudh.edu/fac/lpress/gdiff/gdiffprojects.htm

http://www.cid.harvard.edu/cr/gitrr_030202.html

http://www.readinessguide.org/

http://www.connectedcommunities.net/assessment_guide.htm

http://www.ita.doc.gov/td/industry/otea/ecommerce/apec/

http://www.info.gov.hk/digital21/eng/ecommerce/ec_assessment.html

http://www.isc.ie/cgi-local/publications.cgi?f=exec&id=39

http://www.infodev.org/projects/internet/400networkingrevolution/analys

ystoolkit.ppt

http://www1.worldbank.org/gdln/kam.htm

http://www.idate.fr/an/publi/revu/num/n41/kenny_a.html

http://www.mcconnellinternational.com/ereadiness/default.cfm

http://www.worldpaper.com/home.html

http://www.markle.org/news/_news_pressrelease_072200.stm

http://www.sdnp.undp.org/it4dev/ffICTe.pdf

http://www.sida.se/Sida/jsp/Crosslink.jsp?d=321&a=9481

APPENDIX-I

Resume of the Principal Investigator


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APPENDIX-II

Tentative Questionnaire Developed for Our Pilot Study

We are approaching you as part of a survey to identify the factors that decision makers in hospitality enterprises

think of as significant in their decision to go online and adopt the e-commerce platform as part of their marketing agenda.

We would greatly appreciate it if you could kindly cooperate with them by answering the questions listed herewith.

If you are not one of the key decision makers in your organization, please direct them to the right person who can provide

them with the necessary information, share opinions and feelings.

We hereby assure you that the information provided by you shall not be used for anything other than pure academic

purposes. The study is undertaken on the faith that a better understanding of the complexities involved in e-decision

making would benefit academics and practitioners alike.

Thanking you in anticipation,

(Babu P George)

QUESTIONNAIRE

May I just know if you are at least one of the key personnel in your business that is responsible for making decisions

about how your business uses information technology?

Yes, I am/ No, but I can confidently answer for the decision maker

Your organization may be performing some of the following business functions employing information technology

tools such as E-mail, the Internet, EDI, Intranet, Extranet, LAN, WAN etc. Could you please tick mark the statements

below in the manner applicable to you?

(SD= Strongly Disagree D= Disagree N= Neutral A= Agree SA= Strongly Agree)

Our services do lend themselves to Internet based transactionsSD________D________N________A________SA

We communication with customers using e-mail etcSD________D________N________A________SA

We communicate with travel agents and tour operators online

SD________D________N________A________SA

We communicate with local business partners onlineSD________D________N________A________SA

We communicate with our competitors onlineSD________D________N________A________SA


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At least some part of our internal communication has been via electronic means

SD________D________N________A________SA

We employ the Internet to look for new employees

SD________D________N________A________SA

Our hotel allows online booking

SD________D________N________A________SA

We accept credit card payments

SD________D________N________A________SA

At least some of our customer services are performed onlineSD________D________N________A________SA

We sometimes order row-materials, business equipments etc onlineSD________D________N________A________SA

Our company can make payment to suppliers electronicallySD________D________N________A________SA

Monitoring stock levels have been automated in our hotel

SD________D________N________A________SA

We often provide stakeholders with information online

SD________D________N________A________SA

We obtain information about our competitors via the Internet

SD________D________N________A________SA

We incorporate web-marketing strategy for efficient marketing of hotel servicesSD________D________N________A________SA

Do you have permanent access to the Internet? NO/YES

Do you have an electronic customer database?NO/YES

Do you have a website for your organization? NO/YES

If yes, do your website facilitate online booking and payment transactions? NO/YES

Do you have a registered www domain name? NO/YES

Do you have linkages with any CRS/HMS/GDS? NO/YES

Do you employ mobile commerce at present?NO/YES

Do you have an in-house computerized accounts system? NO/YES


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We would like to hear your valuable opinion in terms of how much the following factors may influence a decision

maker while deciding to go online and adopt an e-commerce platform as part of his/her companys electronic hospitality

marketing strategy. Kindly rate them across the scale provided.

(1= Least important to 5= Most important)

Customer readiness to accept the new channel

1________2________3________4________5

Availability of telecommunication infrastructure1________2________3________4________5

Technically competent employees

1________2________3________4________5

Web-ready local businesses1________2________3________4________5

E-compatible travel intermediaries (travel agents& Tour operators)1________2________3________4________5

Industry support and motivation1________2________3________4________5

Enthusiasm of the management

1________2________3________4________5

Knowledge of relevant e-business models1________2________3________4________5

Novelty involved in the technology

1________2________3________4________5

Proven track record of the technology and business model in some other industries1________2________3________4________5

Proven track record of the technology and business model in some other sectors1________2________3________4________5

Proven track record of the technology and business model in some other sectors1________2________3________4________5

Cheap availability of required hardware and software

1________2________3________4________5

Getting convinced of immediate financial benefits1________2________3________4________5

E-business system implementation cost

1________2________3________4________5

Support from local IT industry1________2________3________4________5

Support from banking and financial institutions1________2________3________4________5

Support from governmental agencies1________2________3________4________5

Secure transaction of financial information

1________2________3________4________5


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Privacy of parties involved in e-transactions1________2________3________4________5

What given below are some statements about e-commerce and online marketing offerings, in general. These are

general statements and may not be true in all contexts; or, at least you as a decision maker may have valid apprehensions

about them. Anyway, we request you to express your view regarding the truth-value of these statements.

(SD= Strongly Disagree D= Disagree N= Neutral A= Agree SA= Strongly Agree)

Employing e-commerce and going online can:

Create new hospitality offeringsSD________D________N________A________SA

Reach new diverse marketsSD________D________N________A________SA

Allow real time information sharing about hospitality offerings

SD________D________N________A________SA

Lead to better communication and goodwillSD________D________N________A________SA

Improve healthy relationship with suppliers

SD________D________N________A________SA

Increase customer loyalty and retentionSD________D________N________A________SA

Reduce cost of providing customer serviceSD________D________N________A________SA

Increase the efficiency of internal processes

SD________D________N________A________SA

Enhance cooperation in the industry

SD________D________N________A________SA

Enhance customization of hospitality servicesSD________D________N________A________SA

Reduce time to service customer needs

SD________D________N________A________SA

Result is using currently existing services more efficientlySD________D________N________A________SA

What do you think about your organizational capabilities to go online in terms of its commitment and people? Please

rate the following statements.

Our business is aware of doing business online

SD________D________N________A________SA

Doing E-business is a current need for our businessSD________D________N________A________SA


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E-business is probably a proposition I can think of after couple of years

SD________D________N________A________SA

Most of our employees are computer literateSD________D________N________A________SA

Our employees have unrestricted access to computersSD________D________N________A________SA

Our employees have unrestricted access to the InternetSD________D________N________A________SA

We have enough experience with network-based applicationsSD________D________N________A________SA

We have enough business resources to implement e-commerceSD________D________N________A________SA

Our other systems do not clash with the e-business model SD________D________N________A________SA

We have the essential technological capability for doing e-businessSD________D________N________A________SA

Our business has a clear long-term vision on selling our services onlineSD________D________N________A________SA

Above all, we have a committed top-management to facilitate us going onlineSD________D________N________A________SA

Your sources of business intelligence (tick-mark two most important sources)

Trade Magazines and periodicals

Trade fairsLocal business partners and competitorsTravel Agents and tour operatorsCustomers

Academic sources like universities and research centersMy own intuitionOther sources (Specify): _________________________

Could you tell us approximately what percentage of your businesss turnover, do you consider results from the newelectronic media (please exclude the part of business realized via traditional means like telephone, Fax etc)?

_____________________

Your most-important customer group (businessmen, tourists, families, parties etc):

____________________________

As a hospitality firm, which is your area of advantage vis--vis others?_____________________________________________

How many people are normally involved in your business decision making? ________________________________

Name of the hotel/ Resort etc:________________________________

Name of chain/brand (If applicable):___________________________

Star Classification (If applicable):_____________________________

Type of ownership (tick-mark the appropriate one):

Sole ProprietorshipPartnership


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Government Undertaking

Private Company

Number of years the hospitality unit has been in business (tick-mark the appropriate one):

Less than two yearsTwo to five years

Five to ten yearsMore than ten years

Number of guests served per year, roughly:_________________________

Percentage of international visitors, among customers: ______________

What percentage of your guests books the hotel through the following channels?

Directly with the hotel _________________

Through travel agent/tour operator ___________________Through marketing companies/consortia ______________________Through website (including using E- mail)_____________________

Through GDS___________________________Any other (specify) ___________________________

Your Name:

Age: BELOW 20/ 20-35/ 36-50/ 51-65/ ABOVE 66

Gender:M/ F

Educational level:General:_____________Professional:________________

Other: ___________________

Your greatest source of personal inspiration:____________________

Please mention what you consider as success in business and personal life:

Now, finally, would you be interested in us sharing with you the findings of the survey? If so, kindly tick-mark

appropriately.

Yes, Please/ No Thanks.

e-Readiness Proposal

Documents

Transcript of e-Readiness Proposal