A Case Study Approach To Understanding the Impact of Information Technology On Competitive Advantage in the Lodging Industry

Abstract

The lodging industry, along with most parts of the service sector, is making significant capital investment in information technology to improve the quality and efficiency of its business processes for the purpose of gaining competitive advantage. This study investi gates the impact of information technology on competitive advantage in the lodging indus try. This research uses a case study methodology to measure competitive advantage from information technology. The results indicate that the overall strategy of the lodging firm in fluences the impact of information technology on competitive advantage. More specifi cally, the asset holding and managing companies achieve a different type and level of com petitive advantage through information technology as compared to franchising lodging firms.

Effect of information technology on performance in upscale hotels

“…A number of researchers have identified a positive and significant relationship between the use of IT and the development of a competitive advantage (Cho and Olson, 1998;Clemons, 1986;McFarlan, 1984;Porter, 1985). Cho and Olson (1998) recommended that IT be extensively adopted within the lodging industry and noted the visible evidence of the acceptability and widespread use of IT in many aspects of the service industry in general and in the lodging industry in particular. Given the benefits that IT provides to the lodging industry, the extensive use of technology would appear to be an inevitable conclusion (Siguaw et al, 2000).…”

“…Hospitality industries have identified effective implementation of information technology (IT) as a vital component of the effort to promote and achieve their goals for successful description, promotion, distribution, amalgamation, organization, and delivery of hospitality products and services and have demonstrated a positive and significant relationship between the use of IT and the development of a competitive advantage (Cho and Olson, 1998;Clemons, 1986;McFarlan, 1984;Porter, 1985).…”

Towards a theoretical model of technology adoption in hospitality organizations

“…Yet, despite the increasing use of technology in the hospitality industry, there has been limited use of the TAM framework to understand the adoption behavior of hospitality organizations. Most of the focus has been placed on describing the impact of technologies adopted in the hospitality industry, such as refining customer service (Sweat and Hibbard, 1999), improving operations (O'Connor, 1999), increasing revenue (Siguaw et al, 2000), minimizing costs (Huo, 1998), and enhancing competitive advantage (Cho and Olsen, 1998).…”

The changing role of ICT competitiveness: the case of the Slovenian hotel sector

“…Despite the fact that several studies have examined the impact of the ICT in the hospitality sector (Cho & Olsen, 1998;Ham, Kim, & Jeong, 2005;Mosleh & Shannak, 2009), this sector has often been accused of being a technological laggard and is perceived as being conservative in the adoption of new technologies. The low rate of ICT use can be associated with difficulties in the sign-up process and technology use (Sigala, 2013) as well as barriers to adoption due to lack of resources and poor communication between technology vendors and their client hotels (Reino, Lamsfus, Salas, Torices, & Alzua-Sorzabal, 2013).…”