A proposal to study the

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, PhD

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

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,

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

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 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 different sectors 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 nongovernmental 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 etourism phenomenon. cross-section of tourism

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 According the to entire Kalakota gamut and of doing e-business, (1999), econvergence technologies permit integration by scale and scope hitherto unimaginable. business Robinson and preparedness is the level of ability to deal with the complex fusion of processes, enterprise applications 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 business environment. 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

(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;

 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;

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 technocentric 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

improved via good marketing analyses. Stripped down to its essentials, business is about one thing: making decisions. allocation of resources which 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 benefits received 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 estrategy. 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 A decision is an is made in order to further some

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 ever widening 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

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 existing ways 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.

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 we intend 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

judgmentally determined) in the region of South India, including Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Goa and Andhra Pradesh, focusing on their einitiatives. 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-based version of the same if found useful. The questionnaire includes elements to unearth General business information, Actual and planned ecommerce 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

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:

Research Tasks

Duration (In months) RESOURCE

In-depth review of literature Case studies Case analyses Case report/ monograph Sample-survey/Questionnaire design

3 months 9 months 3 months 3 months 3 months 6 months

Questionnaire response collection 3 months Data analyses 6 months Report Publication Total Time Requirement 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 preparation and 36 months

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 submodules 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

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 not available 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. Sub-total: Rs.1, 00000/4. Publication

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. Sub-total: Rs.50, 000/5. 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. Sub-total: Rs.1, 00000/-

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.

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 One Printer and one Scanner Two Air Conditioner Furniture Photocopier Rs.-- 80,000 -- 15,000 -- 40,000 -- 20,000 -- 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 One Overhead Projector with Screen Rs. -- 80,000 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.

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, which obscures 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.

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. BIBLIOGRAPHY Hartman, A., Sifonis, J. and Kador, J. (2000). Net Ready. NY: McGraw-Hill Kalakota and Robinson (1999). E-Business Roadmap for success. Sydney: Addision Wesley. Miles, G., Preece, S.G., and Baetz, M.C. (1999). Dangers of Dependence: The Impact of Strategic Alliance Use by Small Technology-Based Firms. Journal of Small Business Management, 37(2), 20-29. Rogers, E. (1995). Diffusion of innovations (4th Edition). New York: The Free Press. Tornatzky, L.G., and Klein, K.J. (1982). Innovation Characteristics and Innovation Adoption-Implementation: A Meta Analysis of Findings, IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, 29(1), 28-45. Wilson, E., Daly, J., and Griffiths, J.M. (1998). Internet Counts: Measuring the Impacts of the Internet, Washington, DC: National Academy Press Zaltman, G., Duncan, R., amd Holbeck, J. (1973). Innovation and Organizations, New York: John Wiley and Sons. Buhalis, D. (2003). E-Tourism: Information technology for strategic tourism management. Prentice Hall: Harlow, UK. Carter, R. & Bedard, F. (2001). E-Business for Tourism: Practical Guidelines for Tourism Destinations and Businesses. WTO Business Council, Madrid. Eisenmann, T.R. (2002). Internet Business Models Text and Cases. McGraw-Hill Irwin, New York.

Ghosh, Shikhar (1998). Making Business Sense of the Internet. Harvard Business Review, March -April, 1998. Hartman, A. & Sifonis, J. (2000). Net Ready: Strategies for Success in the E-economy. New York: McGraw-Hill. Inkpen, G. (1998). Information Technology for Travel and Tourism. Addison Wesley Longman, Essex UK. Kendall, K.E. (1999). Emerging Information Technologies. California; Sage Publications. O`Connor, P. (1999). Electronic Information Distribution in Tourism and Hospitality. CABI Publishing, UK Peacock, M. (1995). Information Technology in the Hospitality Industry: Managing People, Change and Computers. Cassell, London. Poon, A. (1998). Tourism, Technology and Competitive Strategies. New York; CABI Publishing. Rayport,J.F and Jaworski, B.J. (2002). Introduction to E-Commerce. McGraw-Hill/Irwin, New York, Ch10 Sheldon, P (1997). Tourism Information Technology. CA International, Wallingford UK and New York, USA. Swanson, E.B. (1994). Information Systems Innovation Among Organizations. 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

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

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 transactions SD________D________N________A________SA We communication with customers using e-mail etc SD________D________N________A________SA We communicate with travel agents and tour operators online SD________D________N________A________SA We communicate with local business partners online SD________D________N________A________SA We communicate with our competitors online SD________D________N________A________SA

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 online SD________D________N________A________SA We sometimes order row-materials, business equipments etc online SD________D________N________A________SA Our company can make payment to suppliers electronically SD________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 services SD________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

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 infrastructure 1________2________3________4________5 Technically competent employees 1________2________3________4________5 Web-ready local businesses 1________2________3________4________5 E-compatible travel intermediaries (travel agents& Tour operators) 1________2________3________4________5 Industry support and motivation 1________2________3________4________5 Enthusiasm of the management 1________2________3________4________5 Knowledge of relevant e-business models 1________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 industries 1________2________3________4________5 Proven track record of the technology and business model in some other sectors 1________2________3________4________5 Proven track record of the technology and business model in some other sectors 1________2________3________4________5 Cheap availability of required hardware and software 1________2________3________4________5 Getting convinced of immediate financial benefits 1________2________3________4________5 E-business system implementation cost 1________2________3________4________5 Support from local IT industry 1________2________3________4________5 Support from banking and financial institutions 1________2________3________4________5 Support from governmental agencies 1________2________3________4________5 Secure transaction of financial information 1________2________3________4________5

Privacy of parties involved in e-transactions 1________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 offerings SD________D________N________A________SA Reach new diverse markets SD________D________N________A________SA Allow real time information sharing about hospitality offerings SD________D________N________A________SA Lead to better communication and goodwill SD________D________N________A________SA Improve healthy relationship with suppliers SD________D________N________A________SA Increase customer loyalty and retention SD________D________N________A________SA Reduce cost of providing customer service SD________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 services SD________D________N________A________SA Reduce time to service customer needs SD________D________N________A________SA Result is using currently existing services more efficiently SD________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 business SD________D________N________A________SA

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 literate SD________D________N________A________SA Our employees have unrestricted access to computers SD________D________N________A________SA Our employees have unrestricted access to the Internet SD________D________N________A________SA We have enough experience with network-based applications SD________D________N________A________SA We have enough business resources to implement e-commerce SD________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-business SD________D________N________A________SA Our business has a clear long-term vision on selling our services online SD________D________N________A________SA Above all, we have a committed top-management to facilitate us going online SD________D________N________A________SA

Your sources of business intelligence (tick-mark two most important sources) Trade Magazines and periodicals Trade fairs Local business partners and competitors Travel Agents and tour operators Customers Academic sources like universities and research centers My own intuition Other sources (Specify): _________________________ Could you tell us approximately what percentage of your businesss turnover, do you consider results from the new electronic 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 Proprietorship Partnership

Government Undertaking Private Company Number of years the hospitality unit has been in business (tick-mark the appropriate one): Less than two years Two to five years Five to ten years More 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.