Disintermediation

Disintermediation is a concept well-understood in almost all industries. At its simplest, it refers to the process by which intermediaries in a supply chain are eliminated, most often by digital re-engineering of process and workflow. It can often result in streamlined processes that appear more customer-focused. It can also result in the destruction of almost entire industries and occupations, and the re-design of almost every aspect of customer and client-facing activity. To date, legal education in particular has not given much attention to the process. In this article I explore some of the theory that has been constructed around the concept. I then examine some of the consequences that disintermediation is having upon our teaching and learning, and on our research on legal education, as part of the general landscape of digital media churn; evaluate its effects, and show how we might use aspects of it in two case studies that are, effectively, versions of the future of legal education

Online Travel Agencies (OTAs) and Hoteliers’ Relationships: Do Social and Cognitive Relationships Matter?

This study aims to discover if social relationship as measured by shared value, duration and non-economic satisfaction and cognitive relationship as measured by task performance and economic satisfaction affect OTAs-hoteliers’ relationship, which is measured through trust and commitment. Data was collected from hotels’ operation managers, senior managers, financial executives, business owners, and partners through online surveys. A total of 208 usable questionnaires were returned from 577, resulting in a response rate of 36.04 per cent. The hypotheses were tested using SEM and mediation effects were tested and translated using Hair et al. (2014) nested structural model concept.  The results indicate partial mediation for cognitive domain - relationship commitment and full mediation for social domain - relationship commitment affects. Trust forms as the mediating variable

Cutting out the middle man?: disintermediation and the academic library

Big Deals, open access, and digitisation increasingly mean that selection decisions are being removed from librarians and transferred to the end user. David Ball looks at the forces pushing towards this ‘disintermediation’ and considers the future role of the academic library

Investigating E-commerce Adoption in Small and Medium-sized Tourism Enterprises: A Case of Travel Agents in Egypt

SMEs are often described as slow adopters of technology. However, adopting e-commerce is one of many strategies taken by travel agents to re-intermediate themselves in the global travel market against the threat of disintermediation. Exploratory studies have revealed that Egyptian travel agents are laggards when it comes to technology adoption, although they perceive e-commerce as a beneficial tool that can increase their chances of survival. As many as 59.2% of Egyptian travel agents were found not to have websites (Egyptian Travel Agents Association, 2008), this study investigates the factors affecting e-commerce adoption by travel agents. Past literature has shown that there are three main factors affecting the adoption of e-commerce by SMEs. Environmental pressures push SMEs to adopt in order to bolster their survival chances. The benefits of adoption are critical factors considered by managers when making the adoption decision. Finally, there are barriers to e-commerce adoption. By modifying the technology acceptance model, this research conceptualizes the causal relationships amongst these three types of factors. The benefits and barriers to e-commerce adoption are found to mediate the relationship between environmental pressures and e-commerce adoption. This study employs mixed methods starting with a quantitative survey and following it up with qualitative interviews. A questionnaire was used to collect data from 411 adopter and non-adopter e-commerce travel agents. Later, 22 interviews were conducted with the managers of travel agents. Structural equation modelling produced findings reveal that environmental pressures significantly affect the perceived benefits of and barriers to adoption, in addition to having an indirect effect on adoption behaviour. This study contributes to theory as it responds to the claim that the factors affecting e-commerce adoption have not been well documented in the travel sector (Hung et al., 2011, Thomas et al., 2011), especially in the context of developing countries (Thulani et al., 2010). The findings reveal that the modified technology acceptance model successfully interprets e-commerce adoption. The study compares other adoption models with the research model and provides statistical criteria for this comparison. Its contribution to practice is twofold, affecting the managers of travel agencies and policy makers. Recognizing the factors affecting adoption would enable managers to devise strategies and prepare better agendas for expanding their businesses, while at the same time identifying any defects and training needs that present barriers. Meanwhile, recognizing the barriers to adoption could encourage government bodies and policy makers to implement appropriate measures, such as introducing protective and financial legislation to encourage SMEs to adopt technology, or to formulate national policies and initiatives aimed specifically at supporting the adoption of e-commerce by SMEs.Egyptian Governmen

Information Technology Applications in Hospitality and Tourism: A Review of Publications from 2005 to 2007

The tourism and hospitality industries have widely adopted information technology (IT) to reduce costs, enhance operational efficiency, and most importantly to improve service quality and customer experience. This article offers a comprehensive review of articles that were published in 57 tourism and hospitality research journals from 2005 to 2007. Grouping the findings into the categories of consumers, technologies, and suppliers, the article sheds light on the evolution of IT applications in the tourism and hospitality industries. The article demonstrates that IT is increasingly becoming critical for the competitive operations of the tourism and hospitality organizations as well as for managing the distribution and marketing of organizations on a global scale

Adventure tourism: understanding the millennial traveler

The aim of this paper is to review the current trends in tourism industry and travel behavior and preferences of Millennials or Generation Y in relation to traveling, and more specifically, adventure travel segment. Furthermore, the obtained data is compared to a recent research on adventure travel tour operators’ perception of Millennials and their travel habits and preferences, in order to determine whether or not these companies understand their customer. The results indicate that the adventure travel tour operators generally understand Millennials, however, they need to stay up to date with the latest technological and social media trends

Determinants for tourist destinations\u27 international markets access: The case of Southern Ecuador and Germany

Many destinations aim at accessing international markets to generate income from abroad, stimulate innovation and develop new skills. This paper examines the determinants – conditions that may represent barriers or enhancers – for tourist destination\u27s international markets access. We contrast various sets of determinants from: 1) tourism literature on internationalisation, 2) two extensive studies from the exports sector covering 48 years of data, and 3) empirical work on 30 cases at the destination and the source market, considering Cajas Massif\u27s – Southern Ecuador – access to German organised groups. We found that tourism literature focuses on more specific conditions, such as distance or macroeconomic indicators; while exports\u27 literature deals with a more complete range of conditions to explain determinants. We conclude that determinants such as collective initiatives, defined target markets or efficient processes play a priority role in tourist destinations; and that although exports\u27 literature is useful, it is not totally transferable to tourism. Therefore, adding input from the empirical cases, we triangulate the data to consolidate a comprehensive overview of 46 determinants specific for tourist destinations\u27 international market access. This work has implications for decision makers, firms, governments and educators

Prioritising Research Agenda For E-Commerce In Malaysia

The recent advent of World Wide Web has changed the traditional marketing paradigm in a dramatic way. Under a computer-mediated marketing framework the operations are no longer controlled by boundaries and time constraints. The new paradigm provides firms the whole wired world as potential market to capture. This is the underlying rationale for the Malaysian e-commerce policy or marketing in a "computer-mediated-environment" in Malaysia. Although, the concept of e-commerce is relatively new in this country, but, it was widely accepted marketing medium among the developed nations. Whether Malaysia is able to reap the benefits of e-commerce largely depends on various factors ranging from the infrastructures, the skill base, the critical mass of internet users, legal policy and so on. Understanding the nature of the relationship and the significance of these factors require a good amount of research in the industry perspectives. This paper attempts to provide some guidelines about the research priorities in marketing of Malaysian produce and products under a computer-mediated-environment; taking into account the local and peculiarities of the firms and consumers' behaviour. In this respect the current paper draws literatures about e-commerce experiences of other countries for the purpose of benchmarking. The preliminary conclusion drawn from these literatures suggest that e-marketing outcomes are major reduction in transaction costs and an increase in productivity; which in turn radically change the traditional market structure, behaviour and performance framework. While it is envisaged that the private sector will take the lead role in the development of e-marketing in Malaysia, the government has a bigger role in ensuring its sustainability. The major research issues in economics and marketing are: the competitiveness of the related industries to allow higher investment in bandwidth and high-technology, integration of physical and online marketing, the economics of network management, characteristics and perception of the community on e-commerce, market and commercial governance, the current and future skill of the community, monitoring the changes in marketing functions and intermediary roles and providing macro indicators to measure the market

Sistemas de gestão de destinos turísticos: contribuições para a sua adoção e implementação

The growing competition between tourist destinations, the progressively demanding tourist source markets, as well the complexity of the strategies to attract them, has led Destination Management Organisations (DMOs) to expand their attributions to assume themselves as central actors in the coordination of the stakeholders of respective destinations. Thus, some DMOs have implemented collaborative online networks, referred to as Destination Management Systems (DMSs), which connect all relevant tourist agents in a destination, facilitating communication and cooperation between them. These systems also provide online tourist portals for tourist destinations that offer more personalised travel planning experiences, including the possibility to purchase tourist products. However, only a residual number of tourist destinations has ever tried to adopt a DMS and a considerable portion of the them were unsuccessful. The challenges to the success of a DMS require a careful analysis of the factors that influence the willingness of the tourist agents of a destination to adopt them, as well as of the factors that determine the importance that these agents attribute to the functionalities of those same DMSs. However, research in this area is still limited. The main objectives of this thesis are to obtain an in-depth knowledge about the factors mentioned above, as well as on the characteristics and role of DMSs, in order to promote the implementation of these systems in tourist destinations. To achieve these objectives, a mixed methodology was adopted, starting with an extensive review of the literature on DMSs, exploratory interviews with the main companies providing DMS solutions and with DMOs that have successfully implemented these systems. At content analysis of those same DMSs was undertaken. This qualitative approach provided an in-depth knowledge regarding the characteristics of DMSs, the current business and management models of these systems, as well as their recent developments and future perspectives. Then, a quantitative approach was used to identify the factors that explain the willingness of destination-based stakeholders to adopt a DMS, as well as those influencing the importance attributed by these agents to the specific functionalities of DMSs. Thus, a questionnaire survey was applied to different types of tourist agents from a regional destination lacking a DMS: The Portuguese Centre region. The results of the quantitative investigation indicate that the predisposition to adopt a DMS is positively influenced by factors such as: (i) cooperation within the destination; (ii) pressure from the external environment (e.g. from competing destinations); (iii) perceived benefits and usefulness of the DMS; (iv) DMO's leadership and strategic vision; (v) resources and strategic vision of the tourist actors in the destination. On the other hand, two factors which are still absent from research on this topic were found to negatively influence the predisposition to adopt a DMS, namely: (i) alternative online platforms and (ii) the lack of a DMS in neighbouring regions or at the national level. The results also demonstrate that the importance attributed to the specific functionalities of a DMS by destination-based stakeholders is positively influenced (i) by its resources and strategic vision, (ii) by its knowledge on the DMO’s initiatives in the field of the Information and Communication and Technologies, (iii) the condition of affiliated member of a DMO; and (iv) by the tourist agent sub-sector, since it was found that tourism accommodation providers value collaborative functionalities of a DMS less than others. The thesis ends with conclusions and implications for the tourism sector, mainly for agents responsible for the development of tourist destinations.A crescente competição entre destinos turísticos, bem como a progressiva exigência da procura turística e da complexidade das estratégias para a atrair, levou as Organizações de Gestão de Destinos (OGD) a ampliarem as suas atribuições para se assumirem como atores centrais na coordenação dos stakeholders dos respetivos destinos. Assim, algumas OGDs implementaram redes colaborativas online, designadas de Sistemas de Gestão de Destinos (SGDs), que interligam todos os agentes turísticos relevantes de um destino, facilitando a comunicação e a cooperação entre eles. Estes sistemas também proporcionam à procura turística portais online de destinos turísticos que oferecem experiências de planeamento de viagens mais personalizadas, incluindo a possibilidade de comprar produtos turísticos. Porém, apenas um número residual de destinos turísticos tentou adotar um SGD e uma parcela considerável dos SGDs não tiveram sucesso. Os desafios para garantir o sucesso dos SGD exigem uma análise cuidada dos fatores que influenciam a predisposição dos agentes turísticos de um destino para os adotar, bem como dos fatores que determinam a importância que estes agentes atribuem às funcionalidades dos SGD. No entanto, a investigação neste âmbito é ainda limitada. A presente tese tem como principais objetivos obter um conhecimento aprofundado sobre os fatores anteriormente referidos, bem como sobre as características e papel dos SGD, no sentido de promover a implementação destes sistemas nos destinos. Para alcançar os objetivos estabelecidos, adotou-se uma metodologia mista, começando com uma extensiva revisão da literatura sobre SGD, entrevistas exploratórias às principais empresas fornecedoras de soluções de SGD e a OGD que implementaram estes sistemas com sucesso, bem como análises de conteúdo de SGD. Esta abordagem qualitativa permitiu um conhecimento mais aprofundado relativamente às características dos SGD, aos atuais modelos de negócios e de gestão destes sistemas, bem como aos seus recentes desenvolvimentos e perspetivas futuras. Seguidamente uma abordagem quantitativa foi utlizada para identificar os fatores que explicam a predisposição dos agentes turísticos de um destino para adotar um SGD, bem como os fatores que influenciam a importância atribuída por estes agentes às funcionalidades específicas dos SGD. Assim, um inquérito por questionário foi aplicado a diferentes tipos de agentes turísticos de um destino regional que não dispõe de um SGD: a região Centro de Portugal. Os resultados da investigação quantitativa indicam que a predisposição para adotar um SGD é influenciada positivamente por fatores como: (i) cooperação no destino; (ii) pressão do ambiente externo (ex. de destinos concorrentes); (iii) benefícios percebidos e utilidade do SGD; (iv) liderança e visão estratégica da OGD; (v) recursos e visão estratégica dos atores turísticos do destino. Por outro lado, dois fatores até agora ausentes da investigação influenciam negativamente a predisposição para adotar um SGD, nomeadamente: (i) as plataformas alternativas online e (ii) a falta de um SGD em regiões vizinhas ou a nível nacional. Os resultados demonstram ainda que a importância atribuída às funcionalidades específicas de um SGD pelos agentes turísticos de um destino é influenciada positivamente (i) pelos seus recursos e visão estratégica, (ii) pelo seu conhecimento sobre as iniciativas da OGD no âmbito das Tecnologias de Informação e Comunicação, (iii) por ser membro afiliado da OGD; e (iv) pelo subsetor do agente turístico, observando-se que os fornecedores de alojamento turístico valorizam menos as funcionalidades de cariz colaborativo do que outro tipo de agentes. A tese termina com conclusões e implicações para o setor do turismo, principalmente para agentes responsáveis pelo desenvolvimento turístico.Programa Doutoral em Turism

Competitive Advantages amongst Travel Agencies in Malaysian SMEs: The Role of IOE Factors and Web Technologies & E-Business Adoption

In response to the volatile industrial landscape, particularly about Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs), organizations have extensively embraced electronic business (e-business) as a strategic initiative aimed at enhancing their competitive advantage mechanisms. Nevertheless, the adoption of e-business amongst local Small and Medium Travel Agency (SMTAs) is still negligible. This study seeks to introduce a comprehensive model encompassing the factors driving and the consequences resulting from the adoption of e-business within SMTAs. The determinants of e-business adoption and the adoption of web-based technologies were empirically examined by employing data obtained from a sample of 323 managerial personnel. The collected data was subjected to analysis through structural equation modelling methods. The findings revealed the significance of specific determinants in influencing the adoption of e-business. Particularly, owner support, perceived ease of use, and government support emerged as critical factors influencing the decision to adopt e-business within SMTAs. In contrast attitude, competitive pressure, and relative advantage were found not significant. While e-business adoption has a major impact on SME functioning and operational progress, it also influences competitive advantage. This study's exploration of the factors influencing, and the consequences associated with the adoption of e-business offers valuable insights. These findings offer e-business practitioners and managers practical guidance for enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of e-business adoption within their respective organizations. The results also provided a basis for more precise e-business studies to be conducted for small and medium companies in developing countries