The emergence of language consensus - Intensifying language interaction in information systems development

The delivery of IS services is very resource consuming in all organizations. In an era in which management optimization is one of the bases for competitive advantage, sourcing options must be judged carefully. Traditionally, the dilemma has been considered in terms of make (insourcing) or buy (outsourcing). But both of these options have shown a certain amount of problems. Although outsourcing has allowed firms to concentrate on their core competencies, it has also shown several issues that prove it is not a panacea. Insourcing, on the other hand, does not allow a great deal of flexibility and we also find that it is every time more frequent that firms do not want their amount of staff to grow. Between both options, the internal mechanism has arisen. Its use entitles the creation of an intermediate society between the organization and the market. This article shows two cases of organizations from different environments in which the sourcing process involved the creation of an intermediate organization to act as the described buffering mechanism. Both processes were related to the IS/ICT function, one in Spain and another one in Italy. The study of the two cases has helped us identify and confirm empirically a number of features achieved by this internal mechanism use

A collective risk dilemma for tourism restrictions under the COVID‑19 context

This work is jointly supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Andalusian Government, ERDF and University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria under grants EXASOCO (PGC2018-101216-B-I00), SIMARK (P18-TP-4475), AIMAR (A-TIC-284-UGR18), and COVID-19-04.The current COVID-19 pandemic has impacted millions of people and the global economy. Tourism has been one the most affected economic sectors because of the mobility restrictions established by governments and uncoordinated actions from origin and destination regions. The coordination of restrictions and reopening policies could help control the spread of virus and enhance economies, but this is not an easy endeavor since touristic companies, citizens, and local governments have conflicting interests. We propose an evolutionary game model that reflects a collective risk dilemma behind these decisions. To this aim, we represent regions as players, organized in groups; and consider the perceived risk as a strict lock-down and null economic activity. The costs for regions when restricting their mobility are heterogeneous, given that the dependence on tourism of each region is diverse. Our analysis shows that, for both large populations and the EU NUTS2 case study, the existence of heterogeneous costs enhances global agreements. Furthermore, the decision on how to group regions to maximize the regions’ agreement of the population is a relevant issue for decision makers to consider. We find out that a layout of groups based on similar costs of cooperation boosts the regions’ agreements and avoid the risk of having a total lock-down and a negligible tourism activity. These findings can guide policy makers to facilitate agreements among regions to maximize the tourism recovery.Grant EXASOCO (PGC2018-101216-B-I00)SIMARK (P18-TP-4475)AIMAR (A-TIC-284-UGR18)COVID-19-0

DO GENDER, AGE AND FREQUENCY OF INTERNET ACCESS MATTER ON THE PERCEIVED IMPORTANCE OF HOTEL WEBSITE FEATURES?

Purpose – This study measures the relative importance of hotel website features based on users’ perceptions and analyses the impact of gender, age, and frequency of Internet access on the given importance of features. Our study includes ten features and three hypotheses. Design/methodology/approach – A research questionnaire was developed and distributed to hotel guests. A total of 406 responses were collected. Statistical analysis included paired t-tests and one-way ANOVA. Findings – Results showed that users prioritized information about products and services, bookings and reservations, an easy-to-use website, and contact information. Privacy, design, and information on the surroundings were also important features. Customer feedback options, corporate information, and links to social media sites were ranked as significantly less important. Moreover, age and frequency of Internet access have a significant impact on the perceived importance of features, while no differences were found with regard to gender. Originality – Many studies have used web performance tools to measure the performance of hotel websites. However, these studies have not provided guests’ preferences and perceived importance of website features. To our knowledge, no previous research has examined the effect of gender, age, and frequency of Internet access on the perceived importance of hotel website features

Competences that the new work in tourism requires

La irrupción de Internet en la sociedad está generando una nueva forma de trabajo, creado directamente por los individuos, que presenta características diferentes del trabajo tradicional. Este reciente modo de ofrecer y demandar servicios se da en distintas actividades propias del sector turístico. Partiendo de la literatura existente, se fundamenta que trabajar en un entorno tecnológico modifica el trabajo y las demandas a los trabajadores. Para comprobar los requisitos especiales del trabajo que se produce por parte de las personas al amparo de Internet se analizan, con una metodología cualitativa, diferentes sitios web dedicados a este mercado laboral. Partiendo de un enfoque de competencias, basado en comportamientos específicos que permiten lograr un alto rendimiento, los resultados describen un perfil de trabajador en el que, aparte de las habilidades necesitadas para cada trabajo, se requieren unas competencias interpersonales y cognitivas específicas. Tanto los trabajadores, como los futuros profesionales, y las instituciones responsables de la formación y el empleo deberían ser conscientes de esta realidad profesional.The growth of the Internet in society is creating a new type of work generated directly by individuals and that has different characteristics from traditional jobs. This new way of offering and demanding services appears in several activities of the tourism sector. From the existing literature, we prove that technological environments modify the tasks required from and the demands made to workers. To check the special requirements of the work produced by individuals taking advantage of the possibilities of the Internet, we analyze with a qualitative methodology different websites dedicated to this labor market. Drawing on a competence approach based on specific behaviors related with a high performance, the results describe a worker profile in which, apart from the skills needed for the job, specific interpersonal and cognitive competences are required. Both workers, as future professionals, and institutions responsible of training and employment should be aware of this professional reality

CAN DIGITAL MARKETING ON INSTAGRAM HELP TO PROMOTE SUSTAINABLE TRAVEL? Abstract

The contribution of digitalization and digital platforms to tourism sustainability is a timely topic. In this research we analyze if a digital platform such as Instagram could contribute and be used as a tool to promote sustainability by destinations and by travelers. To this aim, we implement a methodology comprised of four steps: identifying the most recognized sustainable destinations in the world (i.e. Slovenia, New Zealand and Costa Rica), downloading and analyzing the last posts from the official accounts of the DMOs of these destinations, identifying the most frequently used hashtags related to sustainable tourism (#ecoturismo, #ecotourism, #sustainabletravel, #ecotravel and #sustainabletourism), and downloading and analyzing 500 posts from these accounts. Our results are mixed, and show some opportunities but also significant challenges and puzzling outcomes. In general, there does not seem to be a consistent use of sustainability concepts in the publications analyzed

Second economy in tourism: Jobs and IT

En general, la sociedad ha asumido la enorme presencia que las tecnologías de la información y de las comunicaciones (TIC) tienen actualmente en cualquier faceta de la vida. Esta penetración de la tecnología está sustituyendo los puestos de trabajo en los que las empresas basan su actividad. Este proceso de automatización es un fenómeno que se ha estudiado principalmente en el sector industrial, pero el avance experimentado por las tecnologías hace que se esté extendiendo a otras actividades productivas. El sector turístico ha sido pionero en usar las TIC, aunque no existen estudios que valoren su incidencia en las ocupaciones turísticas. Tras una revisión de la literatura sobre la incidencia de las TIC en el trabajo, y un análisis de los datos sobre la evolución del trabajo por cuenta ajena en los hoteles en España, este artículo pretende ser una reflexión sobre el uso de las TIC por parte de las empresas turísticas. La tendencia encontrada apunta un impacto significativo de las TIC en la cantidad y el tipo de trabajo que actualmente se realiza en las actividades turísticas.In general society has assumed the huge presence of information and communication technology (ICT) in all life’s facets. Nevertheless, this technology penetration may be substituting organizations’ occupations. Automation phenomenon has been mainly studied in the industrial activity, but it is a wider trend due to the technological development. Although the tourism industry has been pioneer in ICT utilization there are no works about its impact on tourism jobs. After a revision of the literature on how ICT influence jobs, and an analysis of the job posts in hotels in Spain, this article is a basic approach to this question and pretends to be a reflection about the use of ICT by tourism firms. The trend found points to a significant impact of ICT on the quantity and type of work currently done in tourism activities

Trabajo y plataformas de servicios en la economía colaborativa:

On-demand and gig economy are names commonly used when discussing issues related to labor in the collaborative economy. Some of the specific digital platforms in this economy (such as TaskRabbit and Upwork) are quite popular. The term digital labor market has been suggested to distinguish the work mediated by these platforms from that of the traditional labor market. This study collects the characteristics commonly attributed to the digital labor market and analyzes them based on data about 465 workers extracted from two important digital labor platforms. Our results confirm and refine some of the beliefs found in the literature.Economía bajo demanda y economía del trabajo ocasional son dos de los términos que se han usado para referirse a la faceta laboral de la economía colaborativa. Algunas de las plataformas más relevantes de esta economía (ej., TaskRabbit y Upwork) son ya bastante populares. El auge de esta nueva forma de trabajar ha hecho que se hable de mercado laboral digital para diferenciarlo del tradicional. Este estudio recopila las características atribuidas al trabajo que se intercambia en el mercado laboral digital y las analiza utilizando datos de 465 trabajadores. Nuestros resultados confirman y refinan algunas creencias existentes en la literatura

Tourism in the sharing economy: what is it and who provides it?

La economía colaborativa sigue expandiéndose en el sector turístico. Aunque ya existía desde hace tiempo, la oferta de actividades turísticas en este ámbito está adquiriendo una mayor relevancia debido a la irrupción de Airbnb. En este artículo aportamos información detallada del tipo de actividades turísticas que se oferta, se compara con las actividades existentes en dos plataformas de actividades profesionales, y se analizan los proveedores teniendo en cuenta lo que la literatura de la economía colaborativa establece al respecto. Se descargaron los datos de Airbnb de cuatro comunidades autónomas españolas y se analizaron de manera cuantitativa y cualitativa. Los resultados reflejan que la economía colaborativa y la economía tradicional comparten similitudes en su oferta de actividades turísticas, a la vez que también presentan diferencias. Una buena parte de sus proveedores no tiene el perfil que tradicionalmente se les ha atribuido en la literatura sobre le economía colaborativa. A su vez, los responsables de la gestión de los destinos turísticos pueden estar tranquilos en lo referido a la percepción de sus visitantes, dado el alto nivel de satisfacción que muestran los mismos.The sharing economy continues to grow inside the tourism industry. Although sharing tours and activities have been being offered now for quite some time, Airbnb has produced major changes in what is on offer. This articles compares what is on offer with the activities detailed in two webs of major professional suppliers to go on to contrast the suppliers’ characteristics with the theory of the sharing economy as re‐ flected in the literature available. AirBnB tours and activities were downloaded for four regions in Spain and analysed qualitatively and quantitatively allowing us to identify the “shared” activities with the traditional tourism economy and the differences. The conclusion reached is that most “sharing economy” suppliers do not fit the profile generally attributed to the same in the literature, while managers of DMOs can rest at ease with visitor perception since such is highly satisfied with the experiences and activities on offer

La interoperabilidad de las plataformas tecnológicas de DTI como clave para el despegue de los mismos

En los últimos años se están desarrollando proyectos de Destinos Turísticos Inteligentes (DTI) en distintos ámbitos geográficos gracias al impulso que los mismos están recibiendo desde todos los ámbitos. Desgraciadamente, en la mayoría de los casos estos proyectos se hacen con una visión individual, y sin tener en cuenta otros proyectos similares que se puedan estar desarrollando en zonas cercanas o incluso en zonas que se solapan geográficamente y que, por lo tanto, serán proyectos que deberán integrarse en el futuro. En este artículo se presenta una propuesta metodológica de los pasos a llevar a cabo para desarrollar una adecuada interoperabilidad entre las plataformas de DTI de un territorio geográfico. También se realiza un resumen de los resultados esperados si se aplica la misma.In recent years, projects of Smart Tourist Destinations (STD) have been developed in different geographical areas due to the great interest that these type of projects are receiving from all areas. Unfortunately, in most cases these projects are done with an individual vision, without taking into account other similar projects that may be developing in nearby areas or even in areas that overlap geographically and that will therefore be projects which need to be integrated in the future. This article presents a methodological proposal of the steps to be taken to develop an adequate interoperability among the STD platforms of a geographic territory. A summary of the expected results is also made if this methodology is applied

WHAT DRIVES SATISFACTION AND DISSATISFACTION OF HOTEL GUESTS? AN EXPLORATORY ANALYSIS BASED ON TRIPADVISOR

Understanding the drivers of hotel guest satisfaction and dissatisfaction is basic for hotel managers. In this research, we use a large database of more than 30,000 reviews that were posted on TripAdvisor to investigate this issue. We use Power BI to assign a sentiment score to each review and to extract the main phrases from them. This allows us to create two datasets of words and phrases (one derived from the reviews of satisfied guests and one derived from the reviews of dissatisfied guests) in order to compare them. In order to compare both datasets, we perform a quantitative analysis. We find that some of the concepts are mentioned almost equally by both types of guests (the staff, the room, the food options and the infrastructure of the hotel, mainly the pool area), while others appear more predominantly in one of the cases (e.g. the bathroom and prices are mentioned much more frequently by dissatisfied guests). These results allow us to draw some conclusions for hotel managers