Technology Adoption in the Caribbean Tourism Industry: Analyzing Service Delivery in the Digital Age

243 Pages·2021·3.053 MB·English

by  Andrew Spencer

Andrew Spencer
Technology Adoption
in the Caribbean
Tourism Industry
Analyzing Service
Delivery in the
Digital Age
Technology Adoption in the Caribbean Tourism
Industry
Andrew Spencer
Technology Adoption
in the Caribbean
Tourism Industry
Analyzing Service Delivery in the Digital Age
Andrew Spencer
Tourism Product Development Company
Kingston, Jamaica
ISBN 978-3-030-61583-3 ISBN 978-3-030-61584-0 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-61584-0
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer
Nature Switzerland AG 2021
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the
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Contents
1 Introduction 1
Challenges in the Industry 5
The Research Context 8
Methodology 12
The Research Process 15
Limitations and Impediments 22
The Structure of the Book 22
References 23
2 Leadership and Technology: Understanding Adoption
Practices 27
Diffusion and Adoption 38
The Digital Divide 52
Ownership and Leadership 59
The Resource-Based View 67
Emergent Frameworks 70
References 73
3 Internal Firm Factors: An Examination of Travel
Companies Resource Base 87
Case Examples 92
Firm Strategy 95
Leadership and Strategy Formulation 98
References 108
v
vi CONTENTS
4 External Factors: The Digital Divide, Closing the Gap 111
Culture and Leadership 116
The Digital Divide 118
References 124
5 Transactional and Transformational Leaders: Their
Influence on Technology 127
Intellectual Stimulation 134
Leadership and Strategy 137
Transactional vs. Transformational: Leadership
Characteristics for Technology Adoption 139
Leadership Background 140
Risk Taking and the Owner-Manager 145
Leadership Characteristics for Technology Adoption
(Owner-Managed, Small Firms) 148
Education 149
Previous Work Experience 150
Technology Experience 151
Risk Aversion 151
Family Composition 152
Intellectually Stimulating Traits 153
References 155
6 The Applicability of an Innovative Theoretical Model
and Its Implications 157
Theory and Concepts 157
Adoption Stages 160
The Adopters 161
Contribution to Theories of Staged Technology Adoption 163
Resistors 164
Caretakers 165
Stabilizers 166
Reactors 168
Transformers 169
Strengths of the Model 171
Limitations of the Model 174
References 174
CONTENTS vii
7 Conclusion 177
References 188
Appendix 191
References 195
Index 233
List of Figures
Fig. 1.1 Full stack of steps in the innovation interdependence
perspective (Source Author’s Creation) 16
Fig. 2.1 Firm technology adoption framework: first-order iteration
(Source Author’s creation) 72
Fig. 2.2 Technology decision-making input framework (Source
Author’s creation) 73
Fig. 5.1 Formal education level (Source Author’s creation) 141
Fig. 5.2 Highest qualification and perceptions of internet
importance in sales and marketing (Source Author’s
creation) 142
Fig. 5.3 Cross-tabulation: highest qualification and perceptions
of online market importance (Source Author’s creation) 142
Fig. 5.4 Frequency of internet users (leaders) (Source Author’s
creation) 144
Fig. 5.5 Owner-manager’s risk taking (Source Author’s creation) 146
Fig. 6.1 Revised technology decision-making input framework
(Source Author’s creation) 158
Fig. 6.2 Resistors (Source Author’s creation) 165
Fig. 6.3 Caretakers (Source Author’s creation) 166
Fig. 6.4 Stabilizers (Source Author’s creation) 167
Fig. 6.5 Reactors 168
Fig. 6.6 Transformers (Source Author’s creation) 169
Fig. 6.7 Leadership typologies for staged technology adoption
(owner-managed small firms) (Source Author’s creation) 170
ix
List of Tables
Table 5.1 Cross-tabulation: personal technology use
and owner-manager’s risk taking 147
Table 5.2 Cross-tabulation: highest qualification and internet sales
investment risk 147
xi
CHAPTER 1
Introduction
According to the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), the
tourism industry in the Caribbean contributes to 13.9% of the region’s
gross domestic product (GDP).1 Consequently, the state of the tourism
industryisexceptionallyimportanttotheCaribbean.However,thesector
is remarkably vulnerable to both internal and external shocks; including
natural disasters, global pandemics, economic crisis among other factors.
In light of the sector vulnerability there is a need to mitigate the impact
of these vulnerabilities, especially in light of the most recent global
pandemic—Covid-19. Which has significantly, reduced the movement of
people across the world, which has tremendous economic impact on the
Caribbean key foreign exchange sources. The use and widespread inte-
gration of Information communication Technologies has the ability to
mitigate the challenges experienced by the industry and improve the
provision of service.
As technology develops and firms increase their adoption of Infor-
mation and Communication Technologies (ICT), there comes a shift
in focus from what one may call “the Big Picture” to more bespoke
solutions that are appropriate for diverse, individualized scenarios. This
is not to say that more orthodox or mainstream management practices
1TheWorldTourismandTravelCouncil.(2019).EconomicImpactReports.Retrieved
from https://wttc.org/Research/Economic-Impact.
© The Author(s) 2021 1
A. Spencer, Technology Adoption in the Caribbean Tourism Industry,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-61584-0_1