Information Systerm Stage 1

Stage One:

Information technology is useful for making transaction processing, providing information to decision makers, fixing technology into products and services, which can be used to design the systems that are strategic, and “stages theory” gives insight into the assimilation of new technologies.

In the hotel sector, the needs for quality information about the firm’s activities, the market in which it moves with which it makes the possession of that information a key factor in improving competitiveness. This has led to the large-scale incorporation of information system/information technology (IS/IT) tools in the sector to improve the internal and external management of process flows associated with customer service. Therefore, in the new business environment, it is no longer sufficient to apply IS/IT and use information merely to support operations. Information must be better exploited in order to improve competitiveness.

In the business world, outsourcing is an option that hotels must bear in mind; however, given the importance of IS/IT in recent years; hotels must be able to distinguish the resources and capabilities to be strengthened from those that can be acquired externally from more capable suppliers.

Whereas firms on the supply side would have to consider the narrow service provider margins that lead them to enter new areas of business, the needs of demand force firms on that side to focus on their core operations and redesign IS/IT-related operations. When a firm outsources in this area, however, it recognises that it is also losing its strategic character because it can be easily copied. Therefore, many companies have to focus on their core competencies and outsource information technology to specialised suppliers.

The strategic approach examines how an operation affects competitive advantage and how this, in turn, affects the organisational performance. From this strategic perspective, the resource and capabilities approach would seem to be an appropriate framework for explaining the determining factors in IS/IT outsourcing.

Reference:
Tomas F. & Antonia M (2005) Determinants of Information Systems outsourcing in Hotels from the resource-based View: an Empirical Study. International journal of tourism research Int. J. Tourism Res. 7, 35-47.