دانلود مقاله ISI انگلیسی شماره 3788
ترجمه فارسی عنوان مقاله

تجزیه و تحلیل پذیرش کسب و کار الکترونیکی و تاثیر آن بر کیفیت رابطه در روابط تامین کننده ـ آژانس

عنوان انگلیسی
An analysis of e-business adoption and its impact on relational quality in travel agency–supplier relationships
کد مقاله سال انتشار تعداد صفحات مقاله انگلیسی
3788 2010 11 صفحه PDF
منبع

Publisher : Elsevier - Science Direct (الزویر - ساینس دایرکت)

Journal : Tourism Management, Volume 31, Issue 6, December 2010, Pages 777–787

ترجمه کلمات کلیدی
آژانس های مسافرتی - زنجیره تامین - کسب و کارالکترونیکی - اعتماد - تعهد - کیفیت رابطه -
کلمات کلیدی انگلیسی
Travel agencies, Supply chain, E-business, Trust, Commitment; Relational quality,
پیش نمایش مقاله
پیش نمایش مقاله  تجزیه و تحلیل پذیرش کسب و کار الکترونیکی و تاثیر آن بر کیفیت رابطه در روابط تامین کننده ـ آژانس

چکیده انگلیسی

This study analyzes how managers of retail travel agencies perceive the antecedents and consequences of adopting e-business in their supplier relationships. A comprehensive model integrating its antecedents and relational effects is developed and empirically tested using SEM. The study surveyed 101 travel agents in Spain. Research findings indicate that customer pressure has a strong influence on e-communication practices. E-communication with the travel agency's supplier and the pressure exerted by the sector are the main antecedents for e-procurement. Effects of e-business on relational quality are contradictory. E-procurement influences negatively on trust. Conversely, e-communication has a positive impact on trust, thus having a favorable impact on perceived reciprocity and travel agent's commitment to its supplier. Main findings indicate that the use of the Internet is largely driven by normative pressures, and this coercive power has a detrimental impact on trust. To avoid such negative consequences, perceived reciprocity is a prerequisite for committed supplier relationships.

مقدمه انگلیسی

The utilization of the Internet in inter-organizational relations is an important knowledge-based innovation that is of great interest to both academia and industry practitioners (Kumar and Becerra-Fernández, 2007, Stamboulis and Skayannis, 2003 and Wu et al., 2007). The Internet is particularly powerful in certain segments of the service industry, including tourism where cyberpower has steadily gained popularity during the past two decades (Buhalis & Law, 2008). Furthermore, the analysis of e-business from the perspective of Supply Chain Management (SCM) is a hot topic in marketing and management research (Harrigan et al., 2008, Kim et al., 2006 and Smart, 2008). The SCM literature is heavily dominated by tangible products, thus calling for research focusing on the service sector (Alam, 2002) and, in particular, on tourism-related services such as travel agencies (Buhalis and Law, 2008, Buhalis and Licata, 2002 and Zhang et al., 2009). Previous studies emphasize the importance of e-commerce in the travel and tourism industry, but empirical evidence for such effects is either lacking (Tsai, Huang, & Lin, 2005) or studies examining this phenomenon are descriptive in nature (i.e., Heung, 2003 and Law et al., 2004). Specifically, little attention has been paid to how managers of retail travel agencies perceive the consequences of adopting Information Technology (IT) in their relationships with their suppliers. In a recent study on tourism supply chain management, Zhang et al. (2009) state that “although a few tourism studies have addressed supply management issues, these studies are scattered and lack a clear focus” (p. 5). Although the relational behavior between wholesaler and retail travel agencies has been tested in the context of Taiwanese travel agencies (Tsaur, Yung, & Lin, 2009), there is a lack of research on the role of e-business in such relational behavior. Due to the effects of IT on supply chain relationships, more research is needed to analyze the e-business adoption and its impact on relational quality in travel agency–wholesaler relationships. To bridge that gap, this paper aims to analyze e-business adoption in the context of travel agency–supplier relationships. The need for academic research in this setting is justified for two reasons. First, tourism is one of the fastest growing industries worldwide and, in general, the Internet continues to gain importance in the tourism sector (Buhalis, 2004, European Commission, 2006 and Weaver and Lawton, 2007). Second, there is an ongoing debate regarding the competitive environment of traditional travel agencies with regard to the issue of dis-intermediation and re-intermediation. Dis-intermediation is usually associated with a significantly reduced role of traditional intermediaries (travel agencies and tour operators) in the tourism supply chain due to the introduction of electronic means that enable consumers to directly deal with suppliers. The re-intermediation process has also led to a new phenomenon - the emergence and the proliferation of online travel intermediaries (European Commission, 2006). Some of these operators (i.e., edreams, Expedia, Travelocity) have achieved considerable growth in recent years and consequently challenged some of established traditional intermediaries (Daniele & Frew, 2004). Some studies propose that the accessibility of online travel websites reduces the relevance of travel agencies, and this might ultimately result in travellers bypassing traditional travel agencies (Buhalis & Licata, 2002). However, others note that a key strength of traditional travel agencies is their ability to provide personal information and advice to travellers (Ryan and Cliff, 1997 and Van Rekom et al., 1999). Consequently, for travel agencies that position themselves as travel advisors (Dolnicar & Laesser, 2007), the adoption and exploitation of the IT in the business processes is one of the key success factors (Huang, 2006, Suárez et al., 2007 and Weaver and Lawton, 2007). This paper examines and tests a model which integrates the antecedents and consequences of adopting IT in the context of travel agency–supplier relationships. Specifically, we pursue three objectives: (i) to analyze the level of IT adoption; (ii) to assess the influence of environmental factors on IT travel agencies' adoption; (iii) and to examine the implications of IT adoption for relationship quality constructs. First, this paper analyzes e-business adoption in the context of supply relationships (Wu, Mahajan, & Balasubramanian, 2003). Only a handful of studies have used the Wu et al.'s (2003) framework, and it can be very useful in the context of travel agencies' supply chains and, in particular, when analyzing the relationships between the two e-business dimensions (online communication and e-procurement). Recent research examining e-procurement (Garrido, Gutiérrez, & San José, 2008) and e-business technologies (Johnson, Klassen, Leenders, & Awaysheh, 2007) uses a list of e-business technologies to measure the extent of e-business implementation. Wu et al. (2003) applied their research in a set of technology-related manufacturing industries (telecommunications, computer hardware, semi-conductor, manufacturing equipment industries). They analyzed e-communication (Wu & Lee, 2005) and e-procurement (Wu et al., 2007), yet research examining the joint impact of both dimensions is lacking. To bridge that gap, this study examines these two dimensions (e-communication and e-procurement) in the context of travel agencies. Second, previous research shows the importance of environmental factors in the adoption of e-business (Joo and Kim, 2004, Srinivasan et al., 2002, Wu and Lee, 2005, Wu et al., 2003 and Wu et al., 2007). In the context of foodservice operators, Sigala (2006) conducted an exploratory study to identify potential e-procurement adoption factors. As mentioned before, given the intense competition in the travel agency industry and the need for being travel advisors, it is important to analyze how perceived customer and normative pressures influence their e-business adoption. Previous research has been conducted in a B2C context (Suárez et al., 2007); however, there is a lack of research of the antecedents of e-business in the context of travel agencies. Finally, this study analyzes the effects of e-business adoption in the travel agency–wholesaler relationships. Research in e-business technologies (especially in the context of manufacturing companies) has focused on the effects of e-business on performance variables (Johnson et al., 2007). Although relational quality is not a new concept, Tsaur et al. (2009) highlight the importance of relationship quality between travel wholesalers and retailers. This study enhances our understanding of the impact of e-business on relational quality. As suggested by Zhang et al. (2009), adversarial relationships are the norm in the tourism industry (Sinclair & Stabler, 1997). To what extent does the introduction of e-business increase such adversarial relationships? Previous studies suggest that to safeguard partners from opportunist tendencies, perceived reciprocity is needed (Stanko, Bonner, & Calantone, 2007). In this study, we examine the role of perceived reciprocity in understanding supplier relationships in the travel agency industry. In order to analyze these issues, this paper is organized as follows. Relying on e-business literature (Wu et al., 2003), we first introduce two levels of e-business adoption (i.e., online communication and e-procurement). We then propose research hypotheses regarding the antecedents and outcomes of e-business adoption by travel agencies. The paper concludes with the discussion of our findings and their implications.

نتیجه گیری انگلیسی

This study focused on two different adoption levels of e-business (i.e., online communication and e-procurement). Based on Lin and Lee (2005) framework, the former is an initial step used to communicate between firms, while e-procurement reflects a higher integration of business processes. In the context of travel agency–supplier relationships, our results indicate that the adoption of online communication has a positive influence on using the Internet for making reservations and procuring e-tickets. This research also analyzes external drives that enhance e-business adoption in travel agency–supplier relationships. Our findings highlight the importance of two main external factors: perceived customer and normative pressures. As hypothesized, online enabled customers are the main antecedent of online communications. Travel agents surveyed in this study indicated that their customers expect them to employ e-business practices in supplier relationships. If travel agencies do not implement e-business for communication with their suppliers, they could not be able to offer some services to their clients (i.e., online tickets, booking codes, etc.) and, therefore, consumers may prefer other providers. Conversely, normative pressures are the main driver of e-procurement. Retail travel agents are largely forced into using the Net for e-procurement. According to the 2006 e-Business Survey (European Commission, 2006), travel agencies and tour operators are ‘heavy’ users of e-procurement compared to other tourism sub-sectors such as lodging. Most travel agents seem to adopt e-procurement in order to avoid isolation from their suppliers. Consistent with previous research (Cross and Smith, 1996 and Gounaris, 2005), investment in technology for communication and e-procurement may generate structural bonds among partners, thus enhancing relational quality (trust and commitment). Our results show a direct relationship between e-communication adoption and trust towards the travel supplier. Similar to an online banking context (Mukherjee & Nath, 2003), the adoption of Internet for communication with travel suppliers is a valuable resource for promoting trust. However, our findings indicate that the influence of e-procurement on trust is negative. As mentioned earlier, the use of the Net is imposed by normative pressures, and this coercive power might have a negative impact on trust. Due to the fragmented nature of the industry and competition among travel agencies, the adoption of e-procurement is largely driven by pressure from the suppliers. This dependency might lead to a perceived loss of control from the travel agent's perspective. Perceived loss of control has a negative effect on user satisfaction (Lee & Park, 2008), thus shedding some light into the negative relationship between e-procurement and trust. Although previous research considers trust as one of the main antecedents of commitment, this relationship was insignificant in the present study. Drawing from social exchange theory, commitment is based on an assumption that the other party will not perform opportunistically (Kingshott & Pecotich, 2007). However, consistent with previous research findings, a coercive atmosphere (i.e., the use of the Internet imposed by normative pressures) may explain the lack of direct relationship between trust and commitment. For example, Lee and Park (2008) show, in the context of alcoholic beverage wholesaler, that under mandatory adoption, the perceived loss of control has a negative effect on user satisfaction with the relationship. Finally, our results demonstrate the need to increase the level of perceived reciprocity in enhancing supplier relationships. In the context of travel agency–wholesaler relationships, trust in the wholesaler professionalism is not enough to impact on commitment to the travel supplier (wholesaler). Our findings indicate an indirect relationship between trust and commitment through perceived reciprocity.