e-tourism nicos rodosthenous phd 21/02/2013 3 21/2/20131dr nicos rodsthenous

E-TourismNicos Rodosthenous PhD

21/02/20133

21/2/2013 1Dr Nicos Rodsthenous

Implications of the ICT Revolution for Business and Strategy (Part B)

1. ICTs in the contemporary competitive arena: business re-engineering and paradigm shift

To maximize the benefits of ICTs organizations need to re-examine their entire operation and processes to the new opportunities and challenges.

There are four different eras of ICT development in organizational change with ICTs.



1. In the data processing era, automation is used to enhance the speed and quality.

2. In the MIS era, rationalization is used to improve procedures and processes.

3. In the BPR (Business process re-engineering) era, new systems used to improve cost, quality and service and to maximize the benefits of ICTs.

4. In the networking era, a radical change is used to re-engineer companies and transform the entire system to maximize its benefits.



• A paradigm shift is used in the marketplace to generate fundamental changes in the nature and application of technology.

• Four main paradigm shifts drive changes in organizations and society:

a) new technologyb)new geopolitical orderc) new enterprise, and d)new business environment.



• New technology helps improve performance, integrate organizations, and develop relationships with external partners.

• New geopolitical order generates competitive and dynamic international marketplace with huge competition.

• ICTs provide opportunities:1) to increase competitiveness and efficiency 2) to achieve strategic objectives of the organizations and manage to gain sustainable competitive advantage.



2. The virtual corporation: concepts and definitions :

Virtual products and services are customized in response to customer demand.

Virtual organizations exploit fast-changing opportunities by sharing costs, skills and access to global markets.

V.O. produce not only superb products, but also manage their relationships with all other members of the value-added chain, consumers, stakeholders and employees.



The V.O. concept overcomes geographical constrains and creates a customer/service –oriented company.

V.O. undertake extensive outsourcing policy and form strategic alliances.(i.e. Airline business), able to react to external challenges/competition instantly.

Key issues are speed and efficiency. In tourism industry consumers still research from high-street shops, direct telephone calls and virtual airlines and travel agents on-line.



Consumers play a dominant role in the design and production of virtual products as they can feed their needs and wants back to the organization through interactive mechanisms.

Characteristics of virtual corporations:1. Focus on consumer satisfaction2. Cost effectiveness3. Networking and partnerships4. Innovative use of IT



5. Proximity to the needs of the marketplace6. Lean production through outsourcing7. Synergies in communication and technologies

utilized3. A multidimensional framework for strategic

management and marketing A conceptual synthesis of ICT usage in business

strategy yields a strategic multidimensional framework.

The framework develops a space of interaction



by three principal dimensions:1.Intranets for employees and managers of the

organization internally2.Extranets for external stakeholders access of

partners, suppliers and loyal customers3.The Internet, which offers a window to the

world and enables everybody to interact with the organization.



• Effective organizations need to use ICTs for Internet, extranets and intranets to communicate with their main stakeholders.

• For example, an airline may have one web page for their external customers and alternative pages for their local market, recruitment or marketing.

• Each organization operates with a global electronic info-structure, which includes millions of other organizations in order to:



1) Maximize the efficiency and effectiveness of each organization

2) Capitalize on the market opportunities3) Position the organization effectively for taking

advantage of partnership opportunities4) Formulate successful value chains5) Maximize consumer benefits.6) Marketing offers a mechanism for interaction

with all



• external and internal stakeholders, identifying their needs and wants and designing appropriate offerings.

• Marketing research identifies consumer needs and develops potential products/services for their satisfaction.

• Failing to use efficiently and effectively the ICTs for networking will jeopardize the organization’s competitiveness.


e-tourism nicos rodosthenous phd 21/02/2013 3 21/2/20131dr nicos rodsthenous

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