Information Technology Adoption and Organizational Performance in the Hospitality Industry in Morocco

Information Technology Adoption and Organizational Performance in the Hospitality Industry in Morocco

Faculty of Economics, Business and Tourism Doctoral program in Tourism, Economics and Management Thesis for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ADOPTION AND ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE IN THE HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY IN MOROCCO By IMANE EZZAOUIA May 2021 UNIVERSIDAD DE LAS PALMAS DE GRAN CANARIA ESCUELA DE DOCTORADO Programa de doctorado en Turismo, Economía y Gestión TESIS DOCTORAL INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ADOPTION AND ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE IN THE HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY IN MOROCCO Tesis doctoral presentada por: Da. Imane Ezzaouia Dirigida por: Dr. D. Jacques Bulchand Gidumal El Director, La Doctoranda, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, a 10 de mayo de 2021 RESUMEN La adopción de las tecnologías de la información (TI) en la industria de la hospitalidad ha recibido interés en la literatura. Sin embargo, se han realizado pocas investigaciones en países en vías de desarrollo (PVD), y más específicamente, en el continente africano. Los pocos que hay tan solo han estudiado los factores que afectan a la adopción del comercio electrónico en la industria de la hospitalidad. Hasta donde sabemos, hasta la fecha no se ha realizado ningún estudio sobre los factores que influyen en la adopción de las TI y sus beneficios en la industria de la hospitalidad en Marruecos. Esta tesis tiene como objetivo analizar los factores que afectan la adopción de TI en la industria de la hospitalidad, específicamente en Marruecos, un PVD. También investigará cómo el uso de TI en el lugar de trabajo tiene un impacto en el rendimiento organizativo. Además, nuestra investigación tiene como objetivo proporcionar a profesionales, responsables de marketing, hoteleros y gestores un modelo a través del cual los hoteles pueden evaluar la eficacia de su sitio web, con el fin de responder mejor a las necesidades y expectativas de los viajeros, y permanecer competitivos. La presente tesis consta de tres artículos. El artículo 1 se refiere a los factores que influyen en la adopción de las tecnologías de la información en la industria hotelera. El artículo 2 trata sobre las repercusiones de la adopción de tecnologías de la información en el rendimiento de los hoteles. El artículo 3 proporciona una comprensión general de la web de los hoteles basada en la importancia percibida por los usuarios de las características cruciales del sitio web del hotel y cómo esta importancia puede diferir según el género, la edad y la frecuencia del acceso a Internet. Esta investigación emplea un enfoque cuantitativo mediante el desarrollo de cuestionarios para los tres artículos para recopilar datos y verificar las hipótesis de investigación. Se han empleado varios métodos, como pruebas t emparejadas, ANOVA unidireccional y modelos de ecuaciones estructurales. La presente tesis contribuye a la teoría ya que proporciona modelos que pueden ser útiles para académicos e investigadores que realizan investigaciones adicionales sobre la adopción de TI y su impacto en el rendimiento hotelero, específicamente en el caso de los PVD. En términos de implicaciones prácticas, esta tesis ofrece una visión general a los gerentes y propietarios de hoteles, gerentes de TI y responsables gubernamentales sobre el estado actual de la adopción de TI en la industria hotelera en los PVD, particularmente en Marruecos. Esto motivará a los gerentes y profesionales a rediseñar estrategias y confiar en tecnologías novedosas para mejorar el rendimiento organizativo. ABSTRACT The adoption of information technology (IT) in the hospitality industry has received interest among some previous studies. However, very few of these works have been conducted in developing countries (DCs), specifically in the African continent. The few that are available have only studied the factors affecting e-commerce adoption in the hospitality industry. To our best knowledge to date no study has been conducted on IT adoption factors and their benefits in the hospitality industry in Morocco. This Ph.D. aims to analyze the factors affecting the adoption of IT in the hospitality industry, specifically in Morocco, a DC. It will also investigate how the use of IT in the workplace has an impact on organizational performance. Moreover, our research aims to provide practitioners, marketers, hoteliers and managers with a model through which hotels can assess their website’s effectiveness, in order to better respond to travelers’ needs and expectations, and remain competitive in the marketplace. The present thesis consists of three articles: Article 1 refers to the factors influencing the adoption of IT in the hotel industry. Article 2 investigates the impact of IT adoption on hotel performance. Article3 seeks to provide an overall understanding of hotel website evaluation based mainly on users’ perceived importance of crucial hotel website features and how this importance may differ by gender, age as well as frequency of Internet access. This research employs a quantitative approach by developing questionnaires for the three articles to collect data and verify the research hypotheses. Several methods have been employed such as paired t-tests, one-way ANOVA and structural equation modeling (SEM). The present thesis contributes to theory as it provides useful models for academics and researchers conducting further research into IT adoption and their impact in hotel performance, specifically in the case of DCs. In terms of implications for practice, this thesis provides an overview to hotel managers/owners, IT managers and policy makers regarding the current state-of-the-art of IT adoption in the hotel industry in DCs, particularly Morocco. This will motivate managers and practitioners to redesign strategies and rely on novel technologies to achieve business performance. DEDICATION I dedicate this thesis To my parents for their love and unconditional support throughout my life. May God bless you with good health and long life. To my sisters Merieme, Sanae and Kaoutar, and my brother Zakaria for their encouragement. I love you and I wish you success and happiness in your life. To my husband Mehdi, for his patience and unlimited support he provided me throughout my Ph.D. His constant encouragement was vital for the accomplishment of this thesis. I am truly pleased for having you in my life. To my lovely children Omar and Samia. You have enlightened my life and made me stronger, and more fulfilled. I love you forever. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I am very pleased to express my gratitude to everyone who has supported me to achieve success and completion of this Ph.D. I would like first to express my deepest gratitude and sincere thanks to my supervisor Prof. Jacques Bulchand Gidumal for his support, guidance, and precious advices during these years of research. His wealth of knowledge, constructive recommendations and enthusiastic encouragement has been truly inspirational. It was an honor and a real privilege for me to share of his insights but also his human qualities. Thank you for your patience and support. I would also like to thank Dr. Santiago Melián-González for his help in the development process of two of the articles that are part of this thesis. My gratitude also goes to the entire Professors of the Faculty of Economics, Business and Tourism for the excellence of their education. I would like to thank all the assistants that helped me to collect data of this thesis as well as hotel managers for their time and patient cooperation. Many thanks to all my friends and to everyone who have helped me to accomplish my Ph.D. Publications Ezzaouia, I., & Bulchand-Gidumal, J. 2020. Factors influencing the adoption of information technology in the hotel industry. An analysis in a developing country. Tourism Management Perspectives, 34, 100675. Ezzaouia, I., & Bulchand-Gidumal, J. (2021). Do gender, age and frequency of Internet access matter on the perceived importance of hotel website features? Tourism and Hospitality Management, 27(1), 167-187. Ezzaouia I., & Bulchand-Gidumal J. (2021). A Model to Predict Users’ Intentions to Adopt Contact-Tracing Apps for Prevention from COVID-19. In: Wörndl W., Koo C., Stienmetz J.L. (eds) Information and Communication Technologies in Tourism 2021 (pp. 543-548). Springer, Cham. TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCCIÓN GENERAL .................................................................................................. 1 GENERAL INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................ 17 ELABORATED ARTICLES ................................................................................................... 32 ARTICLE 1: FACTORS INFLUENCING THE ADOPTION OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IN THE HOTEL INDUSTRY. AN ANALYSIS IN A DEVELOPING COUNTRY ............................................................................................................................... 34 Abstract .................................................................................................................................... 35 1 Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 36 2 Overview of IT adoption in Morocco .............................................................................. 38 3 Literature review .............................................................................................................. 39 3.1 Adoption of IT in the hotel industry ........................................................................... 39 3.1.1 Comparison of IT adoption between developing and developed

View Full Text

Details

  • File Type
    pdf
  • Upload Time
    -
  • Content Languages
    English
  • Upload User
    Anonymous/Not logged-in
  • File Pages
    154 Page
  • File Size
    -

Download

Channel Download Status
Express Download Enable

Copyright

We respect the copyrights and intellectual property rights of all users. All uploaded documents are either original works of the uploader or authorized works of the rightful owners.

  • Not to be reproduced or distributed without explicit permission.
  • Not used for commercial purposes outside of approved use cases.
  • Not used to infringe on the rights of the original creators.
  • If you believe any content infringes your copyright, please contact us immediately.

Support

For help with questions, suggestions, or problems, please contact us