Critical Writing ICT in Various Industries - Report Example

CRITICAL ANNOTATIONS ICT in Tourism Industry “Information & Communication Technologies in Tourism- Influence, Dynamics, & Trends” Dr. Joseph Zelenka is a professor at Department of Information Technologies in the University of Hradec Kralove. He has written several publications in connection with Tourism and Information & Communication Technologies hence carries extensive expertise in the topic under investigation. This article titled as “Information & Communication Technologies in Tourism- Influence, Dynamics, & Trends” was issued in the Journal of E+M Ekonomie a Management in Year 2009. As the title of the research paper suggests that the author aims to expound how ICT has influenced the tourism sector with the dynamics and recent trends adopted by the industry. The paper suggests that ICT has provided a competitive advantage to the tourism industry but however does not discuss how it provides competitive advantage to the industry with quantitative data to validate it. The author believes that ICT has provided cost advantages and allowed tourism industry to meet the sophisticated demand by segmenting the target audience. The author has described six dimensions along which ICT has assisted the tourism industry; Web Pages, Marketing, E-business, Location based services, Sustainable Tourism Development & Cognitive Science and Artificial Intelligence Technologies. He discusses the recent trends among each of the six dimensions like personalization, intelligent search and results sorting in the category of Web pages. The information seems to be accurate in the research paper but the author does not use specific examples of companies in tourism industry to illustrate it. The paper seems to be targeted to audience with IT knowledge. For instance, the author says that static and dynamic model have been used for vision optimization for sustainable tourism development which are only to be understood by IT savvy individuals. “Information technology in peripheral small and medium hospitality enterprises: strategic analysis and critical factors” The research study “Information technology in peripheral small and medium hospitality enterprises: strategic analysis and critical factors” was written by Dimitrios Buhalis who is a Senior Lecturer in Tourism and Hilary Main Lecturer in Information Technology. The collective expertise of both the writers makes our analysis more meaningful since we are focused on impact of Information Technology in Tourism Industry. The research aims to explore about the factors influencing the adaptation of ITs by examining the stakeholders of small and medium hospitality organizations. The authors of this paper study have conducted their research in peripheral regions of Wales, France and Greece therefore there can be a sample bias entrenched in the study. This research is unique in a sense that it stresses on the role of ICT by small & medium hospitality organizations as the authors believe that SME’s play pivotal role in the prosperity of a nation. The research identified that among the major reasons for lack of use of technology in SME’s, the most critical are; the lack of training, age & educational level of proprietors and the deficiency of marketing functions. However, the authors do not identify which of the factors have the highest priority within the locations where they have conducted the study. “Biometrics for hospitality and tourism: A new wave of Information Technology” The article titled as “Biometrics for hospitality and tourism: A new wave of Information Technology” has been written by Bomi Kang, Kathleen Pearl Brewer and Billy Bai. These authorities are expert in the discipline of tourism and Business Administration. The article has reviewed the current practices of biometrics in general with reference to tourism industry and then addressed critical issues related to biometrics. It has also identified the business and marketing implications of biometrics with regards to tourism industry. The article has apparently narrowed down the scope of Information & Communication Technology by focusing only on the biometrics technology and that is what differentiates it from the other two research studies. The authors have emphasized security as a major concern for the tourism industry and identified how biometrics can bridge the gaps of security. In the critical issues section, the author identifies cost as a hindrance for companies to invest in biometric technology without making any cost & benefit analysis to reach this conclusion. This article is well organized as it initially gives a brief insight of what biometrics is and then specifies its uses in general with a focus on tourism industry which includes Access control systems, Payment systems & Time & Attendance systems. Furthermore, it is intended for the general audience as there are not any technicalities involved in the article. ICT in Management & Strategy “The Dynamics of Alignment: Insights from a punctuated equilibrium model” The article “The Dynamics of Alignment: Insights from a punctuated equilibrium model” has been written by Rajiv Sabherwal, Rudy Hirschheim & Tim Goles and it was published in the Journal of Organizational Science in 2001. The authors are eminent scholars in the field of Decision & Information Sciences. This research study defines what alignment is in the organizational context and how alignment is achieved within the strategic IS management Profile. The strategic IS management profile comprises of IS strategy, Business Strategy, IS Structure and Business Structure. The authors have described the components of all the four dimensions of Strategic IS management profile based on the past literature. This study takes a theoretical view by highlighting the importance of punctuated equilibrium model. Punctuated equilibrium model explains the dynamics of alignment and it suggests that the IS management profile remains stable over a long period of time and then it is punctuated by radical transformation. The study takes three case studies to prove that punctuated equilibrium model is valid in the practical domain. The three cases may be biased and it could be due to chance that all fulfill the criteria of a punctuated equilibrium model. In addition to that, the data was collected through interviews from the managers in three companies over the period of time which can be subjective in nature and hence open to interpretations. “The responsiveness of Information Technology to business strategy formulation: an empirical study” Felix B. Tan, professor in the department of management science and information systems at the University of Auckland conducted an extensive research using 88 companies to identify the responsiveness of information technology to business strategy formulation. The study is unique in its approach since it takes empirical evidence from large number of companies to deduce any conclusion. In addition to that, it has thoroughly investigated various theoretical models of business strategy from the literature. The author believes that at one extreme, IT is least responsive to business strategy where developments in IT are not linked with the kind of strategies pursued by the organization. On the other extreme, IT is most responsive to the kind of strategy pursued by the organization. The author aims to explain whether variations in business strategy are connected with IT responsiveness. For instance, organizations with aggressive business strategy are more likely than those with a defensive strategy to consider IT as a strategic weapon. The only drawback of this study was that it did not account for industry differences since high-tech industries may use IT more as a strategic resource than with low-tech industries. “How strategic is your information Technology” Eliezer Geisler is the Associate Dean for Research at Illinois Institute of Technology. His article “How strategic is your information technology” serves as a yardstick for measuring how much strategic is the role of information technology in which your company has invested. The author stresses that strategic role of IT emerges from understanding the process of installing, implementing, adapting and managing information systems. Information technology should not be left to the sole discretion of information professionals as everyone needs to participate. The author believes that human factors such as degrees of autonomy, areas of authority and responsibility are serious obstacles in way of strategic use of IT. He has also formulated a set of questions which can show how strategic the role of IT is in your organization. The article assumes that every organization should pursue a strategic role for IT which I believe should not be the case. A strategic role of IT requires heavy investment in technology and can inflict additional costs upon the organization where the role of IT should be supporting or limited. REFERENCES Buhalis, D. & Main, H. 1998., Information technology in peripheral small and medium hospitality enterprises: strategic analysis and critical factors, International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 10(5), pp.198–202 Geisler, E., 1994. How strategic is your information technology?, Industrial Management, [online] Available at: Kang, B., Brewer, K. P., and Bai, B. 2007.Biometrics for Hospitality and Tourism: A New Wave of Information Technology, FIU Review, 25(1) Sabherwal, R., Hirschheim, R., & Goles, T., 2001. The dynamics of alignment: Insights from a punctuated equilibrium model. Organization Science, 12( 2), pg. 179 Tan, F. B., 1995. The responsiveness of Information Technology to business strategy formulation: an empirical study, Journal of Information Technology, 10, pp. 171-178 Zelenka, J., 2009. Information and Communication Technologies in Tourism - Influence, Dynamics, E+M Ekonomie a Management, 1, pg. 123 Read More