Strategies and Barriers to Technological Innovation in the Hospitality Industry: A Qualitative Exploration

Abstract

Innovation is a concept that plays a crucial role in the success of the hospitality industry and provides many positive organizational outcomes. The concept of technological innovation in the hospitality industry has attracted great attention, especially due to the widespread impact of emerging technologies on organizations. The purpose of this study is to identify technological innovation strategies and challenges to successful innovation practices in the hospitality industry. 17 hospitality professionals worldwide, selected through convenience sampling, constitute the participant profile of this study. The current study, based on a qualitative research design, used text analysis to identify patterns in the data set. QSR NVivo 10 software was used to identify major themes from the transcripts. As a result of the analysis, 4 technological innovation strategies were identified, namely setting strategic direction, culture of innovation, organizational alignment and collaboration and partnerships, and 4 challenges were identified, namely lack of understanding technology, data overload, failure to meet user needs and the speed of change, which pose obstacles to innovation in the hospitality industry. This study contributes to innovation research in the hospitality literature by providing an in-depth evaluation of technological innovation strategies and the challenges in this process and approaching the topic holistically.

Keywords

• Innovation
• Technology
• Technological innovation
• Hospitality industry

Konaklama Endüstrisinde İnovasyon ve Teknoloji: Nitel Bir Araştırma

Abstract

İnovasyon, konaklama sektörünün başarısında önemli bir rol oynayan ve birçok olumlu örgütsel sonuç sağlayan bir kavramdır. Özellikle gelişen teknolojilerin organizasyonlar üzerindeki yaygın etkisi nedeniyle konaklama endüstrisinde teknolojik yenilik kavramı büyük bir ilgi görmüştür. Bu çalışmanın amacı, konaklama endüstrisindeki teknolojik inovasyon stratejilerini ve başarılı inovasyon uygulamalarının önünde yatan zorlukları belirlemektir. Kolayda örnekleme yoluyla seçilen dünya çapındaki 17 konaklama profesyoneli bu çalışmanın katılımcı profilini oluşturmaktadır. Nitel bir araştırma tasarımına dayanan mevcut çalışma, veri setindeki kalıpları belirlemek için metin analizini kullandı. Transkriptlerden ana temaları belirlemek için QSR NVivo 10 yazılımı kullanıldı. Analiz sonucunda stratejik yön belirleme, inovasyon kültürü, örgütsel uyum ve işbirliği ve ortaklıklar olmak üzere 4 teknolojik inovasyon stratejisi belirlenmiş ve teknolojiyi anlama eksikliği, aşırı veri yüklemesi, kullanıcı ihtiyaçlarını karşılayamama ve değişimin hızı olmak üzere konaklama endüstrisinde yeniliğin önünde engel oluşturan 4 zorluk tespit edilmiştir. Bu çalışma, teknolojik inovasyon stratejilerinin ve bu süreçteki zorlukların derinlemesine değerlendirilmesini sağlayarak ve konuya bütünsel olarak yaklaşarak konaklama literatüründeki inovasyon araştırmalarına katkı sağlamaktadır.

Keywords

• İnovasyon
• Teknoloji
• Teknolojik inovasyon
• Konaklama endüstrisi

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