Get Complete Project Material File(s) Now! »

The tourism industry

It is important in terms of the objectives of this study to analyse tourism as an industry. Most traditional industries and economic production sectors are defined in terms of physical output and/or organisational competencies. This observation stems from an implicit assumption that consumers and producers exchange well-defined and specified products or commodities. Viewing the production of a tourism commodity as a standardised process seems questionable because the tourism product is inherently heterogeneous and complex [Lash & Vry, 1994: 10]. A number of authors assert that tourism is not an industry, claiming instead that it consists of many industries connected through their function of supplying tourist needs. Other authors [Baretje & Defert, 1972: 10; Leiper, 1979: 81; WTO, 1983: 17; and Smith, 1988: 180] argue that tourism should be recognised as an industry in its own right because of its commercial importance. They debate that many commonsense groupings of economic activities are referred to as industries even when they include multiple trades scattered across differentiated firms.
Another reason is that the ultimate determinant of membership in the tourism industry should be the proportion of a firm’s business that arises from tourism. It is indeed a well-established practice to describe the national tourism sector by categorising tourism-related business enterprises into primary, secondary, and/or ancillary firms according to the percentage of sales attributable to tourists. These arguments will therefore shift the criterion of industry membership away from the tourism product towards organisational interdependence between tourism 15 University of Pretoria etd – Jonker, J A (2004) stakeholders. For the purpose of this study the view will be adopted that tourism is an industry

The tourism product

The tourism industry is a constellation of businesses, public agencies and non-profit organisations that create products to facilitate travel and activity for people away from their home environment. For the purpose of this study it will be important to analyse the nature of these products on a conceptual level. Medlik and Middleton [1973: 201] conceptualise tourism products as a bundle of activities, services and benefits that constitute the entire tourism experience. This bundle consists of five components: destination attractions, destination facilities, accessibility, images and price. Medlik and Middleton’s components model, has been borrowed by other authors, including Crampon et al [1976: 271]; Schmoll [1977: 115] and Gunn [1993: 71]. Middleton [1989: 51] also observes that the term “tourist product” is used at two different levels. One is the “specific level” which is that of a discrete product offered, such as a sightseeing tour or an airline seat. The other is the complete experience of the tourist from the time of leaving home to the time of returning. The “total” level is synonymous with Medlik and Middleton’s “components model”. In a more recent study by Smith [1994: 582], the following model was developed based on the existing literature on the tourism product.

Strategic thinking

Strategic planning has always been about analysis. Strategic thinking, in contrast, is about synthesis. It involves intuition and creativity. The outcome of strategic thinking is an integrated perspective of the enterprise, a not too-precisely articulated vision of the future. Such strategies often cannot be developed on schedule. They must be free to appear at any time and at any place in the organisation. These strategies normally 97 University of Pretoria etd – Jonker, J A (2004) flow from processes of informal learning carried out by people at various levels of the organisation, who are involved with the specific issues at hand. Mintzberg [1994: 108] came to the conclusion that formal planners should make their contribution around the strategy making process rather than inside it. They should supply the formal analysis and hard data that strategic thinking requires, and should act as catalysts who support strategy making by aiding and encouraging managers to think strategically. David [2001: 7] argues that although creativity and intuition are particularly useful for making decisions in situations of great uncertainty, most organisations today benefit from strategic planning which is based upon integrating intuition and analysis in decision making. According to Hunger and Wheelen [2000: 4], the difference from the past is that strategic information is now available throughout the organisation and strategic thinking and decision making is now being executed by managers and key employees at many levels and from various departments and work-groups. These groups will develop and integrate a series of strategic plans based on information emerging from their groupings as well as analytical information available to help them in their decision making processes.

Organisational structures

If organisations have to integrate strategic decision at all levels, more flexible organisational structures are required, replacing vertical hierarchies with horizontal networks, linking together traditional functions through interfunctional teams, and forming strategic alliances [Hirshorn & Gilmore, 1992: 104]. Rather than seeing the organisation as a traditional hierarchy of static roles, a portfolio of three dynamic core organisational processes are suggested by Bartlett and Ghoshal [1995: 86-96]. The first process in the portfolio is an entrepreneurial process. The entrepreneurial process entails encouraging bottom-up ideas and proposals, changing the frontline manager’s role from implementer to initiator; and defining senior management’s role as providing the strategic direction and context in which entrepreneurship can take place. The second process challenges traditional values and wisdom, reconfigures the 98 University of Pretoria etd – Jonker, J A (2004) information sources and rules for success and creates learning organisations. Management’s role is to manage and balance this positive conflict to the advantage of the whole organisation. The third process, competence building sees senior management’s role as creating and supporting an environment that will enhance the process of strategic competence development within the organisation. Management must ensure that the organisation’s competences are emphasized in strategy creation and implementation [Hitt et al, 2003: 396].

Control process and reward systems

Strategic control systems monitor the main elements of the strategy and its objectives. Lynch [2000: 787] points out that it is important to distinguish between financial monitoring [cash flow, earnings per share, etc] and strategic controls which may include these financial elements but will also have a broader perspective. Johnson and Scholes [1999: 463] identify three broad types of control: administrative control through systems performance measures, rules and procedures; social control through the impact of culture on the behaviour of individuals and groups and self-control which people exert over their own behaviour. A popular form of administrative control is the development of performance indicators for the critical success factors in the organisation [Johnson & Scholes, 1999: 468]. Many managers find the process of developing a useful set of performance indicators for their organisation difficult. One reason for this is that many indicators give a useful but only partial view of the overall picture. Also, some indicators are qualitative in nature, while the hard, quantitative end of assessing performance has been dominated by financial analysis. In an attempt to cope with this very heterogeneous situation, balanced scorecards have been proposed as a way of identifying a useful, but varied set of key measures.

Organisational culture

Hitt el al [2003: 398] define organisational culture as “a complex set of ideologies, symbols and core values that is shared throughout the organisation and influences the way business is conducted”. Because organisational culture influences how the organisation does its business and controls employees’ behaviour it can be an important source of competitive advantage [Hitt et al, 2003: 398]. Organisational culture will also influence the ability of the strategic leadership of the organisation to sell their ideas and vision to other members of the organisation and to gain their support and commitment to change [Thompson, 1997: 110]. Thus shaping the context or culture within which organisations formulate and implement their strategies is a central task of strategic leadership. Hitt et al [2003: 399] argue that entrepreneurial orientation is often encouraged or discouraged by organisational culture. Organisational culture could therefore, for example, directly influence specific dimensions of an organisation’s entrepreneurial orientation like autonomy, innovativeness, risk taking, proactiveness, and competitive aggressiveness.

TABLE OF CONTENTS :

• PAGE
• CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION
  • 1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
  • 1.2 PROBLEM MOTIVATING THIS STUDY
  • 1.3 PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
  • 1.4 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE RESEARCH
  • 1.5 METHODOLOGY OF STUDY
  • 1.6 AN OUTLINE OF THE STUDY
• CHAPTER 2 AN OVERVIEW AND STRATEGIC ANALYSES OF THE INTERNATIONAL AND SOUTH AFRICAN TOURISM INDUSTRIES
  • 2.1 INTRODUCTION
  • 2.2 DEFINITIONAL ANALYSES OF TOURISM AND RELATED TERMS
  • 2.3 OVERVIEW OF THE TOURISM INDUSTRY
  • 2.4 THE DEVELOPMENT AND ORGANISATION OF THE TOURISM INDUSTRY IN SOUTH AFRICA
  • 2.5 A STRATEGIC ANALYSIS OF THE TOURISM INDUSTRY
  • 2.4 SUMMARY
• CHAPTER 3 CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS
  • 3.1 INTRODUCTION
  • 3.2 THE NATURE AND EXTENT OF CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS
  • 3.3 THE IDENTIFICATION OF CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS
  • 3.4 CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTOR MANAGEMENT
  • 3.4 SUMMARY
• CHAPTER 4 A STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT MODEL FOR THE IDENTIFICATION AND INTEGRATION OF CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS IN TOURISM DESTINATIONS: A THEORETICAL ANALYSIS
  • 4.1 INTRODUCTION
  • 4.2 THE EVOLUTION OF THE STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT PROCESS
  • 4.3 STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT: THE 5TH PHASE
  • 4.4 STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT MODEL FOR TOURISM DESTINATIONS
  • 4.5 SUMMARY
• CHAPTER 5 INTERNATIONAL COMPETITIVE ASSESSMENT
  • 5.1 INTRODUCTION
  • 5.2 NATURE AND FRAMEWORK OF DESTINATION COMPETITIVENESS
  • 5.3 INTERNATIONAL RESOURCE AND FACTOR ANALYSIS
  • 5.4 INTERNATIONAL MARKET ANALYSIS
  • 5.5 THE IDENTIFICATION OF INTERNATIONAL DESTINATION SUCCESS FACTORS
  • 5.6 COMPETITOR ANALYSIS
  • 5.7 SUMMARY
• CHAPTER 6 DESTINATION STRATEGIC DIRECTION AND POSITIONING
  • 6.1 INTRODUCTION
  • 6.2 STRATEGIC DIRECTION
  • 6.3 DESTINATION POSITIONING
  • 6.4 THE IDENTIFICATION OF CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS AT THE TOURISM DESTINATION
  • 6.5 SUMMARY
• CHAPTER 7 THE INTEGRATION OF CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS FOR A TOURISM DESTINATION
  • 7.1 INTRODUCTION
  • 7.2 IMPORTANT PRINCIPLES UNDERLYING THE
  • INTEGRATION OF CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS
  • 7.3 MODELS OF INTEGRATION
  • 7.4 SUMMARY
• CHAPTER 8 INTERNATIONAL DESTINATION COMPETITIVENESS MODEL
  • 8.1 INTRODUCTION
  • 8.2 AN INTEGRATED MODEL OF DESTINATION COMPETITIVENESS
  • 8.3 INDICATORS OF DESTINATION COMPETITIVENESS
  • 8.4 A COMPARISON WITH OTHER DESTINATION COMPETITIVENESS MODELS
  • 8.5 SUMMARY
• CHAPTER 9 EMPIRICAL RESEARCH PROCESS
  • 9.1 INTRODUCTION
  • 9.2 THE RESEARCH APPROACH
  • 9.3 PLANNING THE EMPIRICAL STUDY
  • 9.4 DISTRIBUTION OF THE QUESTIONNAIRE
  • 9.5 THE RESPONSE
  • 9.6 RELIABILITY AND VALIDITY OF THE MEASURING INSTRUMENT
  • 9.7 SUMMARY
• CHAPTER 10 RESULTS OF THE EMPIRICAL RESEARCH
  • 10.1 INTRODUCTION
  • 10.2 SUSTAINABLE GROWTH: INDICATORS OF PERFORMANCE
  • 10.3 CUSTOMER PERSPECTIVE: THE IDENTIFICATION OF CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS
  • 10.4 DESTINATION MANAGEMENT PROCESSES: THE IDENTIFICATION OF CRITICAL ELEMENTS
  • 10.5 LEARNING AND GROWTH PERSPECTIVE: THE IDENTIFICATION OF CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS
  • 10.6 THE INTEGRATION OF CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS
  • 10.7 SUMMARY
• CHAPTER 11 SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS
  • 11.1 INTRODUCTION
  • 11.2 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
  • 11.3 AN EVALUATION OF THE RESEARCH CONCLUSIONS
  • 11.4 A PROPOSED DESTINATION COMPETITIVENESS MODEL
  • 11.5 RECOMMENDATIONS
  • 11.6 SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH
  • 11.7 CONCLUDING COMMENTS
• REFERENCES
  • ANNEXURE A
  • ANNEXURE B

GET THE COMPLETE PROJECT
THE STRATEGIC IDENTIFICATION AND INTEGRATION OF CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS TO ACHIEVE INTERNATIONAL COMPETITIVENESS FOR SOUTH AFRICA AS A TOURISM DESTINATION