Article Information
Publication date (electronic): 31 March 2016
DOI: 10.emerg/10.17357.1f1e70d186bad562e656d3e1d25c3887
Coordination in a tourism ecosystem:
Methods to tackle wicked problems
University of the Sunshine Coast
Bio:
Robert lectures in supply chain networks and ecosystems at the University of the Sunshine Coast, Australia. He has previously taught at Griffith University’s Business School in Brisbane; Chinese University Hong Kong; the Institute of Transport and Logistics Studies at the University of Sydney; and at the Normandy Business School in France. Robert has many years of consulting and management experience in marketing, operations management, IT and organisational change. His current research focus is into supply chain ecosystems.
University of the Sunshine Coast
Bio:
Willem Selen is Professor of Management at University of the Sunshine Coast, Australia. As part of his extensive international career in academia, he has been publishing in a wide variety of journals, including Journal of Operations Management, Decision Sciences, International Journal of Operations & Production Management, International Journal of Production Economics, among others. Prof. Selen ‘s research interests include services innovation and supply chain research, including business ecosystems. He recently co-edited the 2015 Handbook of Service Innovation, Springer UK, London.
Bio:
Luke Houghton is a Senior Lecturer in the department of International Business and Asian Studies, in the Griffith Business School, Griffith University where he is presently the Director of Learning and Teaching. His research focuses on the role workarounds and creative problem solving play in management and information systems. Second to that he has a growing interest in Higher Education research. Luke has been published in the Australasian Journal of Educational Technology and The Journal of Information Technology Education. He also has publications in the Oxford Review of Education, Higher Education Research and Development, Australasian Journal of Information Systems, Journal of the Operational Research Society and Systems Research and Behavioural Science.
Abstract
Integrating complex business networks in Tourism is a wicked problem. Many different business owners have various goals and management approaches. A tourist network is often managed through coordination and partnerships because the sheer complexity of trying to be competitive makes little sense when so many businesses have a common goal. In this paper we explore how thinking in network terms in tourist business networks actually sheds light on how to manage wicked problems in general. In particular, we focus on how the network approach to managing complex networks in business may produce leverage points for synthesising managerial tension points between partners and thereby facilitate innovation systems. We argue that the network approach may shed light on how to build platforms for gaining traction and synthesis in wicked problems. We conclude with suggestions for future research.
Read Full Article
Access requires a current subscription