Tourism Management Perspectives 20 (2016) 7786

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Tourism Management Perspectives

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/tmp

Technology leadership and predicting travel agent performance

Anugamini Priya Srivastava , Dr.Rajib Lochan Dhar
Department of Management Studies, Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, Roorkee, Uttarakhand 247667, India

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: This study primarily attempts to examine the effect of technology leadership on job performance. Intervening
Received 24 October 2015 role of Internet self-efcacy and creative problem-solving capacity was also evaluated. Data were collected
Received in revised form 21 July 2016 from sales agents and their supervisors from travel agencies functioning in Uttarakhand region and were
Accepted 27 July 2016
analysed using conrmatory factor analysis and hierarchical regression analysis. Results revealed that technology
leadership indirectly inuenced job performance of sales agents through the mediating role of Internet self-ef-
Keywords:
Creative problem solving capacity
cacy. Creative problem solving capacity positively moderated between Internet self-efcacy and job perfor-
Internet self-efcacy mance. The limitations of this study paves way for future studies and the ndings of this study contributes
Job performance quantitative techniques towards practical and theoretical implications.
Regression 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Technology acceptance model
Technology leadership
Travel agents

1. Introduction Technology is fast becoming the info-structure of present-day orga-

The last two decades have witnessed dramatic change in the Indian
tourism industry (Abhyankar & Dalvie, 2013; Babu & Gade, 2014). With
the introduction of information and communication technologies (ICT),
the tourism industry has gone far beyond its traditional way of function-
ing and has entered a new era of interactivity crossing the universal,
omnipresent communication doorstep of information (Kaur & Sharma,
2015). Travel agents play a signicant role in the success of the tourism
business. Their valuable services such as providing opinions and recom-
mendations to travellers are very important to meet the needs, wants,
and preferences of today's technologically sophisticated national and in-
ternational tourists (McKercher, Packer, Yau, & Lam, 2003). In order to
full the demands of technological transition, travel agents have
changed their way of doing business and are providing online services.
Working as information gateways, travel agents are taking multiple
ICT-related initiatives to transform the way they operate, including tick-
et booking and supporting customers' purchase decisions
(Bogdanovych, Berger, Simoff, & Sierra, 2006). Shifting towards online
activities through the Internet, travel agents intermediate the tourism
channel and avail cost-effective value-added services which are helping
them in attaining higher prots and market shares (Abhyankar & Dalvie,
2013; Vrana & Zaropoulos, 2006).
Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: srivastavaanu0@gmail.com (A.P. Srivastava),
rajiblochandhar2000@gmail.com (R.L. Dhar).
URL: http://www.iitr.ac.in (R.L. Dhar).
nisations (Bogdanovych et al., 2006). Use of Internet and computer-
based technologies has become part and parcel of organisational opera-
tions and processes, specically in the service industry (which include
travel agencies) (Shamala, Ahmad, & Yusoff, 2013). Studies, in this re-
gard, have established technology leadership as the theory that can
guide such technological advancement in service organisations like
schools and tourism industry (Dexter, 2011; Ertmer et al., 2002). Their
ndings proved that when managers were more oriented towards tech-
nology implementation in their day-to-day operations, it encouraged
their subordinates/employees to develop a learning attitude. Such
learning intentions enabled learning of new information and communi-
cation technologies and encouraged their use to provide innovative and
novel services to customers/users, thus increasing their performance
(Ertmer et al., 2002; Flanagan & Jacobsen, 2003). However, in the ab-
sence of self-efcacy, usage and implementation of ICT technology can
hinder the overall learning experience. Individual self-efcacy (ISE) to
use Internet-based technologies plays a fundamental role in an organi-
sation as it enables individuals to meet technological challenges
through upgrading skills and knowledge, making decisions in problem-
atic situations, using Internet with greater condence, and Executing
online tasks effectively and efciently (Barbeite & Weiss, 2004;
Srivastava & Dhar, 2016). An essential question that arises here is
whether effective technology leadership can be ascertained as the key
ingredient for efcacious performance. Very few scholars have paid at-
tention to the psychological process of Internet-based self-efcacy that
encourages individual performance, specically in small service-orient-
ed organisations. Hence, it is important to identify the extent to which
ISE can determine the inuence of technology leadership on

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tmp.2016.07.009
2211-9736/ 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
78 A.P. Srivastava, R.L. Dhar / Tourism Management Perspectives 20 (2016) 7786
performance. The primary aim of this study is to examine the effect of
technology leadership on job performance of travel agents through
the intervening role of Internet self-efcacy.
Employees in service-oriented organisations like travel agencies are
prone to problems where travel agents are required to handle a new set
of problems everyday (Edvardsson, 2005; Jaiswal & Dhar, 2015). Dy-
namic consumer behavior, changing customer needs, and drastically
changing business and political environments have been found to fur-
ther complicate the working of travel agents (McKercher et al., 2003).
Further, when they provide their services in ever-changing technologi-
cal environment, their issues increase manifolds as they need to keep
themselves updated information (Spencer, Buhalis, & Moital, 2012).
Isaksen and Trefnger (2004) suggested that in such cases, managers
should acknowledge employees' creative problem-solving capacity
(CPS) and ability that enables employees to use their creative skills
and knowledge to solve problems. CPS includes convergent and diver-
gent thinking in order to derive innovative and novel solutions to the
problems being faced (Proctor, 2014). In India, large travel agents
have recognised the relevance of creative problem-solving capacity
among employees in long-term sustainability, though small travel
agents still lag behind in identifying its advantage (Lather, Garg, &
Vikas, 2015). As small travel agents in developing nations like India
act as intermediaries in linking customers to different service providers
like hotels, conveyance providers, etc. (Brown & Kaewkitipong, 2009;
Shanker, 2008), employees' CPS for effective performance requires
more emphasis. If travel agent employees fail to enhance their creative
problem-solving capacity, their efcacy for effective performance might
go down (Ganguly, Dash, & Cyr, 2011). Thus, in this study, we assume
that an interaction of CPS and Internet self-efcacy can improve the per-
formance of travel agents.
This study aims to contribute towards the key stakeholder of hospi-
tality industry employees (workforce), tourists (customers), and the
travel agency (organisation). Every organisation requires effective em-
ployee performance and better productivity to differentiate itself from
competitors raise their market share and emphasise on quality service
(Jones & Pizam, 1993). To attain such goals and have positive results
on these areas, managers/supervisors need to develop right skills and
knowledge. This study suggests technology leadership to improve
awareness and knowledge of Internet technology to achieve effective
job performance. Towards employees, this study provides the need for
managers/supervisor's technology leadership to improve employee's
condence and efcacy to learn and use Internet technology in their
daily operations. Towards tourist, this study provides intervention of In-
ternet-based technology to facilitate effective performance/services by
the employees towards the tourists. Finally, towards travel agency,
this study encourage learning the use and meaningfulness of technology
by the managers/supervisors to motivate overall employee's job perfor-
mance. Through improving the job performance, the travel agency can
differentiate themselves from others and can provide cost-effective
products and services to their customers/tourists. Further, this study
also shows moderating effect of employee's creative problem-solving
ability as the key to induce their job performance towards tourists
thus benetting the travel agency.
Therefore, the present study examines the extent to which man-
agers' technology leadership impacts job performance through the me-
diating role of employees' Internet self-efcacy and moderating role of
creative problem-solving capacity. The following part of the paper in-
cludes theoretical foundation and assumed hypotheses followed by re-
search methodology and ndings of the study. Discussion, implications
and conclusion ensue.
1.1. Background
Travel agencies working in different tourist destinations of
Uttarakhand are taken as the context of the study. Studies argue that
technology is important for effective performance of travel agencies
(Bogdanovych et al., 2006; Dhar, 2015). Information technology helps
travel agents to acquire and use computer-based easy information on
arrival and departure of trains and ights, economic fares of conveyance
and travel, hotel ratings and accommodation. Such information enables
them to learn relevant skills and execute business tasks related to cus-
tomer services. Effective execution of customer services improves cus-
tomer loyalty and brand image of the travel agency based on the
appreciation and rating of satised customers (Salwani, Marthandan,
Norzaidi, & Chong 2009).
Uttarakhand has been the hub of tourists for many decades (Babu &
Gade, 2014). However, the percentage of tourists in the last decade has
declined (McKercher et al., 2003). Reports have shown incompetency of
travel agencies in attracting more customers to different tourist destina-
tions (Chitravanshi, 2012; Kaur & Sharma, 2015). Lack of technological
and related infrastructural facilities is considered the key reason for
the decline in the performance of the tourism business. Chaudhary
(2000) showed that although multiple technological advancement
plans were introduced in the nation, travel agencies in tourism business
were the slowest among all other industries to accept technologies. En-
trepreneurs and managers in travel agencies are found to be aware of
new technologies, which can simplify their transaction while reducing
costs, yet they doubt the meaningfulness of the systems in the process
(Khare & Khare, 2011). Such perception affects their approach towards
adoption of information technology, and ultimately, their performance.
In India, travel agencies are categorised based on size and turnover
(sales) (Kaur & Sharma, 2015). Large travel agencies have a more
open attitude towards usefulness and affordability of information tech-
nologies while small travel agencies lack such openness. Small travel
agencies view online systems and Internet as an expensive decision
and believe in personal dealings with the customers (Lather et al.,
2015). However, solutions to issues like investment, manpower, and -
nancing facilities can motivate them to use technology, thus increasing
their performance in the future (Sathyanarayanan, 2014). Travel agen-
cies were also categorised into retail and wholesale travel agencies. Re-
tail travel agencies deal directly with the customers while wholesale
agencies deal in bulk tourist packages and delegate them to retail agen-
cies. This study focuses on retail travel agencies as their performance
ensures effective returns for the whole industry and examines the effect
of technology leadership on job performance of travel agents.
2. Literature review
2.1. Theoretical foundation
To develop the model for this study, we followed Davis' Technology
Acceptance Model (TAM) and considered individual response to tech-
nology (adoption or rejection) a result of the individual's perception to-
wards usefulness and ease of using technology. Davis (1989), and
Bagozzi, Davis, and Warshaw (1992), showed that when a new technol-
ogy was introduced, a sense of hesitation and intricacy developed in the
mind of the prospective user regarding its adoption. This complexity
leads them to develop different kinds of attitudes and intentions to
learn the usage of that technology before actually using it. Depending
upon the direction of their own attitudes and intentions (negative or
positive) towards preliminary learning, they decide whether to accept
or refuse the adoption of technology. In the words of Bagozzi et al.
(1992), Attitudes towards usage and intentions to use may be ill-formed
or lacking in conviction or else may occur only after preliminary strivings
to learn to use the technology evolve (pp 664). In other words, introduc-
tion of any technology requires employee's positive attitude to further
use it in their actual place of work. In the context of this study, we
hypothesised that intentions of travel agents towards adoption of new
technology was dependent upon how they perceived its usefulness
and how easy to use they found it. As employees are generally appre-
hensive of using new technology, due to its complexity and strange ac-
tivities involved, they may develop certain ill attitudes due to this
 A.P. Srivastava, R.L. Dhar / Tourism Management Perspectives 20 (2016) 7786 79

inhibition. However, when supervisors accept the technology considering professional development, and use emerging techniques, equipment,
its usefulness in their organisational performance, they tend to motivate and software to achieve organisational goals (Ertmer et al., 2002;
their subordinates to use new technology. Their words of motivation Richardson, 2011).
and encouragement can help employees to develop positive attitude
and intention towards the new technology. Such positive attitude (e.g. ef-
2.3. Outcomes of technology leadership
cacy) would drive them to use technology and reduce their fear of using
new technology. Thus, supervisors' technology leadership can lead their
2.3.1. Internet self-efcacy
employees (sales agents) to accept technology with higher efcacy and
Internet self-efcacy (ISE) refers to individual efcacy to use Internet
provide better services through its effective usage.
functions and applications (Tsai, Cheng, & Chen, 2011). ISE explains
individual's condence to learn and implement their skills and knowl-
2.2. Technology leadership
edge in executing Internet-related activities. The ability to communicate
through blogs; search information that is relevant, important, and help-
Technology leadership (TL) is based on the function of a leader rath-
ful to others; solve other people's problems online in a productive way;
er than their characteristics or actions (Flanagan & Jacobsen, 2003).
and connect through social sites are some of the attributes included in
Being a functionally oriented leadership theory, it is aimed at develop-
Internet self-efcacy (Kim & Glassman, 2013). This theory is based on
ing, directing, managing, and implementing information technology
the social cognitive theory given by Bandura (2001). Social cognitive
(IT) in organisational procedures (Dexter, 2011). Technology leaders
theory states that individuals with higher efcacy believe in self and
aim at improving organisational performance and efciency through ef-
are capable of handling adverse situations, making decisions in stressful
fective utilisation of IT resources. They seek to meet the dynamic de-
conditions, and accomplishing tasks of a particular domain (Bandura,
mands of the information age and are instrumental to development
2001, 2012). Similarly, individuals with higher Internet self-efcacy
and change in the organisation's culture (Ertmer et al., 2002). With a
are considered as capable of using the Internet and computers effective-
technological vision, TL attempts to understand technological trends
ly and have a higher self-assurance on their Internet-related abilities
and directions and decides in accordance with the potential uses of
and skills. Higher ISE has been found to enable individuals to accept
technology in organisational operations (Carleton, 2010; Weng &
the usefulness of technology and develop considerable skills to use
Tang, 2014). Theoretically, TL is divided into ve dimensions: (1) vision
that technology (Lubbers, Loughlin, & Zweig, 2005). Management infor-
and management of technology (VM); (2) model and guidance (MG);
mation system (MIS) researchers have explored Internet self-efcacy
(3) supply and support (SS); (4) evaluation and research (ER); and
and have shown that when individuals have the condence to use the
(5) communication and inspiration (CI). Vision and management dimen-
Internet, they accept the tools as relevant and complete related tasks
sion involves leaders' ability to communicate effective steps to use tech-
with higher efciency and in a productive manner (Lu, Zhou, & Wang,
nology and make strategic decisions to prevent misuse of technology;
2009; Mosley, Boyar, Carson, & Pearson, 2008).
model and guidance involves leaders' competence to identify the signif-
Effective technology leadership can inuence an individual's Inter-
icance of employees' technology training and development regarding
net and computer self-efcacy (Kim & Glassman, 2013; Law, Buhalis,
innovative ways to use technology in a cost-effective manner; supply
& Cobanoglu, 2014). Weng, Yang, and Lai (2014) have shown that tech-
and support aspect of technology leadership explains leaders' skills to
nology leadership strategies have a positive inuence on employee self-
provide a technology-supported work environment like installation of
efcacy to use ICT. Studies have shown that when leaders provide a sup-
legal software, establishment of wireless Internet services, integration
portive environment towards learning new technology and supply re-
of technology with work, and encouraging employees' efcacy to use
quired resources, employee condence to learn new technology and
technology at work; evaluation and research include examination of ef-
Internet-related skill increases (Law et al., 2014; Mosley et al., 2008;
ciency of employees on the basis of how much they use technology,
Srivastava & Dhar, 2015). In this regard, Piper and Hardesty (2005) ar-
and observing and monitoring the effect of technology on employees'
gued that in addition to technical infrastructure and expenditures, tech-
performance; and communication and inspiration comprise leaders' abil-
nology leadership is signicantly required to raise employee efcacy
ity to understand technological needs and provide effective technologi-
and commitment. As technology leadership has been found to integrate
cal resources at work.
various leadership qualities and abilities to execute change, manage re-
In the last decade, many studies have highlighted the changing role
sources, encourage professional advancement, and develop techniques,
of technology in the eld of tourism (Babu & Gade, 2014; Molz, 2012).
equipment, and software, it encourages employees' self-efcacy to ac-
Scholars have shown that technology, specically Internet-based and
cept change and use the Internet in favour of organisational develop-
World Wide Web (WWW), is transforming business practices, strate-
ment (Brinkerhoff, 2006). Similarly, based on the ndings of Wu,
gies, and structures of this industry (Lin, Chiu, & Huang, 2012). Introduc-
Chang, and Chen (2008), it can be stated that leaders'/managers' tech-
tion of information and communication technologies (ICTs) has allowed
nology leadership inuences subordinate efcacy and efciency by
organisations to achieve greater competitive advantage and enabled
prompting integration of technology in organisational procedures and
knowledge up-gradation among service employees (e.g. sales agents).
increasingly involving technology projects in the organisation to
The synergic and accelerating interaction between tourism and technol-
model and support technology usage by employees.
ogy has been found to play a signicant role in injecting fundamental
changes in the industry (Buhalis & Law, 2008). In this line, scholars H1. Technology leadership predicts Internet self-efcacy.
have proposed technology leadership as the most desired leadership
approach that can encourage technology adoption in the organisation.
Leader's approach to provide technology-driven work environment 2.3.2. Job performance
can amplify employee's productivity, learning attitude, and commit- Employee job performance in an organisation plays a vital role in
ment (Abhyankar & Dalvie, 2013). In order to promote an open-minded organisational success (Srivastava & Jaiswal, 2015). Employees' ability
culture in the organisation, an effective technology leader can integrate to accomplish assigned tasks within time and money constraints estab-
technology at work and provide more space for innovation and creativ- lishes their level of job performance (Karatepe, 2013). Scholars have
ity (Postman, 2011). However, the technology leader's failure to identify shown that job performance depends on who denes it; depending
challenges and barriers in the establishment of technology can lead to upon the job descriptions and organisational standards, the meaning
low employee efcacy to use technology in future. Hence, technology of job performance varies from organisation to organisation (Colquitt,
leadership is a combination of leadership qualities and the ability to im- Scott, & LePine, 2007). Scholars have explained job performance as an
plement change, provide technological resource, encourage employees' activity targeted at gaining competitive advantage, high job satisfaction,
80 A.P. Srivastava, R.L. Dhar / Tourism Management Perspectives 20 (2016) 7786

organisational effectiveness, and high protability (Love, 2014; Stone & that individual self-efcacy mediated leaders' efforts towards employees'
Ngongoni, 2015). A high-performer employee is taken as a contributing job performance. Similarly, Chu and Chu (2010) found that self-efcacy
resource towards the ultimate aim of accomplishing the common goal, to adopt technologies like the Internet can link technology-based leader-
while low-performer employees are done away with in the form of ship to employees' online learning outcomes, commitment, and job perfor-
lay off and retirement (Forsman & Annala, 2011; Kwon & Rupp, 2013). mance. Although previous studies have shown the relationship between
In a service industry like tourism, employee job performance refers to technology leadership and job performance, the mediating role of Internet
the extent to which employees satisfy their customers and use their cre- self-efcacy has rarely been addressed. Thus, we hypothesise:
ativity to resolve upcoming problems. Law, Leung, and Wong (2004)
mentioned that with the changing environment, technology usage is H3. Internet self-efcacy mediates the effect of technology leadership
the key to attain higher competitive advantage in service industries. and job performance.
Other studies have also proposed technological innovation and Internet
efcacy as ways to attain effective job performance (Lu et al., 2009; Wu
2.3.4. Creative problem-solving capacity as a moderator
et al., 2008). These studies have shown that technology-supported envi-
Predictors and intervening variables relevant to employee job perfor-
ronment and employees' positive belief in self to use Internet-based tech-
mance have drawn the attention of scholars (Chen, Eberly, Chiang, Farh, &
nology can pave the way for higher organisational performance. As
Cheng, 2014). Among these variables, major emphasis has been given to
consumers today prefer the Internet to get hassle-free services, service in-
employee creativity (Clarke, 2005; Crosby, 2013). Creativity, which im-
dustries like hotels and travel agencies, adapting to Internet-based tech-
plies an ideation process comprising the creation of novel and construc-
nology in their day-to-day operations would not only gain advantages
tive ideas, has a notable inuence on behavior and organisational
in economic terms but also benet in commercial terms (higher market
outcomes. Scholars have proposed multiple cognitive processes that re-
share, customer loyalty, and productivity with protability) (Karatepe,
sult in creative job performance (Clarke, 2005; Proctor, 2014). These pro-
2013; Nijland, van Gemert-Pijnen, Boer, Steehouder, & Seydel, 2008).
cesses signify the course which enables individuals to think and bring
H2. Internet self-efcacy predicts employee job performance. change in their work behavior. Among these cognitive processes, creative
problem solving capacity is considered as having the key effect on em-
ployee creativity (Isaksen & Trefnger, 2004). CPS as a process is de-
ned/explained in two phases: (1) generation, and (2) implementation
2.3.3. Technology leadership, Internet self-efcacy, and job performance
of creative ideas to resolve the problem at hand. These phases comprise
Technology usage can play a signicant role in improving the level of
identication and construction of causes; exploration of relevant informa-
job performance (Liang, Chan, Lin, & Huang, 2011; Weng et al., 2014).
tion; idea conception; and nal evaluation, selection, and execution of
Availability of technology-related resources and equipment can encour-
ideas to solve the problems and issues faced in the day-to-day working
age employees to use technology and raise organisational performance
of the organisation (Ganguly et al., 2011).
(Wu et al., 2008). Specically, in service industries like travel and tour-
In this era of immense technological changes, CPS has played a sig-
ism, a technology-supporting environment can enable attending to the
nicant role in every organisation (Ganguly et al., 2011). Specically,
changing demands of modern travellers and managing and satisfying
in service organisations where customer satisfaction is of prime impor-
the increasing number of customers (So & Morrison, 2004). However,
tance, CPS has been found to be very important in providing timely and
such technological advancement is only possible when a leader or man-
valuable solutions to customer problems. Scholars have shown that the
ager facilitates technology-supportive environment. For example, Weng
availability of resources and ability to procure information plays a major
et al. (2014) showed that the technology-driven leader enables em-
role in the cognitive process of CPS (Carmeli, Gelbard, & Reiter-Palmon,
ployees to use their own creativity to use technology and ensure effec-
2013; Isaksen & Trefnger, 2004). It has also been seen that the Internet
tive customer services. Further, Chen and Tseng (2012) proved that
and World Wide Web play an effective role in updating individuals'
individuals' web-based performance improved when they sensed better
knowledge and skills, thereby improving their CPS. Moreover, social
support from their leader. A few studies have shown that when individ-
networks, blogs, and online articles have been established as easy
uals receive managerial and technological support from their technolo-
sources of information and ways of staying updated (Dorogovtsev &
gy leader, their condence to use Internet resources improves
Mendes, 2013). Although self-efcacy to use technology (e.g. Internet)
dramatically, ultimately improving their job performance (Mosley et
raises the level of performance, low levels of CPS can negate this effect.
al., 2008; Peng, Tsai, & Wu, 2006). Researchers like Ngai, Law, Chan,
In other words, even though if one has the efcacy to use diverse infor-
and Wat (2007) showed that a supportive technological facility pro-
mation and resources, failure to develop and generate new ideas to
motes employees' efcacy to use them. Technology leadership has also
solve upcoming problems may cause a downfall in the level of perfor-
been found to improve web-based learning among employees. These
mance (Carmeli et al., 2013). Hence, it can be presumed that higher ef-
learning positively inuence individual perception and improve Inter-
cacy coupled with creative problem-solving capacity would lead to
net self-efcacy among employees (Bhattacherjee & Hikmet, 2008).
effective and efcient job performance. This would ensure competitive
Bandura (2001) argued that self-efcacy inuences individual behav-
advantage, higher market share, and better customeremployee rela-
ior and the ability to execute assigned tasks in a productive and protable
tions (Ganguly et al., 2011; Isaksen & Trefnger, 2004). As such, we
manner. Based on this, it can be stated that higher levels of ISE can increase
hypothesise that higher levels of employee CPS would increase the ef-
employees' condence to use Internet and web-based resources and en-
fect of ISE on employee job performance such that when CPS is low, In-
courage effective execution of tasks. This have been proven that higher
ternet self-efcacy for job performance would decline.
ISE increases the chances of wilful acceptance of Internet technologies
thereby inducing effective web-based learning (Ngai et al., 2007). Such H4. Creative problem-solving capacity moderates the effect of Internet
learning has been found to promote employees' professional development self-efcacy on job performance.
resulting in an improvement in their psychological and physical health (Lu
et al., 2009). It has been seen that improved psychology encourages posi-
tive perception towards the usefulness and relevance of Internet technol- 3. Research methodology
ogy and increases the level of job performance (Lubbers et al., 2005). As
suggested by the technology acceptance model, when an employee recog- 3.1. Sample and data collection
nises the relevance of Internet technology, accepts the changes, and per-
ceives its usefulness for professional development, the extent of Data for this study were collected from a sample of travel agencies
performance rises (Teo, Lee, & Chai, 2008). Yldrm (2012) discovered operational in Uttarakhand, India. Initially, 250 small travel agencies
 A.P. Srivastava, R.L. Dhar / Tourism Management Perspectives 20 (2016) 7786 81

(with at least four sales agents employed) were contacted based on the Table 1
convenience of the investigator. Out of these, 203 consented to partici- Correlation analysis.

pate in the study. The purpose of the study was explained to the super-
visors and was requested to give details about their sales agents. Based
on the information, sales agents were contacted personally and informal
communications were established with them.
Two sets of questionnaires were prepared. Set 1was prepared for
sales agents and it included questions on their supervisor's technology
leadership, their own Internet self-efcacy and creative problem-solv-
ing capacity. Set 2 included questions on sales agents' job performance,
which was evaluated by their immediate supervisors. Based on their po-
sition in the rm, they were found suitable to assess the performance of
their subordinates. This was done due to two reasons: rst, to eliminate
the chances of common method biasness, and second, managers and su-
pervisors were considered better evaluators of employees' perfor-
mance. To get an accurate appraisal of job performance by the
supervisor, the investigator allotted a common task to all the selected
employees; the task was related to their dealing with customers and
problem-solving ability. The supervisor was asked to rate each employ-
ee based on the employee's performance on that specic task. This re-
duced the biasness in performance appraisals. Both sets of
questionnaires were translated into the local language (Hindi) for easier
understanding of respondents and then retranslated to English for the
analysis. This translation and retranslation was done with the help of
two language experts. During this process, quality of conversion was
maintained as suggested by Munday (2013).
Four sales agents from each travel agency were selected for the sur-
vey. In total, 812 questionnaires (Set 1) were given to 4 sales agents of
each agency to evaluate their supervisor's technology leadership, their
own Internet self-efcacy and creative problem-solving capacity. One
supervisor or the owner from each of the 203 agencies was also given
812 (Set 2) questionnaires. They were asked to evaluate job perfor-
mance of four of their employees to derive a dyad of 1:4. Each supervi-
sor and his/her four sales agents were given unique code. Out of the
distributed questionnaires, 513 responses from employees and re-
sponses from 134 managers/supervisors were collected in a sealed en-
velope directly by the investigator. Based on their codes, envelopes
were matched to each other to maintain condentiality of responses.
After sorting outliers and missing values, 498 (62.23%) employee re-
sponses and responses from 132 (66%) managers were taken for further
statistical analysis. Few responses from managers were dropped to
frame a perfect dyad of 1:4. The majority of the sales agents were
male (81.6%), between the ages of 27 and 31 years, had 1 to 2 years of
experience, and were educated till 10th standard. The majority of super-
visors were also male (93.8%), ranged between the ages of 42 years,
with 6.73 years of experience. Most of supervisors had at least a diploma
or a graduate degree.
3.2. Measures
3.2.1. Technology leadership
Technology leadership was measured using the scale provided by
Weng and Tang (2014). Exploratory factor analysis was conducted to
evaluate the consistency and reliability of the measure. Consistent
with the previous one, this scale also had ve dimensions, namely, vi-
sion and management, model and guidance, supply and support, evalu-
ation and research, and communication and inspiration.
Variables Mean (SD) 1 2 3 4
Technological leadership 2.32 (1.15) 1 .502** .262** .564**
Internet self-efcacy 2.40 (1.17) 1 .219** .720**
Creative problem solving 3.72 (1.42) 1 .594**
Job performance 2.29 (1.03) 1
SD represents standard deviation estimates of each construct.
= P b 0.01.
3.2.3. Job performance
Job performance was measured through the 5-item scale provided
by Karatepe (2013). The Cronbach alpha reliability for this measure
was 0.979.
3.2.4. Creative problem-solving capacity
This was examined using an 8-item scale given by Carmeli et al.
(2013). The Cronbach alpha for this measure was 0.937.
All the measures were examined on a 7-point Likert scale (where
1 = strongly disagree and 7 = strongly agree).
4. Findings
4.1. Descriptive statistics
Table 1 shows the descriptive estimate of each construct. This table
indicates the mean, standard deviation, and the co-relational estimates.
4.2. Analytical strategy
Analysis of the data was carried out in two phases. First, conrmato-
ry factor analysis was conducted to examine the model t. CFA was
adopted to examine the association between a set of observed variables
and a set of continuous latent variables in a hypothesised model. Sec-
ond, multiple regression analysis was conducted to examine the extent
of relationship between the variables (see Fig. 1). In this study, regres-
sion analysis was conducted to examine the direct effects and indirect
effects (mediation and moderation) among the variables. SPSS PROCESS
macro developed by Hayes (2012) was used to conduct the regression
analysis. We used SPSS PROCESS as it extends the Baron and Kenny
(1986) method of mediation and moderation, eliminates the chances
of type 1 error, assumes normality of data, and provides signicance
test results for indirect effects like SOBEL and bootstrapping (Preacher
& Hayes, 2004). Mediation/indirect effects were measured by putting
independent, mediator, and dependent variables into the macro. Sobel
test was conducted with bootstrapping to support the indirect effects.
The moderating effect (conditional indirect effect) was also estimated
through the macro and the interaction effect of the mediator, and mod-
erator was assessed on the nal outcome. Control variables (age, gen-
der, education, and experience) were also regressed in the equation.

3.2.2. Internet self-efcacy

Internet self-efcacy was measured through the scale provided by
Kim and Glassman (2013). This scale included ve
dimensionsreactive/generative self-efcacy, differentiation self-ef-
cacy, organisation self-efcacy, communication self-efcacy, and search
self-efcacy. Fig. 1. Hypothesised model.
82 A.P. Srivastava, R.L. Dhar / Tourism Management Perspectives 20 (2016) 7786

Table 2 Table 4
Discriminant validity and internal consistency. Results of regression analysis for mediation.

Variables AVE MSV CR 1 2 3 4 Variables B SE t P

Technological leadership 0.583 0.365 0.971 0.763 .502 .262 .564 Direct effects
Internet self-efcacy 0.784 0.569 0.975 0.885 .219 .720 Internet self-efcacy
Creative problem solving 0.857 0.376 0.979 0.926 .594 Constant .0569 .1871 .3040 .7613
Job performance 0.749 0.569 0.937 0.865 Technological leadership .5057 .0394 12.8453 .0000
Age .0116 .0514 .2252 .8220
Note: AVE represents average variance explained.
Gender .0583 .1073 .5436 .5870
CR represents composite reliability.
Experience .0114 .0463 .2471 .8049
Values in diagonal are the square root estimates of AVE of each construct.
Education .0388 .0373 1.0390 .2993
**p b 0.01
Job performance
Constant .2576 .1404 1.8344 .0672
4.3. Measurement model
Internet self-efcacy .5853 .0338 17.3033 .0000
Technological leadership .2658 .0341 7.7884 .0000
Conrmatory factor analysis was conducted to examine the mea- Age .0976 .0386 2.5274 .0118
surement model. Further, the model was re-specied to attain better Gender .0297 .0805 .3688 .7124
t. In the initial examination, the hypothesised model indicated a few Experience .0282 .0348 .8118 .4173
Education .0101 .0280 .3611 .7182
poorly loaded items. After re-specication, items with low loadings
(below 0.40) were removed; 24 items for technology leadership and Job performance
11 items for Internet self-efcacy were retained for statistical analysis. Constant .2243 .1779 1.2603 .2082
Technological leadership .5618 .0374 15.0066 .0000
The Cronbach alpha reliability estimates for hypothesised constructs Age .0908 .0489 1.8555 .0641
were all above the required minimum threshold of 0.50 (see Table 2). Gender .0044 .1020 .0435 .9653
The average variance extracted (AVE) estimate for each construct was Experience .0215 .0440 .4885 .6254
also above the required limit of 0.50. AVE above 0.50, reliability above Education .0126 .0355 .3543 .7233
Value SE Z P
0.60 and loadings of retained items above 0.40 indicated convergent va-
Indirect effect and signicance of normal 0.2960 0.028 10.30 0.000
lidity of the measures. distribution
The composite reliability indicated internal consistency of each mea- Sobel
sure as the values were all above 0.60. Table 2 showed that the measures M SE LL 95% CI UL 95%
also sustained the discriminant validity, as square root estimates of AVE CI
Bootstrap results for indirect effect 0.2960 0.03 0.22 0.38
for each measure were greater than the correlation value for all con-
structs. Table 3 presents the t indices for the measurement model. Note. N = 498; Unstandardised regression coefcients are reported. Bootstrap sample size
Each of the t indices crossed the minimum required limits (x2/ = 1000, LL = lower limit, CI = condence interval, UL = upper limit.

DF b 0.3 and GFI, AGFI N 0.8; Seyal, Rahman, and Rahim (2002), and
NFI, CFI N 0.90, RMSEA b 0.07; Hair, Black, Babin, Anderson, & Tatham,
2006).
4.4. Hypotheses testing
To examine hypotheses, SPSS PROCESS macro was used in SPSS 20.
An SPSS PROCESS macro is a computational method to conduct path
analysis-based mediation analysis and conditional indirect effect analy-
sis. This macro enables carrying out of Sobel test and bootstrapping and
extends the steps for examining the mediation and moderation effects
as proposed by Baron and Kenny (1986). SPSS PROCESS includes the re-
sults from bootstrapping because it is considered the most recommend-
ed and inuential approach to derive inference from indirect effects in a
large sample (Hayes 2009, 2012). If the lower and upper limits do not
have zero in between, then it infers that the indirect effect is not zero
with CI % condence (Preacher, Rucker, & Hayes, 2007).
The link between technology leadership and Internet self-efcacy
came out to be signicant and positive. As shown in Table 4, technology
leadership of managers predicted employee Internet self-efcacy in a
direct manner (B = 0.51, P b 0.001), thus supporting Hypothesis 1. Con-
sistent with our expectations, Internet self-efcacy inuenced job per-
formance in a positive and signicant manner (B = 0.59, P b 0.001).
This result supported Hypothesis 2.
In line with Hypothesis 3, technology leadership was found to have
an indirect effect on job performance through the mediating role of In-
ternet self-efcacy. As shown in Table 4, technology leadership indirect-
ly predicts Internet self-efcacy in a signicant and positive manner
(a = 0.51, P b 0.001); Internet self-efcacy predicts job performance
positively and signicantly (b = 0.59, P b 0.001); technology leadership
predicts job performance signicantly, controlling the effect on Internet
self-efcacy (B = 0.27, P b 0.001). Further, technology leadership has a
total effect on job performance in a signicant manner (ab = 0.56,
P b 0.001). This showed the indirect effect of technology leadership on
job performance, which was also supported by Sobel test (normal theo-
ry) as Z = 10.30 (P b 0.001). Bootstrap test also supported the Sobel test
with upper limit and lower limit of the CI above zero (0.22, 0.38).
The results shown in Table 5 supported Hypothesis 4. Results indi-
cate that creative problem solving ability of employees has a conditional
effect on job performance (B = 0.08, P b 0.001). Creative problem solv-
ing capacity moderated the linkage between Internet self-efcacy and
job performance in such a manner that when employees showed high
creative problem-solving capacity, the effect of Internet self-efcacy
on job performance increased. To represent the relation and the direc-
tion of interaction, a graph is plotted as shown in Fig. 2. This diagram ex-
plains the standard deviation one above and one below the mean of CPS
(Aiken & West, 1991). It indicates that when CPS is low, it weakens the
effect of ISE on job performance. Whereas when CPS is high, it
strengthens the effect of ISE on job performance.
5. Discussion
5.1. Correlations, means, and descriptives
The descriptive analysis showed that each of the hypothesised con-
structs was positively and signicantly correlated to the other. Low

Table 3
Results for conrmatory factor analysis.

Chi sq. df NFI RFI CFI TLI GFI AGFI RMSEA CI

Estimates 2508.99 953 0.923 0.909 0.950 0.941 0.838 0.800 0.057 0.0550.061
 A.P. Srivastava, R.L. Dhar / Tourism Management Perspectives 20 (2016) 7786 83

Table 5 technology-based strategic decisions, employees are encouraged to im-

Results of regression analysis for conditional indirect effect (moderation). itate their leaders and use Internet technology effectively. The leader's
Predictor B SE t P conscious behavior to prevent misuse of technology, ability to commu-
Job performance
nicate and research cost-effective measures to deal with customer is-
Constant .31 0.12 2.50 .01 sues can encourage travel agents to improve their self-efcacy to use
Internet self-efcacy (1) .37 .04 8.31 .00 technology without any hesitation and adopt it in their day-to-day op-
Creative problem solving (2) .64 .03 18.79 .00 erations. Moreover, when the leader integrates technology usage as an
Interaction (1 2) .08 .03 2.41 .02
element in performance appraisals, it motivates employees to learn
Age .08 .03 2.48 .01
Gender .04 .07 .61 .54 and improve their Internet-related skills and knowledge. This result
Experience .04 .03 1.53 .13 supported the ndings of Flanagan and Jacobsen (2003) and Anderson
Education .04 .03 1.48 .14 and Dexter (2005), who stated that technology leadership can develop
a learning attitude among employees in the service industry which in
Conditional effect Creative problem Effect (p) SE (t) LLCI-ULCI
of X on Y solving
turn may raise their efcacy to use technology, and contradicted the
ndings of Cheong (1995), who considered technology as a threat to
1.00 0.56 (0.00) 0.05 (10.71) 0.460.66
employees' condence to work. Although the relationship between
0.00 0.64 (0.00) 0.03 (18.79) 0.570.70
1.00 0.72 (0.00) 0.04 (17.34) 0.640.80 technology leadership and Internet self-efcacy is implied, no study to
our knowledge has been conducted to statistically examine this
relationship.
mean scores for technological leadership indicated that in travel agencies,
very few managers/supervisors were condent to use new technology in 5.3. Internet self-efcacy and job performance
their work. Although studying factors that caused low technological lead-
ership were beyond the purview of this study, based on observation, two Results indicated a positive inuence of Internet self-efcacy on job
reasons could be ascertainedrst being lack of nancial resources, and performance. This shows that when employees offer their customers
the other, location. Due to low investment, leaders/managers were not better information through blogs and posts on the Internet and use
able to purchase adequate technological equipment like computers, Inter- the Internet as the source of information to support customer service,
net connection, etc., for their employees. Further, owing to location, travel they can outperform other employees in the rm. Travel agents can
agents found themselves unable to connect through the Internet as get along with their customers, understand customer expectations
Uttarakhand is full of hilly areas where people face network issues. and deliver better services when they feel capable of using Internet in-
Thus, they have no option but to go with conventional telephonic and formation (e.g. using hyperlinks, reading blogs and posts) and solving
face-to-face transactions instead of choosing online activities. Due to ab- customer issues effectively. Use of social media further enhances their
sence of adequate resources, employees show low efcacy to use technol- long-term communication with customers and enables them to receive
ogies like the Internet in their day-to-day activities. This fact was revealed feedback from customers to improve business. Availability of informa-
through the mean score for Internet self-efcacy and job performance. It tion raises the condence of travel agents to use it successfully towards
was found that as leaders were less inclined towards using technology customer service, thus increasing the overall productivity of the agency.
for providing services to customers, their employees also lowered their ef- A higher level of employee efcacy would enable the tourism industry
cacy to use Internet, thus negatively inuencing their performance com- to attract more customers through cost-effective computerised tools
mercially and economically. However, the levels of creative problem and applications.
solving among employees (subordinate) were found to be little higher
(mean score 3.72). This showed that in Uttarakhand region, although 5.4. Internet self-efcacy as mediator
tourism employees are less educated, they have acquired adequate skills
to deal with tourists' issues and problems. In line with our assumption, Internet self-efcacy mediated the rela-
tionship between technology leadership and job performance. Although
Internet self-efcacy is fundamental to today's complex tourism indus-
5.2. Technology leadership and Internet self-efcacy try, yet very few scholars have analysed its mediating role in job perfor-
mance and other organisational work outcomes. Results indicate that
Results were consistent with our expectations and showed a positive effective technology leadership can be a reason for employees' in-
inuence of technology leadership on Internet self-efcacy. This is be- creased efcacy to use Internet-based technology and a predictor of
cause employees' condence to work, to a large extent, depends on competitive advantage, higher goodwill and protability. This might
their leader's approach. When the leader has a positive outlook towards be due to the fact that in a collectivist society, individual efcacy is
technology, considers Internet meaningful for business, sets examples much dependent on the viewpoint of leaders and colleagues, which
of using Internet, and encourages participation of employees to make may take the form of appraisals and rejections. Hence, by encouraging
employees to use new technology, a technology leader can enhance
their performance. This is because when a leader or manager accepts
the relevant role of technology at work and emphasises the use of digital
technology, employees' efcacy to use Internet, social networks, and hy-
perlinks and ability to derive important information to suit customers'
demand increases. Increased efcacy of employees improves their role
as information gatekeepers and enables them to update their knowl-
edge and skills to help and support customers.

5.5. Creative problem-solving capacity as a moderator

As indicated by the SPSS PROCESS macro results, creative problem

solving capacity in employees was found to moderate the effect of Inter-
Fig. 2. moderation effect of creative problem solving capability on Internet self-efcacy net self-efcacy on employees' job performance. This result signies
and job performance link. that when employees' capacity to provide creative solutions is stronger,
84 A.P. Srivastava, R.L. Dhar / Tourism Management Perspectives 20 (2016) 7786
the positive relationship between self-efcacy to use Internet and relat-
ed resources, and employees' overall contribution towards gaining com-
petitive edge, prots, and market share also becomes more robust.
Employees' efcacy to use digital technology in order to improve their
job performance increases when individuals persist to gain new infor-
mation and keep themselves updated so as to understand the real na-
ture of problems, creatively articulate them, generate and appreciate
new and alternative ideas, and implement such ideas to resolve them.
Studies documenting the role of creativity have shown that creativity
interacts with motivation and commitment to encourage employee's
productivity, though no study till date has analysed the moderating
role of creative problem-solving capacity in strengthening or weaken-
ing the relation between behavioral variables. This might be due to
the fact that scholars did not achieve signicant moderation effect of
CPS on other behavioral or organisational outcomes, or they have not
considered its relevance in the process. In this study, we attained signif-
icant interaction effect of CPS and ISE on job performance. The best pos-
sible reason behind this could be that employees, though less educated,
have a higher tendency to gather information from social circles and
surroundings to solve work problems, which directs their condence
and intrinsically motivates them to serve their customers better than
their competitors. In other words, though less educated, employees in
travel agencies have practical experience of providing solutions to cus-
tomers from diverse backgrounds, and through improving their skills
to provide advanced services, travel agency employees have increased
their ability to understand traveller issues and resolve them.
6. Implicationstheoretical and practical
Findings suggest that there is poor technology leadership among
small travel agents in the study area. Failure of agencies in
implementing technological changes was affecting self-efcacy of
sales agents to work with higher productivity. Sales agents in majority
of the agencies were poorly skilled and less educated. Due to lack of
job opportunities, many of the agents were pursuing these jobs which
were mostly contractual. Further, low pay and lack of economic security
leaves them less motivated to learn and improve themselves. This study
exhibits that it is the leader that can change their employee's perfor-
mance (through raising employees' efcacy). As these agencies are not
big, motivating employees through increasing their efcacy is the
most suitable way through which performance can be induced. Thus,
owners/managers of travel agencies should attempt to use technology
themselves and create a learning environment in the rm. Learning
from each other should be encouraged and word of mouth appreciation
should be timely given. As for travel agents, it is their knowledge that
they sell to their customers, adequate attempts should be made by the
supervisor/leader to guide, direct and motivate their employees to re-
move their fear to use technology. This would further enable them to
differentiate themselves from others via rebooting themselves and pro-
vide product-specic online services or serve through online portals,
with discounted fares. Customer feedbacks should also be recorded,
and their suggestions considered for further improvement.
It was seen that although employees were less educated, they came
up with creative solutions to customers' problems. Being information
gatekeepers, they made efforts to attract and convince customers
through their skills and knowledge and helped them in nalising their
purchase decision. This creative problem-solving capacity strengthened
their efcacy to use Internet and perform well in comparison with their
colleagues and competitors. Thus, travel agents should provide support-
ive work environment to their employees to inspire creativity among
them. If not awarded with incentives, adequate recognition should be
given to employees who have performed well and used technology to
provide their opinions and recommendations to customers. Moreover,
such employees should be encouraged to educate others and provide
best possible services to customers by serving them as per their needs
and wants.
This study also contributes signicantly to the existing body of liter-
ature. First it supports technology acceptance model, as the result has
indicated positive and signicant effect of sales agent's attitude (Inter-
net self-efcacy) on their job performance. It further adds that leaders
can inuence the development of attitude towards technology which
ultimately can inuence employee's response towards the organisation
in the form of job performance. Second, the study is an initiative to un-
derstand the need for technological leadership in small travel agencies
working in Uttarakhand region. This study advanced the literature on
Uttarakhand tourism and proved the signicant role of technology lead-
ership in travel agents. Third, the study paves the way for many future
studies and provides a theoretical expansion to the concept of technol-
ogy leadership and its inuence on Internet self-efcacy and job perfor-
mance. Next, this is one of the prior studies that explored the
importance of creative problem-solving capacity among sales agents.
Further, this study examined the moderating role of creative problem-
solving capacity for the rst time, thereby exhibiting its important inter-
vening role between Internet self-efcacy and job performance.
6.1. Limitations and future scope for study
This study has some limitations that future studies may address.
First, the study is cross-sectional in nature, due to which establishment
of causal relationships among different variables is a hard task. We rec-
ommend longitudinal and experimental studies in the future to conclu-
sively establish the relationships. Second, cultural factors were not
included in this study. Since India is considered a collectivist nation,
its culture might have an impact on the extent of relationships among
variables. In this regard, future studies can be conducted to compare
the inuence of individualistic and collectivist cultures on the relation-
ship among variables. Third, the travel agents considered as sample
for the study were from Uttarakhand region only. Hence, the results
cannot be generalised to other regions or industries. To generalise the
results, scholars are encouraged to evaluate this model in different re-
gions and different industries like airlines, schools, banks, etc. Fourth,
faulty or biased performance appraisals may affect an employee's work-
ing relationship, therefore, extensive efforts can be taken in the future to
reduce the level of biasness in the performance appraisal process. Fifth,
the sample comprised major percentage as males, which might have
some inuence on the results. However, this might not be the case in
other industries like banks, schools, so future studies can be conducted
considering variation in gender at the work place. Finally, ndings of
this study were based on questionnaire method. Future studies may ex-
plore the qualitative aspects of this research problem and make an in-
depth evaluation of the relationships among factors. Other minor as
well as major reasons that are impacting technological advancement
in Uttarakhand region can also be explored. Larger sample testing col-
lected from different parts of the country can also be done to verify
results.
6.2. Conclusions
This study investigated the effect of technology leadership on job
performance of travel agents through the mediating role of Internet
self-efcacy based on the theoretical foundation of technology accep-
tance model. The moderating effect of creative problem solving capacity
was also assessed. Statistical analysis of the collected data suggested
that in small travel agencies, technology leadership was low due to
which employees had less condence to adopt and use information
and communication technology at work. Low efcacy of travel agents
was also found to hamper job performance in economic terms and
terms of market share. Hence, travel agents in Uttarakhand region
need to analyse the causes of their technological fall down seriously
and should work towards using Internet-based technology at work. Fur-
thermore, they should inspire creative problem-solving capacity among
their employees so that they can provide better services to customers.
 A.P. Srivastava, R.L. Dhar / Tourism Management Perspectives 20 (2016) 7786
References
Abhyankar, A., & Dalvie, S. (2013). Growth potential of the domestic and international
tourism in India. Society of Interdisciplinary Business Research, 2(1), 566576 (Re-
trieved from http://sibresearch.org/uploads/2/7/9/9/2799227/riber_k2012-236_
566-576.pdf).
Aiken, L. S., & West, S. G. (1991). Multiple regressionTesting and interpreting.
Anderson, R. E., & Dexter, S. (2005). School technology leadership: An empirical investiga-
tion of prevalence and effect. Educational Administration Quarterly, 41(1), 4982.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0013161X04269517.
Babu, K. V., & Gade, J. (Eds.). (2014). Tourism in India. Vol. 1, . Zenon Academic Publishing.
Bagozzi, R. P., Davis, F. D., & Warshaw, P. R. (1992). Development and test of a theory of
technological learning and usage. Human Relations, 45(7), 660686. http://dx.doi.
org/10.1177/001872679204500702.
Bandura, A. (2001). Social cognitive theory: An agentic perspective. Annual Review of
Psychology, 52(1), 126. http://dx.doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.52.1.1.
Bandura, A. (2012). On the functional properties of perceived self-efcacy revisited.
Journal of Management, 38(1), 944. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0149206311410606.
Barbeite, F. G., & Weiss, E. M. (2004). Computer self-efcacy and anxiety scales for an In-
ternet sample: Testing measurement equivalence of existing measures and develop-
ment of new scales. Computers in Human Behavior, 20(1), 115. http://dx.doi.org/10.
1016/S0747-5632(03)000499.
Baron, R. M., & Kenny, D. A. (1986). The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social
psychological research: Conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. Journal of
Personality and Social Psychology, 51(6), 11731182. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0022-
3514.51.6.1173.
Bhattacherjee, A., & Hikmet, N. (2008). Reconceptualizing organizational support and its
effect on information technology usage: Evidence from the health care sector. The
Journal of Computer Information Systems, 48(4), 6976 (Retrieved form http://
search.proquest.com/docview/232573695?accountid=27544).
Bogdanovych, A., Berger, H., Simoff, S., & Sierra, C. (2006). Travel agents vs. online book-
ing: Tackling the shortcomings of nowadays online tourism portals. Information and
communication technologies in tourism, Proceedings of the International Conference in
Lausanne, Switzerland (pp. 418428). http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/3-211-32710-X_55.
Brinkerhoff, J. (2006). Effects of a long-duration, professional development academy on
technology skills, computer self-efcacy, and technology integration beliefs and prac-
tices. Journal of Research on Technology in Education, 39(1), 2243 (Retrieved from
http://les.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ768867.pdf).
Brown, D. H., & Kaewkitipong, L. (2009). Relative size and complexity: E-business use in
small and medium sized tourism enterprises in Thailand. Journal of Enterprise
Information Management, 22(1/2), 212231. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/
17410390910932849.
Buhalis, D., & Law, R. (2008). Progress in information technology and tourism manage-
ment: 20 years on and 10 years after the InternetThe state of e- tourism research.
Tourism Management, 29(4), 609623. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2008.01.
005.
Carleton, T. L. (2010). The value of vision in radical technological innovation (doctoral disser-
tation). (Retrieve from https://static1.squarespace.com/static/50b3f6b7e4b09588
3abdb2bd/t/51cb16a0e4b06b9ce7a472e3/1372264096055/
Carleton+thesis+DARPA.pdf).
Carmeli, A., Gelbard, R., & Reiter-Palmon, R. (2013). Leadership, creative problem-solving
capacity, and creative performance: The importance of knowledge sharing. Human
Resource Management, 52(1), 95121. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/hrm.21514.
Chen, H. R., & Tseng, H. F. (2012). Factors that inuence acceptance of web-based e-learn-
ing systems for the in-service education of junior high school teachers in Taiwan.
Evaluation and Program Planning, 35(3), 398406. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.
evalprogplan.2011.11.007.
Chen, X. P., Eberly, M. B., Chiang, T. J., Farh, J. L., & Cheng, B. S. (2014). Affective trust in
Chinese leaders linking paternalistic leadership to employee performance. Journal of
Management, 40(3), 796819. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0149206311410604.
Cheong, R. (1995). The virtual threat to travel and tourism. Tourism Management, 16(6),
417422. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0261-5177(95)00049-T.
Chitravanshi, R. (2012, Aug 6), 20% of ofine travel companies have shut shop in the past
few years, Business standards. Retrieved from http://www.business-standard.com/
article/companies/20-of-ofine-travel-companies-have-shut-shop-in-the-past-few-
years-112080600053_1.html
Chu, R. J., & Chu, A. Z. (2010). Multi-level analysis of peer support, Internet self-efcacy
and e-learning outcomesThe contextual effects of collectivism and group potency.
Computers & Education, 55(1), 145154. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2009.
12.011.
Clarke, E. F. (2005). Creativity in performance. Musicae Scientiae, 9(1), 157182 (Re-
trieved from http://www.escom.org/proceedings/ESCOM2002/sources/Pdf/Keynote/
Clarke.pdf).
Colquitt, J. A., Scott, B. A., & LePine, J. A. (2007). Trust, trustworthiness, and trust propen-
sity: A meta-analytic test of their unique relationships with risk taking and job per-
formance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 92(4), 909. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0021-
9010.92.4.909.
Crosby, A. (2013). Creativity and performance in industrial organization. Vol. 3, Routledge.
Davis, F. D. (1989). Perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and user acceptance of infor-
mation technology. MIS Quarterly, 13(3), 319340. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/249008.
Dexter, S. (2011). School technology leadership: Artifacts in systems of practice. Journal of
School Leadership, 21(2), 166189 (Retrieved from http://www.editlib.org/p/51370/).
Dhar, R. L. (2015). Service quality and the training of employees: The mediating role of
organizational commitment. Tourism Management, 46, 419430.
Dorogovtsev, S. N., & Mendes, J. F. (2013). Evolution of networks: From biological nets to the
Internet and WWW. Oxford University Press.
85
Edvardsson, B. (2005). Service quality: Beyond cognitive assessment. Managing Service
Quality: An International Journal, 15(2), 127131. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/
09604520510585316.
Ertmer, P. A., Bai, H., Dong, C., Khalil, M., Hee Park, S., & Wang, L. (2002). Online profes-
sional development: Building administrators' capacity for technology leadership.
Journal of Computing in Teacher Education, 19(1), 511. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/
10402454.2002.10784453.
Flanagan, L., & Jacobsen, M. (2003). Technology leadership for the twenty-rst century
principal. Journal of Educational Administration, 41(2), 124142. http://dx.doi.org/10.
1108/09578230310464648.
Forsman, H., & Annala, U. (2011). Small enterprises as innovators: Shift from a low per-
former to a high performer. International Journal of Technology Management, 56(2/3/
4), 154171. http://dx.doi.org/10.1504/IJTM.2011.042980.
Ganguly, B., Dash, S., & Cyr, D. (2011). The inuence of website characteristics on trust in
online travel portals in India: The moderating role of demographic and psychograph-
ic variables. Tourism Recreation Research, 36(1), 5768 (Retrieved 18.06.2015, from
http://diannecyr.com/Ganguly_Dash_Cyr2011.pdf).
Hair, J. F., Jr., Black, W. C., Babin, B. J., Anderson, R. E., & Tatham, R. L. (2006). Multivariate
data analysis (6th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Hayes, A. F. (2009). Beyond Baron and Kenny: Statistical mediation analysis in the new
millennium. Communication monographs, 76(4), 408420.
Hayes, A. F. (2012). PROCESS: An analytical primer and computational tool for observed
variable moderation, mediation, and conditional process modelling. Retrieved 13.
05.2015, from http://www.afhayes.com/public/process2012.pdf
Isaksen, S. G., & Trefnger, D. J. (2004). Celebrating 50 years of reective practice: Ver-
sions of creative problem solving. The Journal of Creative Behavior, 38(2), 75101.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/j.2162-6057.2004.tb01234.x.
Jaiswal, N. K., & Dhar, R. L. (2015). Transformational leadership, innovation climate, crea-
tive self-efcacy and employee creativity: A multilevel study. International Journal of
Hospitality Management, 51, 3041. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2015.07.002.
Jones, P., & Pizam, A. (1993). The international hospitality industry: organizational and op-
erational issues. Pitman Publishing Limited.
Karatepe, O. M. (2013). High-performance work practices and hotel employee perfor-
mance: The mediation of work engagement. International Journal of Hospitality
Management, 32, 132140. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2012.05.003.
Kaur, M., & Sharma, N. (2015). State tourism websites in India: A comparative study.
Global Business review (GBR), 67 (Retrieved from http://gkv.ac.in/fwd/Final-GBR-
2015.pdf#page=70).
Kim, Y., & Glassman, M. (2013). Beyond search and communication: Development and
validation of the Internet Self-efcacy Scale (ISS). Computers in Human Behavior,
29(4), 14211429. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2013.01.018.
Kwon, K., & Rupp, D. E. (2013). High-performer turnover and rm performance: The
moderating role of human capital investment and rm reputation. Journal of
Organizational Behavior, 34(1), 129150. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/job.1804.
Lather, A. S., Garg, S., & Vikas, S. (2015). Identifying training problems of travel agency
employees across India using structured equation modelling. International Journal of
Indian Culture and Business Management, 10(4), 409432. http://dx.doi.org/10.1504/
IJICBM.2015.069643.
Law, R., Buhalis, D., & Cobanoglu, C. (2014). Progress on information and communication
technologies in hospitality and tourism. International Journal of
Contemporary Hospitality Management, 26(5), 727750. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/
09596111111130029.
Law, R., Leung, K., & Wong, R. (2004). The impact of the Internet on travel agencies.
International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 16(2), 100107.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/09596110410519982.
Liang, T. L., Chan, L. C., Lin, C. W., & Huang, Y. L. (2011). Relationship between leadership
behaviors and task performance: The mediation role of job satisfaction and the mod-
eration role of social distance. African Journal of Business Management, 5(14),
59205928. http://dx.doi.org/10.5897/AJBM10.743.
Lin, C. H., Chiu, Y. H., & Huang, C. W. (2012). Assessment of technology gaps of tourist ho-
tels in productive and service processes. The Service Industries Journal, 32(14),
23292342. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02642069.2011.593170.
Love, C. R. (2014). The inuence of the emotional intelligence management curriculum to im-
prove college Students' intrapersonal and interpersonal skills to impact leader behavior
and team performance effectiveness. (Doctoral dissertation) North Carolina Agricultur-
al and Technical State University (Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/
docview/1655587947).
Lu, Y., Zhou, T., & Wang, B. (2009). Exploring Chinese users' acceptance of instant messaging
using the theory of planned behavior, the technology acceptance model, and the ow
theory. Computers in Human Behavior, 25(1), 2939. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.
2008.06.002.
Lubbers, R., Loughlin, C., & Zweig, D. (2005). Young workers' job self-efcacy and affect:
Pathways to health and performance. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 67(2),
199214. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2004.03.002.
McKercher, B., Packer, T., Yau, M. K., & Lam, P. (2003). Travel agents as facilitators or inhib-
itors of travel: Perceptions of people with disabilities. Tourism Management, 24(4),
465474. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0261-5177(02)00107-3.
Molz, J. G. (2012). Travel connections: Tourism, technology, and togetherness in a mobile
world. Routledge.
Mosley, D. C., Jr., Boyar, S. L., Carson, C. M., & Pearson, A. W. (2008). A production self-ef-
cacy scale: An exploratory study. Journal of Managerial Issues, 272285 (http://dx.
doi.org/103.37.201.123).
Munday, J. (2013). Introducing translation studies: Theories and applications. Routledge.
Ngai, E. W., Law, C. C., Chan, S. C., & Wat, F. K. (2007). Importance of the internet to human
resource practitioners in Hong Kong. Personnel Review, 37(1), 6684. http://dx.doi.
org/10.1108/00483480810839978.
86 A.P. Srivastava, R.L. Dhar / Tourism Management Perspectives 20 (2016) 7786

Nijland, N., van Gemert-Pijnen, J., Boer, H., Steehouder, M. F., & Seydel, E. R. (2008). Eval- Stone, M. F., & Ngongoni, N. (2015). Measuring effectiveness of aid agencies: The effect of
uation of Internet-based technology for supporting self-care: Problems encountered recipient participation on goal achievement. Social Science Research Network, 119.
by patients and caregivers when using self-care applications. Journal of Medical http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2640732.
Internet Research, 10(2). http://dx.doi.org/10.2196/jmir.957. Teo, T., Lee, C. B., & Chai, C. S. (2008). Understanding pre-service teachers' computer atti-
Peng, H., Tsai, C. C., & Wu, Y. T. (2006). University students' self-efcacy and their atti- tudes: Applying and extending the technology acceptance model. Journal of Computer
tudes toward the Internet: The role of students' perceptions of the Internet. Assisted Learning, 24(2), 128143. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2729.2007.
Educational Studies, 32(1), 7386. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03055690500416025. 00247.x.
Piper, D., & Hardesty, J. (2005). The inuence of school leadership and self-efcacy on Tsai, M. T., Cheng, N. C., & Chen, K. S. (2011). Understanding online group buying inten-
teachers' attitudes towards using computer technology in the classroom. In C., R., I., tion: The roles of sense of virtual community and technology acceptance factors.
K., J., R., & D. (Eds.), Proceedings of Society for Information Technology & Teacher Educa- Total Quality Management and Business Excellence, 22(10), 10911104. http://dx.doi.
tion International Conference 2005 (pp. 18371844). Chesapeake, VA: Association for org/10.1080/14783363.2011.614870.
the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE) (http://www.editlib.org/p/ Vrana, V., & Zaropoulos, C. (2006). Tourism agents' attitudes on internet adoption: An
19323/). analysis from Greece. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management,
Postman, N. (2011). Technopoly: The surrender of culture to technology. Vintage. 18(7), 601608. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/09596110610703039.
Preacher, K. J., Rucker, D. D., & Hayes, A. F. (2007). Addressing moderated mediation hy- Weng, C. H., & Tang, Y. (2014). The relationship between technology leadership strategies
potheses: Theory, methods, and prescriptions. Multivariate Behavioral Research, and effectiveness of school administration: An empirical study. Computers &
42(1), 185227. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00273170701341316. Education, 76, 91107. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2014.03.010.
Preacher, K. J., & Hayes, A. F. (2004). SPSS and SAS procedures for estimating indirect ef- Weng, C. S., Yang, W. G., & Lai, K. K. (2014). Technological position in alliances network.
fects in simple mediation models. Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, & Technology Analysis & Strategic Management, 26(6), 669685. http://dx.doi.org/10.
Computers, 36(4), 717731. http://dx.doi.org/10.3758/BF03206553. 1080/09537325.2014.923096.
Proctor, T. (2014). Creative problem solving for managers: Developing skills for decision mak- Wu, W. Y., Chang, M. L., & Chen, C. W. (2008). Promoting innovation through the accumu-
ing and innovation. Routledge. lation of intellectual capital, social capital, and entrepreneurial orientation. R&D
Richardson, J. W. (2011). The dearth of technology leadership coverage. Journal of School Management, 38(3), 265277. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1467-9914.00120-i1.
Leadership, 21(2), 210216 (http://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ923551). Yldrm, S. (2012). Teacher support, motivation, learning strategy use, and achievement:
Sathyanarayanan D., (2014, Mar 12). Travel agents reboot to compete with online portals A multilevel mediation model. The Journal of Experimental Education, 80(2), 150172.
like MakeMyTrip, Cleartrip, Yatra, Economic Times Bureau Retrieved: 10.09.2015, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00220973.2011.596855.
from http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2014-03-12/news/48154353_1_
madhavan-menon-vacations-exotica-thomas-cook
Salwani, I. M., Marthandan, G., Norzaidi, D. M., & Chong, C. S. (2009). E-commerce usage
and business performance in the Malaysian tourism sector: empirical analysis.
Information Management & Computer Security, 17(2), 166185.
Seyal, A. H., Rahman, M. N. A., & Rahim, M. M. (2002). Determinants of academic use of
the internet: A structural equation model. Behaviour & Information Technology,
21(1), 7186. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01449290210123354.
Ms. Anugamini Priya Srivastava is a research scholar at Depart-
Shamala, P., Ahmad, R., & Yusoff, M. (2013). A conceptual framework of info structure for
ment of Management Studies, Indian Institute of Technology
information security risk assessment (ISRA). Journal of Information Security and
Roorkee. Her interest areas are leadership, optimism, and em-
Applications, 18(1), 4552. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jisa.2013.07.002.
ployee performance.
Shanker, D. (2008, May). ICT and tourism: Challenges and opportunities. Conference on
Tourism in IndiaChallenges Ahead. Vol. 15. (pp. 17) (Retrieved: 4.10.2015, from
http://dspace.iimk.ac.in/bitstream/handle/123456789/185/50-58.pdf?sequence=1).
So, S. I. A., & Morrison, A. M. (2004). Internet marketing in tourism in Asia: An evaluation
of the performance of East Asian national tourism organization websites. Journal of
Hospitality & Leisure Marketing, 11(4), 93118. http://dx.doi.org/10.1300/
J150v11n04_07.
Spencer, A. J., Buhalis, D., & Moital, M. (2012). A hierarchical model of technology adop-
tion for small owner-managed travel rms: An organizational decision-making and
leadership perspective. Tourism Management, 33(5), 11951208. http://dx.doi.org/
10.1016/j.tourman.2011.11.011.
Srivastava, A. P., & Dhar, R. L. (2015). Training comprehensiveness: Construct develop-
ment and relation with role behaviour. European Journal of Training and Dr. Rajib Lochan Dhar is an assistant professor in Department of
Development, 39(7), 641662. Management Studies Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee.
Srivastava, A. P., & Dhar, R. L. (2016). Authentic leadership for teacher's academic opti- His interest areas are commitment, training, performance man-
mism: Moderating effect of training comprehensiveness. European Journal of agement, and leadership. He has research work published in a
Training and Development, 40(5), 321344. number of esteemed journals.
Srivastava, A. P., & Jaiswal, D. (2015). Leaders' positive expectations and subordinate per-
formance: A study of academic professionals [dagger]. South Asian Journal of
Management, 22(3), 727.