Abstract
This research sets out to test the hypothesis that the effects of technological innovation with computers, in the hospitality industry, may be related primarily to the values and attitudes of the managers who might propose the innovation. Ways of thinking about the innovation are made explicit by the manner of its introduction. Secondary factors may then be used to support change by means of structural and/or procedural modifications to the organisation. Taken together it is proposed that these elements determine the effect of the technology. An examination of the literature shows that existing studies tend to take the view that technology is an exogenous, independent variable though a primary, contingent factor affecting organisation structure and the relationships of organisation members. There appears to be no necessary reason why this should be so. Some technology is generated endogenously and it may be argued that organisations may seek to shape their own technological environment. In the context of technological innovation with computers, conflicting views between theorists may be observed. A computer system may change the information environment of managers and others, with important consequences. Attempts to depoliticise the nature of technological innovation may support more neatly the impact of technology paradigm but are hardly tenable when tested against an empirical model. The situation is rendered more complex by the fact that few existing studies are set in the context of a service industry. In view of this theoretical incoherence, the research has used a technique of methodological triangulation in order to study management innovation decisions in the hospitality industry. A survey was conducted to obtain a world view and a point of comparison for management attitudes. Repertory grid techniques were employed to obtain a measure of attitudes at the individual level. Finally, grid analysis was used in conjunction with case studies in order to obtain a holistic perspective. Consequently the differing effects of power and politics may be discerned more clearly and some factors which may be used to predict the likely effects of a technological innovation with computers were identified.