The Productivity Paradox and the Hospitality Industry

During the ′60s and ′70s computers were first used to automate clerical procedures such as record keeping, accounting, billing and report generation; and in manufacturing they were used to automate the manufacturing process itself. In this phase of IT’s introduction, there is some evidence of their contribution to overall productivity, but by the end of the ′80s there was increasing concern about the real contribution computers had made, particularly to productivity. This was dubbed the “productivity paradox”. This paper considers relevant published research on this subject in the hospitality industry and elsewhere, and describes the results of a recent survey which sheds further light on the issue. It goes on to identify a research agenda on this subject which is being followed at the University of Surrey.