Information technology competency and knowledge management in the hospitality industry service supply chain

Purpose This study aims to provide a better understanding of how information technology (IT) competency and knowledge management (KM) contribute to service supply chain (SSC) (coordination, collaboration and efficiency) practices in the hospitality industry. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on tourism businesses, this study tests the structural relationships of IT competency, KM and SSC. Structural equation modeling is performed to test the hypotheses. A survey of 494 hotels in Iran provided empirical evidence for the existence of interrelationships between multiple constructs. Findings The analysis demonstrated that IT competency is significantly associated with KM. Furthermore, SSC practices are found to be directly impacted by KM and IT competency. Originality/value This study unpacks the mechanism that operates between IT competency, KM and SSC and contributes to the academic research on SSC in the context of the hospitality industry.