CHAPTER I CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER 6 CONCLUSIONS
This chapter presents the summary of the thesis with major findings. Section 6.1 presents the dissertation summary while summarizing the overall thesis. Section 6.2 is dedicated for the major research findings and Section 6.3 is devoted for the future work.
6.1 Dissertation Summary
Behavioral characteristics in terms of making travelers flexible are appealing and an important area of research. This research provides a comprehensive study focused on what makes a traveler flexible on the basis of his/her behavioral characteristics, hence, giving a crucial insight for designing of flexible Online Airline Reservation Systems.
This research therefore, contributes to the small but growing literature of designing flexible Online Airline Reservation Systems and provides a general framework by molding upon flexible behavior of travelers.
In this research a framework for flexible Online Airline Reservation Systems has been proposed, based on integrating opaque characteristics into the SBTs of airlines, to address the research gap as stated in Chapter l. The framework is based on categorizing travelers on the basis of their flexible traveling behavior. Travelers with least flexible behaviour may choose confirmed schedule offered by the airline with normal fare. Least flexible customers will get their contlrmed tickets with seats allocated and itinerary finalized at the time of booking. Since flexible travelers are flexible enough and have not indicated their preferred dates to fly, therefore, they can
be requested to provide their preferred time-frames in which they would like to travel instead of providing fixed schedule. Tickets to highly flexible customers will be issued at booking time but the seats and flight day will be notified only a week before their actual departure day. Thus, it becomes the responsibility of the arbitrator systems to manage and finalize their traveling itineraries as per their indicated time-frames.
Once done, the flexible customers can be allocated seats a few days before their actual departure by the airline.
To develop the framework, existing Online Airline Reservation Systems were examined to assess the flexibility and usability of the systems. The overall research was divided into three phases and each phase contains one core research objective which was achieved through quantitative and qualitative techniques to assess System's Flexibility, Users' Flexibility and Usability of the systems. A redesign solution for enhanced usability was developed based on HCI guidelines and the flexibility tactics used in online travel agencies. A new flexible Online Airline Reservation System design was applied, which led to a proposed interface with the integration of opaque mechanism. The two interfaces were used in the case study.
Participants were requested to complete the evaluation of the existing and proposed interfaces.
The benefit of framework given in this research can be used as a baseline for further studies and to design more flexible Online Airline Reservation Systems.
Moreover, the Users' Flexibility measuring scale established and tested in this research is also a significant research contribution for future studies to measure flexibility. This research builds on previous and ongoing work within the disciplines of Human Computer Interaction by introducing psychometric scales to measure Users' Flexibility in terms of compromising on service quality attributes of an airline.
Furthermore, this research introduces a new approach of reservations to increase the passenger load factor by leveraging upon travelers' flexibility. The Information System (IS) theory given through qualitative reporting is based on empirical findings, which is novel in its own right and testable in different environments.
6.2 Research Findings and Contributions
This study concludes that although System's Flexibility and Users· Flexibility are unequivocally independent of another. in terms of designing flexible Online Airline Reservation Systems. they are part of single quantum. While User's Flexibility is related to their purchase making decisions, Systems Flexibility. is reflected in its adaptability, adaptivity and personalisation. When considered together, the two can immensely enhance systems' perceived usefulness, as retlected in its effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction.
The overall aim of this research was to investigate the associations between System's Flexibility, Users' Flexibility and Perceived Usability of Online Airline Reservation Systems and to propose a framework for flexible Online Airline Reservation Systems. This research has been conducted to answer the research questions and achieve the desired research objectives. The objectives were used as guidelines for the development and analysis of proposed framework. The findings of this research based on the objectives are summarized below:
6.2.1 Objective 1
To assess user needs (System's Flexibility and Users' Flexibility) associated with Online A ir/ine Reservation Systems.
Findings- The literature was reviewed that revealed the facts that OTA's success immensely depends upon hidden or opaque characteristics. It was further revealed that an opaque characteristic depends on flexible behavior of travelers. Hence, it is important for the airlines to design their self-booking tools in view of customers' preferences, expectations and online usage behavior to run successful business.
Therefore, the same concept of opaque mechanism was adopted for integration into SBTs of airlines and considered a potential research gap. The framework proposed in this study moulds upon flexible traveling behaviour of users' too and integrated opaque characteristics in designing of flexible Online Airline Reservation Systems.
Since flexibility is referred to its ability to respond to internal or external changes.
Change can be defined as the transition over time which requires change a gent.
Researchers argued that "if the change agent is external to the system, then the change under consideration is a .flexible-type change" [12]. Therefore, in case of SBTs incorporated with opaque fares would serve the role of external change agent by way of providing flexibility in users' decision making. Similarly, "if the change agent is internal to the system, then the change under consideration is an adaptable-type change" [12]. Thus the provision of opaque fares into SBTs also serves the role of internal change agent by way of providing the capability of accepting changed decisions. If no change agent exists, then the system is rigid (no change can occur).
Since provision of opaque fares could make users flexible and also increases the adaptability of the system, it is expected that the usability of the system would be enhanced.
The opaque fare mechanism depends on hidden characteristics of the traveling plan, thus leveraging upon traveling behavior of leisure travelers, who are always up for grabs and less sensitive to traveling plans. The findings showed that it is highly recommended by the experts in the airline industry for integration into SBTs.
6.2.2 Objective 2
To propose a framework for designing more flexible Online Airline Reservation Systems while classifYing users on the basis of their Flexible Traveling Behavior.
Findings - The research revealed a framework for flexible Online Airline Reservation System based on the research scope as presented in Chapter 1. The framework is a general framework that can be applied to different reservation systems particularly, the Airline Reservation Systems due to their immense profit making potential and research gap as identified in Chapter 2 and framework methodology in Chapter 3. The framework is based upon investigating three research variables namely Users' Flexibility, System's Flexibility and Perceived Usability of Online Airline Reservation System. User's Flexibility is based upon the extent to which they can forgo or compromise on service quality attribute of the airline. By doing this users'