Tuning knowledge ecosystems: exploring links between hotels’ knowledge structures and online government services provision

The development of knowledge-based business opportunities in many economic sectors worldwide is often conceived through a silo-mentality, whereby efforts are focused in either industry or government entities in isolation. Without a systemic or holistic understanding of connections between these, any present or future project evaluation becomes either input- or output-based instead of having a comprehensive understanding of its impact. In order to address such a challenge, this empirical study focuses on the Spanish hospitality sector, which currently thrives by continuously accessing external and internal sources of knowledge, thus offering opportunities to conceptualise it as a knowledge ecosystem. Lessons learned from the Spanish hospitality sector will inform the way online government services can be better designed as part of a knowledge ecosystem for a more effective use by hotels. This will, in turn, yield further opportunities for innovation in the hospitality sector. A structural equation model validated by factor analysis of 130 hotels is used to assess the extent to which hotels currently benefit from online government services. This study concludes that online government services can be better fostered by nurturing external communities while also setting up internal working communities and practices. The model and its implications can also inform initiatives which seek to pursue ecosystem-oriented research and practice, as well as future policy and technology transfer initiatives.