A study on the reasons of principal-agent conflict in information systems investment decision-making processes

The tourism sector is in change and transformation depending on technological developments. Businesses in the tourism industry invest in information systems to effectively manage these changes, but this is a difficult process and can cause conflict among stakeholders. The aim of the research is to determine how the process is in the decision-making processes for information investments planned to be made in hotel businesses and what the conflict is between the principal and agent in this process. In the research, descriptive phenomenological design method, one of the qualitative research methods, was used. The study group of the research consists of managers and business owners in 4 and 5 star hotel businesses operating in the tourism sector in Antalya between 2022 and 2023. In this context, a total of 30 people, 15 of whom are agents and 15 are principals, were interviewed. Research data were collected with a semi-structured interview form. The collected data were analyzed with the descriptive phenomenological analysis method using the MAXQDA 22 program. As a result of the study, by making use of the experiences of the interviewed principals and agents; how the decision-making process to invest in information systems is realized and the reasons for the conflict in this process have been determined. It has been determined that "internal factors, external factors and the operation of the process" are effective in the decision-making process to invest in information systems. It has also been concluded that the conflict in the investments made is caused by "differences in purpose, change, differences in decision-making style, personal differences, sharing scarce resources and employee-related deficiencies" between the principal and the agent. In this study, how the investment process in information systems in the tourism sector is and the main themes and suggested solutions for principal-agent conflict regarding investment are discussed.