中間化、去中間化、再中間化－傳統旅行社與網際網路融合過程

Abstract

網際網路越來越普及，通訊基礎建設與法令也逐漸推動成熟，網路消費習慣也漸漸養成，而旅行業電子商務的可行模式，在經過大量成功或失敗的實驗驗證之下，趨於明朗；旅遊產業發展至今的趨勢而言，旅遊上游供應商紛紛上網尋求商機；新型態網際網路的中間商藉由網際網路新媒介快速竄起，傳統旅行社生存空間受到擠壓，傳統中間商角色開始動搖；因此本研究主要探討的是，傳統旅行業者在面對網際網路的衝擊下，如何掌握目前有限的資源，發展電子商務，降低成本，強化企業本身的競爭力，達到傳統旅行業「再中間化」的角色，提升本身的營運績效，使得網際網路的出現變成一種助力，而非阻力。因此面對去中間化如何創造再中間化，便是本研究最大的動機與目的。

而所謂「中間化、去中間化、再中間化」主要是以Chircu & Kauffman(2000)對於中間商面對新資訊科技應用，所發生的現象及遇到的困境，以及所能採取的策略所做的文獻整理。其中，中間化是指新的公司以新提供者、創新服務或是競爭者(相對於傳統中間商)的角色進入價值鏈中以連結買方與供應商的現象，在電子化商務的市場中即提供了資訊聚集代理者的新角色，稱為資訊中間者，它們站在買方為其向賣方做溝通，並透過需求的匯聚造成更大的買方力量，以旅行社為例即為新型態的網路旅行社；去中間化，當中間商被其它公司排擠開，或是中間商所提供的服務在市場上能夠以其他方式所取代且使交易得到相同的結果，便發生去中間化現象。電子商務中，傳統中間商的存在將有可能會使產品的成本增加(來自於對產品服務的索價)，因此背後存在著強烈的誘因排除中間商；再中間化，發生於傳統的參與者在市場中能夠採用創新的方式執行交易，這種創新的方式通常是藉由資訊科技來增加價值，因此能夠對抗那些造成去中間化的競爭者。本研究即對此概念性架構作一探討，並建構合理的經營模式供旅行業者參考。

Along with increasing penetration of the Internet, establishment of communication infrastructures and regulations and development of e-customer behaviors, the future of e-commerce for travel industry is getting more and more positive. The development trend of travel industry nowadays shows many upstream suppliers are seeking on-line business opportunities. Traditional travel players have been threatened due to the emergence of new Internet indermediaries. The paper discusses in encountering strong impacts caused by vigorous growth of the Internet, how traditional travel agencies apply limited resources to develop e-commerce, keep the cost down, improve competitiveness, and finally come disintermediated to optimize operational performance. Hence, the Internet is beneficial not harmful. The purpose of this study is to investigate the process of traditional travel firms being reintermediated while encountering disintermediation.

The intermediation, disintermediation and reintermediation (IDR) framework propsed by Chircu & Kauffman(2000) explains how middlemen, in the presence of information technology innovations, change firm-level strategy choices and the structure of the marketplace. Intermediation describes the entry of a new company into the value chain that connects a buyer and a supplier, either as a provider of new and innovative services, or as a competitor to existing intermediaries. These new middlemen, also called infomediaries, can act on behalf of buyers in their interaction with sellers, leading to greater buyer power through the aggregation and consolidation of demand. Disintermediation occurs when a middleman gets pushed out by other firms, or when the services it provides become irrelevant in a marketplace that offers other ways to get the same kind of transaction done. In IT-mediated market, since intermediaries significantly increase the costs of the products, there is a strong incentive for their elimination from the value chain. Reintermediation occurs when the traditional player is able to adopt new and innovative ways for conducting transactions, often enhanced by the application of IT, and thus effectively fight back against other competitors that have created the pressures for disintermediation. In this context, the IDR framework is discussed to propose a workable business model as reference for travel firms.