Investigating business travel process management within organisations

Transport is an important component in a nation's development, and so a poorly planned transport system can cause major economic, social and environmental problems. This is the case for countries and so too for organisations. In particular, for several types of organisational travel in the course of work, i.e. business or corporate travel, this is generally the second or third largest controllable cost and can be a significant cost, so this obviously directly influences balance sheets. As a result, a major challenge is how to reduce these costs. There is, however, a risk that such actions may adversely impact on the overall performance of the implementing organisations if an appropriate method is not employed. In terms of a research gap, it appears from previous work that there is a lack of understanding of the benefits and barriers related to organisational business travel and a lack of qualitative research on the impact of business travel on organisational processes. Accordingly, this research investigates the process implications of business travel within organisations. It does so by exploring issues related to business travel in order to assess the extent to which organisations can manage their business travel effectively in the current economic climate. [Continues.]