Ahead of the pack through vision and hustle: a case study of information technology at Rosenbluth Travel

Rosenbluth Travel has grown from a regional travel agency with $40 million in annual sales to one of the five largest agencies in the US, with sales of over $1 billion. Their strategy was based on exploiting the structural changes initiated by airline deregulation in 1978, including the growth of the corporate travel market and increasing economies of scale leading to consolidation. IT was a fundamental part of this strategy. The case sheds light on several theories on gaining competitive advantage through IT: technology leadership, leveraging critical resources, the role of IT infrastructure and switching costs. While these theories contribute to an explanation of Rosenbluth´s success, a critical factor appears to be the vision to see an opportunity and the ability to hustle to exploit it