Evaluation Guide for the Institutional Academic Management of an Educational Hospitality Program Based on the Soft System Methodology (SSM)

The chapter looks at the Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) as an alternative that is oriented to analyzing the subject of the study in situations with a high level of human involvement, such as education and hospitality, with the aim of evaluating them with a transformative approach and a holistic foundation. Based on the use of this methodology, furthermore, the chapter focuses on a proposed evaluation guide on the academic and administrative management of institutions that educate in the field of hospitality considering the following components: a) academic profile – teacher work program; b) teaching – learning process; c) supporting infrastructure and equipment; d) director management; e) students; f) entailment to the labor sector; g) efficiency terminal; and h) recognition program.

The Role of Human Resources in Hotels in China

There was a famous saying from the celebrated hotelier, “king of hoteliers and hotelier to kings,” Mr. Cesar Ritz, that a good person is priceless (Leng, 2013). Human resources has always played a very important role in hotels. This is because the hotel industry is a labor-intensive industry that requires great contribution and support from human resources to identify and recruit the required staff, train and manage the manpower to fill the various jobs, and retain and develop the talented employees for greater responsibilities or higher positions. This chapter displays the changes of the role of human resources in hotels in China and its significant impact of the changes to the industry. In addition, this chapter also provides its unique points of view in the part of Solutions and Recommendations and in the part of Future Research Directions.

The Next Generation of Leaders

The low number of female (expatriate) leaders in today's hotel management industry within the global business environment is a concern to most scholars writing on female executives. Most studies focus on the difficulties women face, while a minority of them examine the sources of their success. For academicians, it has been proven time and time again that differences between male and female do not warrant the fact that there are less women in leadership positions in the hotel and hospitality industry due to the claim that men are more qualified than women. For practitioners, however, many organizations have managed to demonstrate to the contrary of academicians, through the practice and maintenance of its corporate culture. The purpose of this chapter is to address two sets of stereotypes about female leaders in the hotel management industry: 1) the glass ceiling, the glass cliff, the glass border, and the pink collar ghetto or patterns of employment ghettos; and 2) the three persistent myths regarding female leaders in the hotel management industry.

Work Integrated Learning in Higher Education Hospitality Courses

This chapter reports on a qualitative study looking at Work Integrated Learning (WIL) in a higher education institution. The empirical dataset for this qualitative study was collected through student and industry focus groups and individual semi-structured interviews with Masters students and managers of hotels in Sydney, Australia. The study provides an understanding of the key concepts, issues, and methodologies of applying WIL practices. The results show that a formal qualification together with a structured work placement develops students' knowledge and skills and is beneficial in developing a hotel management career.

The Application of Six Sigma in the Hospitality Industry

This chapter reviews various methods or tools used in modern organizations to improve customer satisfaction and productivity against the relevant body of literature and the popular business performance improvement methodology called Six Sigma. Starwood Hotels and Resorts was the first company in the hotel sector to adopt this system organization-wide in January 2001. Six Sigma is a highly structured performance improvement methodology that is predominately based on project work. This study reveals how Six Sigma can assist managers to improve performance in three main areas: improve customer service, product quality, and the quality of decision making from improving organization-wide processes.

Identity and E-Learning

Globalisation is changing the worlds of work and education. Although the hospitality industry has always operated at an international level, today's educators must prepare future managers for an increasingly diverse global world where we are all connected via technology in ways that were unimaginable even 10 years ago. Educators face strategic decisions about how and when they integrate technology into their programs. Transnational e-learning spaces, which are affecting the way we operate in our daily lives both at work and learning, have opened up. Educators need to fully understand what happens within these spaces—to the learners and to learning—in order to ensure that the quality of learning and the learning systems. This chapter considers ways in which hospitality management education can be enhanced through a focus on e-learning and identity.

Hospitality and Business English Teaching Reform

This chapter presents the theoretical and practical guidelines concerning Hospitality and Business English (HBE) education of Beijing Hospitality Institute (BHI) with a particular emphasis on the conceptual framework and an innovative Learner-Centered Approach resulting from the HBE teaching and learning reform program. The rationale of this research is grounded on the constructivist theory and its fundamental ideas; a mixed research method was employed to carry out the empirical research on the captioned reform; the findings of this study revealed that the ongoing reform has turned out to be on the right track, which is closely associated with the specific needs of the hospitality industry, and specifically relating to its growth. Future research directions are also indicated at the end of the chapter with a focus on the implications of the newly established Center of Experiential Learning for HBE of BHI – a new and innovative learning platform that enables hospitality management students to acquire more hands-on knowledge and job-related skills in the competence-based areas of Business English Communication.

Exceeding Guest Expectations

In this chapter, the researcher presents a series of scenarios of how guest expectations can be exceeded. The world of hospitality revolves around satisfying guest needs and providing quality service. As chain hotels around the world strive to offer the best service and to create brand loyalty, one wonders who is really providing quality service. It is no secret that international hotel brands try to engage their guests by anticipating their needs and providing a personalized service. By pointing out different practices used by worldwide hotel chains to ensure they exceed their guests' expectations, hospitality students can gain an understanding of what it means to create a customer for life. These examples will give them the knowledge to understand how to act in order to engage with guests. In addition, students could realize how to use empowerment efficiently for the benefit of their guests and their organization.

Building Capacity by Managing a Mission

This chapter contains explanations on how a mission can be used and managed to build capacity within an organization. It investigates and defines the meaning of capacity building by analyzing its elements and purpose. In addition, the chapter describes the leadership style for building capacity through a mission and provides an explanation and description of three phases in building capacity for an organization. The intention of the chapter is to present the rationale for mission statements as a strategy and the anchor for capacity building. The research reveals that an organization's mission statement is an effective tool only if it has an inspiring purpose that is understood by the whole community. This means that simply having a statement is not sufficient to fully incorporate a mission. Rather, the mission statement needs to be properly managed to ensure that the whole community of an organization feels or senses the words expressed in the statement in its daily life at work.

Craft-Based Learning

Practical training is without doubt one of the most important areas in hospitality education as it is where students are introduced to the basics of the industry, while stimulating their curiosity and passion towards customer service, as well as instilling in them the entrepreneurial mindset needed to succeed in a very competitive and dynamic industry. This chapter describes an approach to practical training, not only by looking at the theoretical and practical subjects taught during the first semesters of the program, but also by understanding how the new generation of young adults learn and how we can help them develop different skillsets as they continue their education. From a practical perspective, Craft-Based Learning (CBL) is fundamental in getting young adults ready for a challenging international career in hospitality, as they will develop knowledge and hard and soft skills through a “learning by doing” approach.