Editorial

Citation

Teare, R. (2007), "Editorial", International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Vol. 19 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijchm.2007.04119caa.001

Editorial

I should like to thank Conrad Lashley, Professor and Director of the Centre for Leisure Retailing, Nottingham Business School, Nottingham Trent University for compiling this special issue on current themes and developments in hospitality management education.

Earlier versions of the articles published in this special edition of the International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management were presented at the Fifteenth Annual Research Conference of the UK’s Council for Hospitality Management Education (CHME). The conference was hosted by the Centre for Leisure Retailing in Nottingham in May 2006. The articles featured here were selected because they have a bearing on the nature of hospitality management work and the skills needed by managers, and educational provision for hospitality management. For more details about hospitality management education in the UK, please contact CHME or Stephanie Jameson at Leeds Metropolitan University. Jameson and Walmsley’s (2006) A Review of Hospitality Management Education in the UK 2006 provides a comprehensive picture of the provision of hospitality programmes. The report was sponsored by Compass Group.

Burgess’ article investigates the financial skills needed by hotel managers at department and unit level. Recent research projects on the skill sets needed by managers in hotels suggests that they need to be able to manage costs, revenues and profits based, on a sound understanding financial principles. Hotel managers are frequently over reliant on centralised corporate financial systems and lack sufficient skill to optimise cost reductions and revenues at local level. Findings from this research confirms that corporate financial controllers are concerned by hotel companies over use of financial systems, and under use front line management exercising the skills needed to respond flexibly to the dynamic hotel environment. The article has implications for the development of in-company management training programmes and for course design and learning outcomes built into higher education programmes.

Connolly and McGinn’s article also explores the realities of management practice in hotels, though in an Irish setting. Failte Ireland’s tourism strategy points to the need for high performance work practice in hotels and in the wider hospitality and tourism sector. The strategy argues that in a highly competitive tourism market, giving primacy to excellence in visitor experiences can generate more customer repeats and recommendations to visit Ireland. This research explores the current human resource management practices of hotels in Dublin to establish the extent that they are consistent with high performance work practices. The article demonstrates that whilst some employee management practices are appropriate, there are low levels of employee participation in decision making which many authors, and researchers argue is a major requirement of high performance practice. Again, this article shows that there are implications for management development in more participative styles, together with internal management control and audit systems that change working practices in hotels. The article also has implications for the content of taught programmes in higher education. It is important that higher education provision lays down the necessary conceptual models and skills required of managers to work in this more participative environment.

Alexander reflects upon some of the debates about the aims of a hospitality management higher education. In particular, he suggests that programmes need to consider the educational processes, curriculum and teaching strategies most likely to lead to the development of reflective practitioners. That is, managers capable of exercising a range of vocational skills but in a thoughtful, analytical and critical manner. This article suggests that operational training in hospitality management needs to be carefully considered, because it can be overly concerned with some of the technical skills required of operative training, whilst at the same time under valuing general principles, theories and concepts. The article suggests that calls for programmes to include more liberal education components have the potential to teach graduates to think critically. This article has implications for course teams on hospitality management programmes, and for those designing and delivering in-company management development programmes.

Scott’s article is also concerned with workplace skill preparation, in particular the contribution made by the work placement element of degree programmes. The paper reports on a successful partnership between Glasgow Caledonian University and BAA, operators of Glasgow Airport. Students report increased confidence and improved service skills as a result of their work at the airport. They also felt the practical experience of working in industry assisted learning when they returned to the university. Graduates who had completed the programme felt that it helped them to gain full-time jobs because they had practical experience and an improved sense of what employers were seeking. Industrial work experience based round skill development and the portfolio evidencing work life skills is a valuable model, and the partnership between the university and the employer is exemplary and provides a blueprint for other to apply.

Best, Lashley and Rowson’s article also reviews a partnership relationship between a university and a commercial hospitality business. Nottingham Trent University awards an Advanced Diploma in Leisure Retail Management to managers who successfully complete the JD Wetherspoon “Pub Manager” programme, together with an assessment package which includes a business plan. Research conducted by the university shows that managers completing the award out perform managers in the pub estate as a whole. The article suggests that this form of partnership resulting in what are in effect “corporate universities” is an increasingly popular provision. It is estimated that the number of corporate universities will double by the year 2010 and several major licensed retail companies are now developing similar initiatives. Participants are able to gain a university award whilst at work, they have no debt, and improve their managerial performance as a result. The university team is able to support the company in its attempts to professionalize its management, and improve unit manager performance. The article also provides a model for evaluating the impacts of education and training interventions that could be employed by both university teams and professional in-company trainers. In fact, the model has been used by many companies in the licensed retail sector. Punch Taverns, for example, have demonstrated that tenants who complete the X Factor programme increase sales, profits, service quality and customer satisfaction, and reduce staff turnover.

Finally, a research in brief article, based on the work of consultant Mandy Lane of Live Tourism, suggests an approach to visitor experiences which has relevance to tourism planners and to hospitality operators. The article is informed by a model for improving visitor experiences which has been used to inform destination management in a number of regional plans for tourism in England, and is currently being applied in the planning of the Olympics in London 2012. Essentially, the model puts visitor or guest experiences at the centre of the planning and management in tourism and hospitality sectors. As with Failte Ireland’s Tourism policy the model recognises the linkage between visitor experiences and employee performance, and thereby with more participative management techniques. The framework can be used by hotels, restaurants, as well as bars cafes and pubs to plan their guest experiences as well as to understand the contribution they make to the totality of the visitor experience. Certainly, it is important to ensure that hospitality managers understand that the emotional dimensions of service are key to building competitive advantage able to produce sustainable business success. The article has relevance to educators as a model to inform hospitality management programmes and to prepare students for management roles. It also has applications for industry practitioners as a means of informing their approach to business management and performance evaluation.

I hope that this collection of articles will provide use useful insights on current strands of research and some if the current debates amongst academics and practitioners.

Conrad LashleyGuest Editor

Richard TeareEditor