Hospitality Management (HM)

An introduction to the process of research; problem-solving approaches; the research proposal and the development of the research question.

Hospitality services marketing.

In competitive and dynamic business environments, adopting sound and innovative solutions is critical for the success of most organizations. In this light, the purpose of this course is to help students develop skills necessary to analyze performance issues both quantitatively and qualitatively and to evaluate implemented solutions following sound principles of research design. In addition, students will develop skill in communicating research verbally and in writing for management audiences. Fundamentally, this course will equip students to analyze and solve organizational problems using systematic, scientific methods.

This course provides a cross-disciplinary perspective to help students analyze, understand, translate, and incorporate common forms of hospitality data in their decision-making processes when designing and executing data-driven strategies. Course topics focus on the application of data analytics in decisions related to labor and human resources, investments, marketing, quality, performance, and security, with the view of advancing a hospitality firm's competitive position. Utilizing cutting-edge analytic software and techniques, students will gain hands-on experience in real-world hospitality contexts through data management, data visualization, and descriptive and predictive analytics.

This course is a doctoral seminar in HM (Hospitality Management) that addresses the conceptual foundations of the HM knowledge base.

This course is a doctoral seminar in HM (Hospitality Management) that addresses multivariate data analysis techniques used in hospitality management.

Continuing seminars which consist of a series of individual lectures by faculty, students, or outside speakers.

Supervised student activities on research projects identified on an individual or small group basis.

Creative projects, including nonthesis research, which are supervised on an individual basis and which fall outside the scope of formal courses.

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This course examines of the nature of the hospitality industry at a macro level, along with the environment in which the hospitality industry operates. This course provides an overview of characteristics that distinguish the hospitality industry from other industries and addresses the primary strategic and socio-economic issues relevant to hospitality enterprises. In addition, the course focuses on the complexes of ownership, franchise and brand structures; strategic issues relating to human capital management; and branding and customer loyalty. Current events, market forces, and global trends will be integrated throughout. Ultimately, the course will provide students a broad and integrative overview of the hospitality industry and will foster critical thinking and better decision making.

This course details the various processes involved in a hospitality real-estate investment. It addresses how potential investors determine the feasibility of a hospitality real-estate investment (market indicators, capital budgeting, and valuation methods). The topics include the various types of management agreements in use in the hospitality industry (franchising, management contracts, other types of affiliation, branding, and licensing), as well as the prevailing financing methods in the industry (mezzanine, recourse or non-recourse, and conduit loans). The course focuses on how investment and financing decisions can optimize firm value, the decision frameworks used to select various forms of financing, and hospitality asset valuations. The course also addresses the differing interests of the stakeholders involved in the investment process (owners/investors, financing entities or institutions, and operating companies).

Profit optimization requires the careful coordination of capacity and demand management efforts. This course takes a three pronged approach to addressing the coordination of these efforts. First, it focuses on demand management, and short-term forecasting to predict and influence demand. Second, it examines key capacity management challenges, capacity planning and workforce scheduling, using both optimization and simulation modeling to derive capacity management decisions that balance customer satisfaction with cost efficiency goals. This course addresses the overarching role of pricing in balancing capacity utilization and demand. Pricing will be addressed from a strategic and a tactical perspective, with an emphasis on profit maximization across all revenue-generating assets within the organization, and a profit-oriented approach to distribution channel management.

Marketing of hospitality services needs to address special challenges such as controlling service encounters and customer perceptions of the co-creation process. The first part of the course will tackle how to manage customer expectations during the consumption experience, and thus ensure customer satisfaction. The role of artificial intelligence in shifting customer expectations will also be addressed. The second part of the course will address how to use digital and social channels to promote a hospitality brand. Digital marketing can be executed within social media, search engine optimization, internet, mobile devices and other channels. The role of online reviews is particularly important in the context of travel services. The course will also touch upon topics dealing with marketing in the sharing economy and crisis management implications for marketing global hospitality services.

The human element is vital to the success of any organization, particularly in the hospitality industry. Regardless of the functional area in which students choose to work, they will be required to work with, manage, and lead other people. Therefore, an understanding of leadership and the dynamics of working in and with groups and teams is vital to students' future success. The purpose of this course is to provide students tools for successfully leading teams of employees to enhance organizational performance. Particular areas of focus will be on understanding motivation, individual differences, power and influence, diversity, group dynamics, and conflict management. Students will be familiarized with these content areas and given the opportunity to apply knowledge of them through project-based work, group assignments, experiential activities, and case studies.

This capstone course serves as the culminating requirement for the program, requiring students to synthesize and apply the concepts, skills and insights acquired in previous coursework and in practical work environments (either internships or work experience). The course draws on applied readings, industry expert presentations, lessons, and peer discussions. Students will select a hospitality company at the beginning of the course and analyze it over the duration of the course. The case study analysis will focus on a specific area of interest, such as marketing, technology, human resources, organizational culture, finance or operations. As part of the analysis, students will identify and analyze company mission and vision, and relevant internal and external factors that may impact the future strategic direction and decision making of the company. The analysis culminates in a final strategic plan. The final project assesses students' oral and written communication and presentation skills, as well as their analytical and strategic planning abilities. All students will provide their peers with professionally formulated feedback during the course and upon the completion of project presentations.

Supervised, professionally oriented, off-campus, non-group instruction, including field experiences, practicums, or internships. Written and oral critique of activity required.