Hospitality Curriculum Research Articles

Investigating Hospitality Graduates Knowledge, Skills and Abilities Using Delphi Technique

A specific gap identified from literature on graduates knowledge, skills and abilities showed that none has studied in the context of industry perspectives using Delphi technique.This study used Delphi technique and distributed three rounds survey questionnaires among 16 representatives of four and five star lodging in Peninsular Malaysia. The Delphi analysis ended up with 69 items represent hospitality graduates knowledge, skills and abilities in the context of Malaysian hospitality program.The items were categorized into four domains namely Workplace, Academic, Management and Personal Effectiveness.The study highly contributes to the implementation of Delphi technique as effective tool in determining the graduates knowledge, skills and abilities. Further, it also assists the academic institutions specifically in Malaysia by strengthening the foundation of hospitality curriculum taking into account the four identified domains.

Authenticating the learning environment

ABSTRACTThe research documented in this paper argues that the authentic learning environment is achievable through “academic practitioners” who can ground business education and research within practice. A culture fostering the academic understanding of the practitioner environment enables practical engagement with academic rigour. The case study illustrates specific examples from degree programmes engaging with student and academic voices, with a particular focus on the development of authentic learning experiences for tourism and hospitality students. Key aspects of business education need embedding within the development of tourism and hospitality curricula in order to engage with the tacit knowledge required by the sector through a holistic approach to curriculum development.

Enhancing the learning and employability of hospitality graduates in China

The aim of this study was to examine how experiential learning (EL) activities influence the employability skills of entry-level hotel employees/graduates and their resulting learning satisfaction. Four hypotheses pertaining to the constructs of EL, employability skills and learning satisfaction were developed on the basis of a comprehensive literature review. The results of 450 valid questionnaires were tested within the proposed structural model using AMOS, showing EL to be positively associated with employability skills and learning satisfaction. Further, employability skills were found to mediate the relationship between EL and graduate learning satisfaction. The study's findings will benefit the career development of hospitality graduates and the validation of universities’ hospitality curricula.

Sustainable development in the accommodation sector: A social dilemma perspective

This paper identifies and analyses a specific psychological barrier that plays a crucial role in explaining why the tourism accommodation sector so far has only made a limited contribution to sustainable development. This barrier represents a so-called social dilemma and relates to behavioural patterns and conflicting interests of relevant stakeholders and their inability to resolve the resulting lock-in. Through presenting and reviewing the outcomes of three empirical studies and relating them to relevant literature, this paper explores the details of this particular social dilemma. It also establishes promising avenues for moving beyond the current stagnation point. The paper concludes that there is an urgent need for more research into the social, cultural and psychological structures and barriers that lock-in the behaviour of relevant stakeholders. However, it is also concludes that actually resolving the dilemma is a shared responsibility of all stakeholders and requires more than just research, for instance setting up galvanising action groups and adjusting tourism and hospitality curricula.

Graduate study in hospitality management in the United States: master of science programs

ABSTRACTAs the higher education sector of hospitality management continues its growth in the United States, there has been an increasing need to fortify the foundation of information on master’s programs. Gaps in knowledge regarding institutional characteristics, admission requirements, degree requirements, and identity of the hospitality core curriculum have been identified through reviews of existing literature. This study focused on gathering objective, secondary data to fill those gaps and provide descriptive information that will be useful for program administrators, faculty, and prospective graduate students in the United States. The results of the study indicate a lack of strong identity in the hospitality curriculum and diverse options for students regarding degree requirements.

A Longitudinal Investigation of the Importance of Course Subjects in the Hospitality Curriculum: An Industry Perspective

ABSTRACTUtilizing a longitudinal approach, this study examines the importance of course subjects in hospitality curriculum from the perspective of the industry professional and identifies changes in the importance of course subjects over the last 10 years using data collected in 2004, 2009, and 2014. Findings suggest that internship/industry experience, preparation for industry employment, leadership, hospitality management and organization, and ethics have been consistently ranked as the most important top five course subjects by industry professionals during the last 10 years. This study identifies a number of course subjects that have been decreasing in importance for the industry and a number of course subjects that have emerged as critical course subjects over time. The most important factor in developing a curriculum that ensures graduates’ success in their career is the hospitality program’s ability to deal with change. Suggestions and implications for hospitality programs are provided.

The complexities of assessments in professional hospitality education

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to highlight some inadequacies of the position of lecturers’ qualifications to design assessments within hospitality curricula while meeting the requirements of international and national quality frameworks.The Framework for Qualifications of the European Higher Education Area leaves the responsibility for designing appropriate teaching and assessment strategies in the hands of educators without fully recognizing the complexity of formulating the desired learning outcomes. Additionally, the subject-oriented background of the majority of educators within universities of applied sciences seems to be ignored in respect of its influence on assessment design. Design/methodology/approach – This paper reflects on the author’s experience in designing courses, teaching and assessment strategies at the NHTV University of Applied Sciences in The Netherlands, as well as observations of processes at other universities of applied sciences. Findings – The author argues for a uniform delineation of hospitality professional qualifications which integrates learning outcomes from international, national and industry profiles. It is proposed that course design should start with assessment design to achieve alignment with learning outcomes and instructional strategies. Universities of applied sciences will have to train course designers in advanced assessment methods and encourage all faculty to acquire appropriate didactical training in assessing students. Practical implications – This paper offers a view on the strategy necessary to ensuring adequate preparation of lecturers in the areas of writing–learning outcomes and preparing assessment. Originality/value – The value of the paper lies in the fact that it is a unique critique of pedagogy in Dutch universities of applied sciences.

Chinese Hospitality Students’ Perceptions of Diversity Management

Given China’s rapid modernization, the recent focus on diversity management (DM) in hospitality curricula, and their prospects as managers in national and multinational hospitality organizations, 361 Chinese university hospitality students were the subjects of the present study. The aim was to determine and examine these potential managers’ understanding and perceptions of DM and its characteristics and their willingness to employ DM in their future workplaces. Primary data were gathered via a structured questionnaire, then analyzed using descriptive and advanced statistics. Although the Chinese students understood the essence of DM, their thorough knowledge of DM was disappointingly weak and their perceptions of DM were inconsistent. Furthermore, not all of the respondents were willing to employ DM in their future workplaces. Therefore, it is recommended that Chinese universities include DM in their hospitality curricula and engage qualified educators to deliver DM so as strengthen their students’ knowledge of DM.

Best Practices of Lyceum of the Philippines University and Dusit Thani Tie Up: Inputs to Program Competitiveness

Hospitality education has been a widely studied area in a hospitality curriculum evaluation. Internationalisation and linkages increases the quantity of graduate's efficiency in the way institutions are managed and producing graduates and professional's global outlook ready to be hired by internationalized economies. The Lyceum Hospitality curriculum was developed to integrate an in depth academics, laboratories and field internship programs that will ensure the efficiency and quality to meet worlds class standards. Thus, the purpose of this study was to investigate the tourism and hospitality management awards and linkages and its inputs to program competitiveness. The research was an avenue to evaluate the program competitiveness of Lyceum of the Philippine University-Batangas in the hospitality industry. The researcher used retrospective method of research in analyzing existing data provided by the CITHM department and internship office. The researcher utilized open ended interview and focus group discussions among faculty members of CITHM and students. The gathered data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. The results revealed that the program competitiveness of LPU-B is a manifestation of the different awards, recognition and citations at both local and international scene. The linkages are marked by the placement of the On the Job Training (OJT) graduating students at different levels of the hospitality industry both locally and internationally.

Motivations, Expectations, Perceptions, and Preferences in Secondary School Tourism and Hospitality Curriculum

With the introduction of the new senior secondary academic structure in Hong Kong, in which Tourism and Hospitality Studies (THS) has been included in the elective curricula, understanding the effectiveness of the curriculum and its influence on the interests of students in further studies and in working in the tourism and hospitality industry is of great importance. This study collected data from 567 secondary school students taking THS and identified their study motivations, expectations, perceptions, and preferences with respect to the curriculum, as well as their preferences with regard to further studies and their future career. Results indicate that students chose THS because of their interest in the field of tourism and hospitality and in pursuing a career in the industry. Students preferred hotel management as the learning area both in THS and in further studies. Students also indicated their strong interest in pursuing a career in aviation and theme park management.

The Determinants of Hospitality Internship Quality From the Perspectives of Three Stakeholders: A Case From Taiwan

Although internships have been widely incorporated into the hospitality curriculum, primarily students’ perceptions toward internship quality are addressed in the literature, which lacks a deeper insight into the perceptions of industry organizations and academic institutions. This study makes an initial attempt to fill this gap in the literature by involving all three stakeholder groups—student interns, industry organizations, and academic institutions—in the discussion. Using the analytic hierarchy process method, the results show that industry organization plays a critical role in determining the quality of hospitality internship programs and that the development of practical skills acts as the strongest influencing factor, followed by supervisor leadership. The results of the study lay the groundwork for the development of an objective evaluation model for hospitality internship programs, allowing both industry and academia to identify areas of weakness and make further improvements to quality for student interns.

Prerequisites of preparedness against earthquake in hospital system: a survey from Iran.

Background and Objective:Considering the history of frequent, and severe, earthquakes in Iran and the importance of health care service delivery by hospitals in these cases, having a plan to deal with disasters should be considered a priority. The aim of this study was the observance of preparedness prerequisites against earthquake in hospitals affiliated with Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences (SBUMS) and its relationship with demographic and organizational characteristics.Methods:This was a cross- sectional study that was conducted in 15 hospitals affiliated with SBUMS, Iran in 2012. Data were collected using observation of documents and questionnaire consists of 138 questions in 8 dimensions. The content validity and reliability were confirmed. Data analysis was performed with descriptive statistic, t-test and ANOVA.Results:Results showed that 86.7% of hospitals were in good preparedness level, with the average 85.9 ± 15.5. The maximum and minimum level of preparedness was related to mitigation of construction hazards (56.6 ± 35.6) and support of vital services (97.2 ± 6.0) dimensions, respectively. According to the results, there was a significant statistical difference between mean preparedness and safety of equipment and hazardous materials, hospital evacuation and field treatment, hospital environmental health proceedings, hospital curriculum programs and support of services dimensions with management experience (P<0.05).Conclusion:Although results corroborate that preparedness prerequisites against earthquake are in good level but attention to the weaknesses mitigation of construction hazards dimension and strengthening these prerequisites, which have obvious impacts on the structural vulnerability of hospitals and adjacent buildings in earthquakes, have been proposed.

Tourism and Hospitality Curriculum for Rural Communities Neighbouring National Parks in Zimbabwe

The tourism and hospitality industry in Zimbabwe today, is the third largest foreign currency earner after agricultural exports and mining products. The industry is grounded on the country’s unique cultural and natural heritage which is made up of sensitive ecosystems encompassing national parks and wildlife. The growth of tourism stimulating increasing investments in the industry may trigger adverse long term effects of developments in biodiversity and loss of wildlife. It is therefore vital that communities living next to tourist attractions be educated so that they practise eco-tourism or sustainable tourism as a matter of priority. The focus of this article is to identify a curriculum for the education of communities living in and around tourist attractions in Zimbabwe. Such a curriculum should equip the communities with the requisite understanding to preserve and protect their environment effectively applying contemporary and traditional knowledge systems. In a bid to come up with an education curriculum and training programmes incorporating tourism and hospitality education, some 145 out of a population of 300 respondents were interviewed in and around the tourist resort areas of Nyanga, Harare, Bulawayo and Victoria Falls. The article extends a realistic and practical framework for the development of a curriculum and training-programme-guideline for communities incorporating “Tourism and Hospitality” as a subject.

Developing and evaluating a hospitality skill module for enhancing performance of undergraduate hospitality students

This study develops and evaluates a 12-week hospitality skill module (HSM) for undergraduate hospitality programs in Taiwan to enhance student hospitality performance. A quasi-experimental design, with a sample of 101 students, was used to examine the effect of HSM intervention. The results show that students receiving the HSM intervention significantly enhance their hospitality performance and learning motivation. Student feedback also confirms that the HSM can increase their learning interest and experience. This study provides a useful template and implications for curriculum designers and instructors infusing core values and applications of commercial hospitality in an undergraduate hospitality curriculum.

Sustainability in Hospitality Education: The Industry's Perspective and Implications for Curriculum

We examined hospitality industry managers' perspectives on sustainability in education based on in-depth interviews with 11 managers in Northern California. We found general agreement that sustainability should be incorporated into the hospitality curriculum because it has become a new standard in the hospitality industry. The interviewees also agreed that students should learn about sustainability in a comprehensive way rather than focusing only on 1 dimension (i.e., protecting the environment) so that they can operationalize the concept in any given situation. Meanwhile, each manager's definition of sustainability varied, despite some commonalities. Our findings imply that the hospitality curriculum should be updated and more progressive to help students harness conceptual and practical competencies about sustainability.

A Consulting Approach to Embedding Decision-Making Skills Into the Hospitality Curriculum

Hospitality management educators are charged with developing students' key abilities in preparation for their entry into the industry. These abilities include communication skills, interpersonal skills, ability to make difficult decisions, and conceptual skills. One means by which educators can meet the needs of their students and industry professionals is through the use of experiential learning, specifically consulting. This article uses experiential-learning literature, decision-making skill development literature, and consulting literature to propose a framework for embedding decision-making skills within experiential-learning opportunities. This article also illustrates the use and appropriateness of the framework through a case-study approach.

The uses of Facebook© technologies in Hospitality curriculum on an experiential learning platform for a new generation of students

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the applications of the social networking software, Facebook, currently practiced by “expert user” faculty teaching within a Malaysian Higher Education Hospitality Diploma programme. Of particular interest is whether the faculty experiences with Facebook reveal its functional appropriateness for use on an experiential learning platform. The aim is also to prompt further research and experimentation with the medium on teachers and students.Design/methodology/approachPhenomenological: the researcher uses a focus group to enable the essence of teachers' experience in the utilisation of Facebook as a teaching and learning tool within the syllabus of their taught subjects in a shared hospitality curriculum to emerge.FindingsThe experiences divulged in the focus group reveal the use of Facebook as an “effective” medium for reflective purposes in relation to experiential teaching and learning activities and as a mechanism for reflective and extrapolative cognition on experiential or practical classes.Originality/valueThis lies in the focus on actual Facebook use within the syllabi of a Faculty “community of practice”. It also lies in the focus of the paper on applications within a Hospitality curriculum. In relation to marketing, the visual materials discovered to be uploaded by teachers and students on Facebook are perhaps the real teaching and learning experiences of students that could be used by marketers for promotional purposes utilising the paradigm of experiential marketing and a service‐dominant logic.

A Framework for Service Learning in Hospitality and Tourism Management Education

Service learning has gained substantial recognition as an effective type of pedagogy and has aided in the national movement for enhanced civic education across the disciplines. To date, some tourism and hospitality educators have explored integrating service learning, a type of experiential pedagogy, into their courses; however, there remains a lack of understanding of this type of learning in this field. The purpose of this article is to offer a framework for creating and implementing effective service-learning strategies into hospitality and tourism courses and curriculum.

How Important Is Sustainability Education to Hospitality Programs?

Although sustainability is at the forefront globally, awareness of its importance within the hospitality curriculum of universities in the United States has been limited. This study appraised importance of sustainability education in hospitality curriculums by assessing students, educators, and industry leaders in the United States. Results revealed significant differences between these stakeholders as to environmental attitudes, behaviors, interest in sustainability, and the significance of environmental concerns in a hospitality curriculum. Results also showed how the stakeholders' views were different with regard to the relevance of environmental topics in the hospitality curriculum and how best sustainability theory and practices can be taught.

Human Resource and Organizational Management Content in the Hospitality Curriculum: How the Professionals View It

In this study the authors investigate the importance professionals working in the hospitality industry attach to key content areas taught in hospitality human resource and organizational management courses as they relate to the success of hospitality graduates. The authors also sought to determine if differences existed between various demographic subgroups based on industry segment, position, industry experience, and educational attainment. Results indicated practitioners perceived both human resource and organizational management expertise as critical but placed greater importance on organizational management knowledge. Analysis of the demographic subgroups identified differences in perception but only a few of these rose to the level of significance.