Dana V. Tesone

A World Ranking of the Top 100 Hospitality and Tourism Programs

The article provides an analysis of scholarly contributions to 11 hospitality and tourism refereed journals for the years 2002 to 2006. It presents the top 100 programs as ranked by instances of publications across 11 journals for a recent 5-year period. For the 5-year period, results indicate The Hong Kong Polytechnic University in the top position based on sums of instances, authors, and articles. Second, the researchers updated, modified, and extended a previous study published by the Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research for similar information for the years 1992 to 2001. Following the update, an additional 15-year aggregate snapshot of research output for top producing institutions provided a top 18 over the last 15-year period. Next, researchers provide an updated analysis by contribution and world region among the specific journals with results indicating a large growth in the number of articles produced in Asia going from 6% of all publications over the earlier 10-year period from 1992 through 2001 to nearly 15% of published articles over the past 5-year period from 2002 through 2006. The article concludes with suggestions for the extension of similar studies and provides implications for hospitality and tourism educators.

Job competency expectations for hospitality and tourism employees: perceptions of educational preparation.

ABSTRACT This article presents the findings of a central Florida study of hospitality and tourism management practitioners. It reports the findings of practitioner perceptions of desired knowledge, skills, and attitudes. It further demonstrates the overall impressions of practitioners concerning levels of preparation for entry-level positions in the industry. Finally, the authors present conclusions and suggestions for central Florida collaborative initiatives aimed at improving the preparation of individuals from secondary and tertiary institutions for successful entry into hospitality and tourism industry employment.

Golf and club entry level management competencies

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to determine competency expectations for entry level supervisory employees in the golf and club management industry.Design/methodology/approach – The study was conducted with members of a Chapter of the Club Managers Association of America. A 20‐question survey was developed for the study to identify desired competencies to be acquired by the next generation golf and club management professional. The survey was distributed electronically.Findings – Competencies identified for entry level golf and club management positions were similar to those required for current effectiveness of club managers already in practice and comparable to the more recognized hospitality industries of restaurants and hotels. The findings also demonstrate the overall impressions of practitioners concerning levels of preparation for entry level positions in the industry.Practical implications – The paper presents conclusions and suggestions for collaborative initiatives aimed at improving the ...

The human dimension of online education: cyberstudents speak out

This paper reports on a survey of 129 online students at three different universities as to their perceptions of positive and negative aspects of taking online courses. The major categories of positive responses were in the areas of flexible class time, ability to attend class from anywhere in the word and the online pedagogy. The major negative aspects reported were technical problems, lack of face-to-face interaction, and the perception that online classes seem to require more time and work. The authors conclude that the online instructor is the single most important person in making the students experience a positive or a negative one and suggest that careful training and monitoring of faculty is a necessary early step in taking programs to cyberspace. Faculty performance along with well-oriented students, a help desk available for extended hours, a readily accessible online library system and a good platform for the online program are suggestions offered for maximizing the positive aspects and minimizing the negative.

Have human resource information systems evolved into internal e‐commerce?

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to discuss the impact of technology on the human resources (HR) function in organizations, in general, and in hospitality firms, in particular.Design/methodology/approach – The issue is presented through an extensive literature review, in addition to practical examples and demonstrations from the hospitality industry.Findings – The literature clearly points to a substantial incorporation of technology in HR operations, to the extent that human resource information systems (HRIS) are perceived today as internal e‐commerce. This transition offers significant potential but also raises challenges and concerns. In addition, certain constraints often prevent HRIS from being utilized to their full potential, and therefore need to be addressed at the managerial level.Practical implications – The review particularly raises the importance of managerial commitment to the successful performance of HRIS in organizations. In addition, suggestions for overcoming the barriers of the...

Prior Experience Satisfaction and Subsequent Fairness Perceptions Within the Service Experience

ABSTRACT Past service encounters provide powerful information about the future intentions of customers. This study examines 302 recalled customer service encounters and measures the differences in fairness perceptions of the service encounter outcome between new customers and previous customers, and then between customers with previous positive experiences and between customers with previous negative experiences. A significant difference existed between customers with previous positive experiences and those customers with previous negative experiences. Each group reported similar outcomes with their next visit, which leads towards a tendency of repeat performances for the business. The power of understanding the past experiences of the customer is valuable to service researchers and practitioners in understanding the importance of the perception the customer leaves with. It can govern the expectations the customers have as well as help predict the next experience the customer has with the business and influence what they tell others about the business.

Whole brain leadership development for hospitality managers

This article posits a model to describe a learning process that may be applied to the development of leadership practices of hospitality managers who are current practitioners in hotels, resorts and other hospitality establishments. The premise of the model is found in the academic disciplines of science and philosophy as they relate to leadership and learning theories. The article concludes with a suggested seven‐step method that may be used to enhance leadership development among workers in hospitality enterprises.

E-mentoring for professional growth

The benefits of mentoring for the protege have been well documented. More recently, mentoring has been shown to be beneficial to the mentor and the organization. At the turn of the century, however, individual mentors are often a luxury that excludes women, minorities, and many others in need of professional coaching. Fortunately, the rise of the Internet has helped alleviate this shortage by making e-mentoring a rapidly expanding alternative to the more traditional format. This paper builds the case that all professionals can benefit from both being a protege and being a mentor. It looks at the incidence of e-mentoring and the types of relationships and benefits that result. The authors suggest that e-mentoring should not replace the more traditional mentor-mentee relationship when it is available, but is a valuable substitute when supply and demand are not a good match. Likewise, e-mentoring can be a helpful substitute to the person-to-person mentoring relationship which is often organization-based as opposed to profession-based. Finally, the authors report on professional organizations that are taking an active role in mentoring junior members or even students and pose questions as to whether the IPCC might take a more active role in this type of professional development.

Increasing Minority Golf Participation Through PGA Education Initiatives

The article provides a report on the successful acquisition of the Professional Golfers Association of America (PGA) golf management university program by the University of Maryland, Eastern Shore (UMES). The PGA’s accredited program is housed at 20 universities with UMES being the first predominantly Black college to offer the coveted program. The article provides interview excerpts on the process undertaken by UMES. The article also identifies initiatives by programs and associations to increase minority golf participation.

The indexed minimum wage and hotel compensation strategies.

ABSTRACT This paper presents the potential economic effects of an indexed state minimum hourly wage upon certain sectors of the hospitality industry. The authors report the findings of a study conducted at a luxury resort that employed action research and organization development (OD) techniques to implement a compensation strategy aimed at mitigating the effect of an indexed minimum wage. The paper concludes with implications for human resource practitioners facing challenges from rising state minimum wage levels.