DIRECTION FOR THE FUTURE OF HOSPITALITY EDUCATION IN CHINA

WTTC International Conference, Human Resources for China’s Travel & Tourism Industry

16 January 2008 at JW Marriott Hotel Shanghai

DIRECTION FOR THE FUTURE OF HOSPITALITY EDUCATION IN CHINA

Prepared by Dr. Judy Siguaw

DeanCornell-Nanyang Institute of Hospitality

Management



Agenda• Status of hospitality education now in China?

• Potential impact of current curriculum

• Where should hospitality education be?

• Why raise standards?



VOCATIONAL SCHOOLS



Broad knowledge, no depthYear 1

• Semester 1 (21 weeks)Business Monitoring & ControlCommunication & Information Tech Food Service OperationsHospitality Tourism ConsumerHospitality Business EnvironmentIntroduction to Hospitality OperationsIntroduction to GastronomyManaging People and Organisations

• Semester 2 (21 weeks) Business Performance

Research and Project ManagementFood Services ManagementEvents ManagementHospitality & Tourism MarketingFacilities & Property OperationsAccommodation ManagementOrganisational BehaviourHuman Resource Management

Year 2 ■ Semester 3 Minimum 800 hours Industry Placement in Food & Beverage■ Semester 4 Minimum 800 hours Industry Placement in Rooms Division

17 courses in 42 weeks or 51credits in less than one year



Vocational Faculty Qualifications

• Bachelor degree, at best• Little depth of knowledge in subject matter



College and University Level



In 10 months time . . .



21 courses or 63 credits in 10 months



In 3 years time …



College Faculty Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degrees with some Master’s degrees



• Majority of general managers have a three-year vocational college education.

• Source: Lan Li, Eliza Ching-Yick Tse, Lishan Xie (2007)

General Manager Qualifications



University Curriculum – 3 years• The Operation & Management

of Hotel Capital• The Operation & Management

of Front Office• The Operation & Management

of Housekeeping• The Operation & Management

of Food & Beverage• Hotel Personnel Management• Sales & Marketing for Hotel • Knowledge on Western-style

Food• Beverage & Bar Management

• Hotel Engineering Management

• Hotel Law Practice• Hotel Management Practice• Chinese Cookery• Western Cookery• Guide & Travel Agency

Management• Mandarin• Basic Knowledge for Guides• Knowledge-guide Operation• Guide Simulation



University Curriculum• HOTEL MANAGEMENT SPECIALTY

– English– Tourism Economy– Tourism Psychology– Hotel Service Skills– Management Theory and Application of Modern

Hotels– Housekeeping Management of Modern Hotels – Catering Management of Modern Hotels – Hotel Marketing – Tourism Laws – Wine Knowledge and Cocktail Making Skills – Food Nutrition and Hygiene

　



University Faculty Qualifications

• Less than 20 per cent may be PhD holders.

Source: South China Morning Post 2004



Agenda• Where is hospitality education now in China?






Potential Impact • Providing degrees while offering little

knowledge or skill enhancement– Diminishes value of hospitality degree

• Producing unqualified/unemployable graduates

• Perpetuating poor perception of hospitality as a career path

• Failing to elevate the industry as a respected and desirable profession



Global State of Affairs• “The current state of tourism education is not meeting

the industry's expectation. Industry executives and managers are not satisfied with graduate performance. The industry is not appealing to graduates - how to narrow this gap is a strategic problem facing China's tourism and hotel education programme development. The current curriculum is outdated; it needs to be updated in line with industry expectations. Good, quality educators are rare. In order to upgrade the educational quality of tourism programmes to an international level, the provision of intensive training to educators will be necessary.” Source: Zhang and Wu (2004)









Hospitality Management Certificate – 1 semester

• Mgmt. Of Human Resources in the Hospitality Industry

Hospitality Elective (Choose one from below) 3

• Nutrition• Sales and Conventions

Management• Hotel Organization and Front

Office Management• Restaurant Development• Understanding WinesTotal Required Credits

18

Crdts

Major Core Requirements 15

• Service in the Hospitality Industry

• Exploring the Hospitality Industry

• Hotel and Restaurant Law

• Cost Control for the Hospitality Industry OR

• Cost and Portion Management



HOSPITALITY MANAGEMENTAAS Degree/Diploma – 2 years

– General Education Requirements (Communications,ISocial and Behavioral Sciences, IHumanities & Fine Arts, Math/ Sciences)

– Microsoft Office – Applied Foodservice

Sanitation – Service in the Hospitality

Industry – Quantity Food Preparation for

Hospitality Managers – Exploring the Hospitality

Industry – Hotel and Restaurant Law – Management Accounting for the

Hospitality Industry – Cost Control for the

Hospitality Industry or Cost and Portion Management

– Mgmt. of Human Resources in the Hospitality Industry

– Organizational Behavior in the Hospitality Industry

– Professional Development for the Hospitality Industry

– Internship in Hospitality Management

– Major Core Electives (Choose four courses from the following) • Food Service Purchasing • Nutrition • Sales and Conventions Management

• Hotel Organization and Front Office Management

• Food Service Systems • Understanding Wines

– Total Credits 66



University Level – 4 years• Introduction to Hotel

Operations • Introduction to Food Service

Operations • Writing Seminar• Hospitality Quantitative

Analysis • Hospitality Development and

Planning• Hospitality Facilities

Operations• Financial Accounting• Managerial Accounting• Culinary Theory and Practice• Microcomputing• Introduction to Information

Systems Management • Business and Hospitality Law

• Restaurant Management • Service Operations

Management • Finance• Hospitality Financial

Management • Organizational Behavior

and Interpersonal Skills • Human-Resource Management • Managerial Communication I • Managerial Communication

II • Microeconomics for the

Service Industry • Marketing Management for

Services • Strategic Management



University Curriculum – 4 years

• Students must take a minimum of 12 credits of Hotel School electives at the 300-level or higher. – At Cornell, the choice is from approximately 40

elective courses ranging from revenue management to facilities design to asset management to beverage management to advanced business modeling to real estate law to intercultural communication to marketing research to structured financial products and everything in between.

• Students also take distributive and free electives —courses in the humanities and social and physical sciences



University Curriculum – Masters Degree• Managerial Accounting• Finance• Operations Management• Marketing Management• Development • Organizational

Behavior

• Strategy• Information Systems• Human Resources• Communications• 4 Career Track

Electives



Faculty

• Over 95% of faculty are doctoral degree holders – many formally trained in business schools.









Why Raise Standards?

• The gap between hospitality education and industry's expectation must be narrowed. – Failure to do so will slow the

development of the hotel industry and the massive shortage of talent in the hospitality industry will not be overcome.



Why Raise Standards?• The hospitality industry has advanced in terms of

technology, information systems, and even management styles. – New job functions and specializations which did not exist

ten or even five years ago. – Extensive experience alone is not sufficient; many of the

newer skills and knowledge required for today’s sophisticated business environment have to be learned outside the organization.

– Industry problems are more complex, requiring manager-scholars.



Why Raise Standards?• Hiring people with the right skill sets and

educational qualifications makes financial sense, as the organization will spend less money training them and they will have a much faster learning curve.

• The new knowledge that recent graduates bring to the organization can be cherry-picked by savvy managers and disseminated to staff who may have been out of school for some time.



Why Raise Standards?• A cadre of well-educated staff will ensure greater viability and long-term financial performance for the organization. – These staff will have a broader vision and understanding of global competition.



Why Raise Standards?• The greater degree to which the industry values education and is populated by educated personnel, the more the hospitality industry will be perceived as a professional career option. – In turn, increasing numbers of both graduates and non-graduates will view the industry as the career of choice.

– Note: 3.2 million personnel are needed for hospitality positions in China, but in 2007, 1.2 million college graduates in China had no job offers.

[Source: Xinhua News Agency, China.org.cn, 2007]



Thank You