It was an appropriate reality check for future hoteliers taking the upper level class that brings together all parts of their education -- marketing, finance, human resources, operations -- and focuses on strategic management and competitive thinking by studying real life situations. 
 

�From the mid-90s to now, hotel marketers have been order takers, but since last spring and September 11th we have to work smarter to get business.  We have to sharpen our competitive skills,� said Love of John Love International Hospitality and Tourism Consulting firm and Lecturer at SFSU. �What�s different from the last market drop off in the late �80s

John C Love

Love added that the industry has embraced the Internet for reservations and yield management �but now our sales people need to be more competitive using new information to bring in business.�

To teach this skill to graduating seniors Love assigns ten case studies in seminar format each semester.  His lessons come from texts like Strategic Management in Action by Mary Coulter and Robert Lewis' casebook, Cases in Hospitality Strategy and Policy.  He also uses current industry writings such as an article on handheld technology "We Have Seen the Future and It Is Smaller" by Michael Squires, president of Softscribe Inc., to interject thought provoking ideas into the roundtable discussions.  The article first appeared in Hospitality Upgrade magazine, Spring 2001, and Love spotted it on the industry�s Hotel-Online news feed.

�Once you give someone information, it forces them to take action it.  The whole nature of handheld equipment around the hotel is about giving information to everyone � this is the type of technology that can change the nature of management control systems,� said Love, referring to the article. �If the trend of getting information to everyone in the organization is embraced by our industry, we will see big changes in operations.� 

Why should hospitality industry executives be interested in the type of training received by the incoming work force? 

Love said there are about 160 schools in our country offering four-year hospitality-degrees, and their output does not come close to meeting the industry�s needs.  �Schools only have four years to reach the students.  Hotel majors are getting an education oriented toward our industry, but hotel schools cannot train people for a particular company,� Love continued. �Hopefully we�re teaching them to think and develop the problem solving skills that are needed by the entire industry.� 

An upper level class focusing on strategic management and competitive thinking is not unique in hotel education; most business schools offering a Hotel Management degree provide all graduating seniors with a course like Love�s. The SFSU bookstore offers a supplemental Student Reader of handouts to reflect industry changes happening daily and to ensure thinking skills are honed on current events.  This year�s lead article is by Squires and other pieces are generated by John Love.

About San Francisco State University

San Francisco State University is one of the nation's leading public urban universities with over 100 years of history.  SFSU ranks fifth in the nation as a producer of ethnic minority university graduates.

The school�s Bachelor of Science in Hospitality Management is awarded through the College of Business. This interdisciplinary program prepares students for careers in the hospitality industry and includes basic core courses and an area of concentration. The areas of concentration are Commercial Recreation and Resort Management from the College of Health and Human Services; Hotel Management from the College of Business; and Restaurant and Institutional Foodservice Management from the College of Health and Human Services. The core curriculum combines strengths in management with technical skills and internship opportunities in each area.