Just-in-time education: tools for hospitality managers of the future?

Just-in-time education: tools for hospitality managers

of the future?

Wonae Cho

Assistant Professor, Hospitality and Tourism Management Program, University of

Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky, USA

Claire D. Schmelzer

Associate Professor, Hospitality and Tourism Management Program, University

of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky, USA

Introduction

Today's hospitality industry comprises a

growing number of regionally and globally

dispersed multi-unit firms. The increasingly

complex nature of how these firms are

organized, along with the continuous state of

change and uncertainty in all sectors of the

business environment, create a situation that

requires constant learning for all managers.

In the context of managing these

organizations, corporate officers are faced

with many situations that require them to

make decisions involving people's function

in a variety of business environments.

Within units and individual properties, the

workforce is evolving from a stable group of

people with similar cultural backgrounds, to

a group of temporary and longer-term

personnel from varied cultures. As a result,

managers at this level require skills similar

to those of their corporate and regional

counterparts.

Throughout organizations, the knowledge

requirements of managers and employees are

changing. Conceptual as well as technical

skills and knowledge are the foci. Learning to

think critically and to collaborate effectively

are necessary skills if managers are to

become better decision-makers at any level.

Rapid advancements in technology are also

having a great impact on the way service is

provided and commerce is conducted in all

types of businesses. In the hospitality

industry, technological advances are

becoming the norm among larger firms as

they globalize and strive to remain

competitive. Most of the major hotel

companies have adopted advanced

technology, such as real-time reservation

systems, Internet connections for conducting

electronic commerce, and smart cards.

Among restaurant firms the World Wide Web

has emerged as an advertising base; and

extensive use of the intranet for inter-unit

communication and online purchasing is

becoming more common. These favorable

strides in information technology indicate

that today's hotel and restaurant businesses

are moving forward. Furthermore, as

technology becomes user-friendly and less

costly, more firms in the hospitality industry

will embrace this trend, become more

competitive, and be better able to succeed in

the new millennium.

These continuing advances and subsequent

changes among hospitality firms pose several

questions for industry trainers and academic

educators. Are we preparing students and

managers for the constantly changing and

complex workplace of the twenty-first

century? Should the activities of academic

classrooms and industry training programs

be altered to reflect the future workplace?

Some organizations have begun to realize

that the ability to think critically and to

collaborate effectively are important skills

that should be imported to the workplace.

They believe that these skills will be

necessary as businesses make the transition

from a capital-based economy to one that is

knowledge-based, and are considering ways

in which their managers could become

competent in these areas.

Re-educating managers comes at a great

cost and is usually focused on corporate level

personnel. However, the multi-unit

structure, geographically dispersed location

of units, and intense service demands put on

today's hospitality companies require

managers in each unit or property to develop

some of the same skills as corporate officers.

At this level managers are being asked to

function as sound decision-makers, solid

team leaders, and effective collaborators to

solve the problems facing both their internal

and external customers.

To address the need for re-educating

managers in the hospitality industry, a

conceptual model is presented, which

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[ 31 ]

International Journal of

Contemporary Hospitality

Management

12/1 [2000] 31±36

# MCB University Press

[ISSN 0959-6119]

Keywords

Just-in-time,

Hospitality management,

Management education

Abstract

A conceptual model that

incorporates critical thinking,

collaborative learning, and

just-in-time education is presented

for use in the hospitality industry.

The theory and constructs of the

model and a method for applica￾tion to the industrial training

setting are explained. The

concepts of the model have

relevant application to both

industry and academic education

settings. Continuing education

opportunities, which are designed

using the proposed model, would

allow current managers in the

industry to update their decision￾making, problem solving and

communication skills. .