Hospitality Management

Description

Hospitality managers are usually involved in every aspect of their operation, which demands a good deal of multi-tasking. Doing the job requires a firm grasp of marketing and finance fundamentals; the ability to manage labor and economic challenges; the know-how to design and execute competitive strategies; to coach, provide counsel and manage stress among staff. As a manager, these qualities are essential, and this is the certificate program to help you develop them.

Learn from the professionals at one of the world’s most prestigious hospitality schools, the School of Hotel Administration at Cornell University. Take on best practices for the hospitality industry and develop the authority to manage a world-class operation.

This certificate explores the various functions of management and encourages a customer-focused approach to hospitality. Learn to accurately interpret and utilize financial statements, and prepare reports for corporate constituents and execs.

You’ll investigate the core principles of marketing and prepare a marketing plan that’s tailored for the hospitality industry. The core courses offer an overview of hospitality management, while the electives provide in-depth focus in one of five areas: marketing, finance, revenue management, foodservice and service excellence.

Get ready to advance your career, enhance your organization’s reputation and increase its profitability with this Hospitality Management certificate from eCornell.

Who Should Enroll in This Certificate?

Enrollment

Courses in this Certificate

• Understanding Team Dynamics

  • An organization is only as competitive as its management is capable. In order for an organization or business to meet goals and maintain advantage, sound leadership and organizational frameworks need to be in place to ensure that teams are working well together.

    Good management cultivates innovation and fosters productivity. Ineffective team management can lead to frustration, low morale, even loss of revenue. In this course, participants will explore the attributes of a well-organized team and learn how to assemble and lead a more energized, fulfilled and productive workforce.

    Course Format

    eCornell takes a problem-based approach to learning, and builds each course around realistic case studies and scenarios. All courses are self-paced, and are facilitated by an eCornell instructor, who leads the online discussions and is available to answer any questions about the course content.

    This course contains the following modules:

    • Teams and Team Goals.
      • Benefits of working in teams over working independently.
      • Establishing clear team goals.
      • Characteristics of effective goals.
      • Participatory goal setting.
    • Team Member Behavior, Norms, and Group Interaction.
      • Task functions and relationship functions.
      • Behaviors that encourage or harm member relations.
      • Developing healthy, productive group norms.
      • Strategies to deal with social loafing.
      • Factors affecting cohesion/cohesiveness.
      • Bales Interaction Analysis.
      • Five basic group structures and how they influence communication flow.
      • Characteristics of a well-functioning team.
      • The role of the participant observer.

    
    
    Benefits to the Learner

    After completing this course, you will be able to:

    • Explain the principles of group dynamics and development.
    • Describe the dimensions of team member behavior.
    • Assess how effectively a team functions.

    
    
• Managing People More Effectively

  • A principal goal of management is balance: encourage and maximize productivity and maintain a healthy work environment that fosters job satisfaction. A thriving workplace can be attributed to any number of things, but workplace dysfunction often begins with individual stress. Stress can be caused by any number of factors, including internal or external changes, pressures and threats.

    In this course, you’ll learn to recognize the signs of stress and assess whether or not an individual should undergo counseling or professional help. Failing to identify and alleviate stress in the workplace can lead to dysfunction and greater problems within the company, from low morale to diminishing revenues.

    You’ll learn coping strategies and stress-reducing techniques that managers and employees use to get their companies on the right track. In the second part of the course, specific coaching techniques and exercises are reviewed. Counseling skills are especially valuable for managers in the hospitality industry. Managers who have mastered the basic skills of coaching can improve productivity and serve as a helpful resource for their colleagues and within their organization.

    Benefits to the Learner
    After completing this course, you will be able to:

    • Recognize and manage your own stress-related symptoms.
    • Recognize signs and symptoms that indicate an employee may need your help managing stress-related problems, or may need professional help.
    • Implement appropriate and effective coaching strategies.
    
    
• Understanding Financial Statements

  • Leaders and managers interpret and utilize financial reports regularly. Reports can help assess the overall financial performance of the organization, a particular department, or even the competition—providing a basis for sound decision making and action.

    In this course, participants will learn how to read and interpret income statements, balance sheets and cash flow statements. By understanding these three principal financial reports, participants can conduct advanced analysis of their firm's financial performance.

    Course Format

    eCornell takes a problem-based approach to learning, and builds each course around realistic case studies and scenarios. All courses are self-paced, and are facilitated by an eCornell instructor, who leads the online discussions and is available to answer any questions about the course content.

    This course contains the following modules:

    • Reading the Income Statement.
      • Understanding the purpose of the income statement and its overall structure.
      • Interpreting the income statement line by line.
      • Using the income statement.
    • Reading the Balance Sheet.
      • Understanding the purpose of the balance sheet and its overall structure.
      • Interpreting the balance sheet line by line.
      • Using the balance sheet.
    • Reading the Cash Flow Statement.
      • Understanding the purpose of the cash flow statement and its overall structure.
      • Interpreting the cash flow statement at a detailed level.
      • Using the cash flow statement.
    • Other Elements of Financial Reporting.
      • The purpose of an annual report.
      • Online sources of financial information.
      • GAAP and FASB, and their influence on the structure and use of these financial statements.

    
    
    Benefits to the Learner

    After completing this course, participants will be able to:

    • Understand and interpret the information found in the three principle financial statements.
    • Understand how the three reports relate to one another and how they are combined (with additional information) to serve as an annual report.
    • Work with online sources of financial information to conduct research on other publicly-traded firms and industries.

    
    
• Marketing Fundamentals for the Hospitality Industry

  • The primary function of marketing in business is to identify customers and hold their attention in order to deliver a valuable product or service. Marketing departments help differentiate a company from competitors by building brand recognition and creating sales collateral such as websites, sell sheets, presentations and print ads, which in turn support sales departments and position the company to meet revenue goals. Marketing is also typically responsible for gauging customer satisfaction and managing client relationships, in addition to compiling testimonials, soliciting referrals and developing case studies.

    Learn fundamental marketing concepts and principles as they relate to hospitality, observe marketing in action through case studies and understand how to put that knowledge into practice. This course prepares you for leadership and success in hospitality marketing.

    Benefits to the Learner
    After completing this course you will be able to:

    • Make clear and effective marketing choices.
    • Apply the fundamental concepts of marketing to the development of a marketing plan.
    
    

• Mastering the Time Value of Money

  • In today’s delicate global marketplace, it’s imperative that managers make smart decisions about projects and initiatives—carefully weighing costs versus future revenues and considering all outcomes. Managers should learn the “time value of money” concept and apply its principles to their daily work.

    In this course, you will use timelines and cash-flow calculations to track cash flow and payments; establish the value of securities and investments; and determine overall cost-effectiveness. The time value of money is a key concept in financial management and project development, and learning it will better prepare you to make smart business decisions.

    Course Format

    eCornell takes a problem-based approach to learning, and our courses are built around realistic case studies and scenarios. All courses are self-paced, and are facilitated by an eCornell instructor, who leads the online discussions and is available to answer any questions about the course content.

    This course contains the following modules:

    • Intuition and Conceptual Framework.
      • Explaining the importance of the timing of future cash flows.
      • Using a cash-flow timeline to conceptualize TVM problems.
    • Basic TVM Tools.
      • Using a financial calculator to solve TVM problems.
      • Calculating the future and present value of a lump-sum payment.
    • Advanced TVM Tools.
      • Calculating the value of perpetuities and growing perpetuities.
      • Calculating the future and present value of annuities.

    
    
    Benefits to the Learner

    After completing this course, participants will be able to:

    • Make planning decisions in the present, based on the accurate calculation of cash flow projections.
    • Use a cash-flow timeline to conceptualize time-value-of-money problems.
    • Use a financial calculator to solve time-value-of-money problems.
    • Calculate present and future values of payments, perpetuities, and annuities.
    • Use these concepts as a foundation for making capital investment decisions.

    
    
• Using Ratio Analysis to Evaluate Financial Performance

  • Success in business depends first on an organization’s ability to analyze its financial standing. By carefully analyzing financial performance, an organization can identify opportunities and make adjustments to improve performance at the department, unit, or organizational level.

    In this course, you will learn to use several ratio-analysis instruments to assess financial performance so that the organization can then design and implement initiatives for increased productivity and profitability.

    Course Format

    eCornell takes a problem-based approach to learning, and builds each course around realistic case studies and scenarios. All courses are self-paced, and are facilitated by an eCornell instructor, who leads the online discussions and is available to answer any questions about the course content.

    This course contains the following modules:

    • Asset Management Ratios.
      • Introduction to Ratio Analysis.
      • Working Capital Ratios.
      • Turnover Ratios.

    • Solvency and Capital Structure Ratios.
      • Liquidity Ratios.
      • Coverage Ratios.
      • Leverage Ratios.
    • Profitability Ratios and DuPont Analysis.
      • Margin Ratios.
      • Return on Assets and Equity Ratios and the DuPont System.

    
    
    Benefits to the Learner

    After completing this course, participants will be able to:

    • Use ratio analysis to identify areas of strong financial performance and those that need improvement.
    • Accurately assess the financial performance of a department, unit, or organization relative to its competitors or to its own past performance.

    
    
• Creating Service Cultures

  • Delivering exceptional customer service begins with the establishment of a service culture, one that rewards and reinforces exemplary customer-focused behaviors. The course shows how to create a service-oriented team by selecting and developing high-performing employees who maintain high service standards.

    This course helps managers establish a strong internal service culture that is focused on exceeding customer expectations—which leads to increased company revenue.

    Course Format

    eCornell takes a problem-based approach to learning, and our courses are built around realistic case studies and scenarios. All courses are self-paced and are facilitated by an eCornell instructor who leads the online discussions and is available to answer specific questions about the course content.

    This course contains the following modules:

    • Identifying High-Potential Service Employees.
    • The Intangible Side of Providing Phenomenal Service.
    • Identifying the Intangibles of Phenomenal Service.
    • Creating and Maintaining Internal Service Systems.
    • Communicating Standards of Phenomenal Service.
    • Supporting Phenomenal Service.
    • Providing Leadership for Phenomenal Service.

    
    
    Benefits to the Learner

    After completing this course, participants will be able to:

    • Discuss the nature and importance of intangible personal characteristics in the delivery of phenomenal service.
    • Describe the variety of selection strategies available to identify service intangibles.
    • Clearly articulate service standards and communicate them throughout the organization.
    • Create internal systems to maintain and continuously improve processes related to phenomenal service.
    • Discuss the impact implementing the ideas from this course can have on your organization’s service quality.

    
    
• Secrets of Phenomenal Customer Service

  • Delivery of consistent, high-quality customer service requires leadership, training, development and continual improvement on an organizational level. It also involves properly scaling customer services to reflect the size, capabilities and service brand of the organization.

    This course prepares supervisors and managers to identify these key service requirements and to implement a variety of training methods to ensure the continual development and reinforcement of service attitudes and skills among its employees.

    Course Format

    eCornell takes a problem-based approach to learning, and our courses are built around realistic case studies and scenarios. All courses are self-paced and are facilitated by an eCornell instructor who leads the online discussions and is available to answer specific questions about the course content.

    This course contains the following modules:

    • The First Secret: Phenomenal Verbal Communication Skills.
    • Responding with Empathy.
    • Responding Objectively.

    • The Second Secret: Phenomenal Non-Verbal Communication Skills.
    • Controlling Vocal Cues.
    • Reinforcing Verbal Messages.
    • Using Body Language.

    • The Third Secret: Phenomenal Listening Skills.
    • Influences on Listening Effectiveness.
    • Listening as a Customer Service Skill.

    
    
    Benefits to the Learner

    After completing this course, participants will be able to:

    • Describe challenges confronting employees in the area of service communication.
    • Identify essential service skills specific to a particular position.
    • Describe the secrets of effective service communication: phenomenal verbal communication, nonverbal communication, and listening skills.
    • Analyze service encounters to better address specific customer needs and requirements.

    
    
• The Hospitality Marketing Mix: Product and Price

  • Marketing success requires both careful analysis and smart planning. You must identify target markets, strategically promote to customers, and ensure that the product design, price and presentation line up with client needs and perception of value.

    Because these issues are so critical—product design, pricing, promotion, and place/distribution—they are constantly evaluated and reevaluated by marketers as the set of factors and decisions known as the “marketing mix”.

    In this course, you focus on a key market segment for one product (or service) and attempt to increase its probability of purchase by focusing on product, price, place, and promotion. Explore product life cycles, new product development, product innovation and adoption, and how service quality is measured. You learn about tailoring the product, the price, the place, and the promotion to arrive at an optimal “marketing mix” for your business.

    Benefits to the Learner
    After completing this course you will be able to:

    • Achieve the desired balance between the service concept and the market segment.
    • Implement processes for new product development.
    • Choose a branding strategy for a particular product or service.
    • Design and execute a pricing strategy for a particular product or service.
    • Design and implement discounting tactics and strategies.
    
    
• The Hospitality Marketing Mix: Place and Promotion

  • In marketing, the concept of "place" refers not only to the physical location of your business, but also to distribution channels through which target markets are reached. The old business adage "location, location, location" still rings true as a reliable determinant of success, especially in hospitality. But with the emergence of online travel agencies, package travel, and intensified, highly targeted tourism marketing attracting customers has become far more complicated than just a few years ago. By developing a more modern concept of “place”, you gain new advantages in reaching target markets.

    Technology and the “information overload” environment present difficult challenges and new opportunities to promote to potential customers. This course covers advertising, professional selling, sales promotion, direct marketing, and public relations. As you discover through coursework, the process of defining your target market is inextricably linked to your decisions about promotional methods and channels.

    Benefits to the Learner
    After completing this course you will be able to:

    • Choose an appropriate location for a hospitality organization.
    • Choose a distribution channel appropriate to a specific property or product.
    • Create a promotional plan for a hospitality product or service.
    • Design an effective, product-specific advertising campaign.
    • Execute and evaluate a public-relations campaign.
    
    
• Meeting the Challenges of Foodservice Management

  • Restaurant management is among the most challenging of professions. Customer retention, shifting demographics and economies, high workforce turnover, sweeping trends, passing fads, and wildly variable business costs are just a few of the challenges foodservice managers face every day.

    This course prepares foodservice managers for success by teaching the fundamentals and practical skills involved in planning, opening, and managing an operation. You’ll find out exactly what makes an operation successful and develop a holistic approach to restaurant management while learning about food systems, labor management, equipment and technology, revenue management and market position.

    Benefits to the Learner
    After completing this course, you will be able to:

    • Identify the factors that drive a restaurant’s success or failure
    • Discuss current issues and challenges affecting foodservice operations
    • Employ strategies to manage trends and fads
    
    
• Foodservice Management: Menu Planning and Marketing, and Merchandising Strategies

  • A critical element in the marketing of your foodservice business is the menu. There’s far more to a menu than meets the eye; it’s the key to establishing and reinforcing the business’ brand or personality. Winning over a customer rests on meeting--or better yet--exceeding their expectations based on the menu and delighting them to the degree that you win their loyalty.

    This course lays out how to create and design an appealing menu, one that aligns with your business’ values and goals. Learn how to properly evaluate a menu and understand the psychology behind layout, language, pricing and design.

    You’ll then examine various functions of marketing and merchandising in foodservice by evaluating a Manhattan restaurant's overall business strategy. You’ll then formulate your own plan for the restaurant by setting up the perfect marketing mix, combining effective menu-building with an sophisticated merchandising strategy.

    Benefits to the Learner
    After completing this course, you will be able to:

    • Explain the value of foodservice operation systems for menu planning, purchasing, receiving, storage, and production.
    • Identify effective marketing and merchandising strategies for a foodservice operation.
    • Assess the effectiveness of these systems.
    
    
• Introduction to Restaurant Revenue Management

  • In this course you’ll learn how to assess a restaurant’s revenue capability and how to maximize its profitability. With the Restaurant Revenue Management (RRM) system, you can create conditions and manipulate factors such as meal duration and price to bring in more revenue. Learn key the concepts of Restaurant Revenue Management, examine methods of measuring revenue-management success, compare those measures to traditional indicators of success, and learn the five-step approach to establishing a revenue-management system.

    You can determine a restaurant's revenue capability by calculating its "revenue per available seat hour", and discover the value of identifying and modifying business practices to accommodate hot, warm, and cold revenue periods.

    Learn the five steps of the revenue management process and examine the conditions necessary for proper implementation. You’ll also review case studies of restaurants around the world that have used the RRM system and have seen two to five percent revenue increases.

    Benefits to the Learner
    After completing this course, you will be able to:

    • Develop detailed plans for improving revenue.
    • Modify business practices to accommodate for hot, warm, and cold revenue periods.
    • Analyze the potential return on investment associated with implementing restaurant revenue management strategies.
    • Measure improvements made by restaurant revenue management strategies.
    
    
• Introduction to Hotel Revenue Management

  • Implementing a revenue management strategy is perhaps the most vital of hotel operations. This course provides an overview of revenue management for the hotel industry and encourages hotel managers to adopt a strategy that is focused on revenue per available room (RevPAR), a concept pioneered by course instructor Dr. Sheryl Kimes.

    Revenue management is a systematic process designed to increase revenue by considering demand, reservation scheduling and variable pricing (selling the right room to the right person at the right time for the right price). In addition to evaluating different pricing models and applying duration-management strategies, this course provides a foundation for more advanced revenue management courses in forecasting, group management and overbooking, pricing strategy, and application of revenue management techniques to other hospitality-related industries, including spas and athletic facilities.
    Benefits to the Learner
    After completing this course, you will be able to:

    • Describe hotel revenue management and identify potential benefits it can bring an organization.
    • Discuss the strategic levers of hotel revenue management and how they can be manipulated to increase revenue.
    • Describe hotel revenue management in terms of its component parts and critical considerations.
    • Recommend non-traditional ways in which revenue management techniques can be applied to increase revenue in the hospitality industry.