Master Certificate in Foodservice Management

Description

Learn to become a high-performing foodservice professional by adopting industry best practices and develop the skillset necessary to manage a successful foodservice operation.

The Master Certificate in Foodservice from Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration provides in-depth instruction in all aspects of foodservice management, including service systems, sales, marketing, restaurant revenue, and customer service.

The certificate develops the skills and competencies required of aspiring foodservice managers and recently promoted high-level managers. 16 core courses encourage the application of systematic, time-tested approaches to nearly every aspect of foodservice management, from menu planning, purchasing, storage, production, even how to optimize customer flow, dining time, table mix, meal duration, and variable pricing.

You’ll also explore key strategies for increasing profitability through improved human-resource and financial management, superior service, and competitive marketing. In addition to the core courses you may choose either the Marketing or Financial Management elective pair that best suits your individual career goals.

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.

    
    
• Facilitating Group Decisions

  • In a global economy, organizations that analyze and respond quickly to marketplace challenges and opportunities tend to be the most competitive and profitable. The ideal work team is cohesive, flexible, and able to arrive at important decisions rapidly. Group decision making requires skillful information gathering, sound strategy and the ability to execute.

    In this course, you will explore the the psychology of group decision making as a means to improve organizational 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:

    • Models, Techniques, and Methods for Decision Making.
      • Factors to consider in determining whether to employ group decision making.
      • Advantages of group decision making.
      • Symptoms and potential consequences of "groupthink".
      • "Risky shift".
      • Group versus individual tolerance for risk.
      • Common models of decision making.
      • Implementing decision-making models for specific circumstances.
      • Techniques for group decision making and strategies to reach high-quality group decisions.
      • Factors involved in choosing the most appropriate decision-making method.
    • Assessing Ethical Implications of Decisions.
      • Ensuring ethical soundness of group decisions.
      • Ethical behavior in both leadership and contributing roles within the group.

    
    
    Benefits to the Learner

    After completing this course, participants will be able to:

    • Determine whether or not to employ group decision making.
    • Evaluate the most appropriate decision-making method for a particular circumstance.
    • Apply the techniques that improve and facilitate group decision making.
    • Facilitate effective participation of team members in problem solving
    • Implement strategies to help groups arrive at the best decisions.

    
    
• Improving Personal and Workgroup Productivity

  • In an era of pervasive technology and information overload, the ability to prioritize and use time effectively is at a premium. Personal time management may be one of the greater challenges of our time.

    Managers spend a significant amount of time in meetings, so it is imperative that they know how to structure meetings and make them worthwhile. Meetings provide opportunity for creative, high-quality discussion, but often they can be unproductive and frustrating. Wasting time, especially when it’s so valuable, is just bad for business.

    In this course, you will learn best practices for structuring personal time, managing workloads and running great meetings.

    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:

    • Solving Time-management Problems.
      • Tendencies that affect personal time-management behaviors.
      • Strategies for beating procrastination.
      • Distinguishing essential tasks from those of lower priority.
      • Distinguishing between urgent and important events.
      • "Time robbers."
      • Personal habits that impede effective time management.
      • Analyzing interruptions to reduce the tendency of others to cut into your valuable time.
      • Assertiveness skills for effective time management.
      • Constructive confrontation.
      • Using a time log to analyze your habits and work activities.
    • Managing Team Meetings.
      • Functions served by meetings.
      • Effective meeting preparation.
      • Best practices for leading a meeting effectively.
      • Asking the right questions to achieve the most effective group participation.
      • Six categories of questions and the appropriate use of each.

    
    
    Benefits to the Learner

    After completing this course, participants will be able to:

    • Identify and overcome personal tendencies that lead to procrastination.
    • Efficiently prioritize tasks and events based on urgency.
    • Plan and lead meetings that successfully disseminate relevant information and increase morale and productivity.

    
    
• 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.

    
    
• 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.

    
    
• 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.
    
    
• 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: Marketing, Service, and HR Systems

  • As the old business maxim goes, “You can’t manage what you don’t measure”. Success in high-volume foodservice hinges on management’s willingness and ability to measure, analyze and make smart decisions about business processes. The key lies in foodservice market research. In understanding customer values and meeting expectations, market research can help drive decisions about service style and service level, taking a more strategic approach to influencing value perception.

    Explore sources of market data and information, learn how to monitor the customer service experience and use research information to develop a new business concept or even reposition an existing concept. Observing the correlations between reservation policy, staffing and scheduling can help you find the right balance between the three to optimize restaurant efficiency.

    The course also shows how a manager can use HR systems to achieve better results in recruitment, selection, orientation, training and retention. Learn to hire and train staff who can deliver the kind of food and service that suits the company brand and addresses customer expectations.

    Position your restaurant for long-term sustainability by incorporating market research, a systems approach to customer service and operations, and proper lifecycle management strategy.

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

    • Assess your market using market research data.
    • Develop a restaurant concept.
    • Influence customer value perception.
    • Use service systems and human resources systems more effectively.
    
    
• 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.
    
    
• Foodservice Management: Control Systems and Related Systems

  • Control Systems are used to manage costs, minimize loss and to optimize the processes involved in foodservice operation. Purchasing, production management, scheduling, analysis, reporting, forecasting—everything it takes to create a sustainable, profitable business requires the right system of methods, controls and protocols.

    This course explores the functional roles of foodservice managers and the control systems they use as they progress toward positions of greater responsibility—from the assistant manager all the way up to the multi-unit manager.

    In this course, you’ll learn specifically how to establish quality and efficiency control over purchasing, receiving, and storage of products as they flow into production. Examine the conditions that allow for loss, and develop systems to prevent it. Using case studies as context, you explore different management roles to assess control systems and their effectiveness.

    All of these control systems are designed to ensure that your customers enjoy a consistent, high-quality dining experience.

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

    • Assess the effectiveness of a foodservice control system.
    • Assess the effectiveness of a foodservice management system.
    • Explain the value of foodservice operation systems for menu planning, purchasing, receiving, storage, and production.
    
    
• 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.
    
    
• Managing Revenue with Service Cycle

  • If you're wondering what might be inhibiting your ability to generate revenue, this course shows you how to find solutions in your standard service cycle data. Learn what data to collect and how to run a proper analysis.

    Through an examination of two case studies, the course illustrates how service cycle durations are measured and how "revenue per available seat hour" (RevPASH) is calculated. Combined, these measurements enable you to generate revenue and profit more efficiently.

    This course introduces you to several additional tools used to identify and rectify the underlying causes of operational shortcomings. Together, service blueprints, bottleneck analyses, and fishbone diagrams can help you isolate and solve those pressing issues. You’ll learn hands-on how to use these tools and how to leverage RevPASH to the greatest effect.

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

    • Analyze service cycle data to identify and rectify potential problems in operations using the RevPASH system.
    
    
• Managing Revenue with Table Mix

  • Building on concepts learned in Restaurant Revenue Management, this course further explores the correlation between meal duration, occupancy levels and revenue. Learn how to create an optimal table mix and and increase revenue by using formulas to balance occupation, reservations and meal duration.

    Position your business for greater profitability by using formulaic approaches and time-tested methods to quantify demand and manipulate table mix.

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

    • Calculate demand.
    • Develop strategies for improving table mix.
    • Implement strategies to manage arrival patterns and meal duration.
    
    
• Managing Revenue with Pricing

  • This course teaches foodservice managers how to increase revenue through strategic pricing. Explore concepts in revenue management and implement a strategy built on variable pricing, price discrimination, price elasticity, price customization, demand-based pricing, rate fences, and menu engineering.

    Learn how to calculate costs and estimate the payback period for potential investments associated with implementation. You also examine related staffing, management and training issues as they relate to pricing and revenue management.

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

    • Select and implement pricing strategies to increase revenue.
    • Assess the financial impact of restaurant revenue management strategies.
    • Calculate implementation costs and return-on-investment periods.
    • Address implementation issues associated with staffing, management, and training.
    
    

• 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.

    
    
• 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.