Ingredients for Success in Career Development

Hospitality managers can expect to confront have challenges in the decades ahead. A study of luxury hotel general managers identifies the skills and personal characteristics respondents perceived as most important to their career development, as well as the future requirements for unit level managers and the major challenges they anticipate. The author then maps those skills and personal characteristics identified by respondents against future industry challenges to suggest additional managerial needs. Recommendations are presented for development strategies that will ensure hospitality organizations identify, develop, and retain individuals with the right stuff

Teaching Listening: Some Thoughts on Behavioral Approaches

This paper provides an overview of the issues involved in providing listening instruction to those who work or who are preparing to work in organizations. Questions are posed regarding the nature of listening and listening instruction. A behavioral approach is suggested, and the benefits and concerns regarding this perspective are examined

Perceptions of Effective Listeners: A Management Study

Listening is a vital management skill. To find out more about how managers’ listening is perceived in an organizational context, researchers administered a questionnaire to 144 managers and 827 of their subordinates in 6 hospitality organizations. Managers were asked to rate 26 of their own listening behaviors using a 7-point scale. Subordinates were asked to indicate their perceptions of their managers’ listening behavior on each of the same 26 items. Profiles are presented of those managers who were perceived as particularly “good” or particularly “poor” listeners according to the ratings given them by their subordinates. Characteristics of those employees who gave their managers the highest and lowest ratings are also described. This information contributes to a better understanding of how managers’ listening is perceived in organizational contexts

Communicating with Credibility: The Gender Gap

By examining their listening, speaking, and nonverbal behavior, men and women can make wiser choices about how to present themselves and their ideas

Predicting Leadership: The Assessment Center’s Extended Role

Purpose: Predicting leadership demonstrates how assessment centers can be designed to meet the extended goals of assessing three broad-based and particularly critical indicators of hospitality leadership effectiveness: the ability to respond to change, the ability to foster trust, and the ability to create inclusive work environments. Design/methodology/approach: A literature review reveals the most critical hospitality leadership needs in times of rapid and continuous change, and supports the assessment center approach as a means of judging key leadership competencies. The steps involved in developing a center to assess three particularly critical leadership competencies are outlined and challenges noted. Findings: The assessment center is shown to be a valuable means of both assessing and predicting leadership talent beyond the scope normally associated with this method. Practical implications: Assessment center methods can be extended to accomplish the organization’s most important goal – preparing for, and responding to, future leadership requirements. Originality/value: The paper is of value to both academic and practitioner readers interested in leadership development. It provides a rationale and practical guide for assessment center design and implementation

Exploring the Strategic Ground for Listening and Organizational Effectiveness

This paper proposes that strategic plans are most likely to be implemented successfully when hospitality leaders listen well and when hospitality organizations develop strong learning environments. It is proposed that leaders who listen effectively can influence organizational processes at three levels of analysis – individual, team/interactional, and organizational. Examples are provided of the specific listening challenges hospitality leaders confront at each level. The HURIER model proposes a 6-stage listening process. A discussion then follows describing how listening skills can be applied to address the challenges posed at each of the three levels of analysis. It is argued that when leaders listen effectively they can create learning environments that then facilitate the implementation of the strategies they propose. When such organizational cultures are created and maintained, both employee empowerment and organizational performance are increased. Suggestions for increasing listening effectiveness are presented. A conceptual model is offered as a tool for identifying questions for future research

Middle Managers: Facing the Communication Challenge

Effective communication at all levels is a vital element of a smoothly running organization. Here is a look at how some middle managers overcame their communication problems

Elwood Murray: Innovator, Integrator, Educator

A case study of Professor Elwood Murray was undertaken to reveal his impact both on his students and on the curriculum at the University of Denver. Interviews were conducted with Dr. Murray as well as with many of his former students and colleagues. Questionnaires were distributed and results compiled, catalogs from the Denver library were reviewed, and Murray\u27s personal files were examined. Dr. Murray is seen to be an innovator who pioneered in the application of social science techniques to the speech classroom, and a man of vision who left a lasting impression on his students

Women in Hospitality Management: General Managers’ Perceptions of Factors Related to Career Development

A descriptive study was undertaken to learn more about women’s career development in the hospitality industry from general managers’ perspectives. The primary purpose of the study was to identify the communication skills and job-related activities that were perceived to have contributed most significantly to individuals’ advancement, and to determine any differences between men’s and women’s perceptions regarding the most essential competencies and behaviors for advancement in the hospitality industry. Both groups rated the significance of eight potential obstacles to women’s career development. Demographic information was gathered to determine whether significant differences existed between the samples of men and women. The samples of both men and women ranked listening competence as the most important communication skill for career advancement in the hospitality industry, followed by group leadership skills. Perceptions regarding the behaviors and/or circumstances that contributed to career development were also similar between the two groups; both ranked (1) hard work, (2) a positive attitude and (3) communication effectiveness as the three most essential items. The only significant difference between the two groups was with regard to the role mentoring played in mens’ and womens’ career development. The relative ranking of various obstacles to women’s career development was similar between the samples of men and women; however, significant differences existed in the degree to which each group felt these items posed a problem to women in hospitality management

Elwood Murray: Pioneering Methodologist in Communication

Elwood Murray (1897–1988) was a pioneer in communication education. Beginning in the 1930s, he applied nontraditional methods in the speech classroom to encourage students to internalize and apply what they learned, and to view knowledge holistically. Drawing on the work of Kunkel, Moreno, Lewin, and Korzybski, Murray focused on developing skills in interpersonal and group communication. He facilitated classroom activities that he believed would bring about positive change in students’ personalities as well as enhance their relationships and leadership ability. Communication methodologies, he argued, could facilitate learning in all fields and foster interdisciplinary understanding. In spite of much skepticism by his colleagues, Murray introduced innovative classroom practices that advanced our thinking about instructional communication