Moving to design-based education in hotel management school: proof of success and beyond — a research journey

NHL Stenden University of Applied Sciences adopted the innovative educational concept design-based education (DBE) in 2018. The Hotel Management School is one of the programmes that introduced a DBE curriculum.  It is important to explore to what extent DBE is successfully implemented and to monitor the long-term impact of DBE on students, lecturers and the industry. The purpose of the current article is to position a longitudinal research journey in which stakeholders’ personal and social experiences and perceptions are the starting point for the research focus. Using educational design research, the current research aims to contribute to the four intended impact areas: knowledge, personal development, system development and product development. Keywords: accompanying research, design thinking, educational design research, game changers, hospitality management education, innovative educatio

Happiness at work: a phenomenological study of the experiences of hospitality industry employees

Though happiness might be an interesting factor to consider in the discussion on retaining employees, only a limited number of studies on  happiness of hospitality employees has been done. This master’s thesis study, rooted in the tradition of the interpretative phenomenological analysis, unpacks the connection of work experiences and feelings of happiness of five hospitality employees aged between 20 and 30. In-depth interviews revealed that happiness is found in moments of external recognition of professional achievements, while contributing to the company’s performance or to guest experiences. We see that these moments reinforce a high-performance attitude that, however, could also create a form of addiction. We recommend integrating appreciative feedback of staff achievements on a regular base during operations. Furthermore, we suggest staff coaching with the aim to develop self-awareness and self-acknowledgement. Keywords: added value, external recognition, happiness, interpretative phenomenological analysis, transient leve