4 December 1992 Hospitality Industry Must Put Service First Says Quality Management Expert

"In hotels and the hospitality business, along with other service industries, it's absolutely crucial to meet customers' needs and requirements as effectively and efficiently as possible," says Professor Jerry Glover of the United States, an international quality management expert who has worked extensively in the service sector.

"I am, after all, talking about a 'people industry' and about hospitality. Above everything else I'm talking about the simple fact of being a courteous host.

"Surprisingly that's not as widely accepted as you would think. There are still a lot of Basil Fawltys out there in the world!

"Furthermore I'm talking about what is globally a multi-billion industry. Service is like any other product, it has to be researched, understood, costed, managed, promoted and sold according to the basic principles which apply in every other area of economic activity.

"That's why I have been in New Zealand working with the industry and Lincoln University in the planning of the country's first Bachelor of Commerce degree in Hotel and Institutional Management.

"In Britain, the United States, Canada and Australia there are many universities which offer degree level programmes in hotel management.

"In New Zealand, training in skills for hotel and institutional work has been traditionally carried out by polytechnics. However, this has largely been for the 'hands on' type of tasks. For the management level, industry leaders have been keen to develop training to a degree qualification, linked with a broader understanding of Commerce and having a focus on service delivery. That is what Lincoln is now going to offer."

The University's Academic Registrar, Roger Smyth, points out that the new Lincoln degree is a business management qualification that includes applications to a particular industry. It sits alongside other Lincoln Commerce degrees which are tailored for specific sectors e.g. the B.Com (Tourism).

Students starting on the new programme will have to complete a core of compulsory subjects common to all Lincoln's Commerce degrees.

"While the 'Hotel Management' part of the degree is self-explanatory," says Mr Smyth, "the 'Institutional Management' element broadens the qualification to give graduates the potential to work at the management level within a broad band of organisations."

Professor Glover, who developed and implemented the world's first quality management programmes in the services industry, has been a consultant to such organisations as Hilton Hotels, Club Med, the American Hotel and Motel Association, and Nikko Hotels International. He pioneered the applications of the concept of Total Quality Management (TQM) in the service field. Professor Glover lectures on service operations management and quality management and is based at Hawaii Pacific University.

Ian Collins, Journalist, Lincoln University, Canterbury, New Zealand.