Service organizations face continual headwinds as they develop innovative ways to serve their customers. The challenges and possible solutions are addressed in newly released Hospitality Roundtable Proceedings, available from Cornell's Center for Hospitality Research. The proceedings reveal the issues investigated by participants in the center's first industry roundtable on service innovation. The roundtable, which brought top level service industry executives to the Cornell School of Hotel Administration earlier in 2008, identified three key aspects of service innovation.
Those points are explained and analyzed in the roundtable proceedings, "Key Elements of Service Innovation: Insights for the Hospitality Industry.' Rohit Verma, an associate professor at Cornell, organized the roundtable and wrote the proceedings with the assistance of five other roundtable facilitators. The document, which inaugurates the new series titled Cornell Hospitality Roundtable Proceedings, is available at no charge from the center at www.hotelschool.cornell.edu/research/chr/pubs/roundtableproceedings/.
The three key aspects of service innovation identified in the roundtable are customer-focused issues, process-focused issues, and the need for continuous improvement. 'Roundtable participants identified several challenges to service innovation, and then worked on ways to overcome those challenges,' said Verma. 'As explained in the proceedings, service innovations are easily imitated, they must be tested in real time with real guests in a real hotel, and they cannot be recalled once they are released.'
The best strategy for successful innovation is for service operations to gain the support of their employees. 'The most successful innovators promoted what participants called a 'culture of innovation,' which encourages employees to participate in a company's innovation efforts,' said Verma.
The Service Innovation Roundtable is one of a series of roundtables produced by the Center for Hospitality Research. Participants include the center's corporate partners, members of the Cornell faculty, and invited academics and executives. Other roundtables have focused on marketing, menu development, human resources, and labor and employment law, among other topics. Verma's coauthors and roundtable facilitators were Christopher Anderson, assistant professor, Cathy Enz, Lewis G. Schaeneman, Jr. Professor of Innovation and Dynamic Management, Gary Thompson, professor, and Michael Dixon, doctoral candidate, all from the School of Hotel Administration, as well as Liana Victorino, an assistant professor at the University of Victoria.
Thanks to the support of the Center for Hospitality Research partners listed below, all publications posted on the center's website are available free of charge, at www.chr.cornell.edu.
About The Center for Hospitality Research
A unit of the Cornell School of Hotel Administration, The Center for Hospitality Research (CHR) sponsors research designed to improve practices in the hospitality industry. Under the lead of the center's 73 corporate affiliates, experienced scholars work closely with business executives to discover new insights into strategic, managerial and operating practices. The center also publishes the award-winning hospitality journal, the Cornell Hospitality Quarterly (formerly the Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly). To learn more about center and its projects, visit www.chr.cornell.edu.
Center partners and sponsors: AIG Global Real Estate Investment, American Airlines Admirals Club, Davis & Gilbert LLP, Deloitte & Touche USA LLP, Denihan Hospitality Group, Expedia, Inc., Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, Fox Rothschild LLP, FX Real Estate and Entertainment, Inc., General Growth Properties, Inc., HVS, InterContinental Hotels Group, job.travel, JohnsonDiversey, Inc., Jumeirah Group, LRP Publications, Marriott International, Inc., Marsh's Hospitality Practice, Mobil Travel Guide, Inc., Nestlé, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Proskauer Rose LLP, Smith Travel Research, Southern Wine and Spirits of America, Inc., SynXis (a Sabre Holdings Corporation), Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces, Thayer Lodging Group, TIG Global, Travelport, WATG, and WhiteSand Consulting.
Center friends: 4Hoteliers.com American Tescor, LLC Argyle Executive Forum Caribbean Hotel and Restaurant Buyers Guide Cody Kramer Imports Cruise Industry News DK Shifflet & Associates ehotelier.com EyeforTravel Fireman's Fund Insurance Company Gerencia de Hoteles & Restaurantes Global Hospitality Resources Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP) hospitalityInside.com hospitalitynet.org Hospitality Technology Magazine Hotel Asia Pacific Hotel China HotelExecutive.com Hotel Interactive Hotel Resource International CHRIE International Hotel and Restaurant Association International Hotel Conference International Society of Hospitality Consultants (ISHC) iPerceptions Lodging Hospitality Lodging Magazine Milestone Internet Marketing MindFolio Parasol PKF Hospitality Research The Resort Trades RealShare Hotel Investment & Finance Summit Resort+Recreation Magazine RestaurantEdge.com Shibata Publishing Co. Synovate The Lodging Conference TravelCLICK UniFocus WageWatch, Inc. WIWIH.COM
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