FROM THE DIRECTOR
 
Welcome from Cornell's Center for Hospitality Research (CHR); and many thanks to our Corporate Members, Corporate Affiliates and Media Affiliates for their generous support, as they enable our industry engagement. The CHR welcomes Amadeus to our board, as a Corporate Member and HotelPlanner.com as an Corporate Affiliate. Our corporate members and invited guests will be joining us for a spring Advisory Board meeting here in Ithaca on March 14th. Our spring board meeting proceeds Cornell’s student run conference – Hotel Ezra Cornell (March14-17, http://www.comm.business.cornell.edu/e/296062/2019-02-27/prxfy/169996728?h=bpKiwlU9MPU77bKovcY__weUhou3UFVN-BrlszcZqWE) and is a great time to be on campus to interact with students, faculty and alum. This year, our spring board meeting will feature research presentations from both students and faculty, in addition to a discussion on FinTech opportunities in hospitality.
 
Customer Satisfaction through Service Excellence: The Importance of Focused Training
 
Newly published CHR report, by Elizabeth Martyn and Chris Anderson, shows technology has shifted the dynamics of guest interactions in the hospitality industry. Two key elements of this shift are that service providers now have fewer opportunities for direct interaction with guests, and interactions may often be the result of service failures. In these face-to-face encounters, employees’ ability to effectively manage the emotional components of the guest interaction can make a major contribution to a guest’s satisfaction with the outcome. Intrinsic employee behaviors, namely, employee engagement, communication, and attitude (that is, the “how” in the delivery of service) influence guest’s perceptions of service outcomes. In a preliminary study, relatively intense training of hotel front-desk employees, using a blend of online and face-to-face training, changed employee behaviors in a way that guests reported an improvement in staff helpfulness. This study employed modules of the Cornell University Service Excellence On- Demand Training as a tool for improving the work of front-line service providers. Such training can foster improved handling of guest interactions, thereby offering a substantial opportunity for improved guest satisfaction. Read the authors' blog post...More>>
A Quick and Easy Approach to Financial Fraud Detection

Pamela Moulton and Fang Liu recently published a CHR report showing financial fraud is a significant cost in the hospitality industry. According to the Report to the Nations on Occupational Fraud and Abuse, the typical organization loses 5 percent of its annual revenues to fraud. Hotels in particular are estimated to lose 5 to 6 percent of revenues to fraud on average, while the National Restaurant Association estimates that restaurants on average lose 4 percent of revenues to fraud. These are losses as a percentage of top-line revenues, not profits, meaning that their magnitudes represent a significant risk to hospitality methodology for detecting financial irregularities that may signal fraud based on a mathematical principle known as Benford’s Law. The analysis presented here can firms, given the industry’s relatively thin net margins. This study presents a simple be applied by hospitality industry managers at all levels, from individual units or departments to entire regions or companies. The Cornell Hospitality Tool accompanying this report provides an easy-to-use spreadsheet-based application that can be used to quickly analyze any set of financial values (for example, guest checks, receivables, payables, or reimbursements) to quickly detect suspicious activities... More>>
CHR welcomes Amadeus as the newest Corporate Member

Travel broadens horizons, creates connections and builds economies. Travel powers progress, and Amadeus powers travel. Amadeus builds the critical solutions that help airlines and airports, hotels and railways, search engines, travel agencies, tour operators and other travel players to run their operations and improve the travel experience, billions of times a year, all over the world. They've been doing it for more than 30 years, and are just getting started...innovating, moving fast, working with customers and partners to power better, more rewarding journeys and leading the industry forward to shape a better future of travel.
CHR welcomes HotelPlanner.com as the newest Corporate Affiliate

Business problems need sound solutions based on data, not intuition. Yet most organizations struggle to translate the abundance of data they have today into meaningful business insights. HotelPlanner.com will meet or beat any price on your group's travel needs when reserving 10 rooms per night or more at a hotel of equal or greater quality. Their group rates are price checked to ensure you are always getting the best group rates. Look for the green percentages to the right of the hotel's group rates for your group savings.
New Business Analytics Certificates Offered

Business problems need sound solutions based on data, not intuition. Yet most organizations struggle to translate the abundance of data they have today into meaningful business insights. Dyson recently launched a new online certificate program through eCornell, the Business Analytics certificate program, which equips professionals with a business mindset rooted in data. Authored by Dyson professor, Donna Haeger, this certificate program is designed to empower professionals to master the critical analytic and modeling skills necessary to analyze, interpret, forecast, and strategize data-driven solutions for businesses. Upon completion of this certificate program, participants walk away with the ability to interpret, translate, and make meaning of data in a way that stakeholders and executives can easily understand. Learn more here.
Register With Promo Code Savings
 
Don’t miss out!  Hear about innovative strategies, tactics, and program recommendations focused specifically on the hospitality industry at the HR in Hospitality Conference, March 25th – 27th, 2019. Please register, now, at http://www.comm.business.cornell.edu/e/296062/2019-02-27/prxgw/169996728?h=bpKiwlU9MPU77bKovcY__weUhou3UFVN-BrlszcZqWE with Promo Code HRINHOSPCHR to secure a $100 savings! Learn more here.
 
 
 
For more information, contact Carol Leitch-Zhe | Program Manager
caz9@cornell.edu | 607.254.4504

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