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Stakeholders' expectations of hotel management education: A Malaysian perspective. HASHIM, Rahmat. Available from the Sheffield Hallam University Research Archive (SHURA) at: http://shura.shu.ac.uk/19766/ A Sheffield Hallam University thesis This thesis is protected by copyright which belongs to the author. The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the author. When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given. Please visit http://shura.shu.ac.uk/19766/ and http://shura.shu.ac.uk/information.html for further details about copyright and re-use permissions. Fines are charged at 50p per hour ej^U se^ 1 L cep 2006 l - y 1 I Lf-l2.S O - ? 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Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346 STAKEHOLDERS’ EXPECTATIONS OF HOTEL MANAGEMENT EDUCATION — A Malaysian Perspective Rahmat Hashim A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of Sheffield Hallam University for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy June, 2001 Acknowledgements No research would have been possible without the assistance and willing co-operation of many individuals and groups. I am taking this opportunity to record my deepest gratitude to all individuals, directly or indirectly, who have contributed towards the completion of this thesis. However, I believe that there is no statement of gratitude that can do justice to the support and encouragement I received from my team of supervisors. My profound appreciation for my team of supervisors’ encouragement and confidence; especially to Mike Rimmington, my Director of Studies, for his unrelenting patience who went out of his way and took considerable time out of his busy schedule to assist and guide me through out the very long duration of this research endeavour. Thanks are due to Dr. John Woodman and Jenny Wade for their support and assistance. Thanks are also due to Prof. Chris Gratton, Head of Research DepartmenfTorJiis advice and assistance during the process of completing my research. I also want to'ackhowledge Dr. Elizabeth M. Ineson for her expert assistance and guidance in my analysis chapter. Secondly, thanks are due to my employer, Universiti Teknologi Mara, who has granted me the scholarship. Without the UiTM’s commitment and generosity, it would not be possible for me to even embark on this research project. Thirdly, thanks are also due to all those at Leisure Industries Research Centre (LIRC), especially Lizzie Watts and Louise Dungworth for making my studies at Sheffield a memorable one, and all those who have willingly participated in the research project. Finally, and perhaps the greatest, debt is owed to my wonderful wife, Husna Hassan, and our children, Muhammad Nu’man and Yasmin Nadhira. The research project seems to have a way of life out of imposing sacrifices on my family. They have put up with my protracted failure to attend to their needs. STAKEHOLDERS’ EXPECTATIONS OF HOTEL MANAGEMENT EDUCATION — A Malaysian Perspective ABSTRACT Development of the tourism industry in Malaysia is a recent phenomenon. Today, the industry is one of the major revenues of the Malaysian economy. As elsewhere, the Malaysian tourism industry is labour intensive; much of its future success depends significantly on the quality of its labour. While industrial growth generally is making great impact on the Malaysian economy, there has been considerable debate about the contribution of Malaysian higher education, including hotel management education. Critics have commented that graduates lack certain basic competences and that higher education providers have not kept up with the times. Educational institutions have been criticised for not developing appropriate competences required by industry, especially for the entry-level management position. At the same time, the current state-of-the-art in the hotel business is becoming more sophisticated and complex in today’s robust business environment. This poses additional challenges for hospitality management educators in developing nations. It is widely acknowledge that today’s entry-level managers need a diversity of competences in order to meet the demands of the industry. In this respect, an effective hotel management education programme must be able to respond to the demands of the competitive business environment. At the same time, the rapid development of new hotel or hospitality management programmes, not to mention the enrolment figures of existing hotel schools, has led to an increased concern about programme credibility and effectiveness. Educational institutions must respond to the requirements and needs by developing relevant knowledge and competences. This research project proposes that actual needs (based on the Malaysian context) should be investigated and referred to in curriculum planning. These needs should be drawn from relevant key stakeholders based in industry and wider areas of society. The study does not attempt to empirically investigate the pedagogical issues related to curriculum planning or provide a total definition of a curriculum. Nevertheless, the findings of this study do provide a concrete foundation and aspiration for educators to consider when designing hotel management curriculum. However, the issues of learning, teaching and assessment have been incorporated in developing a conceptual curriculum planning model in order to provide a comprehensive view of the planning process. To collect the data, the research project utilised a combined-method approach: mailed questionnaire and semi-structured interview. Factor Analysis was conducted on the data. The analysis reveals that the one hundred and four (104) competence statements were represented by twenty-five (25) factors (loading factor of greater than .40). These factors captured 73.2 per cent of the total variance. Of the twenty-five (25) factors, thirteen (13) factors had a single loading, presumably error factors. However, they were included in the discussion since they provided useful dimensions of this study. These competence statements were further treated by one-way ANOVA to determine the differences among stakeholders. Overall, most of the differences were detected between students and educators and students and industry professionals. Differences between educators and students and educators and industry professionals were also detected, but to a lesser extend. Overall, the results have indicated that even though there are differences in the stakeholders’ expectations, there is consensus regarding the central themes of hotel management education. Stakeholders considered personal (self) development and communication as crucial (‘soft’ domain). At the same time, the results revealed that technical (operation), and functional competences are equally crucial in developing future managers. The outcomes of this study lead to the development a conceptual curriculum planning model for hotel management curriculum relevant to the needs of Malaysia (or elsewhere), as well as in other vocational areas. The model can be applied in the ongoing evaluation of hotel management education programme. Table of Contents Acknowledgements ii Abstract iii Chapter 1 Introduction 1.1 Introduction 1 1.2 Research Problem in Context 8 1.3 Statement of Research Problem 13 1.4 Aims and Objectives 16 1.5 Importance of the Study 18 1.6 Limitations of the Study 20 1.7 Structure of Thesis 22 1.8 Summary 25 Chapter 2 Malaysia and Tourism Development 2.1 Introduction 27 2.2 A Brief History of Malaysia 27 2.3 Malaysian Economy 30 2.3.1 Economic Growth 31 2.3.2 Service Sector 34 2.3.3 Growth Factor 36 2.3.4 Tourism Industry Development 37 2.3.5 Private Sector Involvement 39 2.3.6 The Hotel Industry 43 2.4 Summary 46 Chapter 3 The Development of Hotel Management Education 3.1 Introduction 48 3.2 A Brief History of the Industry 49 3.3 Hotel management Education in the Development World 50 3.3.1 Hotel management Education in the United States of America 51 3.3.1.1 Programme Structure 54 3.3.1.2 Quality Provision 58 3.3.2 Hotel management Education in the United Kingdom 59 3.3.2.1 Programme Structure 61 3.3.2.2 Quality Provision 66 3.3.3 Hotel Management Education in France 67 3.3.3.1 Programme Structure 70 3.3.3.2 Quality Provision 80 3.3.4 Hotel Management Education in Germany 80 v 3.3.4.1 Programme Structure 82 3.3.4.2 Dual System 84 3.3.4.3 Quality Provision 87 3.3.5 Hotel Management Education in Switzerland 89 3.3.5.1 Programme Structure 89 3.3.5.2 Quality Provision 95 3.3.6 A Brief History of Malaysian Higher Education and Hotel Management Education 96 3.3.6.1 The First Hotel School and Programme Structure 100 3.3.6.2 Private Participation 106 3.3.6.3 Quality Provision 109 3.4 Hotel Management Education in the U.S.A., Europe and Malaysia - An Overview 110 3.5 Summary