The Cornell University School of Hotel Administration offerings at OSU-Cascades in Bend, Oregon include Cornell’s best-received executive education course.  The marketing courses, leadership courses, and hospitality courses are three intensive days, preceded by a pre-course assignment and including homework or group work assigned each of the first two evenings. Schedule permitting, participants may take courses individually or back-to-back.

To register, visit the Registration page.

SPRING 2012

DEMAND MANAGEMENT IN EVOLVING MARKET CHANNELS

May 21 - 23, 2012

Prof. William Carroll, Ph.D., Senior Lecturer, School of Hotel Administration, Cornell University

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Early Bird Pricing: $1,895 per person

After April 6, 2012: $2,195 per person

Course Focus

Hospitality demand management is defined as the art and science of dynamically managing demand for hospitality services to optimize profitability and customer relationships. It relies on, and goes beyond, traditional applications of pricing, revenue management, marketing and channel distribution to manage near and long term demand from key customer segments. The course presents the current trends in hospitality service demand from the leisure, business and group segments plus a set of principles for managing and balancing demand from each of the segments. This is done in the context of an evolving distribution environment where distribution and marketing is increasingly moving online and to mobile devices. The course uses class presentations, discussions, cases, and a dynamic competitive pricing and marketing simulation where students apply their experience and demand management concepts in a dynamic learning environment.

Key Benefits

Participants will learn the latest trends in on- and off-line marketing, including search, social media and mobile distribution, understand and use key principles for managing hospitality demand including pricing, revenue management, and channel management, and experience and learn from cases, discussions with other students and a dynamic market simulation how demand management principles can be applied in a competitive market environment to produce profits and market share.

Topics

• Theory of hospitality demand
• Recent technological and economic developments in pricing and distribution channels, including search, social media and mobile distribution
• Key characteristics of business, leisure and group demand
• Principles for managing hospitality demand in the short and long term
• Development, execution and tracking of a demand management strategy

LEADING AND MOTIVATING IN THE REAL WORLD

May 31 - June 2, 2012

Prof. Bruce Tracey, Ph.D., Associate Professor, School of Hotel Administration, Cornell University

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Early Bird Pricing: $1,895 per person

After April 6, 2012: $2,195 per person

Course Focus

Leadership is about putting on a mind, not putting on an act. This course examines the following two questions: what are the characteristics of authentic leadership thinking, and how can I use them to motivate workers to peak performance? Using cases and participatory exercises, participants will explore the subjects of leadership and motivation in such a way as to transcend cultural differences while at the same time respecting them.

Key Benefits

Leadership is approached by having participants examine their current thinking styles. Motivation is handled directionally. We discuss not only the motivation of direct reports, but also of the people over whom the manager has no direct control—that is, colleagues (peers) and the “boss.” Abundant video examples will illustrate how the principles being taught are actually applied in the workplace.

Topics

• The power of vision
• Paradigm shifting
• Turning around negative attitudes
• The changing workforce
• Empowerment and independence
• Teamwork
• Changing rules and changing roles

WINTER 2013 

HOSPITALITY FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT: OPERATIONS DECISION MAKING

January 7-9, 2013

Michael J. Flannery, M.P.S., Professor, Purdue University Calumet and School of Hotel Administration, Cornell University

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Early Bird Pricing: $1,895 per person

After April 6, 2012: $2,195 per person

Course Focus

This course will focus on the application of financial-management concepts useful in analyzing hospitality operations. Managerial accounting tools will be explained, examined, and applied as they relate to the decision-making process. Emphasis will be on communicating and interpreting financial data from a General Manager perspective. Common terminology used by owners, operators and others involved in the development process will be defined and incorporated in an operational analysis. The format involves lectures, case studies, and problem sets.

Key Benefits

Participants gain the ability and confidence to use financial-analysis tools to increase profitability within their operations.

Topics

• Understanding the Uniform System of Accounts for hotels and restaurants; revenue-and-expense tracking to insure reporting accuracy
• Using ratio and comparative analysis of operations through industry and competitive-set statistics
• Understanding cost/volume/profit (CVP) analysis to evaluate operating alternatives
• Determining pricing strategies and making decisions
• Using operational and capital-expenditure budgeting
• Developing cost estimates, standards, transfer-pricing mechanisms, and responsibility centers

STRATEGIC MARKETING FOR HOTELS AND RESTAURANTS

January 10-12, 2013

Prof. Rob Kwortnik, Ph.D., Associate Professor, School of Hotel Administration, Cornell University

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Early Bird Pricing: $1,895 per person

After April 6, 2012: $2,195 per person

Course Focus

This course offers participants innovative and practical approaches for addressing strategic marketing challenges to improve revenue, profit, and customer loyalty. Through class discussions, case studies, and real-world examples, learn the latest applications of strategic thinking and analysis to marketing challenges facing the hospitality industry. Case studies and examples will be drawn from hotels, restaurants, and other world-class hospitality firms worldwide.  Discussions will include how current practices are changing and how to prepare to profit from these changes.

Key Benefits

Participants will take away new ideas to improve their business practices significantly. They will understand strategic-marketing concepts and principles, learn from “best practice” examples of successful companies, and apply the ideas, concepts, and principles to develop innovative and profitable strategies. They will also gain a framework for understanding how to develop a sustainable competitive advantage.

Topics

• Concepts of strategy and strategic planning, and how both guide all marketing decisions.

• How to understand consumer research, which is the foundation of strategy development.

• The different activities firms undertake and how these “value chain activities” can be used to influence the building blocks of competitive advantage (size, customer responsiveness, quality, efficiency, innovation, and value) to increase profitability. Specifically, we will use case studies to show how marketing can influence each of the building blocks to increase firm profitability and gain a competitive advantage.

• Corporate strategy initiatives used to expand the brand.

• The emerging role of customer experience management for designing and implementing brand strategy.

• Communicating the brand promise through integrated services marketing communications.

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PAST COURSE OFFERINGS

SUMMER 2011 COURSES

STRATEGIC PRICING FOR HOTELS AND RESTAURANTS:

Leveraging Consumer and Marketing Knowledge to Enhance Revenue

June 13-15, 2011

Stowe Shoemaker, Ph.D., Donald Hubbs Distinguished Professor at the University of Houston’s Conrad Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management

Professor Shoemaker will guide participants through the key aspects of strategic pricing. At the end of the course participants will have developed the skills necessary to price confidently and effectively through and understanding of:

• How to use consumer research to calculate and determine consumers’ willingness to pay

• The components of value and how to improve the perceptions of value in order to earn higher prices

• How to develop competitive price positioning maps using Excel

• How to frame pricing options and manage distribution channels

• How to explain easily the concepts of revenue management to others in your firm

• How to use theory of behavioral economics to get customers to happily pay more money for the firm's service offerings.

CUSTOMER ATTITUDES AND BEHAVIORS: 

Understanding Your Market

June 16–18, 2011

Stowe Shoemaker, Ph.D., Donald Hubbs Distinguished Professor at the University of Houston’s Conrad Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management

Stowe Shoemaker will guide participants through the key aspects of the decision steps that hospitality customers go through before and after purchasing the hospitality product -- and learn how to use this knowledge to drive customers to your product-service or destiantion. 

The decision steps that will be explored include problem recognition, information search, alternative evaluation, and post-purchase. Other topics include learning how internal influences (emotions, attitudes, personality, learning, and memory) and external influences (culture, social status, reference groups, family) influence the consumer's choice. 

Participants will focus on these issues to understand peoples' consumption-related behaviors and develop and evaluate marketing strategies -- including Web and social media strategies -- that will influence those behaviors in ways that benefit their companies.