Research Project / Report: The student will create an original mini-research project on a topic of his/her choice related to cost control issues in the hospitality industry. The topic has to be discussed in advance with the professor. Each student will create a minimum three page report on the topic and is required to give a PowerPoint presentation to the class. Instead of researching a specific topic, students may elect to perform a quantitative analysis of a cost control problem in the tourism and hospitality industry, and draw appropriate conclusions about what the data and results indicate about a solution to the problem.

Research Presentation Format (concepts only)

Students should use the following guideline as a format when preparing their mini research presentation.

1. Introduction & background of the topic

2. Literature Review (students should include at least 3-4 good citations in the presentation)
-Academic journals
-Industry/trade publications
-Personal communications/interviews
-Other?
–
3. Summary and conclusions (What has the research demonstrated? What can you conclude?)

Example:

Topic : Environmentally Sensitive Production in Restaurants

1.Introduction:
(Why is it an important topic, how does it impact the restaurant industry, how does it fit into the cost control topic, how can it serve society in general, etc.)

2.Literature Review:

(What did others write about environmental friendly production in restaurants, how can you extend on the existing literature by addressing the cost control component, what did others not mentioned, etc.)

3.Summary and Conclusion:

(How did your research on the subject impact restaurant cost control practices?)
Examples of impact of this type of research may be:

a.Simplifies the implementation of environmental practices;
b.Will overcome the barrier of cost by demonstrating potential cost savings opportunities of sustainable practices;
c.Will investigate of customers price sensitivity in regard to minor increases in price to recover investments made by operator;
d.Provides a guide how to train employees to support sustainable practices in their work place; and,
e.Motivates restaurant operators to actively get involved in turning their restaurants Green.

Research Presentation Format (quantitative analysis of a cost control problem)

Students should use the following guideline for format when preparing their mini research presentation.

1. Introduction & background of the topic

2. Methodology (quantitative method used, source of data)

3. Summary and conclusions (Explain results, what can you conclude about what the data and results are indicating about a solution to the problem.)

Example:

Topic : The application of menu engineering to spas

1.Introduction:
(What is the purpose of the study, why is it an important topic, how does it fit into the cost control topic, etc.)
(The spa industry has become very popular with customers. However, there is a paucity of articles discussing cost control issues in spas. Menu engineering can be applied to spa products in order to evaluate the profitability of services offered.

2.Methodology:
(Source of data and method of analysis are discussed here, for this example, spa data is used to adopt menu engineering to analyze spa products; profitability and popularity.)

3.Summary and Conclusion:
(Explain results and draw conclusions from the results, in this example, the spa menu analysis resulted in the elimination of some products and the promotion of others and the potential increase of profitability through the application of cost control measures to spa products).