Knowledge, skills, and abilities for lodging management success.

A study of the essential knowledge, skills, and abilities for 184 upper and middle-level hospitality managers found that financial acumen and human resources savvy were important criteria for managers' success. Upper level managers reported greater financial expertise, while middle-level managers said their greatest strength was in human resources. The importance of financial knowledge was underscored by the finding that only financial management had a significant, positive relationship with increased compensation. The study also seems to indicate that financial matters gained in preeminence as a person obtained higher positions in the organization. Thus, it appears that financial management is key to promotion, rather than human resources, as many have suggested. On the other hand, middle-level managers seem to draw more on human resources and information technology skills. The findings appear to be a signal to would-be upper level executives to pay more careful attention to their financial management knowledge, skills, and abilities.

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This study examines the effect of the following knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) on managers' lodging success: human resources management, marketing, financial management, and information technology. The investigation determined that knowledge perceived as important for management success differs from actual KSAs that distinguish senior-level executives from their subordinate middle-level counterparts. The findings revealed that managers placed highest importance on and were most skilled in human resources management competencies. However, knowledge in financial management appeared to be a stronger indicator of top-level success. Underscoring the importance of financial knowledge was the finding that of all the KSAs being studied, only financial management had a significant, positive relationship with increased compensation. Moreover, financial management appeared to be a key to promotion to top-level positions. The implication of these findings is that educators, trainers, and would-be top executives should pay attention to financial management by ensuring that educational institutions and training programs provide proper coverage of financial techniques and analyses.

Keywords: financial management; human resources management; KSAs; competencies

Today's lodging industry is more global, consolidated, and culturally diverse than ever before. Lodging professionals should be properly tooled with the knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) necessary to enable them to face the industry's challenges and ensure their future success. Thus, it is timely to reexamine the requisites needed for managers to succeed in today's lodging environment.

Through the years, the consensus among industry professionals has been that human resources--related skills represent the most important element of hospitality management success. (1) Current research, however, has challenged this belief by suggesting that knowledge in such areas as finance, marketing, and information technology may be as important as or more important than human resources skills for success. (2) The implication is that the KSAs needed for managers to succeed have changed through the years and that contrary "to earlier studies, the GM of today ... focuses on core business factors." (3) Indeed, contemporary general managers place high value on marketing, human resources, and financial management.

This research-based body of information on competencies serves as a foundation from which job descriptions, management training, and performance appraisals can be developed. Scholarly study into KSAs for hospitality management success represents a valuable resource to professionals and the lodging industry. However, research methodologies used to identify job requisites have been opinion based only--and recent opinions have been conflicting. As a result, conclusions from the studies provide limited empirical evidence for the prediction of management success and may not represent accurate assumptions. To remedy this matter, this study is designed to compare executives' opinions on KSA requisites against actual lodging management success.

We propose that knowledge in financial management, marketing, and information technology, in addition to human resources management, constitutes a desirable attribute for management success. An investigation into the relationship between KSAs and management success will help to ensure proper identification of requisites for current and future managers. Specifically, our study examines the effect of KSAs in human resources, financial management, marketing, and information technology on lodging management advancement and success. We first investigate whether managers are competent in the KSAs that they consider most important and whether any variations in opinions or skills exist between manager groups. Our research then looks at the relative importance of KSAs on managers' advancement and monetary success. We address the following questions:

1. Do KSAs perceived as important for career success differ from knowledge learned by hospitality executives?

2. Do KSAs perceived as important for career success and knowledge learned by hospitality executives vary according to management level?

3. Do KSAs positively correlate with lodging management success'?

This study's results offer a resolution to the proposition that KSAs perceived as important for management success may differ from actual KSAs that place highly compensated managers above average performers. Any gaps found between managers' KSAs and those required for lodging success can provide direction for the future development of effective training programs for middle and upper management.

Diverging Opinions on KSA Requisites

As previously stated, early research on KSAs for lodging managers suggested that leadership and interpersonal skills are essential for managerial success and represented the highest-rated management skills recognized by hospitality professionals. (4) Today, however, industry opinions on successful management competencies, especially with respect to high-level executives, have deviated from original beliefs and support more contemporary schools of thought. (5) In particular, more importance is frequently being placed on marketing, financial management, and information technology knowledge. (6)

Current research into requisites for many different hospitality job titles has reported the need for increased knowledge in these new core competencies. (7) Scholars have started making separate and comprehensive investigations into such emerging KSAs as information technology, for example. (8) The implications of these more-recent studies indicate that knowledge in financial management, marketing, and information technology, in addition to the human resources-related skills, play an important role in managers' success. Thus, the aim of our study is to test these theories regarding successful management requisites using a national group of lodging executives.

The Survey and Subjects

We developed a self-administered mail survey instrument to examine KSAs that were derived from a review of the hospitality literature on management competencies. A search of Purdue University's hospitality literature database produced more than fifty articles addressing KSAs and management competency, from which we compiled a voluminous list of 248 management KSAs. (9) From this list, we grouped similar KSAs together, collapsing our original list into eighty-two statements that fell under the following four domains: (1) human resources management, (2) information technology, (3) financial management, and (4) marketing. To ensure the reliability and clarity of the proposed measures, the draft instrument was tested for face and content validity by a group of subject-matter experts comprising ten industry professionals and educators. This pilot test resulted in the revision of survey statements and reduced the total list of KSAs to thirty-seven. A summary of the competency studies included in the scale development is provided in Exhibit 1.

The final survey instrument consisted of two parts. Part 1 asked respondents to provide information about their professional backgrounds and organizations. In Part 2, respondents were asked to evaluate KSAs based on the level of importance for past career success and to report their current competency levels in each KSA. A 5-point importance scale ranging from not at all important to extremely important was used to measure the importance of KSAs. The self-appraisal of competency level was also measured using a 5-point rating scale.

The study universe consisted of two lodging professional groups: (1) members of the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AH&LA) and (2) alumni of Florida International University's School of Hospitality and Tourism Management (FIU) who graduated from 1973 through 1998 and are employed in the U.S. lodging industry. We restricted participation to executives affiliated with AH&LA properties of 200 rooms or more. From the 2002 AH&LA membership list, 2,070 properties met our criteria, of which 525 were randomly selected for the study. All 360 of the qualifying FIU alumni were included.