Industry know-how
EHL was founded by the industry, for the industry. What is studied at EHL, and the way it is studied, has always been closely linked to industry needs, and programmes are regularly updated to correspond to new trends and needs.
Hospitality management requires both competent generalists and highly specialized, technical knowledge in many different areas. For many years the classic way to reach higher management positions was to work slowly up through the hierarchy, acquiring insight into every aspect of a hospitality enterprise on the way. For this reason it was difficult for outsiders to come in at the top.
Today, we give our students the management and technical skills skills needed for high-level management while never losing sight of the need for all business skills to be grounded in operational knowledge and know-how. EHL provides something not found in generic business schools: the essential link beween underlying processes and the final client experience.
Operations: the nuts-and-bolts of the hospitality experience
Operations is at the heart of any hospitality enterprise and also at the heart of EHL programmes. It is what lies behind the smiling receptionist or the perfect dining experience. It is the underlying well-oiled machinery that is invisible to the client... until there is a cog in the wheel.
On the face of it, the term "operations" doesn't sound very exciting. In a restaurant, it is cooking, service and stewarding. In accommodation it is housekeeping and laundry. In reception, it is the smooth processing of checking in and out and trouble-shooting all the details.
Put this way, operations may not sound very important. But in fact it is the essential part of hospitality: the part that concerns direct contact with the client. This is why EHL programmes provide both in-depth knowledge of all aspects of operations as well as the essential skills for human relations management.
Operations in EHL programmes
Operations is integrated into every aspect of studies at EHL, from the practical encounters for first-year students right through to the strategic-level advanced operations course for final-year Bachelor students.
Mistakenly, some people believe that operations is simply low level, preliminary experience. At EHL we also place it at the very highest level. Students begin by an intensive plunge into operational experience. Then, they move to evaluating operations processes from a management point of view.
The final-year Bachelor operations course in advanced operations, which helps them to “operationalize” a creative idea, is one of the most important and exciting courses students will ever encounter.
