EHL Course Catalogue 2011-2012 - Ecole Hôtelière de Lausanne

managers engage in when strategizing. Through case study discussions, reflective journals,
interactive strategic planning sessions with hospitality industry executives, and individual and team
exercises, students will develop their strategy-making competences and strategic thinking
capabilities. They will understand not only how, according to the theory, they should analyze firms
and their competitive situations in order to develop a competitive advantage, but also how, in reality,
practitioners actually do so. They will learn the fundamental strategic management tools and
techniques, but also to question the prescribed wisdom, develop their own analytical tools, and
combine analysis, synthesis and innovative thinking in order to develop solutions to strategic
challenges facing hospitality firms and industry sectors.
Entrepreneurship
45 hours of contact – 3 semester credits
� Summary
The purpose of this course is to address key areas related to the entrepreneurial process. Issues and
questions to be addressed include:
- The entrepreneurial mindset: what does being an entrepreneur mean?
- Identifying entrepreneurial opportunities;
- How to write a business plan;
- How to raise funds in order to finance an entrepreneurial venture;
- Taking over an existing business as an alternative to creating a new one.
Hotel Benchmarking
30 hours of contact – 2 semester credits
� Summary
This module introduces various benchmarking tools, approaches and techniques. It provides
students with the necessary skills to conduct benchmarking initiatives, assists them in analyzing
research for competitive intelligence and provides them with the knowledge to successfully plan and
implement process improvements for organizational best practice and improved corporate
performance. The aim of the course is to provide students with a critical understanding of the role of
benchmarking in the hotel industry and the tools and understanding to conduct benchmarking
exercises and to show how the resulting findings can be incorporated into strategic planning
processes and unit level action plans.
Organisational Behaviour
30 hours of contact – 2 semester credits
� Summary
Managing people for productivity is an ongoing challenge in a rapidly changing business
environment. Being able to deal successfully with the “people factor” requires a solid understanding
of the fundamental theories and frameworks of organizational behaviour (OB). This course will focus
on the essential factors that drive employee satisfaction and productivity. Leadership is of course a
central topic and the course covers a range of leadership areas, including different leadership styles,
contingency theories of leadership, team leadership, and issues of participative decision-making and