Passing the Baton From the Executive Director

I ‘m Gary Thompson. On July I, 2003, I assumed the role of executive director of the Center for Hospitality Research (CHR) at Cornell University. As you probably

know, CHR is the publisher of Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration QuarterLy In this essay (my first “From the Executive Director”), I will tell you a little about my back- ground and how that background will guide my actions as executive director. First, however, some thanks are in order.

software. More than any other experience, that work sold me on the value of integrating theory and practice. To this day, I believe I am a better researcher because of the practical work I’ve done.

Thank yous. Let me begin by extending my heartfelt appreciation to the outgoing executive director, Cathy Enz. During the three years that Professor Enz was executive director, the CHR truly became a viable entity, going from no staff members and no of&e, to having a cohesive and highly competent team of four full-time staff members and a spiffy office suite in Statler Hall, home of Cornell’s School of Hotel Administration (9%). Professor Enz brought an enormous level of enthusiasm and professionalism to the job. That she accomplished all she did, while maintaining a full teaching load in her first year on the job, is quite re- markable. Professor Enz has set the performance bar high.

Role of the CHR. The CHR Gary M. Thompson plays a crucial role in maintaining the mix of research and practice in the SHA. Conducting high-quality research is time consuming, and individual faculty members do not have unlimited time to spend on making connections with industry leaders. The CHR can serve as a bidirectional conduit-moving knowledge of the research being created at SHA out to industry, and moving feedback on that research and information about impor- tant industry issues back to SHA faculty members. In other words, the CHR is like a catalyst, serving to leverage the research talents of faculty members with the needs and hands-on practical knowledge of industry leaders.

Thanks are also due to Associate Professor Michael Sturman for agreeing to continue his term as editor of the Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration QuarterLy. Professor Sturman brings a sharp mind, a strong work ethic, and a phenomenal research toolkit to his role. He’s managed the review process so that authors receive timely and instructive feedback on the manuscripts they submit. Doing so encourages authors to send CHRAQ their best work.

As a faculty member, what I liked about the CHR under Professor Enz’s tenure was the visibility that the CHR achieved for my research. Indeed, I’ve received more press visibility for my CHR research reports than for any of my previous work. In my role as executive director, 1’11 do my best to continue increasing the visibility of faculty members’ research.

My background and the SHA. Prior to arriving here at Cornell, I spent I2 years in business schools, first as a student and then as a faculty member. During that time I observed that business-school-faculty members are often disconnected with business. I like to say, only somewhat in jest, that business schools were created to keep faculty members out of the business world. The School of Hotel Administration is not like that, however. In the SHA, the hospitality industry permeates everything we do. That’s not to say that we’re a trade school. A key component of any academic entity at Cornell is the need to contribute to, rather than simply disseminate, knowledge. This orienta- tion-the creation of knowledge of direct use to industry- is what attracted me to the SHA and is what keeps me here.

Changes at the CHR. One of the first changes we’re implementing at the CHR is to redesign our website to make it easier to navigate. The center’s website (www.chr. cornell.edu) is the main interface between the CHR and its constituents (including those interested in Cornell Qtiarterly), and the web site’s new look should facilitate that interface.

We’re also going to start requiring that people register before downloading center reports and Cornell Quarterly articles. We do not intend to charge for the downloads, but we do need a much better understanding of who are the main consumers of our research products. Customer- relationship management is a hot topic these days, for good reason, and we too need to manage our relationships well.

You’ll hear more from me in the future about these and other changes in store at the CHR.

Prior to arriving at the SHA, my research focused almost Contacting me. From running my own business, I’ve exclusively on workforce scheduling. The culmination of learned the importance of listening to customers and taking that research was my development of the algorithms and actions based on their suggestions. If you have any ques- writing the computer code that a large hospitality organiza- tions, comments, or suggestions, please feel free to contact tion uses to schedule tens of thousands of employees. What me directly at: gmtl@cornell.edu. And if you haven’t yet a thrill it was to visit the organization and to know that done so, I’d encourage you to check out the CHR’s website people were doing their assigned tasks because of my at www.chr.cornell.edu.-G.M. 7:

AUGUST 2003 Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly 3