Students’ expectations and satisfaction of a food and beverage

management course

Ju Yup Lee

Apparel, Education Studies, & Hospitality Management

Iowa State University

and

Lakshman Rajagopal

Apparel, Education Studies, & Hospitality Management

Iowa State University

Abstract

Higher education of food and beverage practice courses is confronted with a number

of challenges relating to resources, facility management, and recruitment. Also, in order to

deliver the current foodservice education, food and beverage management programs must

respond to the changes in industry and the needs of students. The purpose of this paper is to

identify the students’ expectations and satisfaction of food and beverage management course

that more accurately reflects the learning experiences appropriate for students entering the

food and beverage industry.

Key Words: Food and beverage management course, students’ expectations and satisfaction

Introduction

Since the initiation of the first hospitality program at Cornell University in the 1920s,

there has been a significant increase in hospitality and tourism education at universities

(Goodman & Sprague, 1991). A recent report of the International Council on Hotel,

Restaurant, and Institutional Education (Rigel & Dallas, 2006) indicated that over 970

institutions offering hospitality and tourism management programs exist all over the world,

and about 170 bachelor degree programs are available in the United States.

Food and beverage as an operational discipline has been a fundamental component of

hospitality management education from the commencement of the hospitality education. In

fact, almost every hospitality program offers at least one course in food and beverage

management that provides a kitchen and dining room type environment. However, food and

beverage courses and facilities have remained unchanged for the last 30 years in most of the

four-year hospitality programs (Jones, 2004). This is a critical problem because food and

beverage education will have a serious discrepancy between industry’s current needs and

graduate competencies, since student needs and industry demands are constantly changing.

The purpose of this study is to investigate students’ expectations and satisfactions of

food and beverage management course. More specifically, the relationship of occupational

curriculum and updated learning environment with students’ expectations and satisfactions of

food and beverage management course is investigated

.

Literature Review

What are students’ expectations of food and beverage management education?

When food and beverage management students enter the real industry, they need to

possess a broad variety of skills such as food marketing, menu development, a basic

understanding of the culinary arts, and knowledge of foodservice management in commercial

foodservice (Ladkin, 2000). Several studies have attempted to identify the learning

expectations of food and beverage management students. Ford and Lebrunto (1995) state that

students want to have experiential or practical hands-on work experience since they believe it

to be the most effective application of the theoretical classroom content. Other research has

found that students enrolling in foodservice operation programs are motivated by expected

occupational and career outcomes (O'Mahony et al., 2001). Raybould and Wilkins (2006)

have summarized students’ expectation of learning in food and beverage includes; gaining a

broad base experience in food and beverage operation management, developing basic skills

and knowledge of cooking, staying current with new technological advances, and developing

communication skills.

Therefore, when students have higher expectations of food and beverage

management course and if they receive fulfillment of learning experience, they will have

higher satisfaction from the course. Winsted (2000) states that if universities know how their

students perceive the offered services, they may be able to adapt their services to a certain

degree, which should have a positive impact on students’ perceived service quality and their

level of satisfaction. In this perspective, the following hypothesis is proposed:

H1: Students’ expectations of food and beverage management course is be positively related

with students’ satisfaction

What are the needs of foods and beverage management graduates?

All hospitality and tourism education at universities are not based on the same

curriculum. Some institutions place a greater emphasis on vocational training through

internships; others develop an academic approach to hospitality management. However, the

main goal of all programs is to maintain the hospitality industry’s competitiveness in both the

academic and the vocational elements (Hofmann, 1998). Particularly under hospitality and

tourism curriculum, food and beverage management courses have tended to highlight the

importance of practical and operational skills. In fact, most hospitality management programs

incorporate food and beverage practical training opportunities to combine both the academic

and vocational elements.

Accordingly, the educators have begun implementing quality initiatives since the

early 1990s (Karathanos, 1990). However, those educational efforts were fragmented with no

clear direction, and there is a widening gap between the needs of the foodservice industry and

the education currently being provided (Ladkin, 2000). However, there is a commonality of

interest among educators, industry and students in the currency of workplace skills. Several

researchers (Christou, 1999; Jayawardena, 2001; Yeung, 2004) state that food and beverage

management programs must turn out graduates who are more aware of the real environment

of the industry and have the ability to translate their knowledge in the work place. Also,

students expect the foodservice courses to prepare them to enter the industry after graduation.

Research on students’ needs for foodservice programs (Jayawardena, 2001) found that

students have more expectations of occupational learning experience and they satisfy more

when they receive more practical education in food and beverage management course.

on the discussion above, the following hypotheses

H2: Occupational curriculum of food and beverage management course will be related with

students’ positive expectation of the course.

H3: Occupational curriculum of food and beverage management course will be positively

related with students’ higher satisfaction with the course.

The current learning environment

Food and beverage management training courses are beneficial, but these courses

have numerous problems due to resourcing, recruiting and fac

Harrington et al., 2005). For example, operating a food and beverage laboratory has high

portion of operational costs, and it is difficult to find stable financial resources. Moreover,

schools are confronted with the chall

meets the current trends of the industry. This requires a vast amount of investment

Hancer, 2010).

In order to provide learning

industry for students, the structure of food and beverage learning environment must be

similar to the current setting of the restaurant industry

that students were willing to participate in a food and beverage course, wh

environment reflected the actual industry and they have higher satisfaction with the course.

However, relatively little empirical research has been conducted on testing the connection of

updated learning environment and students expectation

beverage management course. Thus, following

H4: Updated learning environment will be related with students’ positive expectations of

food and beverage management course.

H5: Updated learning environment will be positively related with students’ higher

satisfaction with the course

Figure 1. Conceptual framework

when they receive more practical education in food and beverage management course.

on the discussion above, the following hypotheses are proposed:

: Occupational curriculum of food and beverage management course will be related with

students’ positive expectation of the course.

: Occupational curriculum of food and beverage management course will be positively

ts’ higher satisfaction with the course.

learning environment of food and beverage management courses

Food and beverage management training courses are beneficial, but these courses

have numerous problems due to resourcing, recruiting and facility issues (Baker et al., 1995;

Harrington et al., 2005). For example, operating a food and beverage laboratory has high

portion of operational costs, and it is difficult to find stable financial resources. Moreover,

schools are confronted with the challenging task of creating and maintaining a facility that

meets the current trends of the industry. This requires a vast amount of investment

learning experiences that accurately reflect the real foodservice

industry for students, the structure of food and beverage learning environment must be

similar to the current setting of the restaurant industry (Jones, 2004). Winsted (2000)

students were willing to participate in a food and beverage course, wh

environment reflected the actual industry and they have higher satisfaction with the course.

However, relatively little empirical research has been conducted on testing the connection of

updated learning environment and students expectations and satisfaction with the food and

beverage management course. Thus, following hypotheses are proposed:

learning environment will be related with students’ positive expectations of

food and beverage management course.

vironment will be positively related with students’ higher

Figure 1. Conceptual framework

when they receive more practical education in food and beverage management course. Based

: Occupational curriculum of food and beverage management course will be related with

: Occupational curriculum of food and beverage management course will be positively

and beverage management courses

Food and beverage management training courses are beneficial, but these courses

ility issues (Baker et al., 1995;

Harrington et al., 2005). For example, operating a food and beverage laboratory has high

portion of operational costs, and it is difficult to find stable financial resources. Moreover,

enging task of creating and maintaining a facility that

meets the current trends of the industry. This requires a vast amount of investment (Leong &

experiences that accurately reflect the real foodservice

industry for students, the structure of food and beverage learning environment must be

Winsted (2000) found

students were willing to participate in a food and beverage course, when the learning

environment reflected the actual industry and they have higher satisfaction with the course.

However, relatively little empirical research has been conducted on testing the connection of

s and satisfaction with the food and

learning environment will be related with students’ positive expectations of

vironment will be positively related with students’ higher

Research methods

In order to measure students’ expectations and satisfaction of food and beverage

management courses, a survey questionnaire will be developed based on literature review and

interview with food and beverage management courses’ students. A pilot study will be

conducted to test reliability of the survey questionnaire. The survey will be administered to

approximately two hundreds students in food and beverage management class before taking

the course and after finishing the course at five leading hospitality universities that provide

food and beverage management course in the U.S. between the December 2010 and January

2011.

Expected implications

The findings from this study will have implication in designing food and beverage

courses and that meets students’ expectations and satisfaction.

References

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study of facilities and a debate on its relevance. International Journal of Contemporary

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Christou, E. S. (1999). Hospitality management education in Greece: An exploratory study.

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Ford, R. & LeBrunto, S. (1995). Management education in the USA – How much practical

hotel management education is necessary? International Journal of Contemporary

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Goodman, R. J., & Sprague, L. G. (1991). Meeting the industry’s needs. The Cornell Hotel

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Harrington, R. J., Mandabach, K. H., VanLeeuwen, D., & Thibodeaus, W. (2005). A multi-

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