Corporate Governance Study: Lodging Boards
The top performing board in this year’s study belonged to Six Flags Entertainment, scoring an impressive 44 out of a possible 46 points. Extended Stay America and Hilton Grand Vacations tied for second with 43 points, while InterContinental Hotels and Pebblebrook Hotel Trust finished in a tie with 42 points. An impressive performance by these organizations. Each has proxy filing that was thoughtful, thorough, and easy to understand. Just what investors and proxy advisors are looking for. Other organizations such as Travel Zoo, Southerly Hotels, and InnSuites Hospitality Trust have much more work to do but should find plenty of low hanging fruit to improve their overall governance.
Read moreMind the ‘COVID’ Gap
Throughout 2020, Aethos™ witnessed first-hand how industry leaders and teams have deliberately, or inadvertently, shifted their performance dynamics in response to COVID. These shifts can be considered ‘gaps’ because they often have negative or unintended effects on the business and people practices of organisations. Intriguingly, these performance gaps are easily detected in the psychometric patterns of senior executives. Aethos™ thus decided to gather empirical data and find out what new patterns might have emerged.
Read moreCorporate Governance Study: Gaming Boards
Casino Journal and Aethos Consulting Group™ have been analysing board practices in the gaming industry for over a decade. The results of our recent survey show some vast improvements; however, there are still several companies that continue to lag the marketplace when it comes to corporate governance structure. Our study examined five critical areas of corporate governance:
Read moreConfronting the Global ‘New Normal’: A Conversation with Daniel Xiang, Hong Kong-based Junson Captial
COVID-19 has drastically altered worldwide market conditions, with many countries on the brink of recession. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) expects the global economy to shrink by 3% this year, which would be the worst decline since the Great Depression of the 1930s10. A Gallup survey acknowledged this harsh reality by noting that 7 in 10 Americans now believe the US economy is either in a recession (40%) or a depression (30%). Additionally, workers’ have increased worries concerning being laid off and reductions in work hours, wages, and benefits — for instance, 27% of U.S. workers worry about being laid off, which is up from 15% in 201912. Moreover, remote workdays have doubled during the pandemic, which can threaten 'real life' office cultures; isolated environments can lower productivity by 17% for those who prefer the 'in-person' working dynamic.
Read moreGaming CEO Pay, Calm Before the Storm
The end of 2019 ushered in a banner year. Valuations where high and deals were getting done (Penn National & BarStool, Caesars & Eldorado) among them. Then the world changed overnight. Panic in the public markets ensued and valuations plummeted (Penn National went from $49 to $4 in March). The gaming compensation committees had the challenge of paying 2019 bonuses and such just as COVID was devastating their businesses. A though spot to say the least. Markets have since bounced back and casinos are slowing reopening to a new reality. How gaming companies handle executive pay issues at the end of 2020 will be a very interesting read.
Read moreThe Big Rethink Agenda: HR, Leadership and Crisis Management
Developing and implementing an ‘HR strategy2’ is a significant challenge for many organisations. Many of the HR executives have also stressed that part of this ‘big rethink agenda’ is a re-evaluation of governance. We have seen different strategies being pursued by countries across the globe – some have pursued a highly centralised strategy to fight this situation, others have decentralised decision-making power and let local governments/municipalities take the lead. The jury is still out as to whether or not there is one winning strategy, but HR executives are asking themselves: “Are there potential learnings for us from the different strategies being pursued by governments across the globe? During times of crisis or change, does a de-centralised structure trump a centralised one or vice-versa?”
Read moreRe-Shape, Re-Generate, Re-Invent: A Career Roundtable Discussion Focused on Confidence, Control and Opportunities
The Annual Hotel Conference was held October 8th – in line with the overarching theme of ‘re-shaping’, ‘re-generating, and ‘re-inventing’, delegates were able to participate in an interactive roundtable discussion focused on professional development opportunities. The conversation centred around identifying and securing one’s next career step.
Read moreWhat Paranormal Tourism Reveals About the Human Psyche
Space activation, reactivation, and monetization are hot-button industry topics (e.g., Collina et al., 2017; deRoos, 2011; Tamini, 2018) - especially in the context of certain forces that have disrupted retail, tourism, and hospitality markets. Specifically, Russo and Richards (2016) noted three important paradigm shifts or “turns” that have evolved the concept of consumerism in these businesses, that is, the mobilities, performative, and creative turns (pp. 3–5). A later section deals with these in greater detail, but such trends are substantiated by considerable evidence, and collectively suggest that the most successful service–hospitality concepts intentionally capitalize on “systems theory,” i.e., environment–person bidirectional or enactive influences (Goldhagen, 2017; Jelić et al., 2016; Rentfrow, 2013). Stated simply, the prevailing view is that contemporary tourism and hospitality should approach the issue of space activation as an interactionist proposition.
Read moreAdjusting Asset Management Staffing Strategies
The role of asset manager is as important as ever now during the pandemic, so those with asset managers within their ranks should think carefully about how they manage their teams.
Read moreHotel CEO Pay For Performance Study
What a difference 6 months makes. 2020 began with hotel companies coming off one of the strongest years in history and feeling optimistic the good times would continue. Since then, the industry has had widespread closures, massive layoffs, and CEO’s taking significant pay cuts while grappling with a global pandemic. While we will explore the ramifications of this crisis in this article’s conclusion, much of this study is focused on 2019 compensation data.
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