Leveraging Transformational Technology – Miles Ahead In HR With Artificial Intelligence
One of the biggest pitfalls for organisations is to spend money and set up an AI infrastructure but not be able to use the outputs or insights gained – based on either incorrect avenues pursued that yield in irrelevant or difficult-to-use data points or based on a lack of in-house skills to “make sense” of the AI outputs. Understanding how “digitally mature” an organisation is and how ready its employees and executives are to implement “data science” should, consequently, be one of the first assessments one undertakes when looking at applying AI within an organisation.
Read moreCan We Have Compassionate Leaders In A Dog-Eat-Dog World?
In the end, leadership is as much art as it is science. Constant practice is necessary to keep your leadership capabilities sharp and relevant. Success in leadership today requires thoughtfulness, caring and compassion. Poor leaders may win occasionally, but never in the end. Take a tip from The Dalai Lama, and become the best leader you can possibly be.
Read moreSustainability of Labour in the Cruise Sector
Google ‘cruise industry’ and ‘sustainability’ and you will get approximately 100,000 hits. Those search results focus mostly on the three key pillars of sustainability: (1) economic, (2) environmental and (3) social. Here, we are suggesting that a fourth dimension should be added; namely, labour.
Read moreThree Character Traits That Help Up-And-Coming Industry ‘Movers-and-Shakers’ Gain Visibility
True servant leaders will pause and then decide on a course of action geared by wanting to achieve best outcomes for the greater good of their teams and their perspective company. So, the real million-dollar question that the up-and-coming talent out there should ask itself is: “What impact will this action or response have on my team or company culture?”
Read moreRedefining Hospitality Leadership: Kerten CEO Marloes Knippenberg on Management Philosophy and Delivering Organisational Success
Taking the opportunity to sit down and ‘talk shop’ with Marloes Knippenberg, CEO of Kerten Hospitality, Aethos™ explored some key leadership questions. If the hospitality industry is continuously redefining itself, as well as the boundaries of the areas in which it operates, does the same hold true for leaders and their management styles?
Read moreHotel Food & Beverage – Where to Invest in Talent?
It feels as though hotel food and beverage has received a lot of renewed attention in the industry as of late. Twenty years ago, around the turn of the millennium, we experienced a reinvention of the hotel fine dining model with the introduction of big name ‘celebrity’ chefs into hotels through outsourced, leased and/or licensing deals. One of the most prominent of such deals was that made between Blackstone and Gordon Ramsay at Claridge’s in London, which spawned a decade of followers as hotel ownership succumbed to the old adage that “hotels can’t do F&B” and instead opted to give the space over to someone who supposedly could.
Read more“Community-Building” Enterprises are Changing Casino-Gaming Landscapes
Studies in consumer marketing theory reveal that, like human beings, products, services, and locations have “personalities.” Indeed, considerable research supports the notions that (i) brands have human-like characteristics that distinguish them from each other, which make them important to consumers, and (ii) consumers become “engaged” with brands, meaning that they can feel special emotional and symbolic connections with certain brands. Along these lines, it could be argued that the casino-gaming industry is evolving in its brand identity and personality, whether by default or design. Further, this apparent evolution is redefining this consumer market in broad and perhaps even unexpected ways. Let’s use Las Vegas as a case study.
Read moreAre a Hotelier’s Expat Days Numbered?
One wonders [...] if the days of the expatriate are numbered and if those entering the business 10, 20 years from now will have the same options open to them. My visit to Singapore also took in the HICAP Update conference. During the ‘Investment Outlook’ panel, when asked to name his number one cost-saving measure in relation to his firm’s hotel portfolio, one of the region’s leading investors half-jokingly replied, “Get rid of the expats.” While this raised a chuckle from the audience (at least 50% expats themselves), there is some seriousness in his statement that reflects an increasing move to localise many management positions in the hotel sector. The fact is that foreign executives are expensive when compared to local hires, often requiring significant additional cost above base pay in terms of allowances and benefits, such as housing, schooling, relocation, insurances, etc. With labour costs typically being one of the heaviest line items on a P&L, it is no wonder that hotel owners are keen to lessen their dependency on imported expertise.
Read moreThe Labour Challenge for Japan’s Casino Resorts
Integrated casino resorts are moving closer to becoming a reality in Japan. While the Integrated Resort (IR) Implementation Bill was passed by Japan’s Diet last summer, it is anyone’s guess as to when the actual licenses, expected to be granted in Osaka, Tokyo, and Yokohama, will be awarded. In addition to one or two local Japanese firms such as Sega Sammy and Konami, the likes of global casino players MGM, Las Vegas Sands, Wynn and Caesars, are all pitching and lobbying furiously to win one of the coveted sites. Forecast to become the second largest gaming market in the world after Macau, and at least twice as large as Singapore, Japan has tentatively edged over the last few years towards legalising casino resorts while at the same time seeking to impose certain limitations in order to appease a nation concerned with the dangers of gambling addiction. Industry and government are making a concerted effort to overturn a negative perception of gaming and to better educate the general public on what exactly an IR comprises. In other words, pitching them as large scale entertainment venues centred on a comparatively small casino - in fact only up to 3% of floor space will be devoted to gaming. The huge amounts of patience, money and resources required on the part of these hopeful casino groups to get this far in the bidding process gives some idea as to the size of the potential payoff that is on offer.
Read moreThe ‘Hot Seat’ of a Restaurant CEO
Aethos™ conducted a recent study of the leadership teams at some of the UK’s prevalent fast-casual and casual dining restaurant operators. The study indicates what many have pointed out for a while now – spearheading a restaurant company is a very ‘hot seat’ indeed.
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