Core PGD Units

F&B Service Theory and Practical
The theory and practice of Food & Beverage service is developed here to enable students to operate quickly and effectively within a food service outlet. This unit covers the fundamentals of food and beverage service as it applies to restaurants and all other types of food service operations within top and medium hotels. The focus of the unit is on the philosophy, psychology and technical skills required for effective food and beverage service. The unit will also cover the principles of sound food and beverage operation management.

Wine & Beverage
The Wine & Beverage unit concentrates on a very specialist area within hospitality ? the acquisition, storage, preparation and serving of a wide range of wines and other drinks. This includes wines from around the world and common drinks from hot through to chilled beverages typically available within a food service area. The unit provides a systematic approach to beverage knowledge and operations with emphasis on developing effective service skills for the industry. The unit will also look at control systems and operational management decision-making and problem-solving.

Front Office Theory and Practical
The Front Office is often the first and last area the customer experiences within the hospitality environment. This area is also one of the highest income generators within a hotel. This unit is designed to develop the techniques, skills and knowledge required to work in the front office department in a variety of hospitality establishments. This focus will familiarize students with the principles of front desk operational procedures, examine current trends in guest services, and discuss competitive tactics that hotels use in their services and amenities. Guest service operations and management is examined in detail along with concepts involving property management systems and related applications.

Housekeeping Theory and Practical
Housekeeping is one of the most important departments in hotels, resorts and cruises. Aspects such as the day to day complexities of the housekeeping profession including budgeting, planning, organizing, supervising and performing the work itself are covered in detail within this unit. The unit will particularly look at providing and maintaining a housekeeping service, maintaining housekeeping and linen supplies, as well as dealing with external laundries. The student will also be shown the importance of good hygiene, cleanliness and good control systems.

Hospitality Accounting
This unit is designed to give students both a conceptual understanding and a practical use of internal accounting information using structured analysis techniques. The unit covers understanding the accounting cycle as well as calculating cost structures and pricing frameworks, planning and managing cashflows, building and managing effective budgets, keeping simple accounts and reporting of financial information.

Human Resources Management
This unit explores how and why organizations function and operate as they do, and how and why they need to change in line with environmental, political, socio-cultural, technological and competitive forces. The unit looks at classical and contemporary models within human resource management and considers how they apply to the international hospitality industry. It also develops the students’ ability to plan, organize and manage a key asset within hospitality organizations’, the people. Specific topics will focus on human resource planning and job analysis, recruiting, selection, orientation, training and development, career planning, performance appraisal, compensation, health and safety and labour relations.

Hospitality Business Environment
The HBE unit looks at how the international hospitality industry is made up and how it links with other related industries. The unit provides a broad overview of the political, economic, technological, environmental and social impacts of the industry. Specific topics normally include: linkages between tourism and hospitality; size, scope and infrastructure of the hospitality industry; career opportunities; and the role of management in the hospitality industry. The unit also introduces the student to the central themes of organizations, including organizational structures, communication models and behaviour and how they relate to specific areas such as marketing, production and finance.

IT Applications
This unit develops the skills for using information technology for business communication purposes in today’s working environment. It covers the basic and intermediate skills in creating and using documents, spreadsheets and presentation materials within professional requirements. The unit will also develop students’ competence in using IT for study purposes, including the use of the Internet, intranets and databases.

French / German
Languages are a crucial aspect for working effectively with customers, staff and partners in the international hospitality and tourism business. Students are thus given an opportunity to develop basic to intermediate skills in conversing with French or German speakers in a working environment. Apart from being an essential lifetime skill, these language skills are particularly important for those students who choose to do their internship within Switzerland or other mainland European countries.

Specialist Units for PGD Diploma Hospitality Management

Hospitality Management
The Hospitality Management unit is the core unit for this PGD. The unit sets out the framework within which Hospitality Managers operate and draws together many of the topics covered within the other units. It looks at the industry, businesses within it, and the roles in different types of establishments. It also focuses specifically on providing services to the customer, managing resources, building teams and ensuring a healthy, safe and secure environment for customers, staff and visitors.

Marketing Management
This unit draws from general marketing principles and applies them to the international hospitality business. It looks at the decision making processes of hospitality consumers along with the competitive nature of the industry. Students will learn and practise marketing strategies, tools and techniques which will help them manage the service environment in providing for customers’ needs better than the competition. Particular emphasis is placed on the importance of the elements of the marketing mix, current marketing issues, analytical methods and on multi cultural marketing.

Hospitality Management Project
This unit is a capstone course for the PGD in Hospitality Management. The unit will give students an opportunity to demonstrate what they have achieved within a simulated or real-life project, such as a hospitality, catering or tourism related-project. The unit is designed to bring out and enable the assessment of a range of cognitive, affective and psychomotor skills within project management in a student-centered environment. It will look at costing, setting up, planning, organizing, managing, closing and reporting on small and large projects, a typical and regular activity within hospitality management. Some projects in the unit may be physically executed, and some may be virtually experienced.

Research Skills
The Research Skills unit develops the critical thinking abilities and skills required by hospitality managers in locating, sorting and using information for decision making purposes. The unit focuses on understanding various concepts, models and tools within social research, as well as looking at and using quantitative and qualitative techniques for collecting, evaluating and handling data for management information purposes.