Responsible hospitality business development (5 cr)

Objective

You can describe the relevant assessment methods and indicatiors of responsiblity in regional destinations and at national level.
You can search for foresight data related to responsibility in hospitality business.
You can plan, implement and assess a development project related to responsible hospitality business.

Content

What are the positive and negative sociocultural, ecological and economic impacts of the hospitality field?
What are the relevant assessment methods and indicators of responsiblity in regional destinations and at national level?
How do you anticipate the global sociocultural, ecological and economic changes and risks related to responsible development of the field?
How do you plan, implement and assess a development project to improve the responsibility of enterprises, networks of enterprises or destinations?
The course involves a practical project with a case company or organization (3 ECTS credits).

Course material

You can find the study course material in the study course page in the Learn environment.

The student could also use the following books:
Andreas R. et.al, 2023 Corporate sustainability: managing responsible business in a globalised world
Collinson S., 2024 International business
Brennan, Ross B., 2024 Business-to-business marketing

Study forms and methods

Teaching takes place totally online in the Learn studying environment.
The course begins with an orientation lecture common to everyone, which is recorded.
During the study period, theme lectures are organized, participation in which is voluntary. Theme lectures are not saved.
The course consists of various tasks that you can complete independently or alternatively with a partner. There is no exam in the course.
The study period opens no later than the day the study period starts.

RDI and work-related cooperation

The practical tasks of the course can be linked to the student's own work, workplace or projects.

Timing of exams and assignments

The course includes 3 tasks.
a) an essay "A Finnish responsible hospitality company"
b) PP presentation about responsible business in different countries
c) Sustainable plan for hospitality business company.

Course assignments could be written in Finnish or English.

International cooperation

The course has many links to the international business cases, examples and related material.

Student workload

The student's workload is 135 hours.
However, the amount of work depends on your study skills and previous knowledge.

Course part description

The course is divided into the following themes:
1. Sustainability management
2. Dimensions of responsible hospitality
- environmental dimension
- socio-economic dimension
- cultural dimension
3. Regenerative tourism

For each theme, you will find a theme lecture, a theory section and an assignment related to the topic. Themes are clarified and deepened during the course's joint theme lectures and independently by familiarizing yourself with the study material.
The course also has expert visitors/recorded interviews.

Evaluation scale

1-5

Assessment methods and criteria

Evaluation is based on tasks' fulfillment on a scale of 1-5.

The student can
* use professional concepts expertly in different situations.
* critically evaluate the information sources used.
* work as a team-member in expert positions in working life and notice and describe problems in the professional field.
* evaluate operations in customer, user and target group situations.
* choose appropriate models, methods, software and technologies and justify the choice.
* promote the goal-oriented activities of the team.
* critically applies the ethical principles of one's field in different situations.