The role of a management programme in the development of management competences

The acquisition of competences plays a pivotal role in enhancing graduates’ prospects and opportunities, fostering both their personal and professional development. The Tourism and Hospitality (T&H) sector, as highlighted by AQU, is no exception to this trend.

This topic is what the scientific publication that we analyze today talks about, which is written by Raquel Ferreras Garcia and Jordi Sales Zaguirre, both members of Management & e-Learning (MeL) research group. The article was published in the Journal of Education for Business in 2024.

Objectives and Methodology

To better understand how to improve management in the tourism and hospitality sector, a study was carried out using a qualitative research methodology. To collect information, questionnaires were sent to the supervisors of students who were doing internships in tourism and hospitality-related companies. This study involved 121 students. Finally, the responses were then analyzed using SPSS to obtain solid conclusions.

Results and conclusions

The results show that students are highly competent in a wide range of management-related skills, a finding that is mostly consistent with previous literature. Students are especially competent in areas related to productivity, communication and human relations, while they are less so in tasks involving coordination and control, innovation and internal processes, although the levels of achievement are impressive in all cases.

Thus, we can safely say that the education they have received has been successful, managing to develop these competences remarkably well. Furthermore, the students’ gender and the subsector in which they carry out their internship prove to be crucial factors in determining management competence achievement.

This study has demonstrated the importance of offering a tourism and hospitality management curriculum that combines theory and practice. These mechanisms ensure that future graduates properly develop the required management competences and enter the world of work proficient in what is expected of them.

Consult the study

You can consult the full scientific article by clicking here.