Research

Research

Les Roches Research & Innovation Strategy

Research at Les Roches is both at the core of the different educational programs the institution offers and an essential tool for fostering its mission, enhancing its academic reputation, and attracting students worldwide. Research, critical thinking, analytical skills, developing new information and presenting it to relevant stakeholders are essential learning outcomes for our students. To foster these skills as well as to share with the students the most up-to-date knowledge about the hospitality industry, Les Roches faculty and students are actively engaged in research. All scholarly activities focus on six key areas responding to the mission and values of the institution:

• Innovation and Entrepreneurship
• Globalization
• Sustainability and Reporting
• Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL)
• Practical Arts / Food & Beverage
• Sports & Events

These activities, whether they are research driven by faculty or applied research projects developed by students under faculty supervision, foster a close collaboration and exchange of knowledge within and beyond the hospitality industry. Through applied research, Les Roches aims at enhancing creativity in the field of hospitality among faculty, students, alumni, industrial partners, and authorities, as well as revealing to all these stakeholders new business opportunities and opportunities to collaborate or contribute.

Areas of Research

The areas of research Les Roches is engaged on are closely linked to its institutional mission and are widely represented as subjects across the programs offered by the institution.

• Innovation and Entrepreneurship:
o Entrepreneurship and Intrapreneurship
o Future Trends and Disruptions
o Change and Innovation Management
o Experience Design and Design Thinking		 • Sustainability and Reporting:
o Sustainable Business Practices
o Corporate Social Responsibility
o Sustainable Management
o Ethical Leadership
• Practical Arts / Food & Beverage:
o F&B Operation and Trends
o Food Styling
o Food Marketing and Branding
o Food Safety and Quality
o F&B Automatization and AI Integration		 Sports & Events:
o Event Planning and Management
o Sports Sponsorship and Branding
o E-sports and Innovation
• Globalization:
o Global Outlook and Fluency
o Multiculturalism
o Soft Skills, Competencies, Capabilities
o Global Leadership		 • Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL):
o Higher Education in a Global Context
o Higher Education in a Multicultural Context
o Hospitality Education
  • Governance of Research and Innovation Activities
  • All research activities are coordinated by Les Roches Research Committee (LRRC) which is composed of the Head of Research, Faculty members leading each research area and a representative of Spark.
  • The committee ensures that the research strategy and objectives are achieved, manages the research budget, validation of proposals, ethical approval of projects and any other matter related to research and innovation at Les Roches.
  • The development of each research area is driven by faculty members and overseen by the LRRC. Faculty members may be engaged in one or more research areas. The aim is to foster research among faculty and students and encourage a wider participation across the institution.
  • Some of our innovation activities are:
  • Shiftin'. This event is about shifting innovations in hospitality to create a more sustainable industry. Leaders from around the world shared their knowledge and thoughts on this important topic. Access Shiftin’ website here
    Space and Underwater Tourism Universal Summit (SUTUS): We were delighted to host the fourth edition of the Space and Underwater Tourism Universal Summit (SUTUS) at our Marbella campus in September 2023. More than 500 professionals from 45 countries revealed the most ambitious challenges in this exciting tourism sector, while also sharing knowledge and business opportunities. Access SUTUS website here

Academic research

A selection of our most recent Academic Research & Publications is below.

For a full overview of research activity, please see our individual Faculty bios

Publications

De la Lastra, C. D., De Labeaga, J. L. P., Castro-López, R., & Hernández-López, L. E. (2024). Innovation in the international educational experience for hospitality and luxury industry: Unleashing corporate entrepreneurship at Les Roches in Switzerland and Spain. In Corporate Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Tourism and Hospitality (pp. 275-283). Routledge.
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Puhr, R. (2024, May 6). Leveraging the potential of third space faculty developers to foster individual and collective flourishing faculty professional identities in higher education. London Review of Education.
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Diamantis, D. (2024, May 5). Emerging trends in hospitality for 2024 and beyond.
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Hassan, B. (2024). Embracing neurodiversity in the hospitality industry. Fox Communications.
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Ashaal, A., Bakri, A., AlKhatib, N., Chreif, M., & Zakhem, N. B. (2024). Harvesting sustainability: Navigating green practices and barriers in Lebanon's hospitality sector. Business Strategy & Development, 7(2), e369.
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Gonet, X. (2024, June 10). Great customer service and its role in successful restaurants. Hotelier & Hospitality Design Magazine.
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Krebs, J. (2024, February 27). Customer service vs. customer support: What’s the difference?
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Aiosi, V. (2024, June). Transformations in the restaurant industry: How restaurateurs anticipate the future. Sommeliers Suisses Magazine, pp.64-69. (In French Language).
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Puhr, R., & Germanier, R. (2023). Flourishing or languishing? Exploring the lived experiences of faculty negotiating the challenges of synchronous and asynchronous delivery. In P. Kumar, & J. Eisenberg (Eds.). Synchro-nous and Asynchronous Approaches to Teaching: Higher Education Lessons in Post-Pandemic Times. Springer International Publishing.

Tajeddini, K., Gamage, T.C., Hameed, W., Qumsieh-Mussalam, G., Chaijani, M., Rasoolimanesh, S., Kallmuenzer, A. (2022) How self-gratification and social values shape revisit intention and customer loyalty of Airbnb customers, International Journal of Hospitality Management.
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Landrum, N. (2022). Strong sustainability in practice. Pathways to Research in Sustainability. EBSCO

Palabiyik, J.U., Cronin, B., Markham Bagnera, S.D. and Legg, M.P. (2022), “Endings, freezing, and new beginnings: the return of customer comfort to Massachusetts restaurants following the pandemic”, Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Insights, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print
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Diamantis, D., & Puhr, R. (2022). Corporate social responsibility and work–life balance provisions for employee quality of life in hospitality and tourism settings. Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism Themes, 14(3), 207–209.
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Diamantis, D., & Puhr, R.(2022). Macro- and micro-level connections between work–life balance, quality of life and circular economic thinking as drivers of sustainability. Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism Themes, 312–315.
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Albrahimi, A., (2021). How Fintechs are Supporting the Hospitality Industry. The Fintech Times (UK)

Marechal, L. (2021) Do economic variables forecast commodity futures volatility?, Journal of Futures Markets 41(11),  1735– 1774.
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Puhr, R. (2021). The skills debate in the context of a pandemic: Are students prepared for the workplace? Journal for Higher Education Development (ZFHE), 16(3), 99–118.
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Marshall, T., Mottier, E.M., Lewis, R.A. (2019) Motivational factors and the hospitality industry. (harveymaria.com) Cambridge University Press, IELTS Academic 14

Darioly, A., & Gueuning, F. (2018). What type of disruptive leaders will the hotel industry need? Insight, eHotelier
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Aiosi, V. (2018). This is the secret attraction of Swiss wine, Forbes
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Vlad, E. (2015). The application of Six Sigma in the hospitality industry. In J. Feng, S. Stocklin & W. Wang (Eds.) Educational strategies for next generation leaders in hotel management (pp. 73-113)

Vlad, M. (2015).  Educational Strategies for Next Generation Leaders in Hotel Management, IGI Global, Hershey, PA, USA(Ch. 8 Exceeding Guest Expectations: An Overview of the Best Practices in the Hospitality Industry)

Conferences

Puhr, R. (2024, June). Leveraging the third space role of faculty developers in higher education ecosystems. ICED 24 Conference: Advancing Higher Education Ecosystems for Competency Development.
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Germanier, R., Darioly, A, Kotluk, N., & Tormey, R. (2024, March). “But of course I’m going to look happy” or “He needed to know I was angry”? Comparing use of emotional labour in teamwork in engineering and hospitality students. In EAPRIL Conference Proceedings 2023 (pp. 131-143). EAPRIL-European Association for Practitioner Research on Improving Learning.
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Kouroupi, N. & Diamantis, D. (Jun 05-07, 2024). Utilizing metaverse technologies to enhance destination sustainability and resilience in response to tourism overcrowding. 6th Advances in Destination Management Conference.

Agogue, M., Fiset, J.E., Geller, K.D., Germanier R., Lewis Grant, K., Mailhot, C., Mukherji, S., Phillips, J.C., Puhr, R., Robinson, M.A. & Srinivasan, V. (2022). Synchronous and Asynchronous Teaching: Realigning Teaching Approaches to a VUCA World [Symposium abstract]. Academy of Management (AOM) 82nd Annual Meeting, Seattle, CA, United States.
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Puhr, R. (2022). Shared paths to faculty flourishing: The opportunities hidden among the challenges of HyFlex [Symposium paper]. What’s it even called: Hybrid/hyflex teaching and meetings: reflections, experiences and possible futures. University College London, 6 June 2022.
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Darioly, A & Riggio, R. E. (2022, September). The relationship between social and emotional skills and transformational leadership of future hospitality leaders. Paper presented at the symposium Psychology’s contribution to Hospitality (chair) of the 17th Congress of the Swiss Psychological Society (SPS), Zurich, Switzerland.

Mottier, E., Marshall, T. (2018) An Investigation into the Importance of Analytical Competencies: a Hospitality Industry Perspective. In: Proceedings of The 11th EuroMed Conference, ISBN: 978-9963-711-67-3

Qumsieh-Mussalam, G. (2011) Conference Moderator `Social Media in Hospitality & Tourism` 20-22 October, Verona, Italy

Chib, S. & Cheong, F. (2010). An Investigation of ICT Adoption Intent in Swiss Small and Medium Sized Tourist Enterprises. Chib, S. & Cheong, F. (2010). In: Proceedings of the 17th International Conference on Information Technology and Travel & Tourism (ENTER 2010), Lugano, Switzerland.

Other

Puhr, R. , Management Education Division (MED) Global Forum Best Symposium Award. Academy of Management (AOM) 82nd Annual Meeting, Seattle, United States.

Haasan, B. Integrating the best of both, health and hospitality, to improve the impact of lifestyle interventions in clinical settings (working title for doctoral thesis)

Chib, S. Reviewer of Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology

Faculty news

Find below a selection of our latest news from Faculty

Ruth Puhr, Head of Quality Assurance and Academic Development, has been elected President of the Swiss Faculty Development Network (SFDN). It is the first time that a private institution has held this position since the founding of the organization in 2000. The Swiss Faculty Development Network is a professional association of faculty developers interested in building up the teaching and learning capacity in higher education institutions in Switzerland.

Dr. Brendan Cronin, D.B.A, Visiting Lecturer, Les Roches Crans-Montana, together with research colleagues at Framingham State University, MA, USA, Indian River State College, FL, USA, and Penn State Berks University PA, USA had their research paper on consumer behaviour during COVID-19 published in the Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Insights

August 2022, Visiting Lecturer Dr. Brendan Cronin, DBA, was awarded a certificate of completion from the Online Learning Institute at Framingham State University, MA, USA.

September 2022, Dr Annick Darioly, Professor, presented a poster linked to Les Roches Students at the 17th Conference of the Swiss Psychological Society on : The Relationship between Social and Emotional Skills and Transformational Leadership of Future Hospitality Leaders.

October 2022, Dr Rachel Germanier, Professor, presented at the 5th Culinary and Wine Tourism Conference a joint piece of work about Perceiving and adapting to climate change: Perspectives of Tuscan wine-producing agritourism owners, based on the work of Alumnus Niccolo Moricciani.

August 2022, Ruth Puhr, PFHEA & Dr Rachel Germanier presented a paper entitled Exploring the Lived Experiences of Faculty Negotiating the Challenges of Remote and HyFlex Delivery at the 82nd Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management (AOM). It was presented in a symposium entitled Synchronous and Asynchronous Teaching: Realigning Teaching Approaches to a VUCA World, which was awarded the Management Education Division (MED) Global Forum Best Symposium Award.

HAMA Europe Student Prize 2021-2022 : Participation with 3 teams of BBA 7 & MBA 2 classes, Led by Dr Albian Albrahimi, PhD, Assistant Professor
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Fellowship Award: Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academic (PFHEA) awarded to Ruth Puhr, Head of Quality Assurance and Academic Development
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Senior Fellowship Award of the Advance HE (HEA), awarded to Dr Rachel Germanier, Professor
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