Les Roches Research & Innovation Strategy

Research Mission

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 four key areas responding to the mission and values of the institution:

• Innovation and Entrepreneurship
• Globalization
• Sustainability
• Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL)

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.

Governance of Research and Innovation Activities

All research activities are coordinated by Les Roches Research Council (LRRC) which is composed of the Academic Deans of each campus, the Research Coordinators from each campus, and the Spark Directors for each campus with the support of the Managing Director.

The council 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.

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

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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Marechal, L. (2021) Do economic variables forecast commodity futures volatility?, Journal of Futures Markets 41(11),  1735– 1774.
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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.

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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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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Darioly, A., & Gueuning, F. (2018). What type of disruptive leaders will the hotel industry need? Insight, eHotelier
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Darioly, A., & Riggio, R. E. (2014). Nepotism in hiring leaders: Is there stigmatization of relatives? Swiss Journal of Psychology, 73(4), 243–248.

Aiosi, V. (2018). This is the secret attraction of Swiss wine, Forbes
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Aiosi, V.  (2019). What a professor of wines teaches, The Hindu
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Conferences

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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Puhr, R. (2021). The skills debate: Evaluating the appropriateness of terminologies and frameworks in the context of a global crisis [Conference presentation]. SFDN 2021 Conference, University of St. Gallen, Switzerland.

Puhr, R. (2020). Re-designing online courses to support work integrated learning [Conference presentation]. SoTL 2020 Conference, EHL, Switzerland.

Puhr, R. (2019). Multifaceted professional identities in Hospitality Management Education [Conference presentation]. SoTL 2019 Conference, EHL, Switzerland.

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.

Ura Uli, A. & Darioly, A (2021, September). Talent and leadership, crucial factors that influence organizational outcome: The case of an Emirati 5-Star luxury hotel. Paper presented at EuroCHRIE2021, Aalborg, Denmark.

Carlbäck, M., Imboden, A. & Darioly, A., (2021, September). We mean business! The future of tourism & hospitality education. Poster presented at EuroCHRIE2021, Aalborg, Denmark.

Darioly, A (2019, September). The Social and Emotional Skills of Hospitality students. Paper presented at the symposium Psychology’s contribution to Hospitality (chair) of the 16th Congress of the Swiss Psychological Society (SPS), Bern, Switzerland.

Darioly, A. & Riggio, R. E. (2017, September). Perceptions of Nepotism: Tolerance for Nepotism and Its Implications. Paper presented at the 15th Congress of the Swiss Psychological Society (SPS), Lausanne, Switzerland.

Other

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

Puhr, R. ,Theme editor for academic journal: Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism Themes.
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Puhr, R. (2021). Researching flourishing faculty identities [Webinar]. SFDN Webinar Series, Switzerland.

Puhr, R.. (2021). Insights on employability [Audio podcast]. Global Student Success Project, Advance HE, United Kingdom.

Puhr, R. (2020). Three interactive digital tools to enhance student engagement [Webinar]. SFDN Webinar Series, Switzerland.

Puhr, R. (2020). Les Roches. In Engaging the student voice in our ‘new normal’ [White paper]. Explorance.
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Puhr, R. (2020). The highs and lows of HyFlex [Webinar]. SFDN Webinar Series.

Faculty news

Find below a selection of our latest news from Faculty

Ruth Puhr, Head of Teaching & Learning 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 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 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, Lecturer

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Fellowship Award: Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academic (PFHEA) awarded to Ruth Puhr, Head of Teaching and Learning Development

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Senior Fellowship Award of the Advance HE (HEA), awarded to Dr Rachel Germanier, Assistant Professor

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