Degree of success

Compared with other industries, relatively few people in hospitality have studied for an MBA. Miles Brignall finds out why and uncovers its benefits.

What do current Hotelier of the Year Karen Earp, Oxford restaurateur Stuart Campbell and Compass Group rising star Jane Dean have in common? The answer is that they are members of a small and exclusive club - people from this industry who have studied for an MBA.

While Masters in Business Administration courses, to give them their full title, have been around since the 1960s and have taken virtually every other sector by storm, there are still surprisingly few people in this industry with the letters MBA after their name. In lots of ways, this situation is perverse because many of the skills these courses teach are perfectly suited to the catering industry.

Experiences
Detailed financial reporting, debt management, marketing, business start-ups, raising capital - all are issues covered by MBA students, and all are pertinent to the running of a hotel or restaurant. So why are so few people doing them, and what have been the experiences of those who have?

Certainly, the culture of long hours and relative low pay in the industry partially explains why there are so few MBA holders about, but so do the comments from Le M‚ridien's human resources director Tim Savage. He recently related to the Caterer & Hotelkeeper International Recruitment Conference how some of his company's senior executives had dismissed Ajaz Sheikh, a 25-year-old food and beverage manager, as an "impudent upstart" after he told them he wanted to complete his MBA before he turned.

According to David Wood, an MBA holder himself and chief executive at the HCIMA, these views are not uncommon in an industry that has always been happier to invest in practical training at the lower end of the skills spectrum rather than in business qualifications. "When I completed mine in 1994," he says, "I was virtually the only person I knew working in the hotel trade who had one. I was running the Sport Village hotel in Norwich and did it part-time along with my assistant, and I have to say it opened my eyes to a whole new world."

While Wood says it took him a while to "learn again", the benefits were enormous. "One of the interesting things about doing a general MBA," he says, "is that you share lectures with people from a variety of backgrounds who bring in experiences that you won't have come across. It's very interesting to look at how other businesses deal with problems and to learn new ideas."

One area in which doing an MBA can be particularly useful is business start-ups. Often, students have an idea for starting their own business and use the course as a way of getting it off the ground. About one-third of most courses is spent researching and writing a dissertation, and half of those people doing the full-time courses use this time to research and write a business plan for their own intended venture.

One restaurateur who did just that is Stuart Campbell. He wrote the business plan for Savannah, the restaurant he opened in October, while putting himself through an MBA course at the London Business School. "I started in 1995 but had to drop out because of the pressure of work," he says. "I was an operations manager for the Gioma group, regularly working 60 hours a week. However, I restarted in 1997 and, while it was tough going, I'm so glad I persevered because many of the things I learnt on the course have been invaluable in the setting-up of this business."

He also says that he doesn't know any other restaurant-owners who have done MBAs, but believes more should. "Doing an MBA arms you with a lot of the tools you need when trying to raise finance," he says. "I learnt detailed financial reporting skills, all about partnerships and corporate structures, and how to talk to financiers in the language that they understand and respect."

Mention MBAs and one of the phrases that immediately springs to mind is "thinking outside the box". While, fortunately, most MBA graduates don't use those words, many report having learnt a new way to look at problems and deal with them.

Interaction One such is Jane Dean. She is now a managing director at contract caterer Eurest, part of the Compass Group, and studied part-time for a year at the University of Buckingham through a Compass initiative. She says that one of the most interesting things was the interaction with other students - in her case all Compass employees - who came from other parts of the business. "It's easy to become focused on your particular part of the business," she says. "Doing the MBA gave me a greater financial awareness, taught me to look at the bigger picture and gave me the confidence to explore new ideas."

Another who says that her MBA has made a huge impact is Karen Earp. The general manager at the Four Seasons Canary Wharf hotel took a year out in 1990-91 to attend City University full-time. Like Campbell, she paid for herself, and says that the year has radically changed the way she approaches business problems.

"I wanted to gain a better understanding of finance and marketing, and had the most extraordinary and inspiring year," she says. "I met and learnt from people I would probably not have come across other than through the course."

While all the MBA holders above agree on the benefits of doing the degree, they also admit it was tough. Earp says that she found her course at City University "very challenging academically", and said she couldn't have done the course and held down a job at the same time. Wood freely admits he wouldn't have the time to do it today, and Campbell says it was only the fact that his wife took over running the house and looking after the children that allowed him to complete it. But along with most people who do an MBA, none had regrets and all considered the experience had changed their commercial lives.

MBAs: the facts

An MBA can be studied in this country by almost any means - full-time over one year, part-time over two, or through distance-learning.

Depending on the student's preferred method of study, how much time they have and (possibly most importantly) how much money they have to spend, there will be a course somewhere to suit their needs. The one-year, full-time courses offered by the top business schools offer excellent tuition and facilities but they come at a price - as much as £25,000, all told.

Day release (one day a week or a fortnight) is an excellent halfway house solution, as students get to share the experience with like-minded people from other backgrounds while retaining their jobs.

Distance-learning is the cheapest - at about £6,000 - and the most flexible answer, but it requires the most motivation. Getting together with other students is limited to summer residential courses or the odd weekend, depending on the course, and it can be hard to keep going over two years. The influence of the Internet has dramatically improved these courses and, although they have the highest dropout rates, many former pupils say that they are worthwhile.

Several MBA courses are tailored to the catering hospitality world (most notably at Oxford Brookes University). However, students often get more out of a general MBA, as they offer a range of experiences from a variety of businesses and people from other backgrounds.

Where to find a course

There is a great deal of information about MBAs on the Internet. The Association of Business Schools (www.the-abs.org.uk) represents the bigger providers and is a good place to start, but the fact that a local provider is not affiliated doesn't mean the course isn't any good.

For Oxford Brookes University, visit: www.brookes.ac.uk.