Professor Peter Jones of the School of Management at the University of Surrey is inviting all British Hospitality Association members to take part in a number of research programs the School is conducting.

This is a unique opportunity for all BHA members to get involved in some hospitality-focused research and further students’ understanding of our industry.

Andrea Bowen is conducting some research into small businesses to try to understand the similarities and differences between serial entrepreneurs and portfolio entrepreneurs.

Serial entrepreneurs have, or have had, more than one small hospitality business; whereas portfolio entrepreneurs have businesses in more than just the hospitality industry.

At this stage, Andrea is trying to establish what the key issues are and the major factors that have influenced these two types of entrepreneurial behaviour.

Any BHA member who has had at least three separate businesses and is willing to be interviewed for this research can contact Andrea by emailing [email protected]

Interviews will be fairly open-ended and last for about 40 minutes.

Edem Amenumey is looking into the factors that influence employees' level of empowerment, as there is considerable evidence that empowering first line of enquiry employees can have a substantial impact on customers' perceptions of service quality.

Edem's research is concerned with the factors that make up employees’ feelings about their work environment and the extent to which this is beneficial to their sense of wellbeing and subsequently their perceived level of empowerment.

Edem has developed a survey questionnaire to test these relationships and is looking for small hotel groups who would allow him to conduct a survey of their employees. Anyone who is interested in this research should contact [email protected]

Barbara Rousaki is pursuing research looking at the ways in which good practice is disseminated through an industry and in particular at the process of new practice adoption in small and medium sized hospitality businesses.

She is looking at three different areas: what external factors precede the adoption process, what brings about the decision to adopt new practices, and how their adoption can be facilitated.

In order to complete her research she is looking for SMEs who have recently or are about to introduce new practices into their organisations in order to build up a series of case studies about how the whole process has worked.

She would be delighted to hear from SMEs who feel they are introducing promising ideas or practices into their businesses. You can contact her for further information on [email protected]