Perceptions of Current Club Managers Regarding College Coursework Necessary for Preparation for a Career as a Club Manager

The purpose of this research was to gather and interpret the perceptions of current club managers regarding the college coursework that they believed was necessary to prepare a student for a career as a club manager. First, a list of course areas was developed via a review of hospitality curriculums, and conversations with industry professionals. The list was used to design Part 1 of a questionnaire that featured 13 course areas with corresponding descriptive and ascending levels of competencies. Instructions clearly directed club managers to select the highest level of competency for each course area that they thought should be taught to aspiring club managers in a classroom setting. Part 2 included 7 questions of a demographic nature.

Following minor revisions based upon pilot test results, the survey instrument was mailed to a random sample of 333 club managers who belonged to the Club Managers Association of America. A 52% response rate was obtained after two mailings, and statistical analysis was performed to determine response frequencies and significant relationships.

The majority of club managers indicated that students should be taught the highest level of competency in the following course areas: Club Industry, Communications, Financial Management, Hospitality Law, and Human Resources. The courses that received intermediate competency recommendations included Beverage Management, Computer Applications, Food Production, Managerial Behavior, Properties Management, and Sales Management. The club managers indicated that the most basic competencies were necessary in the course areas of Marketing and Recreation.

In reference to a question regarding the first, second and third most important course areas, club managers responded by first citing Financial Management, Human Resources was second in importance, and Communications was third in importance. In general, a chi-square test for independence failed to establish any significant relationships between the independent variables and levels of competencies. The results of this research indicated that industry professionals believe club managers of tomorrow should be educated today to be savvy financial managers with excellent people skills.