Plunging Into Real Life

We took some time to sit down with Claudia, Nicole, Maria, Melody and Karin of Student Business Project group number 15. This is a unique group from different perspectives. Firstly, they’ve been granted with the Paul Dubrule Innovation award as they have shown remarkable drive and flexibility throughout their project. Secondly, Claudia has landed a job as a purchasing coordinator thanks to the project. And finally, these are 5 girls who have chosen a “dry” accounting project. 

Could you please explain the mission of the project?

Our mission is to collect and cleanse the data in order for HFTP to develop a comprehensive hospitality accounting system users’ guide. This guide will serve as a global benchmark for independent hotels and hotel chains from limited full services operations.

What was so attractive in the accounting project?

That was not our first choice as the wine representative marketed his project very well! However, two of our group members are in finance and our professor Ian Millar is HFTP EHL Chapter Chairperson, so we finally decided to choose the HFTP project.

What were the main challenges?

During the project, it turned out that the mission of our project was really to prepare the terrain for a second phase; to find out what is feasible, what and how it can be done. 

One of the main difficulties was to get the data from hotels. You have to be patient and persistent. Another challenge was to deal with this huge amount of data which is very property-specific so difficult to understand for external accountants.

And what was exciting about your project?

That you plunge into real life! For us, the priority was the client, to fulfill the objectives and make him happy. Throughout 10 weeks we had a regular contact with HFTP and we had a mid-term presentation to check with them if we worked in the right way. There was ongoing communication between the group and the client. Also, we now know how the hotel accounting department works and this is beneficial and valuable for us in the future.