The assignment is to analyze the relationship between theory from the text and other resources and practice in that department.

To accomplish this assignment, among the things you must do, is have a meeting, pick a department you are interested in or where one of the members has contact, and arrange an interview with the manager of that department. The questions that you will formulate for this interview should be generated as a result of the reading of the literature and class discussion and basically formulated around the following five major categories that are important to understanding the department's functions/roles.

They must generate questions along these lines from class and readings:

1. Interactions - How does this department connect to other departments in the hotel? With which departments does it work most closely? Which departments does it not interact with on a regular basis?

2.Management - Who are the managers of this department? What is a typical career track for these people? Where do they go from here?

3. Issues - What are the major issues that the managers and staff of this department face on a regular basis? How are these issues resolved? Are these issues common to all hotels, or are they unique to this hotel or this type of hotel?

4. Budget - What are the major "budget variables?" How do they vary? What sort of Authority does the manager have over the budget?

Basic requirements of the paper:

a. Chain of command for the hotel property including all the major departments - a hotel organization chart would be helpful here but be sure to describe verbally the key "Chain of Command" relationships.

b. Identify the department as either a cost or profit center. Describe the major expense or revenue components.

c. Describe the department's contribution to the hotel's marketing strategies. Be sure to include aspects of both internal and external marketing activities.

d. Conclusion and in-depth discussion of what principles and theories you have learned from the textbook and class that were specific to the department you analyzed. How does the theory work in practice?

e. Include the interview questions (and their sources)