Rogat,+SP+-+Memo+1+-+Draft+of+introductory+chapter

Michelle Rogat SP - Memo 1 - Draft of Introductory Chapter

THIS IS COPIED FROM THE ABSTRACT OF MY THESIS TO KIM - HAVE CHANGES COMING FROM THE CHANGES BEING DONE TO PROJECT SUCH CHANGES WILL BE INCLUDING:
 * Changing the study components of the research
 * better clarification of my role in the projects at the club
 * more reasoning as to why I am choosing to do the research in this sense
 * an update as to the focus of the research - sort of in question at the moment... on whether it will be on overcoming the issues to sustainability or more like the ingredients needed for a business to be successful in sustainability, meaning the structure, the people within, and the ability to change... getting slightly confused on this... DISCUSS WITH NATE, THIS SEEMS TO BE PIVOTING MOMENT

The aim of this study is to provide insight and advice for businesses to implement sustainable practices and decrease their impact on the environment. The hospitality industry and its resources will be analyzed using the business ecology model, where the different participants are the different nodes within a country club’s business network. This is composed of the club’s members, customers, other hospitality businesses, surrounding businesses that provide daily services to those hospitality businesses, and environmental and sustainable consultants and organizations. Appendix A is a map of the potential field sites for the project, showing how the research will branch out from the primary site to secondary field sites in the club’s network. This research strives to understand what contributes to the application, failures, and success of sustainable practices of businesses within its network. The data needed to achieve this will be collected through qualitative research methods including literature review, phenomenological research through interviews, ethnographic research on the hospitality industry and on sustainability, and an immersive case study at a country club involving sustainability projects. The case study will be undertaken at the primary field site, a country club, and then the secondary field sites will branch out from the work done there. The phenomenological research will be carried out through interviews with the secondary field sites, such as environmental organizations and professionals, and other businesses in the hospitality industry. Expected results include the reoccurring advice that will emerge from the research such as the importance of community stakeholder involvement, studying up the role of elites in sustainability, overcoming misconceptions, and changing cultural resistance for the success of sustainable projects. As of right now, pilot research has suggested at these results, but more research is needed to confirm this. The results from this research should provide useful for businesses that wish to become sustainable, and will highlight the significance of including the elite of society in the environmental movement. All results will be shared with the professional world of hospitality, through their respective magazines and newsletters, in hopes of gaining recognition for sustainability, persuading more businesses to take up sustainable practices, and inspiring cross-expertise dialogue to increase the success of sustainability. The significance of this research in particular is that there hasn't been much research published on the real life attempts to make a business sustainable. Sure, there is a lot that can be learned in the classroom, but what about the situations like failures in the real professional world that nobody wants to talk about. That is the information I am after, the experiences outside of the classroom so that the sustainability community and businesses can learn from others' trials, tribulations, and failures that seem to get hushed and swept under the rug.