department of tourism, leisure, hotel and sport management - jason harding (phd) lecture one...

Department of Tourism, Leisure, Hotel and Sport Management - Jason Harding (PHD)

Lecture One

Information Systems For Service IndustriesNATHAN CAMPUS. SEMESTER 1, 2012

Jason Harding (PhD)


Lecturer Jason Harding

Name: Jason Harding (PhD)

Location: N72, 0.14 Nathan Campus

Phone: (07) 37355239

Email: [email protected]

Website: www.AnarchistAthlete.com

http://www.anarchistathlete.com/

1220HSL

This course facilitates the technological literacy of students within the business contexts of tourism, hotel, sports and events industries. Students will develop an understanding of how different information systems technologies can be applied to achieve specific business goals. Students are required to develop technological skills in multiple software applications including a website design platform. This course has a strong focus on developing students’ capabilities so they may generate effective and innovative information management solutions in their future careers in tourism, hotel, sports and events industries


Perceptions

What do you want to get out of this course?


Course Materials

There is no text book for this course

Information is provided in lectures, tutorials, and Learning@GU

All lecture PowerPoint slides will be posted on the course website each Monday

Additional assessment information will be posted on the course website when required

Lectures can be viewed online via Lecture Capture


Attendance

Attend all lectures

Attend all tutorials

Simple as that


Tutorials

One hour blocks where you can work alongside a tutor

Every student has a computer in their tutorials

Back up your work on your student h-drive

Back up your work again on a portable hard drive or USB stick

Do not save work on Griffith desktops or hard drives (they are erased each time you log off)


Notifications

All correspondence outside of lectures and tutorials is conducted online

Course announcements are made at the following online locations:

• Learning@GU • 1220hsl website• 1220hsl (facebook page)• 1220hsl (twitter account)

All course announcements are automatically forwarded to your Griffith email address regardless of which online location you decide to follow


https://learning.secure.griffith.edu.au/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab=courses&url=/bin/common/course.pl?course_id=_101091_1&frame=top

http://www.1220hsl.com/

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pages/1220hsl/247609941933001?sk=wall

Learning @ GU

Access Learning @ GU from the Griffith University homepage

Download course resources (course outlines, lecture slides, reading material, assignment sheets, marking guides), check announcements, and utilise the GBS Resource bank (access all this from the menu on left of the screen)

Click on the image below to be redirected to the 1220hsl course website on Learning @ GU


Email Protocol

Subject: Student S Number - Student Name - 1220HSL - Nathan Campus - Issue


Email Response Policy

We have 48 hours to get back to you (this is Griffith Policy)

We will however try to get back to you as quickly as we can (normally within 24 hours)

All emails sent on Friday are replied to the following Monday

Lecturers and tutors do not work over the weekend

Any emails sent on either Saturday or Sunday are only viewed on the following Monday


Email Etiquette

Keep your emotions in check when sending emails and be respectful to the receiver

Particularly important when emailing higher-level decision makers

Just as important when emailing friends and colleagues

Emails containing emotional content have no place in a professional arena

They do not reflect well on the senders’ ability to deal with pressure situations or problems

Emotionally charged emails are rarely effective


Academic Integrity

The Academic Integrity Student Tutorial can help you to understand what academic integrity is and why it matters to you as a Griffith University student

By following the steps in each module, you will be able to identify the academic integrity policy and forms of academic misconduct, understand what skills you need to maintain academic integrity, and learn about the processes of referencing styles

Academic Integrity Tutorial and Assessment


Griffith English Language Institute

If you are having difficulty in your courses because you have to use English or you would just like to improve your English skills, the Griffith English Language Institute (GELI) can help with personal appointments and / or workshops

Jump online and go to www.griffith.edu.au/englishhelp or call (07) 3735 3735 to find out more

To register for a workshop, email [email protected]

These guys can provide you with a free 45 minute appointment with a qualified English language teacher (each week I believe) and they run a number of different workshops that will help you with things like reading, writing and presenting using the English language

You receive a certificate for participating in a minimum of 6 or 12 of these workshops. The staff at GELI are very keen to help and from what I hear, extremely good at their job.


Assessment Schedule

Assessment Item Due Date Weighting

Website Plan Thursday Week 6 (5th April) 5.00pm 40%

Website Project Friday Week 10 (11th May) 5.00pm 40%

Presentation Tuesday and Friday Week 12 / 13 20%


• Website Plan is submitted to the library• Website Project is submitted online• Presentation is conducted in lecture and tutorial time slots• Penalties apply for late submission

Late Submission

Late submissions lose 10% for each day they are late, weekends count as one day


Extensions

Only in exceptional circumstances

You must have supporting documentation

You must be prepared to show work you have already done

Being busy, having to work etc, is not enough to warrant an extension

Disk / USB failure does not warrant an extension

Talk to your tutor/lecturer before the due date (very important)


Website Plan

Students are required to submit a detailed plan for a website that they will create

The website plan requires students to consider various management and design issues that need to be considered before developing a website

It is basically a business proposal that is designed to seel your website idea

The website plan will be assessed on clarity of writing, appropriately addressing the information required (check the marking criteria), and the flow between information in different sections (make it logical and make it sound fantastic)

Attention to detail is the key

As the website plan will be the basis of the second assessment item, the website project, students should pay attention to the feedback they receive so as to improve their final website project


Website Plan

The plan should be presented as a business report and will be assessed under the following headings:

• Detailed background to the business• Detailed business and website goals (be specific and measureable here)• Identification of target audience/market for website and forecasted use environments• Detailed analysis of competitor websites• Detailed website template designs• Detailed website storyboard• Detailed website page content• Specific breakdown of user tasks, development tools, and the process behind your site• Marketing techniques• A concise conclusion (this is your final chance to sell your idea)• References


Website Project

The website project requires the development of a website, based on the previously developed website plan

This is intended to assess student's familiarity and application of practical skills, while also requiring consideration of how to implement the management and design issues that were raised in the website plan

The website will be submitted online and will be assessed under the following headings:

• Professionalism• Content• Design• Navigation • Engagement


Presentation

The presentation requires students (working in groups of two) to deliver a well researched summary of a specific future trend that will have implications for either the sport, event, leisure, tourism, or hotel industries

Students will be required to additionally provide knowledge on how those industries will utilise technology to adapt and prosper in the face of such developments

This piece of assessment will provide students the opportunity to critically analyse forecasted developments within the specific industry they plan on entering upon graduation and additionally provide students the opportunity to evaluate the ever-changing potential of information systems technologies to provide businesses the capacity to improve client services


Presentation

The presentation will be assessed under the following headings:

• Presentation Content (accuracy of knowledge, clarity of delivery, timing of delivery, relevance to the assignment question)

• Presentation Style (enthusiasm, engagement, speaking ability, audiovisual skills)

• Group Performance (introductions, transitions, group cohesiveness)


Time On Task

Time on task is the highest predictor of student marks in assessment


Ideas

Finding an idea that you are passionate about it is the hardest part of this course

Without an idea, you can not start your website plan

Without an idea, you can not start your website as you have no domain name

Who already has an idea for their assessment items?


Websites

A website is simply a collection of related web pages containing text, images, videos or other digital assets

A website is hosted on at least one web server, accessible via a network such as the Internet or a private local area network through an Internet address also called URL

A web page is a document, typically written in plain text interspersed with formatting instructions of Hypertext Mark-up Language (HTML)


Blogs or Weblogs

A blog, or weblog, is basically the same as a website however there are some differences

A blog can be defined as an online journal, diary, or serial published by a person or group of people

Many blogs are personal in nature, reflecting the opinions and interests of the owner

Most websites are a collection of articles and information about a specific subject, service, or product, which may not be a personal reflection of the owner

Blogs are often a lot more dynamic than websites and are organised on posts rather than static pages (blogs are updated more often)

Blogs often contain public as well as private content


Website Anatomy

A web site is a collection of files and folders containing the content that you’ll be presenting to your visitors as well as the files needed to present that content (CSS, media, script files)

Start by organizing these files and then developing a strategy for linking them together

Web sites generally consist of seven basic page elements:

• Container• Header• Site Navigation• Content• Sidebars• Footer• Whitespace

The layout of your site should allow visitors to easily navigate through the pages and find the information that they need

Department of Tourism, Leisure, Hotel and Sport Management – Jason Harding (PHD)

Website Anatomy


Website Anatomy - Container

All web pages use a container and for the same purpose; to contain page elements

However the way it is accomplished varies

Think of the container as the external walls of your house in which your bedrooms, kitchen, living room, etc. are then placed

Types of containers used in websites:

• Liquid: Expands to fill the width of the browser window• Fixed: A specific width which does not change regardless of browser window size


Website Anatomy - Header

The header isn’t really a specific element although some may consider it to be

It is more generally used in referring to the top section of your web page where your logo, navigation, tagline, etc. are located

Although some sites include the navigation menus in the header they can also be found on the side or bottom of the site or in several locations such as at the top and bottom


Website Anatomy – Site Navigation

Page navigation is one of the most important elements; it connects all the pages together and therefore your visitors need it to use your website

It should be easy to find and use, which is why it is almost always located within the header or at least near the top of the page

Types of Site Navigation:

• Horizontal: A series of links displayed inline, usually referred to as navigation• Vertical: A series of links displayed as a vertical stack, usually referred to as menu

Common menu items include links to a page with contact details (address, phone numbers and email), a site map or table of contents, and a way to return to the “home” page. Beyond that the menu items will vary depending on the internal content of the site.


Website Anatomy - Content

As everyone knows (or should), content is king!

When people visit your site, this is the element they will be looking for primarily

It should be the main focal point of a web page so visitors find what they want quickly

While the header, footer and menus stay the same throughout the site, the content changes from page to page

As your site grows you may find it more and more difficult to maintain if you haven’t planned well in advance


Website Anatomy - Sidebars

The sidebar is the element with your secondary content such as advertising, site search, subscription links (RSS, Twitter, Email, etc), contact methods, etc

This element isn’t necessary although many websites use it

It is most often right aligned but can be left aligned or both (two sidebars) so long as it doesn’t disrupt main content viewing

It can also be aligned horizontally and spread across the entire page (usually at the bottom of the website somewhere

For websites that use horizontal and vertical navigation, the sidebar is often replaced with the vertical navigation element


Website Anatomy - Footer

The end of a web page should always use a footer to let your visitors know they have reached the completion of your web page

Like the header, the footer isn’t really a specific element but more of a containing section

Within your footer will be copyright, legal and contact information primarily

It’s a good idea (but not essential) to include a few links to the most important sections of your site such as the top of the page, home page, contact page, etc

Some websites use this area as an opportunity to mention related material or other important information


Website Anatomy - Whitespace

This is any area of the web page that is not covered by typography or other content

You may feel the strong urge to fill as much empty space as possible but don’t do it

Empty space is just as important to a good web page design as the content to be used

Whitespace helps guide visitors through content, create page balance and give a good sense of content separation


Everyone thought of an idea yet?


Website Plan

Students are required to submit a detailed plan for a website that they will create

The website plan requires students to consider various management and design issues that need to be considered before developing a website

It is basically a business proposal

The website plan will be assessed on clarity of writing, appropriately addressing the information required, and the flow between information in different sections

As the website plan will be the basis of the second assessment item (website project) students should pay attention to feedback received to improve their final website project


Academic WritingFirst Person Writing

'I' is personal and informal and is still not appropriate in a lot of business and marketing writing. But businesses of all sizes often use 'we' to personalise their services

We provide the following options...

Second Person Writing

There is an increasing trend, particularly in marketing writing, to use the second person extensively. It is powerful. 'You' language promotes that the writer is talking directly to you

Use ‘Design-Inc’ as the website design team and you will receive...

Third Person Writing

Third person writing is more authoritative and objective than first or second person writing.

It's the language we're used to reading in our daily newspapers

This business proposal ultimately .......


Academic Writing

Use third person writing

Keep it clean and to the point

Keep it professional

Back up broad sweeping comments with references


Assignment One Marking Criteria


Assignment Aspect Complete Quality Score

Introduction / Business Background /10

Business Goals / Website Goals /10

Target Audience / Forecasted Use Environments /10

Competitor Website Analysis /10

Website Template Designs /10

Website Content Storyboard /10

Website Page Content /10

User Tasks / Development Tools / Process Analysis /10

Marketing Techniques /10

Conclusion / References /10

TOTAL /100

Introduction

A captivating few sentences that briefly outlines the content and purpose of the document

This ultimately leads the reader into the report and sets the tone for the rest of the text

Provide evidence to back up your statements if you make any broad, sweeping comments on industry, business marketing trends, or websites as essential business tools

Use journal articles, newspaper articles, texts, website articles to back you comments up

Use Google Scholar for this (not Google) and ensure you always reference original author(s)


Business Background

Background to the business or idea

Background to the internet and its uses in today’s business and communication world

Detail what it is the business actually does (what product or service does it provide)

Detail what makes the business special, what makes it stand out from its competitors

Also detail the location of the business if it does in fact have a physical location

Provide as much information as you think is required to get the business idea across


Business Goals

Businesses set objectives / goals for themselves or for their products / services

What does your company, product or service hope to achieve?

Objectives focus the company on specific aims over a period of time and can motivate staff to meet the objectives set

Be specific here

Define what your idea or business concept is it trying to achieve (in terms of market share, profits, public exposure, positive public perception, number of members etc)

Your idea or business concept may have a number of business goals however, this will differ based on the underlying concept


SMART Objectives

A simple acronym used to set objectives is called SMART objectives. SMART stands for:

1. Specific: Objectives should specify what they want to achieve

2. Measurable: You should be able to measure whether you are meeting the objectives

3. Achievable: Are the objectives you set, achievable and attainable?

4. Realistic: Can you realistically achieve the objectives with the resources you have?

5. Time: When do you want to achieve the set objectives?


SMART Objectives

Market Share

Objectives can be set to achieve a certain level of market share within a specified time (obtain 3% market share of the mobile phone industry by 2004)

Profit

Increase sales 10% from 2003 – 2004

Growth

The business may set an objective to grow by 15% year on year for the next five years

Promotion

To increase brand awareness over a specified period of time


Website Goals

Provide information on how a website (your website) will specifically utilise the information you know about the target market to achieve your business goals

They are actually different from the business goals

Depending on your idea or business concept, your website may aim to share information, focus on rapid communication of specific information, foster collaboration, generate a sense of community, be focussed specifically on the commerce side of online marketing and therefore use electronic transactions to generate income etc

Website goals will differ from idea to idea, and should relate well (and provide a means to achieve) the original business goals

Discuss a few related business and website goals


Target Audience / Forecasted Use Environments

Share your knowledge on the target audience or market you are trying to capture

Again be specific here

Talk ages, socioeconomic status, demographic location, and potential disposable income, anything you already know or can find out about your target audience

This is also the section where you define the ‘use environment’ specific to your target audience or market

For example, what sort of computing environment do they predominantly use, would they normally access online information whilst on the move or at home (i.e. I-Phones and wireless networks or home-based PC’s respectively)

Explain how the business takes into account all those factors (target audience information and possible use environments) and is therefore structured to attract that particular market.


Competitor Website Analysis

Analyse your competitor’s websites

Find websites that are promoting similar business ideas or concepts and describe what you think is good and what is bad about these websites

Describe which of the ideas associated with these websites you will take on board and utilise in your own website (the good) and which parts will you leave out (the bad)

Then need to state your reasoning behind these decisions

This is a good place to use a table in your document

It keeps the information brief and to the point and also breaks up the document style

Sometimes a document full of test can be tiring to read


Storyboard and Templates

This is where you will write about how the website will look and feel and how content will be organised


Templates

Describe (and also display) your website templates (how will they will look, feel and be constructed)

You also need to provide specific details about the design of the website template (i.e. template width in pixels, banner logo width and height in pixels, image width and height in pixels, font type, font size, the colour scheme you plan to use etc)

These sort of specifics assist the reader in gaining a full understanding about the website you are pitching them

You will need to provide a template for the home page layout, the normal page layout, and the post page layout (if you plan on using posts in your website).


Templates (image based)


Templates (diagram based)


Templates (Diagram and Image Combinations


Storyboard

Detail how the website will run and what technical aspects you plan on using to make it run that way

This is where you add in a storyboard (an image or box based description of how the pages will link together and how the menu system will provide users access to every page)

Try not to use more than three levels your website

Clean, simple websites that are easy to navigate are the most successful


Storyboard


Website Content Information

This section is where you provide information on the content contained within your website

For example, provide some of your text content and elaborate on how it will be organised on your website (i.e. content is broken up into six sections covering the business info, product descriptions, pricing structures, transaction sections, community areas, contact details etc)

I would actually write this stuff up in detail (what is exactly going to be on the about page, the product or services page, the contact page, etc) and include it into your website plan as a fairly large section

This will not only show you have an emphasis on attention to detail but you can also then just copy and paste it into your website pages when you go to actually create it


User Tasks

Write about the 'user tasks' (what can users actually do from your website)

For example, download specific forms, book accommodation, tickets or reservations online, make comments, make reviews, chat, view galleries, make purchases, be automatically linked to payment areas, be automatically linked to anything else you think would be useful for the users of your website.

Discuss some ideas on how to link business / website goals with user tasks


Tools

You also need to describe the tools you will use to pull all this together

For example, Wordpress is a tool you will be using to create the website

You may use a PayPal plug-in to take care of the transactions

You may use a Flickr or Cincopa plug-in to display product images in creative ways

You may use different sorts of image link plug-ins or social media widgets to create links between your website and specific social media applications

You may use You-Tube plug-ins or links for video

You may use mailing widgets to automatically update your users when new information is posted on your site etc


Process Analysis

Provide information on who the website will be owned by and who will be the primary authors and administrators

Keep this section brief. It is important but it bores me

Someone owns the website, someone owns the information, someone maintains it

Just put it in as it is a component in the marking criteria

You just need to show me you understand the concept


Process Analysis

Write about the website 'process analysis and update schedule‘

Information like how often the website will be updated, who deals with emailed comments and how often this will occur etc

You can be fairly specific here


Use Images In Your Document

Images break up text and give the reader a break and something else to focus on

They also looks good so get creative

Some readers will focus on text, and some will focus on images, diagrams, and graphs

You may also like to add the banner logo or homepage image

Remember, the more detail, the better

A pitch of this sort should provide the reader with a good understanding of how the website will look and feel and exactly what they are buying into


Marketing

How you will direct potential clients to your website?

This should be a solid section as it is extremely important

A website is useless if no-one knows it is there

Will you use a targeted social media campaign (utilising social platforms such as Face book, Twitter, LinkedIn, Flickr, Vimeo, You Tube etc) or will you use more traditional marketing techniques (newspaper advertisements, pamphlets, stickers, t-shirts, street advertising, sports advertising etc)

Provide some evidence on why you would do any of these things (i.e. link it into you target audience information, your use environment information, and your underlying business and website goals)


Conclusion and References

Always finish your assignments with a conclusion

Always

Remember, this is a business pitch so in a few sentences make a very strong argument as to why this website will achieve the goals it has set out to deal with and why a business should hire you to create and administer this particular website

Last page is always a reference page

Don’t forget it as it is easy marks and shows the markers that you have a good understanding and respect for copyright and creative commons issues


Website Plan Document Headings

1. TITLE

2. AUTHOR

3. INTRODUCTION

4. BUSINESS BACKGROUND

5. BUSINESS GOALS

6. WEBSITE GOALS

7. TARGET AUDIENCE

8. FORECASTED USE ENVIRONMENTS

9. COMPETITOR WEBSITE ANALYSIS

10. WEBSITE TEMPLATE DESIGNS

11. WEBSITE CONTENT STORYBOARD

12. WEBSITE PAGE CONTENT

13. USER TASKS

14. DEVELOPMENT TOOLS

15. PROCESS ANALYSIS

16. MARKETING TECHNIQUES

17. CONCLUSION

18. REFERENCES


Where To From Here

Work on your idea before next week

Have a look at Wordpress

Get familiar with Learning @ GU

Check out the 1220hsl website


department of tourism, leisure, hotel and sport management - jason harding (phd) lecture one...

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