Numbers and quantitative analysis may come easy to some, but for many the deciphering of such information is about as simple as calculating the national deficit.
Since 1990, the caped crusader who has made the process of breaking down hotel industry data painless has been Bjorn Hanson, global industry leader of PricewaterhouseCoopers' hospitality and leisure practice, which he founded. He fought the crime of illogical room rate hikes and dips with logical—even colorful—analysis.
Like all good things, Hanson's analyst career came to an end last month.
Fortunately for some meetings and hospitality leaders of the future, he has been moonlighting—in a manner of speaking—for his entire career in industry education. This month, Hanson will report for full-time duty as a clinical associate professor at New
York University's Preston Robert Tisch Center for Hospitality, Tourism, and Sports Management.
Before going back to school, Hanson paused for some reflection with MeetingNews.
Q: In the announcement of your hiring, you said education has long been a passion of yours. Can you elaborate?
A: I considered two career paths in college: hospitality consulting and hospitality education. The consulting opportunities upon graduation were exactly what I wanted, and with limited experience and no graduate degrees, hospitality education was not an option. But I never lost interest in hospitality education and became a guest lecturer at Cornell, NYU, and several community colleges soon after graduation, and I pursued my MBA and Ph.D. while working.
Consulting provided an intellectually stimulating and financially rewarding career that allowed me to be a guest lecturer at various schools, including NYU.
Q: What is it that you enjoy about being a hospitality educator?
A: It is exciting to plan, prepare, and deliver a lecture and then to assess students' understanding of the material. I especially enjoy teaching material that is totally new or that may be intimidating to students, such as statistics or econometrics. When a lecture is successful, it is incredibly exciting to see students' comprehension, enthusiasm, and self-confidence.
Q: Why did you make this career change now?
A: In 2007, I reached the age that is politely described as the one when there is no longer a discount for early retirement, so it was time to think what's next. I had been involved with NYU in many ways, including as a member of the adjunct faculty, receiving my Ph.D. there, chairing the executive committee and advisory board of the hospitality school, speaking at the NYU hospitality investment conference, and so on.
NYU was seeking new faculty members, so the timing was great for me. Joining the NYU faculty doesn't seem, to me, to be a career change. Instead, it feels like a natural next step in my consulting and education career.
Q: How do you think your students will benefit from your PwC experience?
A: I have been fortunate to have worked on many of the largest, most complex, and most interesting transactions, litigations, and arbitrations and other consulting assignments in our industry. Unfortunately, I can't reveal any details without clients' written permission, but they were great experiences. And, I enjoyed the support of PricewaterhouseCoopers (and predecessor firm Coopers & Lybrand) to create a substantial research initiative. We launched the most complex and widely accepted industry forecast model, produced an average of 15 scholarly articles, plus 15 research releases per year. Much of that research provides a foundation for further studies of more depth about the same topics or related subjects.
I hope that I can combine academic and applied approaches to teaching. In other words, one of the techniques for communicating and then reinforcing the learning process is to present material in an academic format, but then show its practical application. If the academic presentation is successful, and if students understand the application of the material, there is an added level of enthusiasm and interest. When it all comes together, it is incredibly gratifying.
Q: What were your greatest accomplishments at PwC?
A: I hope they are that I contributed to the success of my clients and firm, and that colleagues with whom I worked believe they learned from, and enjoyed, their professional experience.
Q: What will you miss the most?
A: I will miss the challenge of anticipating business cycles and trying to anticipate transformational changes—such as major changes to the tax code, how travel changed after 2001, the change in the value of the U.S. dollar relative to other currencies, and the increase in the price of gasoline—and then developing business plans to respond. But I think that a career in education may be more similar than not.
Curricula must evolve to respond to industry changes, as must the applications of fields of study, such as accounting, finance, and statistics.
Q: What's your greatest hope for your work at NYU?
A: I hope that when it is time for me to retire from teaching, my students and colleagues will think that I contributed to their experience.
Originally published Sept. 8, 2008