Managing People in Commercial Kitchens: A Contemporary Approach

Managing People in Commercial Kitchens: A Contemporary Approach uses original research to argue that senior managers (head chefs) should differentiate their people management practices in kitchen brigades from those used in the hospitality industry more generally (induction, socialisation, and performance evaluation) due to the group’s strong occupational identity and culture.

The understanding of chefs’ work from a management perspective is critical for successful hospitality operations but has been historically under-researched. Chapters provide a detailed account of chefs’ work in commercial kitchens from an HRM perspective. Using occupational identity and culture as a vehicle, this book explores the different aspects of managerial work in commercial kitchen settings: general management, leadership, education and training, skills and competencies, managing deviant behaviour, managing stress, and managing diversity (focused on gender segregation). The final chapter looks at future perspectives on this unique working environment and the many challenges arising from the latest developments such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

Providing both theoretical insights and practical applications with the use of case studies throughout, this will be of great interest to upper-level students and researchers in hospitality, as well as a useful reference for current managers in the field.

Charalampos (Babis) Giousmpasoglou has 20 years’ work experience as senior manager in the Greek luxury hospitality industry. He is an experienced hospitality educator in undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. Babis’ research interests focus on Managerial work, Hospitality Management and Human Resources Management. On these research themes he has published a book, book chapters, journal articles and presented papers to international congresses. Since 2017, he has been based in Bournemouth University and successfully manages the MSc in International Hospitality and Tourism Management.

Evangelia (Lia) Marinakou holds a PhD from Strathclyde Business School on HRM and Hospitality. Lia is an active researcher with a key interest in gender equality and the position of women in hospitality management with publications in high quality journals and presented at reputable international conferences on these research themes. She has many years of managerial and teaching experience at different higher education establishments, in various countries (UK, Bahrain, Switzerland, France and Greece). Lia is a Senior Fellow at the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA) and member of the Institute of Hospitality (MIH).

Anastasios Zopiatis is a Hospitality Management Associate Professor at the Cyprus University of Technology (CUT); he holds a Doctorate in Professional Studies from Middlesex University, United Kingdom. His research is related to human resources development, tourism destination/ operations management, food and beverage management, and hospitality education. His work has been published in top tier international journals such as Tourism Management, Journal of Travel Research, the International Journal of Hospitality Management, and the International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management.

John Cooper received his PhD entitled: ’The Occupational Identity and Culture of Chefs and Cooks in United Kingdom (UK) Haute Cuisine Restaurants’ from the University of Strathclyde. He previously received his Postgraduate Research Methodology in Business and Management from the University of Strathclyde and his Master’s Degree in Tourism Management from the University of Brighton. He was a Lecturer in International Hospitality and Tourism Management, Research Methodology and Research Methods and the Management Development Programme at the University of Strathclyde.