Gambling on management education in clubs

A recent development in Australian hospitality education has been increasing numbers of industry specific tertiary courses developed in conjunction with a particular industry. The demand for more professional standards and management expertise has been the common impetus for developing such courses. This paper focuses on the Bachelor of Business in Club Management developed by Southern Cross University in conjunction with the Club Managers' Association Australia. The aim of this paper is to document the development and evaluation of the Bachelor of Business in Club Management as it attempts to meet the dynamic needs of the registered and licensed clubs industry. The university’s experience has emphasised that industry specific education is important and can be a precipitating factor developing and maintaining workplace change. The most positive aspects of the course for students were best practice awareness, personal achievement, relating learning to work, content and managerial performance. These results were encouraged by critical reflection and active learning in the workplace. The least useful course aspects were assessments, personal cost disadvantage and barriers. Changing workplace practices is essential to overall strategic change management in organisations such as registered clubs, which operate in an increasingly competitive environment.