dr sowon kim
Luxury Hospitality: Trends, Challenges, and Best Practices
EHL Insights | September 8, 2023
By Dr. Sowon Kim, Dr. Florent Girardin, Dr. Matthias Fuchs Luxury is the new black. Post the pandemic, the global luxury industry recorded sales of €1.15 trillion in 2021, and continued its growth in 2022 by 19%-21% (Bain & Company, 2023). Luxury hospitality, luxury cars, and personal luxury goods represent over 80% of the total market. In this article, we zoom into the world of luxury hospitality to examine the trends that shape this industry, the challenges that are associated with the trends, and the best practices that illustrate how firms are managing such challenges. The trend of personalized meaningful experiences The luxu...
Online Networking: How to Build Meaningful Interactions Remotely
Dr. Sowon Kim | February 14, 2022
By Dr. Sowon Kim As part of EHL Research Day, Dr Sowon Kim and Dr Janet Shaner presented their findings on the impact of online interaction on our networking practices. What does networking really imply, what is amplified and reduced online, and how can the relational aspect be improved for online networking? These are just some of the questions addressed in this fascinating research project. The benefits of networking Covid-19 has triggered a massive shift in work practices. At the peak of the pandemic, over half of the workforce in Switzerland was partially working remotely and about one third was fully in remote mo...
Gender Diversity in Leadership: How to Solve the Problem When You Can’t See It?
Dr Sowon Kim | August 10, 2021
Dr. Sowon Kim A presentation of research findings that confirm significant gender differences in diversity of leadership roles, specifically in perception when it comes to understanding why women occupy so few professional leadership roles. Leadership diversity affects the bottom line Women currently represent 70% of the hospitality industry’s workforce (Baum, 2015). Yet, by the end of 2020, only 17% of business leaders at the executive level were women and only 6% of CEOs were women (European Women on Boards, 2020). Leadership diversity matters because it affects the bottom line. A recent study revealed that co...
Women in Hospitality: The Balancing Act
Dr Sowon Kim | March 11, 2019
Dr Sowon Kim The conflict generated from managing work and family is real. For half a century, the primary focus of research on this topic was driven by this potential conflict. Still today, female leaders reveal what seems to be a trade-off between career and children. One of the most powerful women in the world - former CEO of PepsiCo, Indra Nooyi - shared and advised when stepping down as CEO from PepsiCo last October: I've been blessed with an amazing career, but if I'm being honest, there have been moments I wish I'd spent more time with my children and family. Make the most of your days and make space for the loved one...
Women in Leadership: A Rallying Cry
Dr. Sowon Kim | February 19, 2018
By Dr. Sowon Kim The financial services sector has finally begun shedding light on the gender pay gap within the industry, with Citi becoming the first major Wall Street bank to disclose internal data – albeit somewhat selectively – on gender pay, following activist shareholder pressure. The Financial Times (FT) reported earlier this month that, in a message to staff, Citi's head of human resources put the gender pay gap in the US, UK and Germany at just one percent. However, according to the FT's own research, while women account for up to 51 percent of Citi's global workforce, they make up only 42 percent of mid-level exec...
