Swiss Alpine students registered on hospitality and tourism management studies at City Unity College were privileged to attend two guest lectures given by Alpine graduate, Hassan Kadbi, CEO of Hapimag AG Switzerland, and an active Alpine Advisory Board member.
The first guest lecture held on 9 February 2022 was titled “Leading in Times of Crisis”, where Mr. Kadbi spoke about Covid short and mid-term impact on our industry citing thoughts and experiences of how Hapimag dealt with the situation over the last two challenging years by emphasizing the following actions: Transparency in Communication, Inclusion of the Customer, Pricing & Flexibility, Improving Digital Services, Sustainability and Responsibility, Embracing Uncertainties and Reacting Fast. He went on to highlight the role of a leader during a crisis, and summarized it as follows: Put a crisis team together; Be the first to speak to your colleagues; Be the first to speak to your customers; Be honest, be authentic and be very clear; After the talking, start and keep communicating and keep informing; Identify the opportunities and make change!
His second guest lecture took place on 23 February 2022 and was titled “How to Build a Tangible Strategy”. He started by saying that a Strategy without an execution plan, is simply a dream that will not automatically become reality. He explained why we need a Strategy, How do we build it, and What to do, and How to do it! The example he gave was of how Hapimag started its strategic plan a few years back and recommended that throughout the whole process it is crucial to: Keep all the Stakeholders involved; Communicate frequently; Keep challenging the strategy and be brave to change it until you make the plan; It is rather dangerous and makes no sense to change the Strategy during implementation; Remain focused and align constantly! And finally, his advice throughout the implementation process should be: Remain Agile; Keep the framework but be ready and open to adjust the details; Keep all the Stakeholders involved; Communicate frequently; and Remain focused and align constantly!
Students in the Bachelor’s program who are taking a module in Strategic Management found his presentation most interesting and useful.
Both sessions ended with a Q&A that demonstrated students’ enthusiasm to learn from a very well accomplished and respected leader in the hospitality industry.
Hassan Kadbi has been CEO of Hapimag since 2016 and a member of the Board of Directors since 2020. He has been working at Hapimag since 2005. At the beginning, he worked as a Resort Manager in Bodrum, then as an Area Manager for Greece, Morocco, and Turkey, before assuming responsibility as Chief Resorts Officer for the operational management of the resorts. Prior to 2005, Hassan Kadbi worked globally in various positions for Hilton. He has a Bachelor of Arts in International Hospitality and Tourism Management from the University of Bournemouth (GB) and a Higher Diploma in Hotel Management from the IHTTI School of Hotel Management in Neuchâtel (CH) associate institute of Swiss Alpine Center, Greece. In 2019, he graduated from the Executive Program at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business.
