GITMA 2011
HRIM has strong presence at information tech conference
8:53 a.m., June 29, 2011--The University of Delaware Department of Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Management (HRIM) had a strong presence at the 2011 Global Information Technology Management Association (GITMA) world conference held June 5-7 in Las Vegas.
Naveed Baqir, assistant professor and mentor of nine student researchers who attended the conference, was presented a GITMA Fellow Award, only the fourth such award presented by the organization.
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The past awards were given to leading researchers in the global IT field -- Celia Romm Livermore, professor of business administration at Wayne State University; Paul Licker, professor of business administration at Oakland University; and Prashant Palvia, the Joe Rosenthal Excellence Professor at the University of North Carolina Greensboro.
"It was an absolute honor for me to be recognized for my efforts to introduce the GITMA organization to a vast area of research in global hospitality IT and bridge the two communities at this conference in the recent years," Baqir said.
"The GITMA fellow award is not given to recognize the quantity of efforts to global IT research alone but also to recognize the quality of work," Palvia said. "Even though Dr. Baqir has been associated with GITMA for only six years, the quality of his contributions are worthy of recognition with this award."
Baqir also was elected president of GITMA for 2013 and will serve as president-elect in 2012.
Conference research
Two years ago, UD HRIM researchers introduced a global hospitality information technology track at the conference. The track has gained popularity and this year GITMA accepted 14 research papers after an extensive review process.
Nine students from the UD HRIM graduate program were among those whose research papers were accepted for presentation and inclusion in the proceedings of the conference.
Among them was Louis Low, who presented research on "A Meta-Analysis of Information Technology and Customer Relationship Research in Hotels." Low studied articles related to IT and customer relationship management in the hotel industry published during the period 1999-2010, in an attempt to determine areas that had already been researched widely and areas that could benefit the industry if studied further. He found that additional study is needed in such areas as customer profitability, IT satisfaction and service and revenue management.
"GITMA was the first conference I ever attended and the experience was phenomenal," Low said, adding that he met many professionals from around the world and got a chance to converse with and learn from them.
"Being able to attend a conference such as GITMA was highly rewarding," said Low. "I would urge students to experience it for themselves as the benefit is two-fold -- students are allowed to network and interact with those they would not ordinarily get a chance to and their attendance brings visibility to the hospitality department and to the University, as well."
Ye Bao, who called the conference an “amazing experience,” presented a paper on research methodologies in the use of technologies in the industry.
Other graduate presentations included Johnny McClain, whose research identified possible trends in the use of various social media and research methodologies; Ruiqing Fang, who presented on research in social media; Tochukwu Atupulazi, who presented research concerning the hospitality industry's security measures post-Sept. 11, 2001; Xiaoxiao Chi, who presented research on casino gaming technology; Qian Li, who presented research on e-service; and Robert Nchor, who presented a review of research trends concerning information technology.
GITMA
Global Information Technology Management Association (GITMA) is a premier organization of international researchers, academicians and industry representatives. It has a member base in six continents and more than 50 countries. Each year, members of GITMA convene to share research, discuss issues and develop solutions for global information technology management issues.