Overcoming the Challenges of COVID-19 by Hospitality Educational Administrators: A Grounded Theory Approach

The coronavirus pandemic has affected all walks of life across the globe. Higher education institutions confronted multiple challenges and disruptions in teaching and learning. However, the challenges hospitality education administrators need to resolve are distinct compared to other traditional higher education programs. This study aimed to understand the experiences and responses of hospitality educational administrators under crisis. The findings of the study are expected to assist hospitality education institutions to be prepared and respond better to any crisis in the future. To understand the challenges faced and strategies adopted by hospitality educational administrators, we interviewed 23 hospitality administrators across India. We have adopted a grounded theory approach to describe the challenges and strategies the hospitality educational administrators adopted. The analysis of data through the grounded theory approach yielded five main themes: antecedents that influenced the hospitality educational administrators' response to the crisis, approaches toward strategies, strategies adopted to manage the crisis, perspectives of the consequences of strategies adopted, and intervening conditions that influenced the administrators' choice of strategies. The result indicates that hospitality educational administrators need to be proactive. They have to create a crisis management system, adopt technology in teaching and learning, and engage with all stakeholders to manage the crisis. This study has multiple implications for hospitality educational administrators, policymakers, and researchers in educational administration.