AHLEI CHA cheat sheet

Situational leadership: match style (directing, coaching, supporting, delegating) to follower readiness/maturity for the specific task, not the person overall.

Transformational leadership = idealized influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, individualized consideration (four I's).

Transactional leadership relies on contingent reward and management-by-exception; effective for routine, stable operations.

Servant leadership inverts the pyramid: leaders exist to remove barriers for frontline staff who serve guests.

Tuckman team stages: forming, storming, norming, performing, adjourning; conflict peaks in storming and must be surfaced, not suppressed.

Fiedler contingency model: leader effectiveness depends on the fit between leader style (task- vs relationship-motivated) and situational favorableness (leader-member relations, task structure, position power).

Path-goal theory: leader clears the path to goals using directive, supportive, participative, or achievement-oriented behaviors chosen by task and follower characteristics.

Delegation rule: delegate authority, not accountability; the manager remains answerable for outcomes.

Maslow and Herzberg in hospitality: hygiene factors (pay, working conditions, job security) prevent dissatisfaction but do not motivate; motivators (recognition, growth, achievement) drive engagement.

RevPAR = ADR x occupancy; equivalently room revenue / available rooms. It blends rate and volume into one yield measure.

TRevPAR = total revenue / available rooms; GOPPAR = gross operating profit / available rooms. GOPPAR is the cleanest cross-property profitability benchmark.

Flow-through = (change in GOP) / (change in revenue); measures how much incremental revenue converts to profit. A 40-60% flow-through is typical in a well-controlled hotel.

Contribution margin per segment = segment revenue minus variable/avoidable costs; rank segments by contribution, not by ADR.

Cost structure: fixed costs (insurance, property tax, base staffing, debt service) do not vary with occupancy; variable costs (housekeeping supplies, laundry, commissions) move with rooms sold.

Break-even occupancy = fixed costs / (ADR - variable cost per room), expressed as a percentage of available rooms.

Payback and NPV: accept capital projects with positive NPV at the hurdle rate; payback ignores time value and should be secondary.

Labor productivity is measured as hours per occupied room (HPOR) or revenue per available labor hour; compare against a rolling 12-month baseline.

Benchmarking uses STAR-style competitive sets: compare occupancy, ADR, and RevPAR index (property RevPAR / competitive set RevPAR x 100).

Rooms division cost drivers: housekeeping minutes per room (typically 25-45 minutes for a standard room), linens per occupied room, and laundry pounds per room.

Front office controls: overbooking allowance covers no-shows and early departures; walk policy (relocation) triggers compensation and must be documented.

Night audit sequence: post room and tax, reconcile city ledger and credit cards, roll the business date, produce the daily report (Manager's Report).

Uniform System of Accounts (USALI) departments: Rooms, F&B, Other Operated Departments, Miscellaneous Income, and Undistributed Expenses (A&G, IT, HR, Sales & Marketing, POM, Utilities).

F&B cost of sales = beginning inventory + purchases - ending inventory; food cost % = cost of food sold / food revenue.

Engineering: preventive maintenance schedules by asset (e.g., PTAC filters monthly, elevator service quarterly); energy is typically the largest utility cost.

Safety and security: key control, emergency evacuation procedures, and incident documentation are core risk-management duties of operations managers.

Service recovery: fix the problem fast, empower frontline staff with a defined dollar limit, and log complaints to identify recurring defects.

Revenue management core: sell the right room to the right guest at the right price at the right time; segment by price sensitivity and booking channel.

Forecasting drives everything: a rolling 90-day forecast by segment feeds pricing, staffing, and purchasing decisions.

Rate fences (advance purchase, nonrefundable, length of stay, group) separate price-sensitive from price-insensitive demand without cutting the published rate.

Displacement analysis: accept group business only if group revenue exceeds the RevPAR the displaced transient business would have produced.

Hurdle rate: the minimum rate a room must achieve to be worth selling; below-hurdle business should be declined when demand is strong.

Channel mix: direct bookings avoid OTA commissions (often 15-25%); net RevPAR should be compared after commissions, not gross ADR.

Key financial statements: income statement (P&L by USALI), balance sheet, statement of cash flows; ratios include current ratio (current assets / current liabilities) and debt service coverage.

Budget variance = actual - budget; favorable/unfavorable depends on whether the line is revenue (higher is favorable) or expense (lower is favorable).

Cash management: monitor accounts receivable aging, city ledger balances, and advance deposits; a hotel's cash cycle is driven by occupancy seasonality.

Revenue management core: sell the right room to the right guest at the right price at the right time; segment by price sensitivity and booking channel.

Forecasting drives everything: a rolling 90-day forecast by segment feeds pricing, staffing, and purchasing decisions.

Rate fences (advance purchase, nonrefundable, length of stay, group) separate price-sensitive from price-insensitive demand without cutting the published rate.

Displacement analysis: accept group business only if group revenue exceeds the RevPAR the displaced transient business would have produced.

Hurdle rate: the minimum rate a room must achieve to be worth selling; below-hurdle business should be declined when demand is strong.

Channel mix: direct bookings avoid OTA commissions (often 15-25%); net RevPAR should be compared after commissions, not gross ADR.

Key financial statements: income statement (P&L by USALI), balance sheet, statement of cash flows; ratios include current ratio (current assets / current liabilities) and debt service coverage.

Budget variance = actual - budget; favorable/unfavorable depends on whether the line is revenue (higher is favorable) or expense (lower is favorable).

Cash management: monitor accounts receivable aging, city ledger balances, and advance deposits; a hotel's cash cycle is driven by occupancy seasonality.

Situational leadership: match style (directing, coaching, supporting, delegating) to follower readiness/maturity for the specific task, not the person overall.

Transformational leadership = idealized influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, individualized consideration (four I's).

Transactional leadership relies on contingent reward and management-by-exception; effective for routine, stable operations.

Servant leadership inverts the pyramid: leaders exist to remove barriers for frontline staff who serve guests.

Tuckman team stages: forming, storming, norming, performing, adjourning; conflict peaks in storming and must be surfaced, not suppressed.

Fiedler contingency model: leader effectiveness depends on the fit between leader style (task- vs relationship-motivated) and situational favorableness (leader-member relations, task structure, position power).

Path-goal theory: leader clears the path to goals using directive, supportive, participative, or achievement-oriented behaviors chosen by task and follower characteristics.

Delegation rule: delegate authority, not accountability; the manager remains answerable for outcomes.

Maslow and Herzberg in hospitality: hygiene factors (pay, working conditions, job security) prevent dissatisfaction but do not motivate; motivators (recognition, growth, achievement) drive engagement.

RevPAR = ADR x occupancy; equivalently room revenue / available rooms. It blends rate and volume into one yield measure.

TRevPAR = total revenue / available rooms; GOPPAR = gross operating profit / available rooms. GOPPAR is the cleanest cross-property profitability benchmark.

Flow-through = (change in GOP) / (change in revenue); measures how much incremental revenue converts to profit. A 40-60% flow-through is typical in a well-controlled hotel.

Contribution margin per segment = segment revenue minus variable/avoidable costs; rank segments by contribution, not by ADR.

Cost structure: fixed costs (insurance, property tax, base staffing, debt service) do not vary with occupancy; variable costs (housekeeping supplies, laundry, commissions) move with rooms sold.

Break-even occupancy = fixed costs / (ADR - variable cost per room), expressed as a percentage of available rooms.

Payback and NPV: accept capital projects with positive NPV at the hurdle rate; payback ignores time value and should be secondary.

Labor productivity is measured as hours per occupied room (HPOR) or revenue per available labor hour; compare against a rolling 12-month baseline.

Benchmarking uses STAR-style competitive sets: compare occupancy, ADR, and RevPAR index (property RevPAR / competitive set RevPAR x 100).

Rooms division cost drivers: housekeeping minutes per room (typically 25-45 minutes for a standard room), linens per occupied room, and laundry pounds per room.

Front office controls: overbooking allowance covers no-shows and early departures; walk policy (relocation) triggers compensation and must be documented.

Night audit sequence: post room and tax, reconcile city ledger and credit cards, roll the business date, produce the daily report (Manager's Report).

Uniform System of Accounts (USALI) departments: Rooms, F&B, Other Operated Departments, Miscellaneous Income, and Undistributed Expenses (A&G, IT, HR, Sales & Marketing, POM, Utilities).

F&B cost of sales = beginning inventory + purchases - ending inventory; food cost % = cost of food sold / food revenue.

Engineering: preventive maintenance schedules by asset (e.g., PTAC filters monthly, elevator service quarterly); energy is typically the largest utility cost.

Safety and security: key control, emergency evacuation procedures, and incident documentation are core risk-management duties of operations managers.

Service recovery: fix the problem fast, empower frontline staff with a defined dollar limit, and log complaints to identify recurring defects.