Schneider Electric, Cornell
University, and the Hotel Industry
A model for collaboration between industry and higher education
by Schneider Electric
February 2012 / White paper
Make the most of your energy
SM
Summary
Introduction........................................................................................................3
Finding the right partner.....................................................................................4
A premier university program for hospitality education......................................5
Active collaboration............................................................................................6
The newest venture: eCornell.............................................................................8
Making an impact across the hotel industry.......................................................8
The value of relationships...................................................................................9
More on the horizon...........................................................................................9
Conclusion.......................................................................................................10
White paper
Introduction
Much is made today of the importance of “social networking” through
online media such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. However, Schneider
Electric has found a way to leverage a more traditional approach to
business networking — personal contacts and face-to-face collaboration.
Working closely with Cornell University and its renowned School of Hotel
Administration, Schneider Electric’s Hotel team has created a partnership
that has extended into many activities at the university, and has led to new
relationships and innovative programs throughout the hotel industry.
In fact, the impact of Schneider Electric’s relationship-building approach
has been felt literally around the world. Bill Minnock, SVP Global Operations
Services for Marriott, says: “I think what Schneider Electric is doing is
brilliant. They’re tapping into the expertise in Cornell, trying to solve very
pressing business problems for the hospitality industry. They’ve found a
point of synergy between their best-in-class energy company, the world’s
best hospitality school, and the hoteliers of the world.”
This is a case study of how the relationship with Cornell was developed
and the benefits that have accrued to Schneider Electric, the university and
students, and the hotel industry as a whole. It is the hope of those involved
that this experience can be used by other organizations and industries
“[Schneider Electric has] found
a point of synergy between their
best in class energy company,
the world’s best hospitality
school, and the hoteliers of the
world.”
- Bill Minnock, SVP, Marriott Hotels
where energy plays a vital role.
U.S. Energy Information Administration, “International Energy Outlook 2011”, September 19,
2011 (http://www.eia.gov/forecasts/ieo/)
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Finding the right partner
Sean O’Kane, Director of Hotel Strategic Alliances, Schneider Electric,
understands very well the importance of energy in the hotel industry, since
he worked as a hotelier himself for 24 years.
“Energy costs can represent between 3-8% of a hotel’s total revenue,
depending on the type, services offered, and location of the hotel,”
according to Mr. O’Kane. “Yet, for various reasons, energy is one of the
least well-managed expense lines in a hotel’s operating performance.”
In 2009, the Schneider Electric’s Hotel business group was looking for ways
to leverage the importance of energy in the hospitality business, through
partnerships with other organizations and entities. This strategy made
good business sense in its own right, and it also synergized with Schneider
Electric’s corporate focus on building relationships and partnerships with
other organizations, in order to enhance the firm’s reputation as a market
and thought leader.
With their knowledge of the hotel business, it didn’t take the Schneider
Electric team long to think of the ideal partner: Cornell University.
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A premier university program for
hospitality education
Cornell’s School of Hotel Administration is recognized as one of the world’s
premier educational institutions for hotel management, whose graduates
often go on to assume leadership roles in the major hotel companies of
the world.
What interested the Schneider Electric team in particular was the school’s
Center for Hospitality Research, which conducts panels and research
projects on important topics in the industry, and publishes the results of that
research on its website, available for free to industry, other universities, and
the general public. The research center uses Cornell’s own 4-star, 150-room
Statler Hotel, and is aided by an Advisory Board from companies across
the hotel and travel industry, who help fund the research.
“Our purpose is to connect academia and industry so they can work on
issues of interest to both sides,” says Rohit Verma, PhD, Executive Director
of the Center. “We have about 35 partner companies, and many more
friends who are involved with our activities. These corporations provide
funding for our research and support us in other ways through their industry
knowledge and insights.”
Each partner company is asked to assign an executive to the Board, whose
“One of the issues we’re most
concerned with is energy usage
and sustainability. Schneider
Electric...was a natural fit.”
- Rohit Verma, Executive Director,
Cornell Center for Hospitality Research
members are a “Who’s Who” in the travel and hospitality business. They
include executives from all the major hotel chains; travel firms such as
Expedia and Priceline; lighting companies such as Phillips; and consulting
organizations such as Price Waterhouse.
“It seemed a perfect fit for us,” says Mr. O’Kane, “an opportunity to have
an impact along with other leaders in the hotel industry.” It also seemed
a perfect fit for Cornell, so Mr. O’Kane and Pankaj Lal, Director Offer
Management & Marketing - Energy Solutions, Schneider Electric, reached
out to the University in the summer of 2009.
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Active collaboration
“When Schneider Electric approached us with their desire to participate
in our Center for Hospitality Research, we were very excited,” says Dr.
Verma. “One of the issues we’re most concerned with is energy usage
and sustainability. Schneider Electric has many products for energy
management, and international experience in sustainability projects. We
were lacking that perspective on our Board, so we felt right away that it was
a natural fit.”
Mike Montanari, VP of Strategic Accounts, Schneider Electric, represents
Schneider Electric on the Advisory Board. His efforts, along with those
of Mr. O’Kane and others in the company, have helped to grow the
collaboration to the point that Schneider Electric is now actively involved
with the Cornell Center in many ways.
Research
An experiment sponsored by
Schneider Electric, and conducted
by Cornell’s engineering faculty,
is now underway at Cornell’s
Statler Hotel.
One of the Board’s main roles is supporting the Center’s research
projects on energy efficiency that have the potential to impact hotels
around the world.
An experiment sponsored by Schneider Electric, and conducted by
Cornell’s engineering faculty, is now underway at Cornell’s Statler Hotel.
Several guest rooms are being equipped with Cassia guest room
controllers to study the impact on energy use and costs. When completed,
the results will be reported in the “Cornell Hospitality Quarterly,” which is
read and used worldwide, including by other universities.
According to Dr. Verma, other schools have downloaded more than 100,000
times from the web site for the School of Hotel Administration. Thousands
more downloads have come from hotel and travel executives from every
continent. (All reports and other materials are available for free at
http://www.hotelschool.cornell.edu/research/.)
Roundtables
Cornell hosts frequent roundtable discussions with industry leaders on
various topics of importance in the hospitality world. Open to students,
partners, and invited guests, the roundtables have addressed issues
such as sustainability, labor and employment law, business ethics, service
innovation, and a range of other topics. Mr. Montanari participates by
suggesting topics and serving on the panels, alongside Mr. O’Kane’s
frequent participation.
“We hold six to eight roundtables per year,” says Dr. Verma. “Suggestions
for topics come from the Board and our faculty leads the discussions.”
Students participate too, and Dr. Verma says one evening of each
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roundtable is devoted just to industry and students: “It gives our students a
chance to interact directly with industry leaders.”
Of particular interest are the sustainability roundtables in which Mr. O’Kane
has been an active participant, along with hospitality leaders from around
the world. These roundtables are leading the effort to bring the discussion
of sustainability and energy management to the forefront of the
hotel industry.
Student competitions
A relatively new activity is the Student Sustainability Competition, held
annually in the spring to honor the best thesis work on the subject of
sustainability by Cornell students. While the faculty ultimately judges the
work and decides the winners, the students first make a presentation to the
“This clearly puts Schneider
Electric at the top of vendors
who are supporting the hotel
industry.”
Board of industry partners, who offer feedback and advice.
“Being able to interact with and help the students, the next generation of
leaders of the hotel industry, is one of the more rewarding aspects of our
collaboration with Cornell,” says Mr. O’Kane.
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The newest venture: eCornell
In 2010, Schneider Electric and Cornell announced yet another
collaborative effort: an online certification program for Schneider Electric
personnel who wish to become more knowledgeable about hotel asset and
operational management.
Using courses developed by Cornell’s own faculty, eCornell offers global
Schneider Electric employees a chance to gain valuable knowledge into hotel
management, operational challenges, and other issues of importance in the
industry. Schneider Electric employees can take six different courses online,
learning at their own pace from the world’s premier hospitality professors.
“This program has truly enabled me to talk the talk with the accounts that I
call on, and demonstrate an understanding of the business goals that they
typically don’t get from a vendor,” says Schneider Electric’s Dave Griego,
National Accounts Manager, Hotels. “My classmates have been fascinating
and literally come from around the world.”
Making an impact across
the hotel industry
For Schneider Electric, the collaboration with Cornell has been valuable in
itself, but its impact has reached well beyond the university and into the
worldwide hotel industry.
One example is the deeper relationship that has developed with the
American Hotel and Lodging Association (AH&LA), the primary advocacy
association and voice for the US hotel industry. Its members include the
management of virtually all the leading hotel companies in the world,
some of whom also serve on the Cornell Board. Mr. O’Kane sits on the
Engineering and Environment Committee of AH&LA and has had a longstanding relationship with the AH&LA CEO, Joseph McInerny.
It was through these contacts that Schneider Electric and the AH&LA
reached an agreement that allows AH&LA members anywhere in the world
to register for free energy management courses at Energy University
(http://www.myenergyuniversity.com/). Created and operated by Schneider
Electric, Energy University is a professional-level education program
offering more than 60 online courses on a wide array of energy topics, free
to anyone who wishes to register. Energy University has trained more than
70,000 people around the world. All courses are entirely vendor-neutral and
have been developed by professional educators and subject matter experts.
Schneider Electric worked with the AH&LA to create a custom learning path
at Energy University, and the courses are applicable for education credits
for those who have been certified under by the hotel organization.
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The value of relationships
In addition to the many formal programs and activities, Mr. O’Kane also
emphasizes the less tangible but very real value of working closely with
academic and industry leaders on a regular basis.
“Cornell has become a nexus for education and industry working together.
Here are all the stakeholders in the industry, from hoteliers to vendors
such as Schneider Electric, working alongside researchers, faculty and
students. It’s a very exciting and vital environment. It’s increasing our
understanding of the hotel industry, and what our role can be in helping
them meet their challenges.”
Bill Minnock, SVP for Marriott Hotels and fellow Advisory Board member at
Cornell, agrees: “Energy management is important to our guests for comfort
and good citizenship. It’s also important to our company, the cost of our
buildings, and our day-to-day operations. Collaborating with a company
like Schneider Electric, who is focused on sustainability solutions for the
hotel industry, is valuable for everyone involved.”
More on the horizon
“Here are all the stakeholders
in the industry, from hoteliers
to vendors such as Schneider
Electric, working alongside
researchers, faculty and
students. It’s a very exciting and
vital environment.”
- Sean O’Kane, Schneider Electric
Schneider Electric continues to work toward further opportunities to
collaborate in the hotel industry. The Hotel team is currently discussing the
possibility of working with a consortium of stakeholders from the industry,
the International Tourism Partnership, to create a standard for measuring
carbon emissions in hotels.
The group is also looking at collaborative opportunities around issues other
than energy, such as security, that are important to the hospitality industry.
“We believe we can take what has been learned from this productive
relationship, and apply it in other places,” says Mr. O’Kane.
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Conclusion
Three years after starting the collaboration with Cornell, the Hotel team at
Schneider Electric says the effort has succeeded beyond their hopes. The
key to this success, agree all those involved, is for everyone to provide
value, and for everyone to receive benefits from the relationship. This has
certainly been the case for the Cornell collaboration.
The faculty and students at Cornell’s Center for Hospitality Research
benefit by gaining access to Schneider Electric’s deep expertise in energy
management and sustainability, and research guidance as well as stateof-the-art technology and products for energy monitoring and control. “The
participation of industry partners has led us into new areas, and fostered
new research we could not have done on our own,” says Dr. Verma.
The hotel industry gains the chance to interact with a key company like
Schneider Electric, which possesses unique knowledge and expertise in an
area of vital importance and interest.
And of course, Schneider Electric benefits in many ways, including having
access to Cornell’s world class research capabilities, close contact with key
industry leaders, and a chance to impact the next generation of leaders,
the students of Cornell.
As Dr. Verma says, “This kind of collaboration is a win for everyone.”
About Schneider Electric
As a global specialist in energy management with operations in more
than 100 countries, Schneider Electric offers integrated solutions across
multiple market segments, including leadership positions in Utilities &
Infrastructures, Industries & Machine Manufacturers, Non-residential
Buildings, Data Centres & Networks and in Residential. Focused on making
energy safe, reliable, efficient, productive and green, the Group’s 130,000
plus employees achieved sales of 22.4 billion euros in 2011, through an
active commitment to help individuals and organizations make the most of
© 2012 Schneider Electric. All rights reserved.
their energy.
www.schneider electric.com/company
Schneider Electric
One High Street
North Andover, MA 01845 USA
Telephone: +1 978 975 9600
Fax: +1 978 975 9674
www.schneider-electric.com/buildings
WP-CornellHotels-A4.BU.N.EN.2.2012.0.00.CC
February 2012