The E‐MBA action learning: lessons for hospitality leaders

E‐MBAs are becoming an attractive option for career professionals and organizations in the hospitality and tourism industry to build competitive advantage. As core faculty in the distance MBA program in The School of Hospitality and Tourism Management at the University of Guelph, the development of the E‐MBA has provided valuable lessons for leaders to understand how e‐learning builds leadership competency and capability in hospitality and tourism organizations. The research behind the action learning leadership framework is founded on the extensive work of the author at the University of Guelph. The author has pioneered distance MBA and leadership programs using the Internet to link people, knowledge and strategy with IT to build leadership competencies and online learning communities for managing in the knowledge‐based era. Evidence of this can be seen in a “virtual tour” of the distance MBA program at the following Website: www.emba.uoguelph.ca