[Excerpt] While working with managers and executives in the hospitality industry, I came to believe that a common set of shared problems may be impeding their ability to effectively manage. Rather than proceed on anecdotes and hunches, however, several colleagues and I conducted a brief but focused inquiry through the Center for Hospitality Research at Cornell University (CHR). Given Cornell’s mission of enhancing the global hospitality industry, we hoped to identify key issues of concern for hoteliers throughout the world. This study is a first step in developing an ongoing CHR research agenda to help the industry unravel its most critical and puzzling shared problem areas and concerns.