Project Management for the Hospitality Industry

Tim Flohr, MBA, PMP, CFBE, is an Assistant Professor of Teaching, Internship Coordinator, and UofM Global Coordinator at The University of Memphis’ Kemmons Wilson School of Hospitality and Resort Management. In 2019, Flohr was the Founding Program Director of the Kemmons Wilson Culinary Institute, one of the largest culinary arts schools in the Mid-South. He has more than 25 years of leadership experience in the food service industry and project management throughout the Mid-Atlantic region and New York City. In 2011, he transitioned to academia as the Director of Operations for Drexel University’s Hospitality and Culinary Arts program.

Flohr received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Delaware’s Hotel, Restaurant, and Institutional Management Program in 1997 and he earned his MBA, with a concentration in Business Analytics, from Drexel University in 2015. He is currently pursuing his EdD in Higher Education at the University of Memphis. In addition to his academic credentials, Flohr attained PMP® (Project Management Professional) certification from the Project Management Institute in 2014, CFBE® (Certified Food and Beverage Executive) certification from the American Hotel and Lodging Educational Institute in 2012, and SHRM-CP (Human Resources) certification in 2021. 

Flohr currently holds active memberships and/or serves on committees in numerous professional organizations including the Memphis Restaurant Association, Tennessee Hospitality and Tourism Association, Project Management Institute, Professional Convention Management Association, National Association of Colleges and Employers, International Council for Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Education, and the Cooperative Education and Internship Association. Flohr currently serves as the Chair of the Board of Governors for Eta Sigma Delta, the national honor society for travel and tourism.

Flohr is a proud Freemason who enjoys spending time with his family, reading, participating in martial arts, and volunteering for the Girl Scouts Heart of the South, where he is a proud member of the Man Enough Network (Girl Scout Dads). As a nationally certified radKIDS® instructor, he also helped launch the “One Tough Cookie” initiative with the Girl Scouts in 2019. In this program, he teaches a revolutionary self-empowerment program, anti-bullying, and abduction-awareness program. 

William R. Duncan is the President of Project Management Partners, a project management consulting and training firm with offices in the USA and Malaysia. He is currently Director of Certification for IPMA-USA, the USA member of the world's oldest professional project management organization. In addition, he served the Project Management Institute (PMI) as Director of Standards for nearly 10 years.

Mr. Duncan has over forty years of management and consulting experience including five years with a major international consulting firm. He was the primary author of the original (1996) version of A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge {PMBoK Guide). With over 3,000,000 copies distributed worldwide, this seminal work is the most widely used project management guide in the world today. In addition, his "process model" of project management was used to organize ISO 21500, Guidance on project management.

Mr. Duncan has authored over 40 articles for publications such as The Project Management journal, PM Network, Projects@Work, and Chief Projects Officer. He has been chosen "Speaker of the Year" by three different project management professional associations. He has presented papers at conferences sponsored by IPMA-USA, PMI, AIPM, FOSTAS, and others.

In addition to his work for IPMA-USA and PMI, his extensive volunteer service includes many years supporting the Global Alliance for Project Performance Standards (GAPPS) and serving as chief writer for their global performance-based competency standards for project managers, program managers, and project sponsors.

Mr. Duncan has helped clients in North America, Latin America, Europe, and Asia improve their organizational competence in project management. Major clients include Camp Dresser & McKee, China National Communications, Codelco, EMC2, Entergy Corporation, First Data Resources, Golden Telecom, Investors Group, Liberty Mutual Insurance, Manitoba Telephone, One-S, Polaroid, Schlumberger, Sybase, and Texas Instruments.

He has also been called upon to provide expert testimony regarding proper project management processes for a major US law firm.

He is a 1970 graduate of Brown University in Providence, RI and has done post-graduate work at Boston University and Northeastern University.

Significant consulting engagements include:

• Development of a project manager competency model and career ladder for a large engineering consulting firm. The competency model was used to ensure that the company's most critical projects were being managed by their best project managers. The career ladder included criteria for promotion as well as a recognition and reward system that was integrated with the firm's personnel processes.

• Facilitation of a project start-up workshop for a consumer products company. The workshop extended over a two-week period and included 25 people. As a result of the workshop, the organization was able to cut nearly two months off the expected project duration - saving nearly $1,000,000.

Mr. Duncan has also developed numerous training programs including:

• Mastering Modern Project Management, a three-day introduction to project management that uses the participants' own projects for casework to ensure that they can use what they learn immediately back on the job.

• Project Risk Management, a two-day program that takes participants from identifying and describing project risks through evaluating alternative responses.

• Project Portfolio Management, a two-day program that shows participants how to align - and keep aligned! - their project portfolios with the strategic direction of their organization.