Building relationships, networks key to industry leaders' success

Successful foodservice industry executives are well-known for building and sustaining strong relationships both inside and outside their organizations. When management scholar Fred Luthans studied executives in the service sector, he found that one of the functions executives are principally engaged in is networking, which is defined as interacting, socializing or "politicking." With the industry changing so rapidly, building strong relationships is more important than ever before; the business world is changing so fundamentally that a company's success depends on it. Networking effectively acts as a vehicle for information and resource exchange, learning, mentorship, and references.