Professor David Solnet

Professor

School of Business
Faculty of Business, Economics and Law
d.solnet@uq.edu.au
+61 7 334 66245
0411 828 757

Overview

David Solnet is a Professor of Service Management and Service Work in the UQ Business School. He is recognized internationally for his research, teaching and consulting, all focused on managing and leading service organizations, with particular emphasis on managing the employee-customer interface. His research focuses on frontline employees and the relationships between management practices, employee attitudes and firm performance. He is currently leading a new strategic initiative, creating UQ's first fully online Master's degree through a UQ partnership with edX, Master of Leadership and Innovation.

David is a sought after advisor to industry and government, specializing on business improvement, financial analysis, service quality and management development programs. He comes from a restaurant background, with over 18 years of experience including senior management roles in the USA (Brinker International, El Chico Group, Bennigan’s Restaurants and Olive Garden) and Australia (including six years as general manager of Bretts Wharf in Brisbane). He has consulted to many organizations, including Merlo Coffee, Cactus Jacks Restaurant Group, Aromas Noosa, Ricky’s River Bar, Locale Ristaurante, Pier Nine Restaurant and Oyster Bar, Mitchell Ogilvie Menswear and Baguette Restaurant.

David coleads the workforce research team in the tourism group at the UQ Business School and has been a principal investigator on a number of state and national projects including two ‘tourism employment plans’ as part of the Australian Commonwealth Government initiative to address employment challenges in regional areas in Australia; and has worked with Service Skills Australia on a number of projects centred around workforce development.

Professor Solnet has published over 50 academic journal articles, and his work consistently appears in the top journals in his field, such as the Journal of Service Management, Managing Service Quality (Journal of Service Theory and Practice), Annals of Tourism Research, International Journal of Hospitality Management, Journal of Travel Research and the Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Research.

Professor Solnet is currently an academic partner seconded to the Division of Student Affairs, developing initiatives centered around improving student experience.

Research Interests

  • Tourism worker
    Expert in understanding the tourism workforce, ranging from the worker perspective, through to organisational and community/society perspectives.
  • Management of service organisations
    Specialisation in understanding the challenges and opportunities to leading and managing service organsations.

Qualifications

  • Doctor of Philosophy, The University of Queensland
  • Masters (Coursework) of Science, Florida International University
  • Bachelor of Science, University of Florida

Publications

View all Publications

Supervision

View all Supervision

Publications

Book

Book Chapter

  • Ford, Robert C. and Solnet, David (2022). How contemporary scholarship addresses service management practices. The Palgrave handbook of service management. (pp. 223-245) edited by Bo Edvardsson and Bård Tronvoll. Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan. doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-91828-6_12

  • Solnet, David and Golubovskaya, Maria (2018). Service management and tourism. The SAGE handbook of tourism management: theories, concepts and disciplinary approaches to tourism. (pp. 269-294) edited by Chris Cooper, Serena Volo, William C. Gartner and Noel Scott. London, United Kingdom: SAGE Publications. doi: 10.4135/9781526461452.n17

  • Solnet, David and King, Ceridwyn A. (2014). Brand as the beacon to guide employee-customer interactions. Customer Experience Management: Enhancing Experience and Value Through Service Management. (pp. 9-28) edited by Jay Kandampully. Dubuque, IA, United States: Kendall Hunt Publishing.

  • Solnet, D. (2008). Supporting the contemporary tourism product: Service management. Contemporary tourism: An international approach. (pp. 307-343) edited by Chris Cooper and C. Michael Hall. Jordan Hill, Oxford, U.K.: Butterworth-Heinemann.

Journal Article

Conference Publication

Other Outputs

PhD and MPhil Supervision

Current Supervision

  • Doctor Philosophy — Principal Advisor

    Other advisors:

  • Doctor Philosophy — Associate Advisor

Completed Supervision