Effect of Hospitality / Gaming Education on the Goal Fulfillment of Achieving Traditional “7th Generation Standard” Tribal Stability

With Indian Gaming, profit is not necessarily the “goal of the firm” as with privately or publicly held “commercial” gaming hospitality facilities. Rather, gaming is often used as a means to an end to ensure the fulfillment of continued, cohesive sovereignty as a tribe for future generations of tribal members (i.e., the 7 th generation ideal). The “7 th Generation” paradigm is based on not only maintaining, but also improving community welfare and leveraging positive externalities from the gaming industry. Since Indian gaming is, at its root, a business and, through various social science studies, a link has been established between education and business success, the purpose of this study is to examine is whether this linkage holds true for general and industry education and relative success of tribal entities involved in development, management or operation of Indian Gaming. Numerous “commercial” gaming and hospitality endeavors have strengthened their service core (and subsequent success key performance indicators) by investing in personnel with internal and external training (e.g., seminars, certifications) and formal secondary education (i.e., pursuit of degrees).