Research Presentation on "Employee Emotional Competence" at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands

After trying to work it out for nearly 7 years, I was finally able to accept the invitation of Mirella Kleijnen to make a visit to Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Just outside the main entrance to the university.

As I did yesterday, I made a research presentation on Employee Emotional Competence, and then told them the "behind the scenes" story of what it took to get the paper published. The PhD students in the audience seemed to really appreciate that aspect of the presentation.

The audience for my presentation in Amsterdam.

I spent the afternoon meeting with faculty and PhD students, talking about a wide range of issues. Then Mirella (who did her PhD at the University of Maastricht) took Candy and I for dinner at an Indonesian restaurant not too far from out hotel.  The food was excellent!

Look at all of that wonderful Indonesian food!  Nice choice, Mirella!

Research Presentation on "Employee Emotional Competence" at the University of Wuppertal, Germany

I was invited by Ina Garnefeld to give a research presentation to the faculty and students at the University of Wuppertal, Germany.  (About an hour's drive from Muenster.)  When we arrived on Sunday, Ina had arranged for a tour of the city, which began with a ride (and discussion of) the Schwebebahn (the swaying train).

This "swaying train" runs above the river for about 8 miles.

Then we stopped for a drink so that we could chat a bit (and, get out of the rain).  It is always great to be surrounded by wonderful ladies!

Candy, Dwayne, Lena, Ann-Kathrin, and Jana

I spent Monday morning at the Schumpeter School of Business Economics at the University of Wuppertal with Ina and her PhD students, discussing their research.

Then, on Tuesday (January 26), I presented a paper that will be published in the February issue of Journal of Service Research, entitled "Employee Emotional Competence: Construct Conceptualizzation and Validation of a Customer-Based Measure."

A nice crowd for the presentation!

A Quick Visit (Back to) Muenster, Germany

Less than a week after leaving Muenster for Liege, we picked a rental car in Maastricht (had to  take the train to get the car...but, it was for half the price of what it would have been in Liege) and drove back to Muenster.  We spent the afternoon visiting with Christof Backhaus, a name you will recognize if you have been following this blog closely.  He was my host in Newcastle in June.  We had "traditional German" food for lunch at Altes Gasthaus Leve, a restaurant which has been in business since 1607.  And then we went to another place for coffee and dessert.

Christof had me sample the local Muenster beer. (Yes, those are antlers on the wall behind us!)

We then drove our (Audi) rental car to the Hennig-Thurau house, where Claudia prepared an EXCELLENT meal for us...a great salad and incredible lasagna.  Thorsten also showed off his skills...taking selfie photos.  (See below.)

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Thorsten, Patrick, Fred, Claudia, a reluctant Tom, Candy, and Dwayne

Research Meeting in Ghent, Belgium

Candy and I took the train to Ghent, Belgium, on Wednesday evening and explored the wonderful city of Ghent.  We retraced some of the steps I had taken when I visited Ghent about two years ago.

Candy took this photo...a wonderful reflection of a bridge above the canal...about 1 km from our hotel.

At about 10:00 the following morning we walked to the University of Ghent, where we had a followup to a brainstorming session we had at the "Let's Talk About Service" conference in Namur, Belgium, in December.  Six of us met spent the day discussing employees and the concept of emotional empowerment.

Aleska, Nanouk, Annelies, Yves, Dwayne, and Aurelia.

Hard at work at the University of Ghent

After a hard day of work, Bart Lariveire took us for a drink (more Belgian beer!) before we all got back on the train to head home.

Bart Lariveire is impressed with Candy's "selfie" skills!

"From Start to Finish" Publishing Seminar at HEC-ULg, Liege, Belgium

Zelal Ates, an Associate Professor in the HEC School of Management at the University of Liege, approached me in December and asked if I could create a seminar for PhD students where I followed one of my research projects from its beginning through the time it was published.  I agreed, and today we began examining the process for my 2008 paper entitled: "Rapport-building Behaviors Used by Retail Employees."  We had attendees from HEC at the University of Liege, as well as from other universities in Belgium.

Attendees are trying to make sense of the reviewer comments I received on the initial submission of the paper.

We will meet 4 times over the next 5 weeks to discuss the various stages of the paper and how it progressed through the review process.

A discussion of the challenges of publishing scholarly research!

Back "Home" for Our Second Stay in Liege, Belgium

We traveled through snow and cold weather this morning throughout Germany and Belgium, and made it to our (new) apartment in Liege just in time to get to the Sunday Market before it was over.

Bratwurst at the Liege Sunday Market!

Final Class Field Trip (to Assess Service Delivery) at Cafe Malik, Muenster, Germany

The Service Management class concluded today with the final lecture.  (For several students, my lecture was their LAST lecture as part of their Masters program.)  Students were then invited to an optional field trip to assess the service provided by a local student hangout...at Cafe Malik. Seven students decided to participate, even if there was no "extra credit" for doing so...they seemed to have appreciated that their professor was picking up the tab!

Joel, Benni, Vera, Nadia, Prof. Dr. Gremler, Silvia, Andrea, and Sascha assess service quality at Cafe Malik

The first "Service Management" Masters course at Muenster!  (What a great looking group!)

Dinner with the Department of Marketing and Media Research, University of Muenster, Germany

After finishing my third day of teaching the Service Management course, Candy and I were treated to a wonderful dinner at Drubbelken, one of the oldest restaurants in Muenster. Candy had a steak and apple strudel for dessert (something she had been looking forward to since we returned to Germany); I had trout and the local Pinkus beer.

Candy, Ann-Kristin Knapp, Nora Pahler vol der Holte, Utz Riehl, Andre Marchand, Alegra Kaczinski (my wonderful assistant during the week), Dwayne, and Thorsten Hennig-Thurau

Drubbelken in the day light

"Service Management" Course at University of Muenster, Germany

I began teaching a week-long course, "Service Management," to 19 graduate students at the University of Muenster.

At the Marketing Center in WWU, at the invitation of my friend Thorsten Hennig-Thurau

They all SEEM to be paying attention!

The students teams are below.  Each team was charged with creating a service blueprint for a local service provider.

Team 1

Team 2

Team 3

Team 4