Visiting a New University to Conduct the Publishing Scholarly Research Seminar, Braunschweig, Germany

The Technical University of Braunschweig (Germany) was the next stop of my 2025 "Publishing Scholarly Research" tour.  My contact there is Christof Backhaus, a colleague whom I met at a conference about 15 years ago.  (Neither one of us knows exactly when we met, but we believe it was in Florida.)

Dwayne, Candy, Paula, and Christof having coffee in Muenster

We had 12 attendees participate in the two-day seminar in Braunschweig.  Perhaps you might know Braunschweig because the famous mathematician, Carl Gauss?

There is a statue in his honor near campus.

Carl Gauss

Several good questions were raised during our seminar discussions.  Attendees seemed to particularly like pointing out the issues as to why one of my papers was rejected at the Journal of Marketing many years ago.

As with our other seminars, attendees were quite willing to prove they have developed more than sufficient publication celebration skills...

Prost!  (Cheers!)

Making a Quick Stop in Muenster, Germany

We left Koblenz and had one free day on our way to Braunschweig.  My (distant) relatives, Gunter, Claudia, and Philip Gremmler met us at the Muenster train station at about 11:00 a.m. and treated us to coffee in their village, Handorf.  Then the took us to Telgte and we walked around that village for a little while.  We ended up at a strawberry farm near their house and where they treated us to a wonderful strawberry drink (loaded with strawberries).

Dwayne, Claudia, Philip, Candy, and Gunter

The Gremmlers took us back to Muenster where we had coffee with Christof and Paula Backhaus.  It was a coffee shop where Paula's daughter Luana works.  And while we were there her son, Gabriel, stopped by, said hello, and introduced us to his girlfriend.

After coffee we took a taxi over to visit Thorsten and Claudia Hennig-Thurau.  We first met via email (Thorsten introduced himself electronically back in 1998) and eventually collaborated on several research projects.  (One of our published research papers has now received more than 11,000 citations.)  Several years later I taught an MBA course on Services Marketing annually...until COVID arrived.

Dwayne and Thorsten

Thorsten grilled bratwurst for us and Claudia made several excellent salads for our dinner.  We stayed up late while getting caught up on each other's lives.  We left shortly after noon for Braunschweig, the next stop on our tour.  It was a quick 25 hours in Muenster!

Returning to WHU-Otto Beisheim School of Management in Vallendar, Germany

 I returned to Koblenz (actually, Vallendar), Germany, for the seventh time to conduct my Publishing Scholarly Research seminar.  (I also conducted the seminar twice via Zoom because of COVID.)  I returned to the same classroom that I first used back in 2015.

Dwayne at work at WHU.

Although we had a small group this year, the attendees were excellent.  So, it was truly an issue of quality over quantity.  And, as usual, we completed the seminar with one last lesson---here they are demonstrating they have learn how to celebrate publication success!

Daniel, Oliver, Dwayne, Miriam, and Kim celebrate each attendee's next publication!

Concluding This Year's "Publishing Scholarly Research" Tour

My sabbatical (2023-2024) "Publishing Scholarly Research" tour came to a nice conclusion today at WHU-Otto Beisheim School of Management in Vallendar, Germany.  (Just down the Rhine River from Koblenz and the "German Corner.")  Although the number of participants was relatively small, what the group lacked in quantity they made up for in quality.  This was the eighth time I have done the seminar at WHU, including six times in person and two times (during COVID) via Zoom.  We concluded the seminar today in a nice fashion. 

The 2024 "PSR" at WHU...what a great looking group!

Continuing the "Publishing Scholarly Research" Tour

I was invited to conduct my publishing seminar at the University of Hamburg.  Through some interesting conversations, Anja Class (our German "daughter" who lived with us for a year (the year Samantha went off to college) learned that her advisor (Silke Boenigk) knew me.  Silke was on the faculty at the University of Lucerne (Switzerland) in the early 2000's and Dwayne taught some MBA courses 3-4 times during that time period.  Once this was discovered, she and Dwayne had conversations about doing the seminar at her university.

Anja is in the first row, second from the right.

Although Anja is not a PhD candidate, she sat in on about half of the seminar...she was interested in what I would say about her, about Silke, and about publishing academic research.  She might have sat in on the entire seminar, but she was busy getting her (Master's) thesis done this week.

The last part of the publishing process is celebrating success.  It seems this group learned that aspect first!

Celebrating Jos Lemmink's Career at His Farewell Symposium at the University of Maastricht

One of the key events of this trip to Europe was to attend Dr. Jos Lemmink's "Farewell Symposium" at the University of Maastricht.  This was a special event and was attended by many of his former PhD students and several colleagues. I served as a moderator for a session that included 8 former PhD students discussing service innovation and AI in business schools.  Several former students shared stories of how Jos had impacted their research and/or their academic careers.

Jos received the Tans Medal of Honor from Nick Bos

As I understand it, Jos was quite surprised to learn he was receiving the Tans Medal of Honor.  This is apparently a very BIG deal...If I understand correctly, only 5 have been so honored at the University of Maastricht.  The Tans Medal is the University of Maastricht's highest distinction and honors those who have made a significant contribution to the development of the university.

Jos and Dwayne after the Farewell ceremony.

Candy and I were able to spend a bit of time with Jos and Marian the day after the ceremony.  We had drinks on the Onzw Lieve Vrouweplein ("OLV Plein")...THE place in Maastricht to hand out with friends....and enjoyed catching up with them.

Dwayne, Jos, Candy, and Marian

In terms of my connection  with Jos, I first met him at a conference in Karlstad, Sweden, in June, 1996.  He invited me to visit his university, which I ultimately did for six weeks in 1998.  Shortly after that he became the Chair of the Department of Marketing.  In 2002 I helped to organize the Frontiers in Service conference in Maastricht (the first time it was held outside of the U.S.).  The entire family came with me...the first time our girls travelled outside of the U.S.

The Lemminks hosted the Gremlers in their back yard (in 2002).

A couple of years later I applied for a Fulbright Scholarship at the University of Maastricht.  Jos wrote a letter of invitation that was quite influential in me receiving the Fulbright.  Our entire family lived in Maastricht from January through July, 2006.  By that time Jos had become Dean of the Business School, a position he held for 8 years.

Dwayne and Dean Jos during Carnival at the Business School in February, 2006

Revisiting Our "Home Away From Home" in Maastricht, The Netherlands

 Nearly one year ago we kicked off my sabbatical travels with a trip to Maastricht to attend a conference they were hosting.  This trip will be the last of 5 trips to Europe that occurred in the past 12 months.  It is quite possible you have seen pictures of us at the Vrijthof in the city center.  We flew all night and stayed awake.  Once we arrived in Maastricht we took a walk around the city that seems like a second home.

Some iconic symbols of Maastricht (no, not Candy and Dwayne)

Although we recognize many stores in the city, some change has occurred.  Mallory's favorite store, Claires, is no longer.  And, there is now a store devoted to rubber duckies.

Enlightening Swiss Students on Publishing Their Research

I continued my sabbatical travels by heading south to Fribourg, Switzerland.  Olivier Furrer arranged for me to give a one-day seminar to Swiss PhD students and post-doc scholars at the University of Fribourg.  Our room was a bit cramped, as there were not many rooms available on a Monday.

They were very attentive and asked many good questions.  They discussed issues that likely led to my paper on Service Loyalty being rejected at the Journal of Marketing.

As the seminar concluded, we all practiced our celebration skills as we anticipate future publication success.  (As you can tell from the photo below, we did not have to spend much time in discussing how to celebrate.)

Catching Up with a Good Friend While in Paderborn

I have likely been to more than a dozen universities in Germany over the past decade, and as a result have crossed paths with Christof Backhaus many times.  He took the train from Muenster to Paderborn today just to have a coffee with me.  Our visit was quick, but quite enjoyable.  And, Christof informed me of his upcoming wedding plans!

Christof and Dwayne in  Paderborn

Confirming Celebration Skills at the Publishing Seminar in Paderborn

One aspect of the publication process that we discussed was celebrating key milestones in the process.  Obviously we should celebrate when our manuscripts are published, but we also discussed celebrating "revise and resubmit" invitations (and thus NOT receiving rejections).  I did not have to repeat the lecture points here...apparently many of them have been perfecting their celebration skills for years!

Michelle Mertens and the rest of the participants demonstrate their celebration skills!

Discussing Scholarly Research in Paderborn, Germany

Lena Steinhoff invited me to return to Paderborn, Germany, to conduct my "Publishing Scholarly Research" seminar.  (I had previously been to Paderborn in 2007 and 2015.)  We had 10 participants (3 from Paderborn, the rest from Germany and Austria) attend four day-long sessions as we discussed various topics related to publishing academic articles.  

Participants in the 2024 version of the "Publishing Scholarly Research" seminar.

Coaching at the "Let's Talk About Service" Conference in Namur, Belgium

Wafa Hammedi invited me to be a part of the "Lets Talk About Service" conference hosted by the University of Namur in Belgium.  (Click here for the conference website.)  This was the 10th year of this event; I also participated during my previous sabbatical (in 2015).  The event focuses on bringing Ph.D. candidates and assistant professors together to discuss service research issues.

The 2023 LTAS Participants (almost 100 in total)

My role at the conference was to serve as a "coach" for a group of seven young scholars for the LTAS "Collaborative Workshop."  They were given the task to develop ideas for a project that could lead to publication in a leading journal.  My team (Team DigiTAS) worked together in designing a study that could be targeted to the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science.

(Clockwise from upper left) Victor, Andreea, Samer, Lukas, Janice, Lisa, Dwayne, and Claire

Seven more "senior" scholars served as coaches for the various teams.  Wafa Hammedi (far left in photo below) and Linda Alkire (far right) were the LTAS organizers; Rebekah Russell-Bennett organized the "Collaborative Workshop." 

Wafa H., Jonas H., Anu H. , Jens H., Rebekah R-B, Matthew A., Andrew G., Dwayne, and Linda A.  

Battling the Snow in Brussels, Belgium

My host, Bart Lariviere, had thought of several options for us to consider doing on Sunday afternoon, but the cold weather and threat of ice/snow caused him to revise his plans.  Instead we took the train into Brussels to see the Christmas market and eat some lunch.  Shortly after we left the train station we saw St. Michael's Cathedral.  This is where the king of Belgium was married. 

Brussels Cathedral

We went inside and saw beautiful stained glass windows and Nativity scenes from countries from around the world.  Bart purchased a candle in honor of my visit with him (as is his custom when entertaining guests), and so we took a picture of the two of us and the candle.

After a couple of hours walking around the Brussels city center, we went to Bart's house where he served a typical Flemish dish (a meat stew).  His wife Isabelle and one of his sons joined us for dinner.

Bart, Olivier, and Isabelle at dinner.

Enjoying the Sites in Dendermonde, Belgium

This trip was my third to Europe in 2023.  I selected this spot so that I could spend some time with a colleague from Belgium--Bart Lariviere (at the Catholic University of Leuven, or KULeuven).  We went to the Dendermonde city center to see the sites and have dinner. 

Stadhaus Dendermonde (City Hall)

We had a nice dinner at Grande Cafe Den Abazjoer, which sits on the corner of the Dendermonde Markt (city center).

Bart and Dwayne both had the seafood dish...it was excellent!

 

After dinner we had to cross back over the Dender river to get to our car.  The bridge we walked across is called Vlasmarktbrug.  (See below.)

Vlasmarktbrug (over the Dender River)

Earlier in the day, as I was walking around Dendermonde (in very cold weather) I came across this guy.  (See below.)  He looks happy to be in Dendermonde.

Meeting a Fellow Perrysburger in Vienna

Candy and I attended the "English Speaking United Methodist Church of Vienna" this morning.  It was about a 25 minute walk from our AirBnb apartment.  One of the first people to introduce themselves was Jerry Barton.  He asked us where we were from, and Candy said Ohio.  He then asked where in Ohio, and she said "Perrysburg."  He exclaimed, "Perrysburg?"  I started to explain that it was close to Toledo when he said he was a 1966 graduate of Perrysburg High School.  Actually, he grew up on Ft. Meigs Road, less than a mile from our house.

Jerry Barton and Dwayne 

He normally plays the organ for the church service, but did not do so today.  Candy was fascinated by the organ and took a picture:

Enjoying a Night Out in Vienna, Austria

After a productive work week, we joined Christina Sichtmann and her partner Tobias Proll for drinks and music at Cafe Amadeus.  The music included guitarist (and sometimes kazoo player) George Albert, who sang both German and U.S. songs. I only knew three of the U.S. songs...one of them, the last one he played, was "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" from The Wizard of Oz movie.

Tobias, Christina, Dwayne, and Candy

We were told this was NOT a place tourists would know about nor visit...so, we were able to have an authentic Austrian experience.

Working on My Sabbatical Project in Vienna

The primary project that I proposed working on during my Faculty Improvement Leave (known elsewhere as a sabbatical) was to collaborate on developing a program for assistant professors with Dr. Christina Sichtmann.  We spent several long days designing a program that we hope will provide some insights to this group as they cultivate a research pipeline.

Dwayne and Christina at work!

We did take some breaks during our stay, and Christina had several ideas about places to see.  Today we visited Schönbrunn Palace.  It and the grounds around it are quite impressive.  The three of us walked around for a couple of hours, and Candy photographed Christina and I so that we might have some pictures for promotional materials for our program.  Christina took the picture below of Candy and I in front of the Palace.

At Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna, Austria

Exploring the University of Vienna, Austria

I had the pleasure today of visiting the Faculty of Economics at the University of Vienna.  Of course, my primary interest was in their Department of Marketing.

Christoph Fuchs, the chair of the Department of Marketing, welcomed me when I first arrived.  Later he treated Adamantios Diamantopoulos and me to lunch.  Adamantios just retired (on October 1), so he was enlightening me on how that was working for him and providing me with some tips for when I retire.  

Christoph Fuchs is on the left and Adamantios Diamantopoulos on the right. 

Returning to Hohenheim for Another "Publishing Scholarly Research" Seminar

I returned to the University of Hohenheim for the third time to deliver my "Publishing Scholarly Research" seminar.  (I previously came in 2016 and in 2020...just before COVID.)  We spent two full days discussing how to navigate the (academic) publication process.  I shared several stories about various research projects I have been involved with over the years, and 15 students asked several questions along the way.  They seemed to particularly enjoy picking apart my "Service Loyalty" paper (from my dissertation) and discussing why they thought reviewers recommended rejection.

The final step of the process, celebrating publication success, was the most appreciated session (based on their reaction when I discussed our "class participation" activity).  I treated everyone in the class to a beverage, as I wanted to be sure they had mastered the most important step of all.  (Some were much better at it than others.  All of them indicated they would like to continue to practice this step more.)

The seminar attendees seemed to have appreciated our time together, as evidenced by the comments on LinkedIn.  (Click here to go to that page.)

Visiting Our "German Daughter" and Her Family

Ten years ago Anja Class came to live with us for 10 months as an exchange student.  (Samantha left for college and Anja moved into her bedroom for the 2013-2014 school year.)  Since then, Anja and I have seen each other at least once in every calendar year.  (This year it was twice, as she was briefly in Ann Arbor, Michigan in April.)  Since I am on sabbatical, I arranged to be in the area of Stuttgart, Germany, to visit her parents Dieter and Helga.  Although we told Anja we would be in Germany, we did not expect to see her on this trip, as she is in graduate school in Hamburg (the far north of Germany).  Anja surprised us, though, by joining her (German) family to pick us up at the Stuttgart airport.  We spent two full days with the three of them (five if you count her sister Katherine and her fiancé).  Below is a selfie of Anja's two sets of parents.