Servicescape Video Case Study Presentations, WFI Ingolstadt School of Management, Germany

For the "final exam" in the Servicescape course I was teaching at the Catholic University of Eichstatt-Ingolstadt, student teams created videos (see links below) of different aspects of the servicescape for the Wirtschaftswissenschaftliche Fakultät of Ingolstadt (WFI) School of Management. Several invited guests representing some of the administration at the university (at the left of the picture below) were present to hear the students' thoughts on various servicescape issues and to consider their recommendations on making improvements.

One team who studied and made recommendations regarding the WFI cafeteria.

After the six teams presented their 8-9 minute videos, we went on our fifth and final (and optional) field trip to Schutterhof Beer Garden. It is probably not too difficult to imagine what we did there...  (Students had challenged me to "be better than their German professors." So, I treated them to a beverage of their choice. But, I am not sure that made me "better" in their eyes.)

A nice way to end the "final exam."

The six servicescape videos the students created can be found on YouTube. To view any of them, click on the topic for each team below:

• WFI Entrance (Team 1)
• WFI Classroom Spaces (Team 2)
• WFI Outdoor Greenspace (Team 3)
• WFI Steyler Haus (Team 4)
• WFI Library (Team 5)
• WFI Cafeteria (Team 6)

A Weekend as a Tourist in Roma, Italy

Samantha had planned several trips while in Italy, but did not have Roma on her schedule, so we took the train from Firenze to Roma and were there for about 50 hours. We tried to pack as much as possible into that time, including a city bus tour (one of the worst organized service experiences I have ever had), trips to Vatican City, St. Peter's Basilica, the Colosseum, the Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps (under construction), Piazza Navona, and the Forum, and visits to many other spots.

Trevi Fountain...I first visited this with Candy (our second date ever) 32 years ago!

We did the Colosseum tour in the rain...the next day it was PACKED with visitors!

Dinner in Roma (my first dinner here was 32 years ago...on my second date with Candy!)

Gelato in Roma after two days of walking (34,000 steps each day for you FitBit fans!) 

Visit to See Samantha in Study Abroad Program in Firenze (Florence), Italy

My oldest daughter, Samantha, is spending the month of May in Florence, Italy, as part of the University of Pittsburgh's Study Abroad Program.  (Interestingly, business students and a professor from Pitt were in Augsburg at the Management School when I was there on Monday.)  She just completed her junior year at Pitt at the end of April.

Samantha outside of her classroom building in Firenze (Florence).

I awoke at 4:00 a.m. to begin my journey by bus, plane, and then taxi from Ingolstadt to Firenze. After I arrived at the Firenze train station at 9;30 a.m., Samantha took me on a quick tour of Firenze. We saw "The Duomo" (the Cathedral) and the Ponte Vecchio (the old bridge).

Just down the street from "The Duomo"

I was last at the Ponte Vecchio bridge in Florence 32 years ago!

Photo taken from the restaurant we ate at on Monday evening...from the other side of the Ponte Vecchio bridge!  The tower is part of Palazzo Vecchio.

"Employee Emotional Competence" Research Presentation at University of Augsburg, Germany

After wrapping up the "Publishing Scholarly Research" seminar, I gave a presentation on one of the papers we discussed during the seminar on Employee Emotional Competence to both faculty and students at the University of Augsburg.  I was invited to Augsburg by Dr. Michael Paul, whom I have known for about 12 years.  We initially worked together on a paper on Emotional Contagion that appeared in the Journal of Marketing in 2006.

Michael Paul and I after my research presentation.

I did not really have much of a chance to explore Augsburg (named after the Roman Emperor Augustus), the third oldest German city, on this trip. Perhaps I will return some day...

Something is not quite right with this picture of the Rathaus Augsburg (building on the right)...can you spot it?

"Servicescape Design" Teams at WFI Ingolstadt School of Management, Catholic University of Eichstatt-Ingolstadt, Germany

22 students have committed to the course, and each team will be focusing on examining different aspects of the WFI Ingolstadt School of Management servicescape.

Team 2: Anne S., Lena N., Pol A.-C.(not in picture), and Lukas S.

Team 4: Anita H., Wayne K., Lilian V., and Johannes K.

Team 5: Veronica M. , Laura H., Finn H., and Elena L.

Team 1: Fabian H, Thu K., Julia A.,and Isabelle M. (not in picture) 

Team 6: Lucas W., Sarah S.

Team 3: Arthur H., Julia B., Max G., and Jakob P.

"Servicescape Design" Course at Catholic University of Eichstatt-Ingolstadt, Germany

As part of my "job" as the Audi Visiting Professor at the Catholic University of Eichstatt-Ingolstadt I was asked to teach a course. Jens Hogreve and I decided to have me teach the course I had developed at BGSU on Servicescape Design. 25 eager students came to class on Wednesday. (Surprisingly, 15 other students who had signed up for the course did not show up!  This is particularly inconsiderate of the 11 students on the waiting list who were not able to enroll in the course.)

The first day of the Servicescape Design course.

After three hours of lecture, we took a field trip to the McDonald's store in the Ingolstadt city center. While there students discussed the BusinessWeek cover story from May 2006 entitled, "Mickey D's Makeover" and the extent to which the servicescape at this McDonald's has an impact on the customer's experience.

Student teams discussing servicescape issues at McDonald's.

"Publishing Scholarly Research" Seminar in Augsburg, Germany

I started my last scheduled Publishing seminar on Friday (April 22), at the University of Augsburg. (It is about an hour train ride to the west from Ingolstadt.)  We are scheduled to meet 5 times over the next 3 weeks.

Augsburg Ph.D. students who are eager to get their research published!

I was invited by Michael Paul, who is the Value-Based Marketing Chair in Augsburg.  However, he is currently working in Finland, so Andreas Lechner helped me get situated when I arrived.  His Ph.D. students asked if they could take a picture with me...not sure why...but, I obliged!

Sonja Kralj, Markus Gahler, Dwayne, and Andreas Lechner

We spent most of the first day discussing the journey of two research projects. The Marketing students rather enjoyed seeing a picture of their professor, Michael Paul, in the discussion of one of the projects (our co-authored Journal of Marketing article on Emotional Contagion from 2006).

Thorsten Hennig-Thurau, Dwayne, and two Ph.D. students (including a certain Augsburg Professor!) in Weimar in 2004

As was the tradition with my other "Publishing Scholarly Research" seminars, we concluded with a lecture on how best to celebrate publications.

My first green beer...this is called Lechwasser (a mixture of wheat beer, lemonade and blue curacao). 

Augsburg Ph.D. Students (Andreas Lechner and Janina Kleine) seemed to know what to do with their Lechwasser.  They did not really need any coaching from me!