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.

Illustrating the Impact of (Good) Service Recovery at Hanken School of Economics

Robert Ciuchita asked me to share some thoughts to his Service Management class at Hanken School of Economics.  Nearly 30 students attended the lecture, which was based on the (4th) European Edition of our textbook.  The focus of the discussion was on the impact that effective service recovery can have on customers and we discussed how to both "fix the customer" and "fix the (underlying) problem" when service failures occur.

Apparently the students enjoyed the lecture, as several comments about the session were posted on LinkedIn.  (Click here to see these comments)

Discussing the (Academic) Research Process at Hanken School of Economics (Helsinki, Finland)

My friend Robert Ciuchita invited me to share some thoughts on the publishing process to PhD students and faculty at the Hanken School of Economics in Helsinki, Finland.  This was my first time in Finland...and it was quite a treat to speak to such an eager audience.  More than 20 were able to attend the seminar in person, and another 8 joined via Zoom.

Our time together was brief, but hopefully the session provided some valuable insights into the process  of publishing scholarly research.  After the seminar ended, Candy and I explored Helsinki.  September seems to be a perfect time to visit...

I am not sure what to make of the sign I included below, which was posted just outside the elevator doors at the Presidentti Hotel we stayed at in Helsinki...