Dinner with the Bitners and Friends, Mesa, Arizona

After my day teaching at the Services Leadership Institute, Mary Jo and Rich Bitner hosted several couples for dinner at their home. (For those of you who do not know, I have known Mary Jo since 1989 when I took her Services Marketing class as an MBA student at ASU. She served on my Ph.D. dissertation committee, and eventually invited me to be a co-author with her and Valarie Zeithaml on their textbook: Services Marketing: Integrating Customer Focus Across the Firm. She is co-director of ASU's Center for Services Leadership and editor of the Journal of Service Research.) We had a nice final evening for our Arizona trip!

Candy, Dwayne, Amy Ostrom, Troy Buchanan (and Brody), Mary Jo & Rich Bitner, Ghislaine & Wolfgang Ulaga, and Johanna & Tuure Tuunanen.

Service Recovery Session at the Services Leadership Institute, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona

I was invited by Arizona State University to be one of the faculty for their 30th annual Services Leadership Institute.  This event brings together mid- to upper-level executives from service companies to discuss issues related to service management and marketing.  ASU promotes it as "an exclusive mini-MBA program on delivering on your customers' true expectations and competing through your service offerings."  My session was entitled "Service Recovery."

Discussing service failure and recovery.

In talking about Service Recovery, I discussed both "fixing the customer" and "fixing the problem."  I also suggested how a service guarantee might be used to do both.  (You may recall that I have offered a service guarantee in my classes both at BGSU and the University of Idaho.)

A very nice classroom in Mccord Hall in the W. P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University.

For years a session on Service Recovery (by which we mean a firm's response to service delivery failure to resolve the situation for the customer) was delivered as part of the Services Leadership Institute by Steve Brown, the founding director of ASU's Center for Services Leadership. Steve was my mentor when I was a Ph.D. student at ASU, is a fellow basketball fan, can continues to be a friend and encourage me in my professional and personal life. Steve retired a couple of years ago, and decided not to be involved with SLI this year. Thus, an opportunity was created for me to be involved! Before the event, Steve and I had a chance to spend a couple of hours together while I was in the valley.

Dwayne and Steve Brown (wearing his Bowling Green t-shirt!)

Visit to the German Consulate in Chicago, Illinois

I was informed in Amsterdam, on our way back to the U.S., that I would need a work visa to return to Germany (and the E.U.).  So, after gathering up the necessary documents, Candy and I headed to Chicago to visit the German Consulate there.

A fun morning in Chicago!

On March 25, a day after we returned from our trip to Phoenix, we went to the Post Office in Perrysburg and found my passport, which included a work visa, waiting for me.  So, my journeys can continue!

I am ready to resume my sabbatical travels!

Organizational Frontlines Research Conference at Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida

16 hours after we arrived home I was on my way back to Detroit to fly to Tallahassee, Florida, for the second annual Organizational Frontlines Research Conference.  I was asked my the host, Mike Brady, to make a presentation.  So, I worked with Cecile Delcourt to present some early ideas on what we refer to as "bad news encounters."

Just after my "bad news" presentation.

The opening slide of my presentation.

I got a chance to walk around campus at one of the breaks...it is a nice campus and reminds me in many ways of Arizona State University, my alma mater.

A postcard kind of picture!

Final Gathering with HEC ULg Faculty at Le Vaudree II, Liege, Belgium

When we arrived in Liege in November, I began a quest for the best Belgium beer.  At Le Vaudree II a Tripel Karmeleit was recommended.  I never found a better beer (and, I certainly tried).  So, for a final gathering, on Leap Year Day I invited the Marketing faculty and students for one last beer back at Le Vaudree II. After ordering the beers, I did one last "presentation" about my experiences in "Living in Liege as a Visiting Professor."

Cecile, Stina (on her mother's lap), Michael, Marta, Simon, Candy, and Dwayne

Le Vaudree II has a great selection of beers...over 300.  I didn't get a chance to try them all.  I guess I will have to return to Liege to accomplish that goal. 

Only 290 beers left to try!

On Friday evening, Cecile Delcourt (the person who arranged my stay at HEC ULg in Liege), provided me with a list of the activities which I performed well and those which I needed to work on.  So, she treated me to a "meatloaf" sandwich for lunch at Cap Sur to help me expand my thinking about lunch options beyond my standard cheese sandwich. 

My Liege colleague and friend, Cecile Delcourt.

Farewell Sendoffs in Liege, Belgium

Candy and I each experienced some wonderful "good-byes" from several groups of people as we prepare to return to the U.S. next week.  Several colleagues of Dwayne's from HEC (and a couple of Candy's from Saint-Louis) met at Curtius Brewery (just around the corner from our apartment, at the base of the Montagne de Bueren steps) for a surprise gathering. Cecile Delcourt gave me an "evaluation" of my stay in Liege that included a list of the Belgian customs I have mastered (like greeting the women I meet everyday with a kiss) and those I have not (like eating moules).  (We subsequently went to dinner an ordered moules so I could check this activity off of my list!)

Simon Hazee, Susan Hopgood, Candy, Dwayne, Pascale Delhaxhe, Bernard Renson, Cecile Decourt, Fabrice De Zanet, Adrian Hopgood, Marta Lara-Quintanilla, and Anais Gentry. 

As part of the experience, I got to try some still more Belgian beers...on my continuing quest to find the BEST Belgian beer...

Three more beers from the Curtius "Sampler", differing in the amount of "bitterness"

Earlier in the day, Saint Louis College had a send-off for Candy, and the teachers there brought in ("American") donuts during their coffee break to honor their American friend.  They also provided Candy with a couple of huge cards signed by the students she had been working with as part of the English Immersion course.

"American donuts" during the teachers' coffee break at Saint-Louis

The night before, Candy and I were treated to dinner by Zelal Ates and Michael Ghilissen at Al Piccolo Mondo.  It was a very nice restaurant!

Candy, Dwayne, Michael, and Zelal about to dig into some excellent Italian food!

Service Blueprint Discussion and Exercise, HEC-ULg, Liege, Belgium

Cecile Delcourt asked me to be a guest speaker in her Services Marketing class and discuss the concept of service blueprinting to her 23 students.  So, I lectured for about 90 minutes (including a power outage...which is quite a challenge when using PowerPoint slides).

Cecile, on the left, with her students...they look happy to be in the photo, don't they?

After introducing the class to service blueprints, teams of 3 or 4 students were then asked the student to create a service blueprint for Revive (a hydration clinic in Chicago now known as IVme). Each team of students spent about an hour, using multi-colored Post-It notes, large sheets of paper, and colored markers, to create a blueprint.

This team is trying to make sure they have included "physical evidence" as part of the blueprint.

We had a contest for the best blueprint, and the winners received (can you guess what?)..............wait for it.................Belgian chocolate, of course!

The winning team...with their blueprint just above them on the white board.