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YASSIR





                                 AL MASOUDI








                                 After I finished my MBA project on dynamic   industry. I listed some potential restaurants
             DISSERTATION TOPIC  capabilities in Jordan, I applied for the joint   and called them. While many apologized and
            Business Models in the Eyes    doctoral program (in Dynamic Capabilities   declined, eventually, two Arab restaurants
                 of National Culture:    and Relationships) in Germany and was   agreed to grant me access to collect data for
               A Cross-Cultural Study
                                 pleased to win a scholarship. During the   my PhD project.
                 PERIOD OF STAY  first semester of the program, I learned
                  04/2017 – 03/2021  different research methods at the European   In December 2018, my wife gave birth to

              CURRENT POSITION   University Viadrina. In the second semester,   our first son. Thanks to an unimaginable
                     PhD Candidate    and as a part of the doctoral program,    amount of paperwork, I obtained his birth
                   (thesis submitted    I moved to the German Graduate School of   certificate. Doing a PhD while having a family
                 in September 2020)  Management and Law in Heilbronn. There,   is challenging, particularly if one is new to
                                 in addition to taking courses, I presented   a culture. Thus, I enrolled my wife in a Ger-
                                 my PhD proposal. While my initial PhD pro-  man integration course so that she could
                                 posals were rejected — perhaps they lacked   learn the language and make new friends.
                                 clear theoretical contributions and practical   I finished data collection in the Arab res-
                                 relevance — I remember one of the profes-  taurants, yet I still needed a German one.
                                 sors commented, “You come from the Arab   With the help of an administrative staff
                                 world and live here in Germany. You clearly   member in the doctoral program, I man-
                                 have a competitive advantage to conduct a   aged to gain access to a German restaurant.
                                 cross-cultural study.” Indeed, his comment
                                 inspired me to conduct my PhD project on   Having just submitted my thesis, I am
                                 business models through the lens of German   thankful for the many people around me;
                                 and Arab actors.                    my family for their emotional support, the
                                                                     DCR community for their academic guid-
                                 After the first year of the program passed,   ance and administrative assistance, and the
                                 my wife came to Germany. I decided to live   Dieter Schwarz Foundation for funding and
                                 in Frankfurt (Oder) given that finding an   extending my scholarship. Indeed, the DCR
                                 apartment there is not as difficult as it is in   program provided me with the opportunity
                                 Heilbronn. I returned to Frankfurt (Oder)    to grow tremendously as a confident and
                                 to finish my remaining semesters there.    independent researcher.
                                 My supervisor suggested that I apply my
                                 PhD project to the ontext of the restaurant
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