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Brand, organization identity and reputation: SMEs as expressive organizations: A resources‐based perspective

Temi Abimbola (MSM Group, Warwick Business School, The University of Warwick, Coventry, UK)
Akin Kocak (Department of Business Administration, Faculty of Political Science, Ankara University, Ankara, Turkey)

Qualitative Market Research

ISSN: 1352-2752

Article publication date: 11 September 2007

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this research is to identify non‐sector‐specific brand and reputation‐based factors that distinguish successful entrepreneurs and small to medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) from their larger counterparts. These distinguishing factors provide the building blocks for a theoretical (resource‐based view) model for demonstrating the pivotal role of brand, organizational identity (OI), and reputation building for large enterprises and small businesses in knowledge economies.

Design/methodology/approach

To explore (theoretically) and explain (empirically) observed reality through qualitative investigation. This approach conceptualises and explains reality, and puts forward empirical findings as representations of theoretically postulated relationships between entrepreneurial success and brand/OI/reputation. The primary data are from in‐depth interviews with a sample of firms located in Staffordshire/West‐Midlands/regions, UK.

Findings

Suggest that branding and reputation building are key resources, which allow an organization to be successful over an extended period of time. In terms of research design and methods, we found that an interdisciplinary approach is important in further exploration of the nexus between brand/organization identity/reputation and entrepreneurship. Because they are fuzzy concepts loaded with meaning and interpretations, they are explored better through qualitative data in the first instance. These findings are germane for paradigmatic development to distil the ideas, explanations and the reality that binds the concepts (brand/organization identity/reputation).

Originality/value

This work is original and innovative because it goes beyond inductively derived “theory” to an unswerving location of brand, OI, and reputation within commensurable theory at the heart of successful market strategy for SME organizations. Supporting empirical observations, development of coherent conceptual framework and theoretical rigour mark out this work as beyond those identified within previous studies.

Keywords

Citation

Abimbola, T. and Kocak, A. (2007), "Brand, organization identity and reputation: SMEs as expressive organizations: A resources‐based perspective", Qualitative Market Research, Vol. 10 No. 4, pp. 416-430. https://doi.org/10.1108/13522750710819748

Publisher

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Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2007, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

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