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The study aims to examine the usefulness of the brand origin concept in shaping the perceptions of Indian consumers.

Guided by recent advance in social identity theory and social motivation theory, a dynamic iterative model of brand origin recognition is proposed. Six hypotheses were tested using a sample of 145 consumers from west of India. Using paired t‐test, average consumer preference of brand origin was analysed for different product categories. A factor analysis with varimax rotation for determining band images was also carried out.

The results demonstrated that most consumers can recognise the brand origin correctly but the power of recognition decreases when the brand has a long history of “localization”. Distinguished trajectories of consumer perceptions of foreign brands and domestics brands were projected, and this allowed one to extend existing country of origin (CO) research to brand of origin research.

The results implied that brand origin is a useful concept for companies engaging in an emerging market such as India. But the changing nature of the concept requires careful steering and nurturing if companies want to attach a positive value to its brand via brand origin association.

Research into CO effect has been extensive. However, few studies examine empirically the effect of “brand origin” which is more appropriate in emerging market in today's increasingly competitive global environment. This paper is a first to explore the validity of the concept of brand origin in the Indian market.

This paper proposes an integrated approach to examining and dealing with the complex issue of nurse recruitment, retention, healthcare quality and patient satisfaction. The paper depicts and describes a generic conceptual framework or chain derived from a review of the literature on nurse recruitment and retention, service quality and human resource management. The chain is made up of the following components: NHS and Trust conditions and environment (internal quality) –service capability – nurse satisfaction –nurse retention – quality of patient care – patient satisfaction. The value of the chain is derived from its synthesis and display of the prime constituents or drivers of nurse satisfaction, quality of patient care and satisfaction. From this holistic picture it is possible for both national and local initiatives to be integrated in a mutually reinforcing way in order to achieve improvements in nurse recruitment, retention, quality of care and patient satisfaction.

This paper presents the findings of a qualitative study, based on interviews with over 130 nurses and midwives in four London Trust hospitals on: the main factors influencing nurse satisfaction and retention; empirical support for the robustness of a conceptual framework or model “the nurse satisfaction, service quality and nurse retention chain”; and some managerial considerations for recruitment and retention. The three main factors influencing job satisfaction were patients, the inherent characteristics of nursing and the nursing team; the two main sources of job dissatisfaction were staff shortages and poor management and amongst nurse retention strategies improving working conditions was more important than increased pay. For recruitment, as well as retention, improving the image and reputation of nursing along with improvements in work‐life balance were pre‐requisites for meeting the challenging target of an additional 20,000 nurses on the wards by 2004.

This study investigates labour market fluctuations and gender issues in the health and care sector. A large data set from public registers has allowed us to compile a comprehensive picture of the job categories that particularly attract men. We find a polarisation of men in the upper and lower positions in the job hierarchy. In the metropolitan area, men tend to be discouraged from taking jobs in the health and care sector, as opposed to the peripheral region, where alternative job offers may be more scarce. A logistic regression analysis shows that (young) age is the major explanatory factor for leaving the health and care sector to find occupation elsewhere. However, gender (male), wage levels (low), marital status (single) and education (none) are also significant. The study discusses seven theoretical perspectives for male and female careers in the health and care sector: The need for flexibility. Destandardising of jobs. Devaluation of feminised work areas. Human capital as a stabiliser. Feminisation. The prospects of boundaryless careers. The spatial dimension.

This paper aims to explore the role of retention strategies and psychological contract (PC) factors in private hospitals.

The current study is an empirical research. The study was conducted by receiving responses from a sample size of 190 respondents who participated in the Doctors and Nurses’ survey.

The study results show the relationship between PC and the retention strategies of employees in hospitals. The research found that employees try to be committed to the hospital due to the image of the hospital and career development opportunities. Creating a sense of commitment among the employees towards their job and organisation, making to feel pride in the job, creating an attitude among the employees, a willingness to advocate the benefits and advantages and satisfaction among the employee towards the job and organisation.

With a population of more than one million employees (Doctors and Nurses) in the Indian health-care sector, the sample needs to be more adequate. However, these limitations present scope for future studies on this topic bearing on the aspiration for generalisation of the findings on the entire population.

The study has strong practical implications in strengthening the relationships by identifying the factors of PC and influencing the retention strategies of health-care professionals in the hospital.

This research explores the changing dynamics of the Indian health-care sector. Health-care professionals may perceive and react differently to the retention strategies and policies of the HR system in the health-care sector and have more expectations of PC fulfilment that enhance their capability to use professional skills and resources in the realisation of their organisational goals.