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1 – 10 of over 32000Victoria S. Licuanan, Kaushik Sengupta and James P. Neelankavil
The purpose of this paper was to analyze the level of innovation and entrepreneurial culture among Asian multinationals, especially as they face intense competition from large…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper was to analyze the level of innovation and entrepreneurial culture among Asian multinationals, especially as they face intense competition from large global companies. Past practices and the sense that Asian companies are followers rather than innovators have resulted in the persistent belief that these companies are not sufficiently innovative and do not support or promote an entrepreneurial culture. However, given the rapid development in Asian economies in recent years, it is useful to analyze whether such traditional views and practices are changing and whether employees in these organizations view innovation as a necessary tool.
Design/methodology/approach
The data for this study came from a survey of 193 executives (32.2 per cent response rate). The statements in the survey instrument were designed to measure aspects of three factors, namely, organizational philosophy, corporate support and human capital, for the practice of entrepreneurship and innovation in their companies. The results were analyzed through standard statistical techniques such as factor loadings, correlation analysis, analysis of variance and post hoc tests.
Findings
While Asian companies traditionally are viewed as followers rather than innovators in entrepreneurship and innovation, it is clear from this study that this perception is changing at least for the three countries in this study with the prevalence and continued growth of the globalized economy. While the main results show an overall trend of increasing innovation and entrepreneurship culture, there are some major differences among specific factors. Specifically, the three countries are not the same across all the factors. This could be partly attributed to the cultural differences among these countries. In conclusion, the implications of the results from this study add to the extant research in this area.
Research limitations/implications
One of the limitations of this paper is the sample, which is obviously restricted to three countries. In addition, some of the factors need further examination for a more complete understanding of their relationship to entrepreneurship and innovation. In addition, longitudinal analysis can examine the patterns in time-based trends for these companies.
Practical implications
The paper includes implications for Asian multinationals to achieve growth in a highly competitive global environment where their traditional “followers” mentality limits them from competing with global competitors who are practicing entrepreneurship and innovation.
Originality/value
For the first time, this study has shown that Asian multinationals are attempting to be innovative and use the corporate entrepreneurship as a means to compete with global companies.
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Pantea Foroudi, Mohammad Mahdi Foroudi, Maria Palazzo and Bang Nguyen
The airline aviation industry is both capital-intensive and competitive. Hence, the evolution of the sector needs original marketing strategies. To study the relationships between…
Abstract
Purpose
The airline aviation industry is both capital-intensive and competitive. Hence, the evolution of the sector needs original marketing strategies. To study the relationships between corporate branding and corporate image, taking into account two views, namely, corporate strategy and corporate expression in airline identity, this paper aims to analyze the main indicators of the corporate branding that affect the outcomes of the corporate image.
Design/methodology/approach
To inspect the theories, the foundational configural model was assessed through the perceptions of 395 employees in Indian aviation companies. By using complexity theory, this study matched the concept of equifinality and it examined the data via a fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis.
Findings
Findings show that corporate strategy positively influences the corporate image and corporate expression. Corporate expression offers the verbal and visual facets of a brand. Surprisingly, the paper shows that there is no link between corporate expression and corporate image. It also suggests that corporate expression, including corporate community, corporate promise and corporate personality, are all components of a corporate brand and do not influence the corporate image. Finally, the study highlights that corporate image positively affects superior business performance, which influences superior retailer preference.
Research limitations/implications
The study identifies the corporate identity’s indicators (corporate strategy and corporate expression) that affect the corporate image, which results in stronger, superior business performance and retailer preference. It suggests that managers in the airline industry should follow the recommendations of this research by adopting more objective and fairer procedures to attain superior business performance and retailer preference. In addition, the continued growth and the financial impact of the airline sector require the use of pioneering branding strategies. Future study is needed in various nations to advance the generalizability of the research findings.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the paper is the first to study corporate brand, its sub-dimensions (corporate strategy and corporate expression) and their individual links to brand image, which involves experience, relationships and visual identity.
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Corporate marketing is a marketing and management paradigm which synthesises practical and theoretical insights from corporate image and reputation, corporate identity, corporate…
Abstract
Purpose
Corporate marketing is a marketing and management paradigm which synthesises practical and theoretical insights from corporate image and reputation, corporate identity, corporate communications and corporate branding, among other corporate‐level constructs. The purpose of this paper is to explain the nature and relevance of corporate marketing and to detail the antecedents of the territory.
Design/methodology/approach
Via the adoption of a quadrivium; a traditional classical approach to the acquisition of knowledge, the paper shows how organisations can be faced by Apocalyptical scenarios through a failure to accord sufficient attention to one or more dimensions of the corporate marketing mix; explains why the emergence of corporate level constructs such as corporate image, identity, branding communications and reputation represents, both individually and collectively, the Advent of corporate marketing; details the various integrative initiatives in corporate design, corporate communications and identity studies which, together with the incremental augmentation of the marketing philosophy, find their natural dénouement in the Epiphany of corporate marketing; and describes the 6Cs of the corporate marketing mix and reflects on possible future directions in organisational marketing.
Findings
The paper reveals the efficacy of adopting an organisation‐wide corporate marketing philosophy to management decision makers and scholars.
Practical implications
Drawing on the marketing/management theory of identity alignment policy the paper accords attention to each dimension of the corporate marketing mix and ensures that they are in meaningful as well as in dynamic alignment.
Originality/value
The practical utility of corporate marketing is explicated by making reference to case vignettes, and various marketing and non‐marketing literatures.
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Mohammad M. Foroudi, John M.T. Balmer, Weifeng Chen and Pantea Foroudi
How organizations view, value and manage their place architecture in relation to identification and corporate identity has received little research attention. The main goal of…
Abstract
Purpose
How organizations view, value and manage their place architecture in relation to identification and corporate identity has received little research attention. The main goal of this paper is to provide an integrative understanding of the relationships between corporate identity, place architecture, and identification from a multi-disciplinary approach. It is assumed that the characteristics of the organization and of the way a corporate identity and place architecture are managed will affect employees’ and consumers’ identification.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper uses a theory-building case study within the phenomenological/qualitative research tradition. The data were gathered through 15 in-depth interviews with top management who were working at a London-Based Business School. In addition, six focus groups were conducted with a total of 36 academics, and new empirical insights are offered. NVivo software was used to gain insight into the various influences and relationships.
Findings
Drawing on one case study, the findings confirm that firms are using the conceptualizations of corporate identity and place architecture, including the leveraging of tangible and intangible forms of consumers’/employees’ identification, toward a university business school. The insights from a single, exploratory, case study might not be generalizable.
Originality/value
The relationships between corporate identity, place architecture and identification have received little research attention and have hardly been studied at all from the perspective of this paper. This paper has value to researchers in the fields of marketing, corporate identity, place architecture, design, as well as professionals involved in managing a company’s architecture. Drawing on the marketing/management theory of identity and architecture alignment, managers and policy advisors should devote attention to each element of the corporate identity and place architecture and ensure that they are meaningful, as well as in dynamic alignment.
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Manoj K. Sharma, Punam Agarwal and Tarja Ketola
The purpose of this paper is to highlight how fast the divide between the good corporate governance (CG) and corporate social responsibility (CSR) is declining. The concepts…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to highlight how fast the divide between the good corporate governance (CG) and corporate social responsibility (CSR) is declining. The concepts covered under CG and the areas covered under CSR are no longer distinctive. Both the philosophies advocate doing good and disclosing the good done.
Design/methodology/approach
The study does a brief survey of Indian mythology to make its point clear that Indian philosophy is positive and it inculcates positive values in Indians, which influence their socially responsible behaviour. The study further analyses the annual reports of 50 Indian private corporate houses to show the extent of CG and CSR undertaken by them. The information is shown in the tabular form or in statement form, both are included for the purpose of the study.
Findings
In India, the CG practices are mandatory as per the clause 49 of the listing agreement of Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for all the companies listed on recognized stock exchanges of India. However; there are two parts of disclosure – mandatory and non‐mandatory. In so far as mandatory requirements are concerned, 100 per cent compliance exists. But with regard to non‐mandatory requirements the results are quite disheartening. Similarly, when the study analyzed the annual reports to examine the extent of corporate responsibility disclosure the results are equally discouraging for reasons discuss below in the introduction part of the paper.
Originality/value
The study has revealed certain awakening facts, which will serve as a useful guide for policy formulation in relation to Indian corporate sector.
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The purpose of this paper is to assess the compatibility between the religious investing criteria of some Christian mutual funds and the “ Interfaith Center for Corporate…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to assess the compatibility between the religious investing criteria of some Christian mutual funds and the “ Interfaith Center for Corporate Responsibility” (ICCR) shareholder resolutions about corporate unethical/illegal practices.
Design/methodology/approach
Among all ICCR 2007‐2008 shareholder resolutions, the paper analyze unethical practices that could lead to corporate illegalities for business corporations that are included in the portfolios of Christian mutual funds. It will determines to what extent such companies have codes of ethics that clearly explained the expected behaviour from their employees, managers, or directors about given ethical issues: sexual orientation discrimination, conflicts of interest on the board and slave labour in the supply chain.
Findings
About the issue of slave labour in the supply chain, managers of Christian mutual funds could not invoke ignorance since in the code of ethics of one company, there is no provision dealing with slave labour. Concerning conflicts of interest on the board, managers of Christian mutual funds could not identify potential risks related to those companies, since the problem is the applicability of their codes of ethics. Finally, companies have very different ways to address or not the issue of sexual orientation discrimination in their codes of ethics.
Originality/value
The originality of the paper is twofold: first to compare companies Christian mutual funds are investing in (on the basis of Christian selection criteria) and companies for which there are ICCR resolutions (the aim of such resolutions is to change some questionable or unethical aspect of a given business corporation), and second to see to what extent corporate codes of ethics are written in a way to reduce or increase the potentiality of ethical conflicts.
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Laura Illia and John M.T. Balmer
The purpose of this paper is to explicate the natures, histories, similarities and differences of, and between, corporate communication and corporate marketing.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explicate the natures, histories, similarities and differences of, and between, corporate communication and corporate marketing.
Design//methodology/approach
The modus operandi of the article is to map these two territories and, by this means, afford assistance to scholars and practitioners within the communications and marketing domains who share the authors' intellectual and instrumental interests in these two territories. As such, the article seeks to provide a general introduction to the nature of these two fields along with their bases and rationales.
Findings
Whilst there are significant differences between corporate communication and corporate marketing, the authors also found similarities in terms of the importance accorded to identities (an identity‐based view of the corporation can be significant here) and are mindful of the impact of ethics and note common grounds in their analytical focus. Both areas are also inextricably linked by virtue of their foci on corporate‐level concerns rather than product‐related concerns that have, for the main, predominated vis‐à‐vis traditional modes of communication/PR and marketing.
Research limitations/implications
From a theoretical point of view the paper invites to explore the synergies between these two disciplines. From a practical point of view practitioners are invited to rethink their communications under the lens of corporate marketing and corporate communication.
Originality/value
The contribution of the paper is to provide an extensive literature review of the two fields that uncovers the theoretical backgrounds of both disciplines, their nature and analytical focus. Also, the value is to compare these two fields one with the other.
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Bernstein wrote that we should be concerned about the image our company projects not because we want to manufacture it but because we need to discern how we are being received and…
Abstract
Bernstein wrote that we should be concerned about the image our company projects not because we want to manufacture it but because we need to discern how we are being received and how those perceptions square with our self‐image (Bernstein 1984, 13). The importance of image being based on reality was incorporated by Abratt (1989) into his conceptual model in the form of an ‘interface’. This interface can be conceived of as the moment of truth for an organisation where the corporate identity is externalised, and, therefore, examination of the dynamics of this interface is of vital interest to corporate identity research. The results of empirical research into this interface, denoted as the corporate identity/corporate image interface in this research, are presented in this paper. A resultant model of the corporate identity management process is then advanced, based on the dimensions of a factor analysis of the multi‐item scale developed for the research. The research revealed that, whereas the selection of an accountancy firm is based on the corporate image that it projects, retention of an accountancy firm is based on continuing positive experiences, including the responsiveness of employees, the physical environment and the values that the accountancy firm holds dear. This implies that the corporate identity/corporate image interface must be a coherent entity for the successful projection of corporate identity.
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This paper uses stakeholder theory to critique the morality of managerialism, and advocates “ethical corporate governance” as an alternative philosophy and practice. Managerialism…
Abstract
This paper uses stakeholder theory to critique the morality of managerialism, and advocates “ethical corporate governance” as an alternative philosophy and practice. Managerialism is seen as morally and commercially inferior to “moral management” in the new era of stakeholder accountable organisations. The alternative philosophy proposed centres on the concept of “the responsible organisation” with a stakeholder systems model of corporate governance offered as the means of operationalising this. The model incorporates organisational justice considerations and measures by which ethical corporate governance can be evaluated.
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Shawn D. Long, Sharon Doerer and Oscar J. Stewart
Research examining organizational diversity has largely ignored the role corporate web sites play in establishing the tone for diversity in organizations. Serving as “electronic…
Abstract
Purpose
Research examining organizational diversity has largely ignored the role corporate web sites play in establishing the tone for diversity in organizations. Serving as “electronic storefronts,” corporate web sites are typically the first point of contact individuals have with an organization. The purpose of this paper is to centralize communication as a critical tool in understanding the strategies corporations use to communicate their diversity philosophy, practices and policies. This virtual ethnographic study examines corporate web sites (n=100) across industries and sectors to capture the strategies organizations use to strategically communicate diversity to a variety of stakeholders.
Design/methodology/approach
Taking a virtual ethnographic, this study examines 100 corporate web sites across industries to capture the methods organizations employ to strategically communicate diversity in their respective organization.
Findings
Results from this ethnographic study reveal that organizations typically use three strategies in their diversity messages: impression management, persuasion and strategic ambiguity. Strategic ambiguity and the persuasive use of selling, telling and framing their diversity message are ubiquitous in corporate diversity communication. The use of these strategies may have a profound impact on how diversity is perceived within organizations. Implications for practice and research are discussed.
Originality/value
This is one of the first social science/humanistic studies to examine diversity messages on corporate web sites and advances a conceptual framework for electronic diversity communication. Additionally, this project employs a virtual ethnographic approach, a novel, yet contemporary, method.
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