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The purpose of this paper is to examine the influences of employee perception of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the Readymade Garment Industry (RMG). The RMG industry in Bangladesh has faced constant criticism of their working practices, and following some fatal incidents, the industry was faced with external pressures of implementing CSR practices and policies. Manufacturers invested and initiated CSR in their business and marketing strategy to survive in the global competition. Employees are internal stakeholders that help to implement and disseminate strategies successfully; however, there is not enough knowledge in the area of employee perception of CSR.

The paper is an exploratory study using the quantitative data collection method. In total, 128 responses have been collected from participants who are employees of garment factories in Bangladesh to understand their perception of CSR. Regression analysis has been conducted to ascertain the relationships between the factors that influence employee perception. Theories of stakeholder management, organizational citizenship behaviour, social exchange theory and employee engagement have been used to analyse the factors that influence employee perception.

The findings show that the factors that influence perception of CSR are not confined to the stakeholder’s initiatives but are significantly dependent on the employees’ direct involvement, engagement and personal values as a beneficiary and an executioner. In addition to the stakeholder’s initiatives that are a key deliverable to the marketing strategy, the employees are influenced by their personal beliefs and practices that can be associated with influences of religion, culture and the wider social landscape.

The data is limited to a small number of factories located near the capital, Dhaka, this is a small sample compared to the 4,000 factories in Bangladesh. Further research can be conducted based on a larger data set, which could represent a wider range of employee perspectives from different factories relating to size, product category and geographical location. The study does not expand on the factors that influence employee perception specifically.

The findings of the study can help the employers understand that the organization’s priority and participation are not the only factors that influence the employee’s perceptions. The employees’ assessment of the stakeholder’s intentions of CSR, which are reflected in the organization’s priority, shapes employee perceptions that are influenced by their personal values and beliefs. The awareness of the factors that influence the employees will enable organizations to motivate them and deliver on expectations of the business partners.

It is the practices aimed at the employees that enhance their engagement in CSR that enable them to reciprocate and influence their perception of the organization’s fair and genuine motives. The effectiveness of this aids the macro-marketing aspects of managing social concerns and the impact of businesses.

The data collected is primary data from employees of garment manufacturers. The hypothesized framework is developed by the authors, and the outcomes of the factors that influence the employee perception of CSR are escalated from the analysis conducted by the authors.

This study aims to investigate the determinants of United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Qatar consumers’ perceptions of organic food.

Using a survey approach and focusing on six known determinants identified from empirical studies, data were analysed using a mean difference analysis and a multi-regression model.

Citizens in both countries had similar access to organic food products, yet consumer perceptions differed significantly. Given the geographical, cultural and topographical proximity and similarities of these countries, differences in the mean values indicate that targeted or bespoke marketing is required to attract customers.

One limitation of this study its sample size that may limit the generalizability of its results. However, the highly statistically significant results offset this to some extent as the differences the authors have demonstrated are likely to be real. These do require confirmation by further similar studies. The study relied on a random sample of respondents who might have exhibited bias in answering questions.

The two countries central to this research study, the UAE and Qatar, have vested interests in supporting the organic food product market that mainly concern supporting and promoting the health of their citizens and the environment. As shown in this paper, the key obstacles preventing consumers’ accessing organic products are availability and price. With appropriate governmental subsidies and logistics support, however, these barriers can be overcome.

If governments are sincere in their declarations that the health and welfare of their citizens is of prime importance, they will support attempts to promote the sale and consumption of organically grown food. The results of this study can help to inform such policies.

This study provides insights into the most important factors that influence consumers’ attitudes towards organic foods. This study fills a gap in the existing research on consumer buying behaviour for organic food in two Middle Eastern countries.

Over the last five decades, business to business (B2B) marketing has evolved from a transactional model to a behavioral model. This evolution is a consequence of the rise in thoughts of managing customer journeys, services marketing and acknowledging value co-creation amongst stakeholders. The contemporary B2B marketing strategies of relationship, innovation, sustainability and digital marketing that emerge through the literature review are discussed to demonstrate how they add value to the competitive advantage of firms and facilitate co-creation between business partners to help design the customer journey. The purpose of the paper is to discuss how the apparel industry could implement the B2B marketing strategies highlighted and further suggests a framework of value co-creation. The framework shows the journey between business partners followed by the value propositions as service exchange through resource integration within the service ecosystem.

Through a review of the literature, the evolution of B2B marketing unveils the importance of services marketing and how the marketing strategies discussed add value to the services marketing, this is further explored with propositions of value co-creation between business partners. The propositions are based on the theory of service dominant logic, whereby, the partners in the service ecosystem co-create value from value propositions offered by the business partners in collaboration with supply chain innovation.

A framework is suggested in the context of the apparel industry that demonstrates the value propositions as a part of the B2B marketing strategy. Through resource integration and collaboration between the business partners, the value propositions in the form of services, are exchanged resulting in value co-creation that leads to the ultimate offering to the end customer.

The service dominant logic theory and the supply chain innovation model are the basis of the framework, showing the value propositions made, are in collaboration between the firm and the supply chain partners. The value propositions in the form of services are exchanged as an outcome of resource integration amongst the business partners resulting in value co-creation which will aid apparel manufacturers differentiate their services and manage customer journeys better. The framework will be further researched through primary research to determine its rationality in the real-world context. The nature of the industry being fast paced, the literature will be outdated in a short span of time and with the vast growth, new strategies will need to be executed eventually.

The paper discusses how the apparel industry can move forward with the B2B marketing strategies highlighted through the literature review and further suggests a framework of value co-creation. This will aid apparel manufacturers to focus their marketing efforts in an era of services marketing and compete better globally with service offerings.

The competitive advantage strategies and other key emerging themes of co-creation, value co-creation and customer journeys are highlighted and shows increasing importance to the survival of businesses in an era of service orientation and relationship marketing.

Through a critical literature review of B2B marketing strategies and with the use of theoretical models of service dominant logic and supply chain innovation, the conceptual paper proposes a framework by the authors that allows future research to analyse value co-creation in B2B marketing strategies for the apparel industry.

Utilises findings that relate to Chinese negotiation skills that can be used primarily as a guide for female Western negotiators wishing to do business with the Chinese. Evidence comes from observations and group discussions conducted with 31 female Chinese managers. Results show that there is a lot to consider when negotiating with the Chinese. The eight key characteristics which form an endemic part of Chinese culture are face, trust, friendship, ambiguity, patience, Guanxi networks, status, and Chinese protocols. Examines the gender impact of these characteristics on the negotiation process and assesses the ensuing implications for Western negotiators. Evidence suggests that first six characteristics are gender neutral while the latter two are gender biased. The women enrolled on the management programmes provided a “birds‐eye‐view” into the interactive behaviour and social upbringing of Chinese women, thus giving an insight into Chinese culture and customs. However, it is imperative to acknowledge that being a successful Chinese negotiator requires an “open minded” approach and heightened awareness of cultural differences.

Aims to disseminate the findings of an investigation into the perception of women as managers and the obstacles that they face in the workplace. Identifies the issues and problems faced by women from “multinational corporations” and the impact of operating across national boundaries. The three key issues are age, gender, and family responsibility. Reports on evidence found from conducting “personal interviews” and “focus group” discussions, showing that the ensuing implications have had a significant impact on women in the workplace. Argues that little has changed in terms of employers’ perception of working women so far. The study was supported from funds provided via the European Union under the European Social Fund Scheme.

Discusses the findings of a recent study into the development of women managers, in the field of information technology (IT). Addresses the key question as to why few women are entering IT. Provides an insight into the perception of women working in IT, and their role in this “fast‐growing” technological area. Identifies four obstacles – gender stereotypes and attitudes, family responsibility, working time constraints, and lack of confidence – that have had a restrictive impact on the careers of female managers employed in this field. Albeit each of these obstacles has an overlap of common characteristics, it was decided that it would be better to explore each in individual context for the purpose of clarity. Also evaluates evidence taken from “personal interviews” carried out with 46 female delegates enrolled on a specialised IT training course, and 17 female managers from various companies. Uses structured questionnaire to elicit and record this data.

The purpose of this paper is to increase our understanding of the challenges the banking industry continues to face from an ethics standpoint more than a decade after the credit crisis. Since 2007, there has been renewed interest in the way professional ethics is integrated within the banking culture. With a public that has become more sensitive towards ethical and corporate governance failures, the banking industry has been at the receiving end of strong ethical criticism. Yet, in spite of the regulatory response to the crisis, ethics is still a major issue in an industry where the corporate governance systems implemented by companies have failed to control employee behaviours, even in institutions branding themselves as ethical banks.

This paper studies factors inside and around institutions in the banking industry that impact the moral anomie in bankers’ professional environment. This paper applies an ordinary least square regression analysis, preceded by exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, to test the hypothesised relations between anomie and the factors proposed.

The results show that long-term orientation, strategic aggressiveness and competitive intensity do have an influence on anomie. These results are compared to previous research applied in non-financial industries and prompt the strengthening of corporate governance systems in financial companies with aggressive corporate cultures.

The paper therefore introduces the factors that lead bankers to ignore the morals they gained from society and provide a better understanding of the reasons behind the deviant behaviours that caused the crisis a decade ago. It represents a crucial first step for future policymaking that fills an important gap in the financial regulation literature. Indeed, the lack of understanding of the factors dictating behaviours in the industry meant that regulatory changes in the past decade have mostly focussed on technical aspects of the problem (e.g. new capital structure requirements) and produced few answers to address the ethical challenges.

The purpose of this paper is to bring together the thoughts and opinions of key members of the Journal of Islamic Marketing's (JIMA) Editorial Team, regarding the recently branded phenomenon of Islamic marketing – in the interests of stimulating further erudition.

The authors adopted an “eagle eye” method to investigate this phenomenon: Where attempts were made to frame general principles and observations; alongside a swooping view of key anecdotal observations – in order to ground and enrich the study. The authors participated in an iterative process when analysing longitudinal and contemporary phenomenological data, in order to arrive at a consensus. This was grounded in: triangulating individual and collective researcher findings; critiquing relevant published material; and reflecting upon known reviewed manuscripts submitted to marketing publications – both successful and unsuccessful.

The authors assert that a key milestone in the study and practice of marketing, branding, consumer behaviour and consumption in connection with Islam and Muslims is the emergence of research wherein the terms “Islamic marketing” and “Islamic branding” have evolved – of which JIMA is also a by‐product. Some have construed Islam marketing/branding as merely a niche area. Given the size of Muslim populations globally and the critical importance of understanding Islam in the context of business and practices with local, regional and international ramifications, scholarship on Islamic marketing has become essential. Western commerce and scholarship has been conducted to a limited extent, and some evidence exists that research is occurring globally. The authors believe it is vital for “Islamic marketing” scholarship to move beyond simply raising the flag of “Brand Islam” and the consideration of Muslim geographies to a point where Islam – as a way of life, a system of beliefs and practices, and religious and social imperatives – is amply explored.

An “eagle eye” view has been taken, which balances big picture and grassroots conceptual findings. The topic is complex – and so while diverse expert opinions are cited, coverage of many issues is necessarily brief, due to space constraints.

Scholars and practitioners alike should find the thoughts contained in the paper of significant interest. Ultimately, scholarship of Islam's influences on marketing theory and practice should lead to results which have pragmatic implications, just as research on Islamic banking and finance has.

The paper appears to be the first to bring together such a diverse set of expert opinions within one body of work, and one that provides a forum for experts to reflect and comment on peers' views, through iteration. Also the term Crescent marketing is introduced to highlight how critical cultural factors are, which shape perceptions and Islamic practises.

The purpose of this paper is to address the challenges which the concept of halal presents – when attempting to understand how halal‐conscious consumers behave and what it takes to maintain an emotive, credible and authentic brand proposition.

Interpretive phenomenological analysis and syllogisms, as a basis for conceptual metaphor theory and critical discourse analysis, were employed. Evidence supported by discussions and participant observation method, whilst attending Oxford Global Islamic Branding and Marketing Forum, 26‐27 July 2010, Saïd Business School, University of Oxford – in addition to the empirical data presented by keynote speakers.

The author asserts that halal‐conscious consumers are risk averse, which drives discerning and high‐involvement behavioural traits. Furthermore, in the face of this, brand managers are still unclear how far they can push more emotionally led brand messages. Finally, the paper presents a halal decision‐making paradigm – as a basis for constructing salient and engaging brands. The halal paradigm is a nub where the perceived importance of halal is brought into the Muslim consciousness. This is a dynamic and cyclical process, whose final verdict is finite and perishable – due to hyper‐sensitivity and environmental factors influencing Muslim perceptions of what is halal.

The models presented synthesise conceptual thinking with primary and secondary data. Further, tests related to specific brands are suggested.

Whilst the author concurs with the general Islamic principle of halal being the norm and haram as the exception, within the halal paradigm of consumption attached to consumerism, an argument is put forward asserting that this is increasingly being reversed. Furthermore, it is proposed that brand theory could view brands as Muslims.