Search results

Multinational enterprises (MNEs) face twin pressures of maintaining a globally integrated brand while remaining responsive to local demands. Previous research has shown that misunderstandings may surface from the way subsidiary employees read corporate messages, particularly if institutional and social distances between corporate headquarters (HQs) and subsidiaries are wide. Employer branding is sometimes used to help resolve such tensions if HQs are sensitive to signals from their subsidiaries in the policy development process. Thus, this paper addresses the question: to what extent does institutional proximity facilitates the creation and maintenance of socially legitimate employer brands in MNE subsidiaries.

The paper uses an interpretive approach in analysing two cases of multinational subsidiaries operating in Pakistan but with divergent HQ institutional distances (Northern Europe and Middle East). A qualitative approach to data collection was taken and ten semi-structured interviews with senior and middle managers and two focus groups of six lower level employees in each case organization were conducted.

The findings suggest that institutional proximity played a secondary role in establishing a legitimate employer brand whereas a receptive and responsive signalling process was of greater importance. The authenticity of the employer brand was stronger in the organization that was more receptive to the incoming signals from local employees compared to the firm that was rather institutionally closer due to shared customs and culture.

Findings point to the significance of the character and intensity of the employment relationship at a micro level as the honesty and credibility of organizational messages and interpreted and re-interpreted at a localized level, thereby bearing serious implications for both global and local managers.

These findings contribute to the IHRM literature on the integration-responsiveness problem, to the debate over institutional proximity, and to the influence of religion on people management.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the economic value of celebrity endorsements to Indian firms based on their branding strategy – corporate or house-of-brands – and their “congruence” or “fit” with the celebrity. The overall economic value of endorsements to firms in India, a moderately collectivist culture, is also assessed.

Standard “event study” methodology is used to evaluate the economic value of endorsements under different branding strategies (47 endorsement announcements – 25 corporate brands and 22 house-of-brands). The impact of the level of congruence (assessed using brand personality scales) on abnormal returns is also examined.

Event study results indicate significant positive abnormal returns for corporate brands and insignificant returns to house-of-brands. Moreover, the level of congruence is found to have an insignificant effect on endorsement announcement returns. Overall, celebrity endorsements result in positive economic value to Indian firms.

This study evaluates the differences in the effectiveness of celebrity endorsements (which might form a significant part of advertising costs) to firms following different branding strategies. Findings from this study indicate that celebrity endorsement announcements from house-of-brands do not lead to any significant stock market returns (in terms of market value). Further, contrary to current literature, the results indicate that the congruence between brand and celebrity has no impact on returns to endorsements in India, warranting further examination of whether congruence or likeability is important in endorsements.

The purpose of this research is to investigate the brand social responsibility (BSR) construct, and to develop a scale to measure this construct.

Using corporate social responsibility scales and the existing literature, a pre‐test to establish an initial list of items is followed by exploratory factor analysis in order to obtain a list of descriptors and statements to measure brand social responsibility. Then, the retained items of the BSR scale and existing CSR scales are tested on a panel of 248 participants.

The brand social responsibility scale tested in this research was more focused on a brand's trustworthiness, awareness, and the brand's philanthropic activities from a consumer's perspective. The descriptors used in the scale more accurately measure consumers' perceptions of a brand's social responsibility than CSR scales, and also take into consideration the possible differences between a parent brand's SR and its subsidiary's SR.

This study, while investigating the brand social responsibility construct and developing a scale to measure it, compares existing CSR scales and emphasizes the possible differences between a parent brand's SR and its subsidiary's SR.

The brand social responsibility scale in this study is important as it is one of the few scales in the field that takes into consideration the consumer's perspective as well as the possible effects of a parent brand and its subsidiaries.

Based on the findings of an empirical study among communication executives in 11 multinational companies we propose an increasingly integrated approach to corporate branding. Key aspects which support our claim are the growing importance of the financial community, the augmenting skills shortage driving competition for current and future employees, and the enhanced transparency of corporate activities being greatly supported by the particular characteristics of the Internet. In order to achieve greater integration and eventually a favourable reputation we propose an organisational model combining centralisation and team organisation which particularly aims to support integration across the various functions responsible for stakeholder relations.

This article offers the “brand web” model as a conceptual framework for the creation and ongoing analysis of corporate brands and brand relationships. The framework is particularly relevant for new economy ventures that result from alliances. In deploying the brand web model, marketers are asked to consider: the power relationship between the corporate brands; their corporate identities and brand values; the goals of each brand; and the relative strategies pursued to achieve these goals. These questions are posed within the context of the semiotic model of corporate identity.

This paper aims to propose a dynamic and holistic framework that combines the brand portfolio audit with the brand architecture redesign.

Depicting from an extensive review on the frameworks of brand audit and brand architecture, a dynamic approach to brand portfolio audit and brand architecture strategy was developed, and later applied and tested in three B2B and B2C companies.

The paper suggests an eight-step framework to guide practitioners when auditing a specific brand portfolio and designing a revised brand architecture strategy. Additionally, a Brand Audit Scorecard was developed to enable and sustain brand portfolio audits, divided into three dimensions (brand equity, brand contribution and strategic options).

Further research should aim at testing the proposed framework in different types of companies and countries.

This paper contributes to the brand audit and brand architecture literature by proposing a holistic framework that is not static.

The purpose of this paper is to understand the impact of components of marketing expenditures, i.e. advertising and distribution expenditures on intangible value of firm (measured in terms of Tobin's Q). The relationship is studied in the context of branding approaches (corporate and house of brands) that various firms follow.

The data are collected from databases of Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) and from the web site of National Stock Exchange. Time series regression is performed using SPSS software to test the model.

Advertising expenditure has a positive impact on the intangible value of the firm and this relationship is stronger for firms following corporate branding than for firms that follow house of brands strategy. Distribution expenditure has negative impact on the intangible value of the firm and this relationship is stronger for firms following corporate branding than for firms that follow house of brands strategy.

Since most of the data retrieved for the analysis were of B2B (business to business) firms, the findings may not be generalized for all firms.

Advertising expenditure has a diminishing marginal utility in creating intangible value. It would be useful for firms to understand where they are on this continuum and whether their advertising expenditure is giving adequate returns or may be better spent elsewhere.

In the literature, researchers have expressed mixed viewpoints regarding the impact of total marketing spend on intangible value. The marketing expenditures are found to have both positive and negative impact on intangible value, with respect to various contexts. However, the impact of major components of marketing expenditures is not addressed. This gap is addressed in this research paper.

This paper first attempts to analyze the issue of brand proliferation by a monopolist allowing transfer pricing as a channel to bridge headquarters and brand divisions, and then to view how the headquarters uses transfer pricing as a strategic device to encounter intra‐brand competition, inter‐brand competition and cross‐border profit‐shifting under an oligopolistic market.

This paper models cross‐country interactions in a Cournot‐Nash framework, and characterizes equilibrium that involves both transfer pricing and output decision. MNE's behavior is based on a two‐stage process in which the centralized headquarters' prior action on setting transfer pricing is to backup the decentralized subsidiaries in their output decision‐making.

It is demonstrated that MNEs have the incentive to manipulate their transfer prices in order to shift profit cross‐border. Higher transfer pricing enables brand divisions to collude easier in the intra‐brand competition model, and the level of transfer price hinges upon the strength of intra‐brand competition and inter‐brand competition. In addition, transfer pricing is affected by tax differences between two countries.

This paper provides the theoretical underpinning to see how headquarters may use transfer pricing as a strategic device to face intra‐ and inter‐brand competition that is visibly evident in many diverse industries.

Prudential Equity Group had downgraded Danaher to underweight status, citing concerns over its inadequate organic growth. By March 2009, its CEO wondered how to keep growing a company that faced changing worldwide economic circumstances, pressure from low-cost competitors, new competitors, flat or declining demand for company products, price increases for certain raw materials, and criticism from market analysts.

The purpose of this paper is to focus on the differences between managing domestic corporate brands (DCBs) and multinational corporate brands (MCBs), and presents a framework highlighting six types of complexity associated with managing both forms of corporate brands in an international business context.

This paper proposes a framework addressing six types of complexity involved in managing DCBs and MCBs drawing on the literature related to corporate branding, corporate brands, and domestic and multinational corporations. The six types of complexity examined include: strategic role, organisational structure, culture, knowledge, positioning and extended responsibility.

The research identifies that DCBs have a lower degree of complexity in regard to strategic role, knowledge and positioning, but have a higher level in regard to organisational structure, cultural and extended responsibility complexity. MCBs face more complexity than DCBs across all dimensions because they operate across business environments and need to coordinate activities while adapting to environmental differences.

The findings highlight the importance of environmental complexity for firms managing brands globally. The issues of complexity identified in this paper need to be understood if firms are to effectively build and manage their corporate brands within and across markets.

The paper highlights the concepts of DCBs and MCBs, and identifies the factors that contribute to the complexity of managing these two types of corporate brands domestically and internationally.