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Drawing on the stimulus–organism–response (S-O-R) model, the purpose of this study is to investigate mediating effects of controlled and uncontrolled communications of corporate brand perceptions on consumer satisfaction and loyalty.

Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to test the hypotheses on a sample of 271 Australian automobile consumers.

The authors find that while consumer satisfaction is indirectly influenced by corporate-level attributes via controlled and uncontrolled communication, the authors did not find an indirect effect between consumer benefits on consumer satisfaction via controlled and uncontrolled communication. By contrast, the authors find highly significant indirect effects – via controlled and uncontrolled communication as well as consumer satisfaction – for the relationship between, on the one hand, corporate-level attributes and consumer benefits and consumer brand loyalty on the other. Uncontrolled communication was significantly associated with consumer loyalty, a relevant finding that indicates an importance of tracking media coverage and maintaining favorable relationships with the media.

The cross-sectional method limits data collection to one point in time.

This study adds to a better understanding of how to leverage corporate brand through communications in ways that it positively resonates with consumers. A fine-grained analysis of corporate brand attributes and consumer-perceived benefits can aid managers in developing specific and more effective marketing strategies.

The overall thrust of this empirical study, which is to investigate how corporate brand perceptions influence short term (satisfaction) and long term (loyalty) via controlled and uncontrolled communications is original. This study comprehensively conceptualizes and operationalizes the corporate brand as a multidimensional construct consisting of corporate-level attributes and brand-level attributes such as perceived consumer benefits. To examine the hypothesized relationships between and among our constructs, the authors go beyond the commonly studied single mediator model and test a multiple mediator model instead.

This study aims to analyze the relationship between the intrinsic characteristics of the teams that perform specialized industrial services in multi-units and dynamic capability.

This study was developed from a survey conducted in 188 multi-unit industrial service providers and data were analyzed using the structural equation modeling technique of partial least squares.

The results indicate the two constructs act differently on dynamic capability. While the infrastructural construct influences the capability of knowledge absorption, generation and adaptation, the construct related to the willingness to share and integrate knowledge has a positive impact on the capability of knowledge generation and storage.

This research is limited by the choice of only one industrial sector – in the case of this study, the service industry. Future studies will include other industries and a more diverse sample of firms.

This research analyzes the process of dynamic capability development in the context of multi-unit service provision. The context of multi-unit industrial service provision is peculiar when compared to other organizations. In the context, knowledge is absorbed, generated and adapted by individuals organized into teams that work in customer’s units. Service providers play a key role in the development of dynamic capabilities regarding knowledge storage, acting as knowledge repositories.

In the international graduate job market, education–job mismatches are affecting recruitment, and consequently efficiency. The purpose of this paper is to identify a widening gap in “global operating skills”, then put forward a structure for addressing the education–job mismatch, based on data gathered from higher education teachers and graduate recruiters. Framed as a case examining the contemporary context in Russia, the objective is to identify a cross-cultural management (CCM) skills set for graduates who are pursuing a career in an international environment. The study therefore has implications for managers and educators who work in this sector.

The study identifies a number of factors that need to be taken into account for developing CCM competence among graduate job seekers. Set in the specific case of a Russian higher education institutions and one of its international partners, stakeholder theory is used for theoretical underpinning and data collection. A qualitative-oriented mixed-methods approach was designed to: explore the education–job mismatch by using documentary sources and direct observations; collect data in a three-step sequence (focus groups, interviews and interactive seminar).

The key findings revealed the extent of the education–job mismatch. Specifically: a lack of transferable CCM skills, mismatch between the provision of CCM skills development in higher education and the needs of recruiters, and curriculum shortfall in terms of CCM skills. Furthermore, areas such as cross-cultural communication and cross-cultural awareness require urgent attention; new approaches are needed to enhance the knowledge transfer of CCM skills to students, in order to better equip them to work in an increasingly international workplace.

The enquiry provides a snapshot of knowledge transfer regarding CCM skills based on a particular case, from the perspective of teachers and recruiters. While care was taken to respect the language and cultural norms, the interview guide captured only a narrow dimension of the subject area. The modest size of the sample does not allow any generalisations when interpreting the data. The findings should not be applied to other national contexts, disciplines or sectors.

The authors put forward actions for enhancing the implementation of an international education programme (IEP), emphasising the importance of co-creating with stakeholders. The distinguishing features of an IEP are identified and a framework for explaining the opportunities generated by such a programme is developed. Failing to address the “skills gap” may trigger long-term ramifications for both business and society.

Academics and students claim to be dissatisfied with the current delivery of CCM skills. The identification of an education–job mismatch implies that CCM skills are not being effectively transmitted within higher education. This study sets out to identify and explain the current situation of CCM skills development in contemporary society. The genesis of this study stems from the topical debate surrounding reconceptualising higher education to reflect a more international-oriented approach.

Research into CCM is frequently undertaken from an Anglo-centric perspective, or sets out to compare an “Anglo” environment with a non-Anglo setting. Few CCM studies are set in the context of a contemporary Post-Soviet society.

The purpose of this study is to investigate how first-year students conduct everyday life research and how, if possible, their everyday research skills can inform information literacy instruction in higher education. Very few studies in information literacy emphasize existing knowledge that students bring with them to college; instead, the emphasis tends to fall on deficits in students’ academic research skills. Strengths-based approaches or asset-based approaches as found in the literature of psychology and education provide a basis for exploring this direction in information literacy education.

The research used a phenomenographic methodology, interviewing 40 first-year students from two large universities, a medium-sized university and a community college.

The qualitative study suggests that first-year students are capable of using information purposefully to learn or research interests that have sparked their curiosities. They are also capable of reflecting on the ways that their investigations fulfilled their purposes, resulted in unexpected outcomes or made them consider their issue in a new light. These existing capacities provide promising starting points for strengths-based approaches to information literacy instruction.

Dialogue with students about prior research experiences enables teaching librarians to plan engaging, authentic information literacy curriculum that acknowledges existing strengths.

This study provides a valuable contribution to empirical evidence of student research skills prior to entering higher education and suggests connections between those skills and the ACRL Information Literacy Framework. In addition, the study provides a case for strengths-based education, activating students’ prior knowledge to learn and create new knowledge. Authors have presented at Library Instruction West, July 2018.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the actual variability of job quality in Spanish call centers (CCs) and to examine the factors that determine the existence of better quality jobs in this sector.

Data are collected via survey. The analysis takes place in two stages: First, a standardised index of job quality is generated; second, an ordinary least squares regression analysis is used to evaluate the extent to which the independent variables identified in the literature affect the degree of job quality in CCs.

There is considerable variability in the quality of jobs in Spanish CCs. This means that the sector cannot be stereotyped as providing either dead‐end or highly professionalized jobs.

Indeed, this variability depends on the type of management model in use and the participation of managers in professional associations/networks. No relationships are found between the strategy followed by the CC and the quality of jobs provided.

One of the main contributions of this paper is the index of job quality it proposes. For management and policy makers, the paper moves the discussion on the sector beyond the importance of CCs as a source of job creation, and considers the type of jobs that are being provided and under which conditions.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how public relations practitioners view their role in guiding their organizations’ frontline (nonnominated) employees’ social media use and the tensions that organizations must navigate when they interact with their employees online.

This study utilizes in-depth interviews with 24 PR practitioners in the USA. Data were analyzed via grounded theory’s approach to open, axial, and select coding.

PR practitioners engage in three activities to guide employees’ social media use: serving as a reactive-technical resource; supporting employee communities; and responding to incidental monitoring of social media posts.

The study extends stakeholder theory by describing the normative expectations that are placed on employees when it comes to discussing the organization online.

Recommendations are offered for PR practitioners regarding the boundary-respecting management of nonnominated employees’ social media use.

Findings point to a greater understanding about frontline workers’ roles in supporting their organizations and the need for organizations to carefully explain social media policies.

Scholars have not fully explored the challenges that firms face when they seek to influence employees’ personal social networking activities. There is new insight about the ways in which organization can ethically engage with employees in digitally mediated spaces.

This paper reports the findings of 89 focus groups and 18 individual interviews (involving 391 older people in 6 European countries) that were held to explore how older people view human dignity in their lives. Participants were all aged over 60 years and 25% were aged 80+ years. They were from a range of educational, social and economic backgrounds. 72% were women and 17% were living in residential or nursing homes.There was substantial agreement about the meaning and experience of dignity in older people's everyday lives. It was seen as a highly relevant and important concept, enhancing self‐esteem, self‐worth and well‐being. Three major themes were identified: respect and recognition; participation and involvement; and dignity in care.The theoretical model of human dignity developed in the project was reflected in many of the findings from the empirical data. Of particular importance and relevance was the notion of ‘dignity of personal identity’, not least because it is perhaps most vulnerable to the actions of others. Menschenwurde (expressed as the innate dignity of human beings) was also important.For dignity of older people to be enhanced, communication issues, privacy, personal identity and feelings of vulnerability need to be addressed. Education of all professionals should pay attention to practices that enhance or detract from the experience of dignity. Policies and standards need to go beyond the merely mechanistic and easily quantifiable, to identify meaningful qualitative indicators of dignity in care.

Firms’ strategic responses to environmental shifts under conditions of uncertainty in the wake of institutional changes are far from understood. We utilize data from over 1,200 firms in seven Central Eurasian transition economies to examine the extent to which institutional inefficiency is predictive of the response strategies employed by the firms in their environments. We also examine how firms maneuver in the environment through an innovative effort in developing new products, opening new plants or upgrading product lines and technologies. Our results seem indicative of both an adaptive and an innovative effort by firms in these countries. The results are discussed with respect to empirical limitations and future research avenues in these transition economies.

The purpose of this paper is to empirically examine the impact of a corporate brand on consumer satisfaction and ascertain which corporate brand attributers had the most influential effects on consumer satisfaction.

Using a multiple regression method and an Australian sample of 235 consumers, this paper tests a relationship between consumer-perceived corporate brand and consumer satisfaction.

The results demonstrate that a corporate brand acts as a critical predictor of consumer satisfaction thus providing support for the research proposition. The three components of consumer value (functional, emotional and symbolic) were found to be critical and consistent predictors of consumer satisfaction. Corporate associations and core organizational values were also found to be the drivers of consumer satisfaction.

Although the cross-sectional nature of data collection method limits the data to a single point in time; this research contributes important insights into the factors affecting one of the key performance indicators such as consumer satisfaction.

The findings have important implications for a corporate branding strategy implementation and effective corporate brand communications that can be employed for enhancing the relationship with the existing consumers as well as acquiring new consumers.

Consumer satisfaction has primarily been studied as a mediator through which a brand impacts on consumer loyalty. This paper extends existing research by considering a corporate brand as an antecedent and a driver of consumer satisfaction. To address the disparity between operationalisation and conceptualisation of the corporate brand construct, this study maintains a corporate brand is a multidimensional construct and measures it accordingly.