Reputation Management: Corporate Image and Communication

Reputation was, is, and always will be of immense importance to organisations, whether commercial, governmental or not-for-profit. To reach their goals, stay competitive and prosper, good reputation paves the organisational path to acceptance and approval by stakeholders. Even organisations operating in difficult ethical environments - perhaps self-created - need to sustain a positive reputation where possible. Argenti & Druckenmiller argue that, “organisations increasingly recognize the importance of corporate reputation to achieve business goals and stay competitive” (Argenti & Druckenmiller 2004, p.368). While there are many recent examples of organisations whose leadership and business practice behaviours have destroyed their reputation, such as Enron, Arthur Andersen, Tyco and WorldCom, the positive case for reputation is that it has fostered continued expansion of old stagers like Johnson & Johnson and Philips and innovators such as Cisco Systems, who top recent rankings of the most respected organisations in the US and Europe. What is evident is that reputation does not occur by chance. It relates to leadership, management, and organisational operations, the quality of products and services, and - crucially - relationships with stakeholders. It is also connected to communication activities and feedback mechanisms. This chapter will consider the definitions and nature of reputation and its management, best practice and evaluation. It will also discuss the boundaries between branding, image and reputation

Sharing but caring: Location based mobile applications (LBMA) and privacy protection motivation

Location based mobile applications (LBMA) are developing rapidly with the increasing adoption of smartphones. These applications advantage userś location to provide products or services based on information obtained from their smart devices. However, implementation and execution of these services may raise userś privacy concerns related to sensitive information being handled. In this context, this paper examines the factors that motivate users and lead them to protect their privacy while using LBMA. It also considers potential benefits they could encounter and thus enable their privacy trade. The model proposed is based on Protection Motivation Theory (PMT) and tested through a variance-based Structural Equations Modelling approach. Data were obtained through an online survey with 820 participants. Findings reveal that perceived severity, perceived vulnerability and self-efficacy exert a positive effect on the intention of privacy protection, which in turn is found to be positively related to the behavior of protecting privacy.Spanish Ministry of Economics, Industry and Competitiveness under the grant ECO2017-82449-PFunding for open access charge: Universidad de Granada / CBU

Developing corporate communications: insights from the Italian scenario

Purpose - Based on business manager perceptions in large firms, this paper explores the emergence, growth and importance of corporate communications and how it is evolving and creating competitive advantage in Italian firms. Design/methodology/approach - A qualitative approach is deployed, comprising depth interviews with senior managers from corporations from a broad spectrum of industries including: energy, telecommunications, automotive, transport, retail chain, appliances, technology and engineering, private shipping, government-owned holdings, marketing consultancy, and construction. Findings - The paper provides insights of corporate communication (corpcom) practices in the sampled companies. The research shows that corpcoms involves a complex range of activities leading to performances managed and implemented under CEO direction. Practical implications - Corpcoms is perceived as a strategic concept with effective application relative to managing corporate image and reputation. The findings offer insights for communication professionals who deal with corpcoms, branding, and marketing communications. Originality/value - Corpcoms can be viewed via lens of social actors’ perspectives, i.e. via practitioners – including brand managers and senior executives as they possess practical knowledge of contextual business setting and the managerial capacity to design and implement integrated corporate communications

How Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) works? A theoretical review and an analysis of its main drivers and effects

Since the mid-1990’s, the concept of Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) has come to the fore and attracted considerable attention in the literature. The main purpose of this paper is twofold: (1) to explore IMC by delimitating its conceptual boundaries and identifying its main dimensions and (2) to develop a whole theoretical model of its antecedents and consequences. To achieve this goal, this study analyzes the conceptual framework around IMC and its dimensions and it presents an extensive literature review. Moreover, a new definition is presented and the main dimensions of the concept are highlighted. A systematic literature review is carried out to identify IMC antecedents and consequences and the research hypotheses are formulated. Following the obtained results, a conceptual model has been developed and the most relevant findings are discussed. Finally, the main academic and managerial implications are described. This model will help academics and marketers to better understand the role that this new marketing paradigm plays within modern management, in identifying the key variables that promote or hinder IMC and the benefits derived from its implementation

Relevant marketing geography: a competency-based perspective

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to apply the theory of relationship marketing to the previously unexplored context of organizations – from multiple sectors of society – that interact through no other apparent reason than geographic proximity. The paper assimilates literature from outside the discipline of marketing and synthesizes this with empirical findings in order to present a practical agenda for private sector firms in relation to their local region. Design/methodology/approach – Qualitative, convergent depth-interviews and interdisciplinary literature synthesis. Findings – The paper presents a model of relevant marketing geography, which positions a resource-based view as a new direction for relationship marketing research. An additional model conceptualizes the competencies possessed by a private sector firm that allows the firm to access local stocks of social capital. Research limitations/implications – The paper offers the results of an exploratory, inductive investigation. Subsequent further research directions are significant and are outlined at the end of the paper. Practical implications – Involvement by private sector firms in their local region is often a random, spontaneous activity, or a reactive activity in response to prompts by public and third sector actors. The paper presents two models that move this agenda from emergent to planned strategic activity for private sector firms. Originality/value – There is little if any previous discussion of research in the above outlined context within the marketing literature. This paper offers the potential for expansion of that literature

The value and significance of corporate community relations: an Italian SME perspective

Purpose – This paper investigates the link between community of place and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Lombard industrial districts in Italy. Design/methodology/approach – A brief literature review of international authors from the stakeholder approach and Corporate Community Relations field is presented. This paper refers to a survey of Lombard industrial districts conducted by ALTIS. The data was collected via a telephone survey from 834 firms. Findings – The main finding is that managing Corporate Community Relations (CCR) is of major importance for company success. The results of the survey show that there are some tools and actions that Italian industrial district SMEs uses to interact with their particular communities of place to develop effective and coherent relationships with their stakeholder groups. Moreover, although the survey shows that though SMEs do implement different CCR activities, they are not able to communicate these effectively through systematic communication strategies. However, the narrow sample includes only a sample of some Lombard districts. Nonetheless, the findings indicate that effective CCR seems to confer competitive advantage based on stakeholder responses and rewards sought. Research limitations/implications – The framework could assist in supporting CCR developments between industrial districts as various players would know how to improve CCR activities. One further suggestion is that University and Research Centres could have a role to play in creating and communicating codified knowledge concerning community relations in industrial districts, while other public players still have to develop specific tasks in improving infrastructures. Originality/value – This study is in line with the main focus of CCR, which is in striving to meet stakeholder and societal needs. However, industrial district SMEs have to learn how to communicate their CCR activities from the examples set by large Italian companies. The paper links the notion of CCR with tools and actions to develop meaningful relationships with both community of place and interest. Moreover, considering the survey results, a new framework for local player roles is proposed

Recent breakthroughs and future directions in drugging aquaporins

Aquaporins are attractive targets for therapeutic intervention in the diverse conditions associated with water and solute dyshomeostasis that affect millions of patients worldwide every year. Aquaporin drug discovery has made little progress, possibly due to a range of assumptions including the intrinsic non-druggability of the aquaporin pore, compounded by issues with the reproducibility of current assays. We challenge the persistent idea that aquaporins are not druggable; the field is still in its infancy and much progress is yet to be made. Viable routes to inhibition of aquaporin function have recently been identified, including targeting their regulation as well as their pores. Identifying new aquaporin-targeted drugs for conditions associated with disrupted water and solute homeostasis will meet an urgent, unmet clinical need as no pharmacological interventions are currently available. Inhibition of hydrogen peroxide permeation through AQP1 provides a new approach to treating hypertrophic cardiomyopathies. Inhibition of AQP4 localization with the licensed drug trifluoperazine provides compelling evidence for a new approach to treating CNS edema

Perceptional components of brand equity: configuring the symmetrical and asymmetrical paths to brand loyalty and brand purchase intention

This research investigates the impact of brand perception on brand loyalty and brand purchase intention using the lenses of complexity theory. First, the study conceptualizes and operationalizes perceptional and behavioral components of brand equity. It then examines the dimensions of brand perception, and by assessing the consequences of favorable brand perception, the study enables a better understanding regarding whether a brand marketing approach helps to improve marketing performance. The research was conducted using a mixed methodology, beginning with interviews in order to gain a better understanding of the relationship between the dimensions of brand perception. These were followed by a questionnaire survey, and the resulting data were analyzed through content analysis and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA). The results indicate that brand awareness, perceived quality, brand association, brand fondness, brand image, and product country image have a strong impact on the management of brand perception. The finding illustrates that it is the combinations of various perceptional elements of brand equity rather than any single factor that have strong impacts on brand loyalty and brand purchasing intention. The results support the importance of brand perception for the fashion industry, which needs to be more interactive in order to increase their customers’ brand loyalty and brand purchasing intention