A new framework for strengthening internal corporate image: A stakeholder-inclusive perspective (original) (raw)
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Businesses today face more than just commercial and competitive pressures. Recent decades have seen an increasing emphasis on corporate responsibility and ethical, socially responsible corporate behaviour. Research suggests a positive link between responsible corporate behaviour and financial performance. Concurrently, the emergence of stakeholder theory has focused attention on businesses and their relationships with important groups and institutions. Arguably, maintaining good stakeholder relationships is fundamentally sound management and can result in enhanced corporate reputation. Much of the extant literature on these issues, however, has centred on conceptual issues, large corporations, external stakeholders and/or North American case studies. Where internal stakeholders have been considered, the discussion has often been limited to working conditions, pay and benefits, and related matters. This paper broadens the research to date by focusing on internal stakeholders in small and medium-sized enterprises in the UK. It reports the findings of a study designed to assess the perceived impact of selected attributes of responsible corporate practice, as they pertain to internal stakeholders, beyond the basic issues of working conditions and rewards.
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Purpose– This paper aims to demonstrate the need to explore the image formation process to develop a more holistic definition of corporate image. Diminishing trust in managers has created increasingly negative perceptions toward corporations. Stakeholders are constantly evaluating and scrutinizing corporations to determine their trustworthiness and authenticity. To develop their perceptions toward these corporations, stakeholders rely on the key role of corporate image. In the present study, the complex relationships between corporate image, corporate reputation, corporate communication and corporate personality are investigated. These concepts form a corporation’s image formation process.Design/methodology/approach– Radley Yelday (RY), the communications agency collaborating in this research, facilitated 15 interviews with their employees. Using a semi-structured interviewing method, discussions were guided toward the topic of corporate image among the respondents.Findings– Finding...
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Effectiveness of Corporate Social Responsibility in Enhancing Company Image
In recent times there has been much debate about whether corporations should be socially responsible or not and to what extent they should be responsible. This paper investigates the effectiveness of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in enhancing company`s image, using Unki mine (UM) as a case study, with corporate philanthropy as center of focus. Research design was descriptive and exploratory. A sample size of 208 respondents was used. Stratified sampling technique was used and the population was divided into four stratums which are as follows: um management, UM employees, the local community and lastly Tongogara rural council employees. The research findings show that Philanthropic activities do enhance company image as well as relations between an organization and the community surrounding it. This paper recommends that um could put more investment on the other dimensions of CSR such as ethical responsibility, legal responsibility and economic responsibility.
AFRICAN JOURNAL OF BUSINESS MANAGEMENT, 2012
This paper perceives leadership as the 'key element' in organisation's brand to the outside world, which also influence how employees eventually perceive the external brand that has been portrayed by the organization. External company brands deal with certain attributes of the organisation, such as innovation, consumer concern, trustworthiness, a drive for quality and concern for the environment. The paper contends that employees are indeed a company's 'brand ambassadors. internal branding involves taking care of the ambassadors of the corporate brand, namely the employees. If employees of an organization are not exposed to the company's branding (an ongoing process that functionally aligns, motivates and empower employees at all levels to consistently provide a satisfying customer experience), the external brand could be jeopardized. Internal branding, on the other hand, relates to how employees perceive and experience their company's brand. The question is, why should there be a link between what employees feel or perceive about their company's brand and what the company says to their customers or prospective customers about their brand? Theorists have indicated that the vision of an integrated company, brand and corporate culture represents a guide for behaviour in an organization. This serves as a measure of consistency between 'what is said' and 'what is done'. However, in recent times, employees seem to be increasingly estranged from their company's brand, which has resulted to low morale and high attrition rate.
A stakeholder approach to corporate social responsibility, reputation and business performance
Social Responsibility Journal, 2015
Purpose-This paper aims to investigate business managers' assessment of stakeholders' influence on corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives. The key stakeholders included "employees" and "unions" as internal and "public", the "media" and the "government" as external stakeholders. The purpose was to estimate the influence of stakeholders that managers perceive as important. Moreover, the study sought to identify association between the CSR construct and corporate reputation and in turn whether this influences business performance. Design/methodology/approach-This study uses a mail survey with a random sampling of senior managers sourced from Dun & Bradstreet's Australian business database, focusing on large organizations (i.e. minimum $10 million p.a. reported sales and minimum 100 employees) as the selection criteria. A conceptual model was developed and tested using structural equation modeling. Findings-The results identified that "employees" and the "public" are perceived to be the influential stakeholder groups in CSR decision-making. There was evidence of a positive relationship between the CSR construct and reputation, which in turn influenced market share, but not profitability. Research limitations/implications-This study examined a cross-section of organizations using Dun & Bradstreet's database of Australian businesses and may not fully represent the Australian business mix. The effective response rate of 7.2 per cent appears to be low, even though it is comparable with other research in the CSR area. There may have been some self-selection by the respondents, although there were no statistically significant differences identified in the corporate characteristics of those invited to participate and those responding with usable questionnaires. Practical implications-Managers can adopt a stakeholder-influenced CSR strategy to generate strong corporate reputation to improve business performance. It is important to ensure that the interests of "employees" and "public" stakeholders are addressed within organizational strategy. Respondents were less concerned about government stakeholders and thus government involvement in organizational CSR may need to be revisited. Social implications-The major concern that emerges from these findings is the absence of the perceived importance of regulatory stakeholders on firms' CSR activities. Regulatory controls of CSR messages could reduce or eliminate inaccurate and misleading information to the public. Originality/value-The analysis explains the perceived relative influence of stakeholders on CSR decisions. It also provides an understanding of the link between organizational CSR reputation and organization's performance.