Purpose Sponsorships targeting an internal audience, e.g. employees, are still under-researched. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how employees perceive and evaluate a sponsorship that is designed with the purpose of improving customer services and explore how the company may benefit from the sponsorship. Design/methodology/approach The study is anchored in critical realism and based on a single case study using multiple methods. The authors survey the impact of the sponsorship on employees’ (n=653) perceptions of their ability to communicate with customers, to perform their personal best, to engage in teamwork, as well as employee retention. The authors use individual and group interviews to qualify the analysis and the access to company data on customer satisfaction rates to provide an indication of the effect of the sponsorship. Findings Results indicate that close to half the employees respond that the campaign positively impacted their ability to communicate, improve personal performance and to engage in teamwork. The analysis also reveals that the commitment of the direct leader has an impact on employees’ interest and commitment to the campaign. Data on customer satisfaction show that reducing the number of dissatisfied customers and increasing the number of customers willing to recommend the company to others has been accomplished, thus indicating that the sponsorship has had a positive impact on company performance. Originality/value By combining sponsorship research with insights from the HRM literature, the study provides empirically based knowledge to the hitherto limited research on the internal audience of sponsorships. The study provides a plausible indication of a positive relation between a sponsorship design and company performance.
Offentlige førstelinjeledere befinder sig i stigende grad i et krydspres af forventninger til den lederrolle, de skal udfylde. På den ene side presset af New Public Management-bølgens forventninger om professionelle ledere på alle ledelsesniveauer, også i første linje. På den anden, af forventning om stor faglig indsigt fra medarbejdersiden, hvor der ofte er krav om omfattende indsigt i selve driften, samt en evne til at besvare faglige spørgsmål og løse faglige problemstillinger. I den følgende artikel vil vi på baggrund af et observationsstudie af 50 offentlige førstelinjelederes dagligdag, diskutere og kvalificere et bud på en lederrolle, der omfatter både en høj grad af professionel ledelse og samtidigt har stor faglig og driftsmæssig indsigt-hybridlederrollen.
Denmark. He completed his PhD on the individualization of work in 2015. His research interests are centered on the intersection between organizations, society and management practice. The authors thank Erika Kuever for her valuable comments on earlier versions of this paper. We would also like to express our gratitude to the editors of this special issue as well as to the reviewers for their useful comments.
Denmark. He completed his PhD on the individualization of work in 2015. His research interests are centered on the intersection between organizations, society and management practice. The authors thank Erika Kuever for her valuable comments on earlier versions of this paper. We would also like to express our gratitude to the editors of this special issue as well as to the reviewers for their useful comments.
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