The corporate brand and strategic direction: Senior business school managers’ cognitions of corporate brand building and management

Abstract

This revelatory study focusses on top Financial Times (FT)-ranked British business school managers' cognitions of corporate brand building and management. The study insinuates that there is a prima facie bilateral link between corporate branding and strategic direction. The data revealed that, among this genus of business schools, corporate brand building entailed an ongoing concern along with strategic management, stakeholder management, corporate communications, service focus, leadership and commitment. These empirical findings chime with the early conceptual scholarship on corporate brand management dating back to the mid-1990s. These foundational articles stressed the multi-disciplinary and strategic nature of corporate brand management and stressed the significant role of the CEO. As such, this research adds further credence to the above in terms of best practice vis-à-vis corporate brand management. Curiously, although senior managers espouse a corporate brand orientation, corporate brand management is seemingly not accorded a similar status in the curriculum. Drawing on a general embedded case study methodological approach, data was collected from eight leading (FT-ranked) business schools in Great Britain at

Corporate brands and corporate marketing: Emerging trends in the big five eco-system

“…The research findings demonstrate the integration between the multi-disciplinary and strategic nature of corporate branding management stressed in early conceptual scholarship dating back to the mid-1990s and the philosophies and practices of the schools investigated in the study. Six key dimensions of corporate brand building emerged: strategic management, stakeholder management, corporate communications, service, leadership and commitment (see Balmer and Wang, 2016).…”

Journal of Brand Management – Year end review 2016

“…The special issue opens with a consideration of corporate brand building and management for eight leading British business schools by Balmer and Wang (2016), uncovering six key dimensions: strategic management, stakeholder management, corporate communications, service, leadership, and commitment. Their research also calls for subsequent studies to focus on the precise activities of business school managers in relation to corporate brand building to better explicate the process.…”

Stakeholder influence on branding strategy at an international branch campus

“…Stakeholder theory assumes that stakeholders influence organizations, and that it is important to engage stakeholders to achieve goals and increase value and competitive advantage (Freeman, 1984;Phillips, 2011). Corporate branding theory asserts that stakeholders influence corporate brand, and a strong brand creates value for the organization (Balmer, 2013;Balmer & Wang, 2016;Gyrd-Jones, Merrilees, & Miller, 2013;Wagner Mainardes et al, 2011). The following section includes a review of research on stakeholder theory and branding theory as a foundation for understanding the Stakeholder-brand Value Model (Jones, 2005) and its relevance for this study.…”

“…Prior studies from the management perspective have argued that engaging stakeholders helped managers to present and resolve conflict, coordinate efforts of internal and external stakeholders to achieve goals, and manage resources to achieve competitive advantage in the marketplace (Johnson-Cramer, Berman & Post, 2003) and create value for the firm (Aaker, 2004;Gregory, 2007;Hatch & Schultz, 2010;Noland & Phillips, 2010;Phillips, Freeman & Wicks, 2003). While researchers have long agreed that managers have a role to play in stakeholder engagement and value creation, more current research focuses on the interaction between and among the stakeholders and the organization in creating value for the firm (Balmer, 2013;Balmer & Wang, 2016;Gyrd-Jones & Kornum, 2012;Iglesias et al, 2013). Over time scholars have argued an even more dynamic relationship between and among stakeholders and the firm, finding that stakeholders influence goes beyond that which is easily measured to include brand value and brand equity (Jones, 2005;Phillips, 2011;Freeman, 2015).…”

“…In addition, studies have demonstrated the importance of stakeholder engagement in value creation and to the overall success of the firm (Alves et. al, 2010;Balmer, 2013;Balmer & Wang, 2016;Freeman et al, 2010;Freeman, 2015;Iglesias et al, 2013). The Stakeholder-brand Value Model developed by Jones (2005), which is grounded in stakeholder theory and builds on the stakeholder salience model developed by Mitchell et al (1997), recognizes the importance of stakeholder engagement and management (Frooman, 1999;Jones, 1995).…”