Anna Blombäck

The role of corporate brand image in the selection of new subcontractors

Purpose – Despite the increased focus on brands in B2B markets, little research to date has focused on understanding the role brands play in different B2B contexts. To make a contribution in this area, the article aims to investigate whether, why and how corporate brand image plays a role in the selection of new subcontractors. This category of firms is particularly challenging to explore from a branding perspective, as their market offering is defined and designed by their customer and, further, not recognized by the customers customer.Design/methodology/approach – A qualitative interview study with respondents from nine companies (three subcontractors and six of their customers) was conducted. The interviews were semi‐structured and focused on considerations made by both buyers and sellers in sales and purchasing processes.Findings – The study reveals that corporate brand image can be especially important when buyers need to identify new subcontractors. This process is only partly formalized, and due t...

Challenging the importance of size as determinant for CSR activities

Purpose – This paper aims to contribute to the development and understanding of corporate social responsibility (CSR) by discussing two interrelated characteristics of current literature: a tendency in discourses to portray CSR as equal to the societal activities displayed by and demanded from large, multinational firms; and an increasing focus on and description of “small firm CSR” in research. These two characteristics instigate a limited approach to the meaning of CSR and an unjust dichotomization of CSR based on firm size are posited. A distinction that risks stimulating an un‐nuanced CSR discourse.Design/methodology/approach – From reviewing the field, it has been concluded that firm size should not be a feasible main criterion when trying to understand or predict CSR behavior. From examples of far‐reaching CSR activities in the small business community and local initiatives by large firms, the distinctions suggested in the current discourse do not appear in practice are shown.Findings – Additional f...

Corporate identity manifested through historical references

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to focus on how firms draw on historical references in corporate marketing. The paper seeks to analyze the logic behind such efforts from a corporate identity ...

Exploring the logics of corporate brand identity formation

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore and analyze the logics at work when companies decide what corporate features to communicate; which eventually also accounts for their corporate bran ...

The dual opening to brand heritage in family businesses

Purpose: We seek to uncover why and how the combination of family and company history in family businesses implies idiosyncratic opportunities in the process to uncover, activate, and nurture herit ...

Identifying the role of heritage communication: : A stakeholder-function framework

Abstract This article uses the case of family business to distinguish the range of potential aims and outcomes of corporate heritage communication. In family businesses, the challenges of heritage communication are particularly salient as the past of the firm is simultaneously that of the controlling family. Based on a study of 55 websites of Swedish and German family-owned firms, we classify aims and outcomes of heritage communication with reference to different stakeholders. Our findings elucidate the need to consider various stakeholders when planning heritage communications, and the value of such communication for different corporate functions, such as marketing, management and governance. To aid decision making, we offer a framework to map aims and stakeholders of heritage communication related to a company’s functions.

Imprints, Self-Reinforcement and Active Reinforcement: The Case of Corporate Value Statements

Imprints, Self-reinforcement and Active Reinforcement : The Case of Corporate Value Statements

Corporate community responsibility as an outcome of individual embeddedness

Purpose – The purpose of this article is to improve our understanding of the nature of social responsibility in actual practices and, specifically, the influence of individuals on these processes. Design/methodology/approach – An abductive approach is applied (Alvesson and Skoldberg 1994), i.e. theory is developed by moving between theory and four empirical cases. The stories highlight the importance of the individual and closeness to local stakeholders and the presence of overlapping rationales. Findings – The individuals’ simultaneous roles – as owners, managers and community members – influence how they are held or see themselves as accountable and how they account for the firms’ engagement in the community. The activities are conducted in the name of the firm but originate from private as well as business-oriented concerns. Our conclusions encourage an extension of the corporate social responsibility (CSR) construct to approach it as an entangled phenomenon resulting from the firm and the individual e...