Cees van Riel

Corporate associations and consumer product responses: The moderating role of corporate brand dominance

This study investigates the effect of corporate brand dominance—that is, the visibility of a companys corporate brand in product communications—on the relationship between corporate associations and product evaluations. The results show that corporate brand dominance determines the degree to which associations with the companys corporate ability and corporate social responsibility influence product attitudes, as well as the nature of the moderating effects of fit and involvement.

Stakeholder Integration: Building Mutually Enforcing Relationships

This study examines the central contention of instrumental stakeholder theory— namely, that firms that breed trust-based, cooperative ties with their stakeholders will have a competitive advantage over firms that do not. Acase study of the introduction ofgenetically modified food products in the Netherlands provided the basis for the empirical analysis. The results support the instrumental stakeholder management thesis, showing that stakeholder integration, through the development ofmutually enforcing relationships with external parties, may result in both organizational learning and societal legitimacy.

The added value of corporate logos ‐ An empirical study

Describes the evaluations, by potential customers, of a new logo of a Dutch bank. Evaluations were measured before and after the introduction, comparing perceptions of the new logo with the observations of the logos of two competitors (a larger and a smaller one). The study indicates that people attribute different associations to each logo. The set of associations they have with the logo appeared to increase if respondents were confronted with the name of the company behind the new logo. After the launch of the new logo, embedded within a nation‐wide advertising campaign, the positive associations increased and the negative evaluations decreased. The majority of interviewees were able to describe associations that matched the intentions which the bank wanted to express with its new corporate symbol.

Reputation Management Capabilities as Decision Rules

textabstractWe draw on a detailed grounded theory study of the reactions of Dutch food firms to the recent introduction of genetically modified foods to inductively identify the capabilities that firms develop in response to reputational threats. Central to the view on capabilities we propose are the decision rules organizations use to link individual actions to organizational outcomes. Four reputation management capabilities were identified, which were aimed at, respectively: (1) engaging in a cooperative dialogue with relevant stakeholders; (2) presenting the organizational point of view favourably in the eyes of external beholders; (3) avoiding organizational ‘ownership’ of critical reputational threats; and (4) communicating meaningfully with affected parties, even under conditions of high adversity and time-pressure.

Stimulating Strategically Aligned Behaviour among Employees

Strategically aligned behaviour (SAB), i.e. employee action that is consistent with the companys strategy, is of vital importance to companies. This study provides insights into the way managers could promote such behaviour among employees (who can be managers as well) by stimulating employee motivation, by informing employees, and by stimulating the development of their capabilities. The results of surveys conducted in three organizations suggest that, first, perceived efforts by management aimed at motivating and informing employees (both managers and non-managers), and at developing their capabilities, each are related to SAB. Second, among the perceived efforts to stimulate motivation among employees, providing a rationale for the strategy and an open communication climate have a stronger relationship with SAB than participation in decision making and supportiveness. Third, the perceptions of the different types of managerial effort are related to each other. For this reason, the efforts have direct as well as indirect relationships to SAB. Fourth, each of the perceived efforts seems to be complementary to the others, in the sense that the relationship of one type of effort to SAB is stronger when other types of effort are perceived to be higher.

Protecting the corporate brand by orchestrated communication

In order to protect a strong corporate brand, companies have to make careful decisions regarding the nature and the degree of orchestration of internal and external communication. This paper presents a description and an evaluation of four interrelated methods to succesfully integrate communication.

Reputationsanalyse mit dem Reputation Quotient

Aufbau und Pflege einer tragfahigen Unternehmensreputation zahlen zu den zentralen Zielgrosen der Unternehmenskommunikation. Ein effizientes und effektives Management der Unternehmensreputation setzt dabei vor allem eine differenzierte und verlassliche Messung dieses schwer fassbaren Phanomens voraus. Ohne entsprechend tragfahige Erkenntnisse zu Ist und Soll der Unternehmensreputation besteht nicht nur das Risiko, dass gut gemeinte Masnahmen ins Leere gehen und mithin wertvolle Ressourcen fehlalloziert werden. Daruber hinaus besteht vielmehr in hohem Mase sogar die Gefahr, dass genau das Gegenteil dessen erreicht wird, was eigentlich geplant war. Anstelle eines Reputationszuwachses stellt sich ein Reputationsverlust ein – unter Umstanden sogar einhergehend mit massiven Glaubwurdigkeits- und Vertrauensverlusten. Ein leistungsfahiges Konzept, das bereits seit 1999 auf der internationalen Ebene eingesetzt wird, um die Reputation von Unternehmen in den unterschiedlichsten Landern zu messen, ist der Reputation Quotient (RQ). Er wurde zunachst im Rahmen des internationalen Expertennetzwerkes des Reputation Institute (RI) in Gestalt des sogenannten Harris-Fombrun-RQ etabliert, gelangt inzwischen aber bereits in erweiterten Varianten erfolgreich zum Einsatz. Diese Konzepte, die einen wichtigen Beitrag zur Analyse der Unternehmensreputation als Basis der Planung eines Reputationsmanagement und speziell einer Ziel fuhrenden Ausrichtung der Unternehmenskommunikation leisten, werden in diesem Beitrag vorgestellt.

Creating a Strategically Aligned Workforce

This paper focuses on critical success factors in creating an aligned workforce around new strategic goals. Best practices of companies, headquartered in three different continents, are used to illustrate an ideal roadmap. These companies measure and manage their alignment programs in a similar way. Key success factors in creating an aligned workforce appears to be threefold: (1) the managerial efforts aimed at creating alignment should be a joint effort of various specialists, initiated and orchestrated by top management; (2) consistency in behavior of management and internal messaging is crucial and (3) external claims in corporate advertizing should support internal change programs.

Ansatzpunkte zur Messung der Reputation von Unternehmen

Unternehmensreputation stellt einen zentralen Vermögenswert sowie einen wichtigen strategischen Erfolgsfaktor dar. Voraussetzung eines leistungsfähigen Reputationsmanagement bildet eine aussagekräftige Messung der bestehenden, aber auch der künftig anzustrebenden Unternehmensreputation. Je aussagekräftiger die Informationen zu Ist und Soll sind, desto effizienter und effektiver lässt sich auch ein Reputationsmanagement anlegen. Im vorliegenden Beitrag wird zunächst in Gestalt des „Reputation Quotien“ (RQ) ein besonders leistungsfähiges Messkonzept vorgestellt, das schon seit mehreren Jahren in zahlreichen Ländern zum Einsatz kommt, um die Reputation von Top-Unternehmen zu messen. Im Anschluss daran werden verschiedene Ansätze zur Weiterentwicklung dieses Messkonzepts kurz angerissen, um zu zeigen, in welche Richtung die aktuelle Diskussion in diesem wichtigen Feld geht.

Reputation und Unternehmensergebnis — zentrale Resultate einer empirischen Studie

Eine immer wieder gestellte und untersuchte Frage, ist die, ob eine positive Unternehmensreputation den Wert eines Unternehmens verbessert.2 Entscheidungstrager in Unternehmen sind neben nicht-pekuniaren Motiven daran interessiert, ob sich eine Investition in die Reputation des Unternehmens auch in finanzieller Hinsicht auszahlt. Die generelle Antwort hierzu ist Ja.