Marco Michelotti

The role of the stakeholder perspective in measuring corporate reputation

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to develop an effective measure of corporate reputation when stakeholders are faced with different decision situations.Design/methodology/approach – The study research question was addressed using survey data from 500 respondents involved in four decision situations: purchasing products from a company, seeking employment, purchasing shares and supporting the operations of a company in their community.Findings – The findings suggest that corporate reputation is a situational construct which is continuously redefined by stakeholders according to the decision they are considering. Thus, companies may not have the same reputation when seeking different kind of support from stakeholders.Research limitations/implications – In order to generalise the findings, the collection of data by means of surveys of larger random samples from multiple countries are strongly encouraged.Practical implications – The paper contributes to the development of effective measures of corporate repu...

Corporate patriotism as a source of corporate reputation: a comparative multi-stakeholder approach

This paper aims to define the concept of corporate patriotism and clarify its relationship with corporate reputation in the context of multi-stakeholder engagements. It develops a scale to measure corporate patriotism. It then determines the relative importance of corporate patriotism to the perceptions of corporate reputation in four key stakeholder relationships – consumer, purchasing, employment, individual share investment and community relationships. Our research evidence shows that the stakeholder relationship context moderates the role of corporate patriotism as a dimension of corporate reputation. The results further show significant differences in the role of national identity in organisation–stakeholder relationships. Specifically, corporate patriotism is more important for the reputation of a company as an employer and local citizen than as a provider of products and services. Marketing managers should consider the reputational advantage stemming from corporate patriotism in the design of multi-stakeholder corporate communication strategies.

Employer Preferences, Collective Agreements and the Australian Resources Sector: A Paradox of Limited Commodification?

There is a commonly held view that firms in high-wage/skill-intensive sectors will tend to provide wages and working conditions that are above market-clearing levels. This article empirically examines this claim by analysing the content of all collective agreements concluded in the resource sector in Australia after the enactment in 2006 of the Workplace Relations Amendment (Workchoices) Act. This legislation gave employers unprecedented ability to place downwards pressure on employee entitlements. In the resource sector, however, the quantitative results indicate that firms maintained, in the main, substantive standards but used extensively key regulatory provisions to gain an unprecedented level of control over both functional and numerical flexibility.

The Diffusion of HR Practices in Chinese Workplaces and Organizational Outcomes

How relevant are human resource (HR) practices in economies undergoing significant economic transition from a command to a market-based system? Using data drawn from a large sample of Chinese establishments, the authors investigate the spread of a range of Western-style HR practices in China and estimate the relationship between the adoption of these practices and three organizational outcomes: sales per employee, total labor costs, and unit labor costs. They find a mixed result for the relationships between labor management practices and establishment productivity. While the introduction of a number of HR practices was also associated with significantly higher labor costs, the results indicate a more mixed result for the relationship between these practices and unit labor costs. Their findings further the understanding of the relationship between work practices and organizational outcomes, and they help clarify the effects of the changing economic context on HR management in China.

Non-wage benefits, corporate ownership and firm performance in post-communist economies: evidence from Ukraine

Abstract The economic reforms in the transition economies of Central and Eastern Europe have fundamentally reshaped ownership and governance of economic production, notably through the privatization of former state-owned enterprises. These reforms were expected to transform management practices by displacing ‘cradle-to-grave’ welfare arrangements administered by state-owned enterprises. Using data drawn from two large samples of Ukrainian establishments, we investigate, in two different time points, the relationship between non-wage benefits and firm performance during the period of transition to a market economy (1994–2004). We found that non-wage benefits continued to be a critical feature of HRM practices in Ukraine during this period, and were positively associated with firm performance.

The new face of corporate patriotism: does being “local” matter to stakeholders?

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to discuss how foreign firms can successfully use an innovative marketing communication strategy based on the notion of corporate patriotic appeal to better promote their activities within the countries they operate. Design/methodology/approach – This article uses case study analysis and focus group discussions to link current business practices with stakeholder perceptions of corporate patriotism. Findings – There is an emerging trend in corporate communication strategies where corporate patriotism is increasingly used as an effective marketing strategy by both domestic and foreign firms. It was also found that corporate patriotism is an important value across four stakeholder groups which include consumers, investors, employees and community members. Originality/value – This article identifies a new marketing communication strategy that can be used by multinational enterprises to better promote their activities in the local community within which they operate and a...

The New Face of Corporate Patriotism: When Domestic Corporate Ownership Fails to Serve the Nation

Purpose: The main purpose of this article is to discuss how foreign firms can successfully use an innovative marketing communication strategy based on the notion of corporate patriotic appeal to better promote their activities within the countries they operate.Design/methodology/approach: This article uses case study analysis and focus group discussions to link current business practices with stakeholder perceptions of corporate patriotism. Findings: There is an emerging trend in corporate communication strategies where corporate patriotism is increasingly used as an effective marketing strategy by both domestic and foreign firms. We also found that corporate patriotism is an important value across four stakeholder groups which include consumers, investors, employees and community members. Originality/value: This article identifies a new marketing communication strategy that can be used by multinational enterprises to better promote their activities in the local community within which they operate and amongst key stakeholder groups. This is particularly important at a time when many multinational enterprises run different operations in multiple countries and, as a result, are often exposed to extensive negative publicity.

Assessing the Impact of Employment Legislation: The Coalition Government’s Labour Law Programme 1996-2007 and the Challenge of Research

Following 13 years of Labor government at the Federal level a Liberal/National Party Coalition government was elected to office in the Australian general election of 1996. This government was subsequently re-elected in 1998, 2001, and again in 2004, before finally losing power in the 2007 Federal election. Industrial relations and labour law policy were critical aspects of the Coalition’s political and social platform throughout its entire period of office and in pursuance of these policies the government introduced many significant changes to employment relations legislation. These were more than changes of detail, representing fundamental shifts in the distribution of power between the parties to employment relations, and in the means of determining terms and conditions of employment. This report is designed to provide a summary and review of research published over the period 1997-2008 on the impact of the reforms to employment relations legislation which occurred during that period. The report is not a legal analysis per se, although the work does include some published studies carried out by labour lawyers. Rather, the main aim of the report is to assess what practical impact the Coalition’s legislative programme had upon various aspects of labour market and employment relations institutions, arrangements and behaviour; an assessment, then, not of why and how the law changed in a technical sense, but of the consequences and outcomes of legal change. The report also aims to say something about the nature of research in this area, and some of the disciplinary difficulties associated with it.

MARKET POWER CONSTRAINED: UNION AND NON -UNION COLLECTIVE BARGAINING OUTCOMES IN THE AUSTRALIA RESOURCES SECTOR

The Workplace Relations Amendment (Work Choices) Act 2005 is generally regarded as having produced a strong divergence in employment outcomes and opportunities among employment groups and across employment sectors. Whereas poor outcomes are attributed to the lack of bargaining power of disadvantaged and low wage groups, union collective bargaining is seen as having preserved employee entitlements in high wage sectors of the economy. In this paper we examine all forms of collective bargaining in the high-wage resources sector to determine the impact of unionisation on collective bargaining outcomes. To do so, we code and analyse all union collective agreements, employee (non-union) collective agreements, union greenfield agreements, and employer greenfield agreements concluded in the resources sector under the Work Choices legislation. Contrary to expectations, the outcomes of these agreements show strong consistency across a range of substantive and procedural labour standards. These outcomes are attributed to the nature of the product market, employer regulatory objectives, and the adverse effects of Work Choices on union market power.