Siegfried P. Gudergan

Employer branding: strategic implications for staff recruitment

Abstract In many developed economies, changing demographics and economic conditions have given rise to increasingly competitive labour markets, where competition for good employees is strong. Consequently, strategic investments in attracting suitably qualified and skilled employees are recommended. One such strategy is employer branding. Employer branding in the context of recruitment is the package of psychological, economic, and functional benefits that potential employees associate with employment with a particular company. Knowledge of these perceptions can help organisations to create an attractive and competitive employer brand. Utilising information economics and signalling theory, we examine the nature and consequences of employer branding. Depth interviews reveal that job seekers evaluate: the attractiveness of employers based on any previous direct work experiences with the employer or in the sector; the clarity, credibility, and consistency of the potential employers’ brand signals; perceptions of the employers’ brand investments; and perceptions of the employers’ product or service brand portfolio.

Assessing Heterogeneity in Customer Satisfaction Studies: Across Industry Similarities and within Industry Differences

Purpose – Revisiting Fornell et al.’s (1996) seminal study, this chapter looks at the evidence for observed and unobserved heterogeneity within data underlying the American customer satisfaction index (ACSI) model. Examining data for two specific industries (utilities and hotels) reveals only modest differences. However, we suppose that unobserved heterogeneity critically affects the results. These insights provide the basis for shaping further differentiated ACSI model analyses and more precise interpretations. Methodology/Approach – This study applies the partial least squares (PLS) path modeling method and uses empirical data to estimate and compare the ACSI model results on the aggregate and industry-specific data levels. In addition, the finite mixture PLS path modeling (FIMIX-PLS) method is employed to further examine across industry similarities and within industry differences. Findings – This research uncovers unobserved heterogeneity that guides forming three segments of customers within each industry. The major segment in each industry represents customers that are fairly loyal (i.e., neither disloyal nor extremely loyal) while the other two smaller segments are not as similar across the two industries. Our study identifies substantial differences across these segments within each industry. An importance-performance map analysis illustrates these differences and provides the basis for managerial implications. Originality/Value of the Chapter – The unobserved heterogeneity revealed within industries in a given country (i.e., the US) underlines the need to be open to differences within populations, beyond the observed heterogeneity across distinct groups or cultures, and the need to reconsider reporting requirements in academic research.

Knowledge integration in organizations : an empirical assessment

– The purpose of this paper is to provide the results from empirically testing the effects of different combinations of organizational forms and combinative capabilities on the efficiency, scope and flexibility of firm‐level knowledge integration, given the influence of knowledge types and forms., – The research is based on a case‐study methodology employed to collect data from ten firms of low, medium and high knowledge complexity environs; manual and automated data mining techniques were employed., – The findings suggest that organizational form and combinative capabilities explain the effects of efficiency, scope and flexibility on firm‐level knowledge integration. In turn, differences in knowledge types and forms necessitate the use of secondary combinative capabilities., – While the study provides a coherent and detailed understanding of firm‐level knowledge integration and explain the development of a firms knowledge architecture through organizational structures and synthesize existing literature contributing to an emergent understanding of the ambiguities surrounding combinative capabilities, further research identifying the effects of and relationship with the deep knowledge in combinative capabilities on strategic capabilities and a firms knowledge vision would be beneficial., – Of practical relevance is the strategic and operational management implications detailing the specific organizational structures to achieve desired firm‐level knowledge integration capacity and manage particular integration efficiency, scope and flexibility requirements to enhance the development of architectural knowledge and, thus, firm capabilities., – The original contribution of this paper is reflected in providing empiric and theoretic insights, which directly address the specific combinations of organizational structures that influence integration process characteristics and thus accommodate differences in knowledge types and forms.

The Interrelationship of Governance, Trust, and Ethics in Temporary Organizations

This study investigates the variety of ethical decisions of project managers and their impact from corporate governance and project governance structures. The roles of personal trust and system trust as a mechanism to steer ethical decision making in different governance settings is explored. Nine qualitative case studies in Europe, Asia, and Australia show that ethical decision making is contingent on trust, which in turn is contingent on the fulfillment of personal expectations within a given governance structure. The findings show the prerequisites for ethical decision making and the consequences of lack of trust. Further managerial and theoretical implications are discussed.

Service staff attitudes, organisational practices and performance drivers

We provide conceptual and empirical insights elucidating how organisational practices influence service staff attitudes and behaviours and how the latter set affects organisational performance drivers. Our analyses suggest that service organisations can enhance their performance by putting in place strategies and practices that strengthen the service-oriented behaviours of their employees and reduce their intentions to leave the organisation. Improved performance is accomplished through both the delivery of high quality services (enhancing organisational effectiveness) and the maintenance of front-line staff (increasing organisational efficiency). Specifically, service-oriented business strategies in the form of organisational-level service orientation and practices in the form of training directly influence the manifest service-oriented behaviours of staff. Training also indirectly affects the intention of front-line staff to leave the organisation; it increases job satisfaction, which, in turn has an impact on affective commitment. Both affective and instrumental commitment were hypothesised to reduce the intentions of front-line staff to leave the organisation, however only affective commitment had a significant effect.

The impact of implicit and explicit communications on frontline service delivery staff

Using structural equation modelling employing partial least-squares estimation, data from staff in the consumer transport industry were analysed to explore the role of implicit and explicit communications on their service delivery behaviour. Both implicit and explicit communications were found to impact service delivery. Explicit communications had a direct impact on service delivery, whilst implicit communications (in the form of internal market orientation) operated through affective commitment and customer orientation. This study provides quantitative evidence of the roles of implicit and explicit communications on staff attitudes and behaviours, and offers insights into the management of communications with employees to ensure effective service delivery.

Enhancing Service Loyalty: The Roles of Delight, Satisfaction, and Service Quality

Focusing on sporting events as an important segment within the tourism and travel industry, this study establishes that the service quality–delight–loyalty system complements a service quality–satisfaction–loyalty one. The findings highlight that prior consumption experience with a service coincides with lowered service evaluations while it amplifies the impact of customer delight on customer loyalty. In turn, this study provides practical insights into service quality dimensions for managing customer loyalty.

The Effects of Customer-Centric Marketing and Revenue Management on Travelers’ Choices:

This article examines how the simultaneous use of customer-centric marketing (CCM) and revenue management (RM) affects travelers’ perceptions of fairness and ultimately their purchasing choices. To address this issue, we propose and empirically test a choice model that incorporates reference-dependent fairness adjustments for both price and nonprice attributes within a random utility framework. The findings from two empirical studies using stated-preference choice experiments show that travelers engage in fairness-related reference point comparisons for price and other product attributes induced by RM and CCM. They offer additional evidence concerning the need to account comprehensively for attributes associated with both RM and CCM when predicting customer demand in travel and tourism firms. Accordingly, firms need to account not only for the effects of RM and CCM attributes but also for the corresponding reference-dependent fairness adjustments relating to those attributes.

Deconstructing dynamic capabilities: the role of cognitive and organizational routines in the innovation process

A better understanding of innovation processes might lead to productivity improvements. By focusing on a specific, economically relevant sector (construction) and on a specific type of firm (small to medium-sized enterprises, SMEs), the dynamic capabilities framework is extended by clarifying the roles of cognitive and organizational routines in organizational innovation processes. Insights generated from an in-depth case study of a medium-sized construction firm reveal that dynamic capabilities might diminish the relevance of an explicit innovation focus, because such capabilities have the potential to trigger emergent, incremental innovations. Accordingly, for construction SMEs, a development, rather than research, mode of innovation appears relatively more critical, as manifested in conscious cognitive routines and functional/integrative organizational routines.

In Pursuit of Understanding What Drives Fan Satisfaction

With economic considerations exerting an ever-increasing influence on soccer clubs’ activities, fan satisfaction becomes an essential strategic management objective for these institutions. Despite this topic’s obvious relevance, the literature has paid little attention to the measurement of fan satisfaction. Based on a thorough literature review, as well as interviews with soccer fans and industry experts, this paper develops an analytical model for measuring soccer fan satisfaction (FANSAT). A large-scale sample of soccer fans permits subsequent application of the FANSAT approach. The impact-performance map results of the driver analysis show that stadium features, aspects of the stadium, club management, and fan-based support for the club are the most important determinants of fan attendance. The results of this study provide implications of major relevance for international sports organizations, national sports organizations, and clubs. FANSAT is useful beyond this application, and other sports disciplines can adopt this tool for measuring and improving their fans’ satisfaction.