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1 – 10 of 12Luca Cian and Sara Cervai
Currently, in the literature, words such as “corporate image”, “projected image”, “construed image”, “reputation”, “organizational identity”, and “organizational culture” are…
Abstract
Purpose
Currently, in the literature, words such as “corporate image”, “projected image”, “construed image”, “reputation”, “organizational identity”, and “organizational culture” are often confused and superimposed. This creates a conceptual mismatch that leads to results that are hard to compare. Moreover, this leads to difficulty in individuating the correct tools to investigate these constructs. Part of this confusion is due to the lack of a framework shared by different literatures. The aim of this paper is firstly to propose a reasoned review of the literatures related to these constructs. Secondly, the authors propose a new framework and a standard terminology, in which reputation is the wider construct that includes and relates to the others.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors performed an extensive and multidisciplinary review in the 12 most used databases within corporate communication, organizational psychology, marketing, organizational studies, management, and business. A semiotic and relational approach was implemented as modus operandi.
Findings
The paper builds on the previous literature, clarifying labels and constructs and identifying a standard terminology to which future studies can refer in order to facilitate a multidisciplinary dialog along different disciplines.
Originality/value
To the authors' knowledge, this is the first review to take into consideration all of the seven constructs together and relate them within one framework. Moreover, it uses a novel approach in seeing “reputation” as an umbrella construct under which all the other constructs are grouped and included.
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Sara Cervai, Luca Cian, Alicia Berlanga, Massimo Borelli and Tauno Kekäle
This paper aims to present an innovative model to evaluate the quality of the learning outcome in vocational education and training (VET) considering a wide approach that…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to present an innovative model to evaluate the quality of the learning outcome in vocational education and training (VET) considering a wide approach that includes, in particular, stakeholders' expectations and perceptions.
Design/methodology/approach
The Expero model was implemented in various kinds of vocational schools and educational institutions in different European countries.
Findings
The model was validated through review by several international experts and by translation into a quality standard certification model.
Research limitations/implications
Expero needs a larger testing phase in non‐European countries to validate its appropriateness. Different vocational systems in non‐EU countries could enrich and widen the model in terms of transferability and sustainability as well as fostering cross‐educational requirements and needs that may impact the quality of the learning outcome. The Expero model is mainly dedicated to vocational education and, in its current form, is not suitable to be applied to other levels of education (i.e. primary or secondary). Meanwhile, it seems promising in terms of its application in higher education institutions, in workplace learning, and in continuous professional training.
Practical implications
Expero permits analysis of the quality of the learning outcome, which constitutes the prior mission of a school. Being dedicated to the vocational sector, Expero is based on stakeholder evaluation, including school personnel, trainees, industries, companies and external bodies interested in a school's results. Applying the Expero model, a school can analyse its strengths and weaknesses in a systematic way; strengthening – or even creating – a collaborative network with its stakeholders finalised in improving learning outcome.
Originality/value
Among the various opportunities a school has to perform a quality assessment (ISO 9000, EFQM, CAF), Expero is the first model focused on the quality of the learning outcome based on multi‐stakeholder data analysis.
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Luca Cian and Sara Cervai
In the literature, there is a lack of tools able to catch the symbolic dimension of the brand image, which go beyond rational and emotional dimensions. This paper aims to find and…
Abstract
Purpose
In the literature, there is a lack of tools able to catch the symbolic dimension of the brand image, which go beyond rational and emotional dimensions. This paper aims to find and test a new instrument, named “Multi‐Sensory Sort” (MuSeS).
Design/methodology/approach
MuSeS, a direct methodology of exploring the consumer's symbolic universe and the unconscious expectations, is composed of a set of projective techniques based on multi‐sensory stimuli.
Findings
The results showed how MuSeS allows one to collect in‐depth data, otherwise difficult to obtain through other kinds of surveys.
Practical implications
MuSeS is able to measure both the consumers' perceptions about the brand image concept (its potentials) and the characteristics that the customer wishes to find in the brand image (brand image future development).
Originality/value
Most of the tools created to investigate the brand image are based on questionnaires with attitude scales; this assumes that the brand image is a conscious and fully verbalized construct. The paper started from another assumption, trying to measure the non‐verbal and the unconscious brand image aspects, using instruments derived both from psychology and marketing.
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Stefano Bresciani, Alberto Ferraris, Marco Romano and Gabriele Santoro
The purpose of the study was to explore the purchase intention of online consumers by proposing and validating a model supported by exhaustive reviews from top-rated journals…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of the study was to explore the purchase intention of online consumers by proposing and validating a model supported by exhaustive reviews from top-rated journals, where digital technology, consumer privacy, consumer engagement and online advertising were the extracted constructs influencing consumer learning on digital platforms and finally evaluating the purchase intention of online consumers.
Design/methodology/approach
A questionnaire representing these constructs was then sent to the 470 respondents on LinkedIn, and then designations like business heads, managers and faculty from educational institutions were selected using a stratified sampling technique and, finally, PLS-SEM robust computation standards aided in research model assessment and validation.
Findings
Results predicted that the variance explained by individual independent constructs defines consumer privacy as a priority for companies, followed by online advertising, consumer engagement and digital technology while measuring the final purchase intent for online consumption. Also, with dynamism in consumer sentiments and a rapidly changing technological environment, the consumer’s digital behaviour may differ in the coming future in relation to their online purchase intent.
Research limitations/implications
Current research anticipates that the final online purchase intent of consumers has been vividly covered by our independent constructs, but an unexplained R2 of 31% still promotes prospects related to the existing research. Furthermore, India has a huge rural population that, with a lack of money, has a complex behavioural mindset due to religious issues.
Practical implications
It is important to note that in a real-time market, a better understanding of the duality of persuasive and smart technology and the evaluation of the performance of social media helps in deciding the final online consumer intent.
Originality/value
The need for digital transformation has become an essential necessity for companies while managing the expectations and needs of the fastest-growing online consumers.
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This study contributes to the literature on sexual harassment by explicitly modeling race as a significant predictor of sexual harassment in combination with gender and…
Abstract
This study contributes to the literature on sexual harassment by explicitly modeling race as a significant predictor of sexual harassment in combination with gender and occupation, rather than regarding each demographic characteristic (i.e. age, gender, race, marital status) as though experienced separately from all others. As represented in the larger literature on sexual harassment in the workplace, the female respondents in this study report more sexual harassment than men, though men do report sexual harassment. Moreover, the gender context (i.e., whether respondent’s occupation is predominantly female or male) of occupation makes a difference for both men and women. These results reveal that women are more likely to be reporting sexual harassment based upon demographic factors in the labor market and appear to be unaffected by labor force characteristics. The men, on the other hand, report more sexual harassment based upon occupational characteristics than demographic factors.
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Globalisation is generally defined as the “denationalisation of clusters of political, economic, and social activities” that destabilize the ability of the sovereign State to…
Abstract
Globalisation is generally defined as the “denationalisation of clusters of political, economic, and social activities” that destabilize the ability of the sovereign State to control activities on its territory, due to the rising need to find solutions for universal problems, like the pollution of the environment, on an international level. Globalisation is a complex, forceful legal and social process that take place within an integrated whole with out regard to geographical boundaries. Globalisation thus differs from international activities, which arise between and among States, and it differs from multinational activities that occur in more than one nation‐State. This does not mean that countries are not involved in the sociolegal dynamics that those transboundary process trigger. In a sense, the movements triggered by global processes promote greater economic interdependence among countries. Globalisation can be traced back to the depression preceding World War II and globalisation at that time included spreading of the capitalist economic system as a means of getting access to extended markets. The first step was to create sufficient export surplus to maintain full employment in the capitalist world and secondly establishing a globalized economy where the planet would be united in peace and wealth. The idea of interdependence among quite separate and distinct countries is a very important part of talks on globalisation and a significant side of today’s global political economy.
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