Aligning organizations along service brand values - an international perspective

• Applicant: Dr. Christine Vallaster
• Subject Area: Accounting and Finance
• Term: from 2004 to 2008
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 5443307

Internal brand building is about aligning employee behaviour with brand values. Both academics and practitioners acknowledge that employees are a critically important constituent of the service brand and are ultimately responsible for delivering its promise. The current literature does not fully answer the roles corporate structures and leadership should play encouraging employee behavior to reinforce the desired brand values. Corporate structures specify how an individual should behave and how decisions are to be made in a brand-consistent way. They contribute to coordination by ensuring that activities are carried out in a brand acceptable manner. Although organization theory makes a substantial contribution, structures may not be enough to integrate individual behavior, especially as the organization grows across globally. International expansion brings about increasing diversity of individuals as country culture enters the organization, influencing individuals' interpretation of structural conditions. Leadership has been identified as a crucial mechanism to enable translation of abstract formulated brand visions into realization. The focus of research is to identify the role of leadership, and corporate structure needed to support internal brand building in organizations that operate in an increasingly Keywords: internal brand building, services, corporate structures, leadership, country culture (ethnicity).

• DFG Programme: Research Grants