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Sammandrag Till en följd av den utmaning företag står inför när det kommer till att rekrytera och behålla anställda inom sin organisation har Employer Branding blivit en central del i företags strategiska prioriteringar. Studien syftar till att undersöka hur snabbväxande organisationer kan utforma sitt varumärke mot anställda för att skapa en attraktiv arbetsplats. En kvalitativ studie i form semistrukturerade intervjuer utfördes på det snabbväxande it-företaget IP-Only. Studien genomfördes på sex anställda på olika hierarkiska nivåer inom olika avdelningar för att skapa en generell uppfattning av organisationen i sin helhet. Resultatet visar att de värden som kan prioriteras när ledningen utformar sitt interna Employer Brand är främst stimulerande arbetsuppgifter, personlig utveckling, flexibilitet, uppskattning och delaktighet. Förutom att aktivt arbeta med och värna om personlig utveckling kan ledningen förmedla dessa värden genom internkommunikation och genomarbetade värderingar. Sociala aktiviteter och möjlighet till informellt umgänge på arbetstid är också av värde. Allt detta är viktigt för att framställa utveckling och förändring som något positivt i snabbväxande organisationer. Sammanfattningsvis behövs värden som uppfyller samtliga av de tre dimensionerna funktionella, ekonomiska och psykologiska inom Employer Branding för att de ska uppfattas som attraktivt för de anställda och för att organisationens EVP ska vara effektivt.

<p>Fierce competition for talents and asymmetric distribution of information are the</p><p>two main reasons that make employer branding necessary for knowledge intensive</p><p>companies. Why is this especially important for knowledge intensive companies?</p><p>These companies rely on an excellent base of human resources as the</p><p>employee is forming the perception of the client in terms of credibility, quality</p><p>and reputation. So how can you filter out and attract the best people? And are all</p><p>talents attracted by the same patterns? The idea of this research is, that as the</p><p>characteristics of employees cannot be determined in advance, it is important to</p><p>initiate a pre-selection by communicating a certain industry-image that functions</p><p>as a signal of expectations the company has. This signaling via external positioning</p><p>makes it easier for the prospect employee to select a job that fits to his/her</p><p>identity and reduces hopefully the number of applications the companies get</p><p>without decreasing the overall quality. The focus of this work lies on corporate</p><p>culture, its visibility in different processes and interactions and its importance in</p><p>the employee attraction process. The interrelations between involved constructs</p><p>like organizational identity, image and attraction are worked out and a framework</p><p>of external positioning is elaborated. The two participants on the market: high</p><p>potentials and management consulting companies are analyzed concerning their</p><p>needs and expectations from each other as employee and employer. The main</p><p>outcome of this work is three different possibilities for consultancies to position</p><p>themselves: efficiency, transfer of experience and creativity. They lead to different</p><p>communications strategies as they highlight different aspects of the work as a</p><p>consultant. Methodologically the interesting and demanding issue of this work is</p><p>the integration of organizational theory concerning organizational culture and</p><p>marketing theory regarding branding into one model.</p><p>The method used is reflexive and interpretative as it takes primary and secondary</p><p>data and the social constructions of the researcher into account and actively uses</p><p>it to construct something new.</p><p>The empirical data is gathered by a written questionnaire and the sample was limited</p><p>towards the biggest players in the consultancy industry namely A.T. Kearney,</p><p>Booz Allen & Hamilton, McKinsey & Company, Boston Consulting Group</p><p>and Roland Berger Strategy Consultants.</p>

Denna uppsats undersöker vilka faktorer som är viktiga för att en brandingstrategi ska fungera och attrahera rätt konsumenter. Uppsatsen använder sig av en fallstudie utav kläd-­ och inredningsmärket Gant för att analysera om de utvalda marknadsföringsbegreppen och teorierna fungerar när de används i en brandingstrategi. Empirisk data kommer från en djupintervju samt en enkätundersökning och analysen av insamlad data har genererat en schematisk förklaring som beskriver tre olika nivåer av påverkan av en konsument i ett brandingsammanhang. Den schematiska förklaringen är användbar för marknadsförare som söker få en bra uppfattning för vilka faktorer de ska fokusera på för att deras marknadsföringsstrategi ska lyckas.

Fierce competition for talents and asymmetric distribution of information are the two main reasons that make employer branding necessary for knowledge intensive companies. Why is this especially important for knowledge intensive companies? These companies rely on an excellent base of human resources as the employee is forming the perception of the client in terms of credibility, quality and reputation. So how can you filter out and attract the best people? And are all talents attracted by the same patterns? The idea of this research is, that as the characteristics of employees cannot be determined in advance, it is important to initiate a pre-selection by communicating a certain industry-image that functions as a signal of expectations the company has. This signaling via external positioning makes it easier for the prospect employee to select a job that fits to his/her identity and reduces hopefully the number of applications the companies get without decreasing the overall quality. The focus of this work lies on corporate culture, its visibility in different processes and interactions and its importance in the employee attraction process. The interrelations between involved constructs like organizational identity, image and attraction are worked out and a framework of external positioning is elaborated. The two participants on the market: high potentials and management consulting companies are analyzed concerning their needs and expectations from each other as employee and employer. The main outcome of this work is three different possibilities for consultancies to position themselves: efficiency, transfer of experience and creativity. They lead to different communications strategies as they highlight different aspects of the work as a consultant. Methodologically the interesting and demanding issue of this work is the integration of organizational theory concerning organizational culture and marketing theory regarding branding into one model. The method used is reflexive and interpretative as it takes primary and secondary data and the social constructions of the researcher into account and actively uses it to construct something new. The empirical data is gathered by a written questionnaire and the sample was limited towards the biggest players in the consultancy industry namely A.T. Kearney, Booz Allen & Hamilton, McKinsey & Company, Boston Consulting Group and Roland Berger Strategy Consultants.

Employer Branding, EB, är ett koncept inom marknadsföring som syftar till ett företags marknadsföring gentemot anställda. Konceptet grundar sig i att organisationer genom EB kan skapa ett attraktivt varumärke gentemot anställda för att sedan få dem att identifiera sig med det. EB syftar även till att skapa en trivsam organisationskultur. Detta ska resultera i att de anställda känner lojalitet gentemot företaget och därmed tenderar att stanna längre inom företaget. Tillämpning av detta koncept har i tidigare forskning visat sig gynnsamt då resultaten visar att anställda får en tillhörighet till och fortsätter att arbeta inom företaget. Tidigare forskning har skett inom yrkesbranscher där anställda har haft en trygg ekonomisk situation, exempelvis inom vården.   Problematiken i denna studie vilar på att det inom en helt provisionsbaserad yrkesbransch är det svårt för nyanställda att anpassa sig vilket ofta leder till att de slutar inom sitt första år i yrket. I denna studie utgörs denna bransch utav fastighetsmäklarbranschen och det fallföretag som studeras är SkandiaMäklarna. Studien syftar till att undersöka hur EB kan skapa tillhörighet och lojalitet gentemot företaget hos de nyanställda, och vad som motiverar dem att stanna kvar inom företaget, detta för att motverka tidiga uppsägningarna. Studien är deduktiv då vi avser att utgå från teorier om EB och motivationsfaktorer. För att få en djupare förståelse kring problematiken med att nyanställda slutar har det empiriska materialet samlats in via kvalitativa semistrukturerade intervjuer som genomförts med mäklare på olika kontor inom SkandiaMäklarna. Även personal från huvudkontoret har intervjuats för att få ett djupare perspektiv av problematiken.   Den slutsats som presenteras i denna studie beskriver att de faktorer som får en nyanställd som arbetar inom ett provisionsbaserat yrke att stanna kvar på sitt jobb är om denne känner sig trygg på arbetsplatsen samt känner en gemenskap med de andra inom företaget. Vidare drar vi slutsatsen att företag som tar trygghet och gemenskap i akt när de etablerar sin EB också skapar förutsättning för att öka antalet nyanställda som stannar hos företaget. I vår studie kommer vi också fram till att alla delar i skapandet av ett EB inte är lika viktiga. Utifrån vår slutsats kan vi även se att det för företag är viktigt att fokusera på vad målgruppen (de nyanställda) efterfrågar när det kommer till trygghet och gemenskap, samt att det är viktigt att besvara denna efterfrågan och att resultatet senare genomsyrar hela organisationen.

Titel: Employer Branding- En fallstudie om hur Landstinget Gävleborg uppfattas som arbetsgivare ur de anställdas perspektiv Syfte: Syftet med denna studie är att få en förståelse om hur arbetsgivare inom den offentliga sektorn och deras arbetsgivarvarumärke kännetecknas utifrån de anställdas perspektiv. Metod: Vår studie har utförts genom en kvalitativ metod eftersom syftet med uppsatsen handlar om att skapa en förståelse. Empiriskt material har samlats in genom semistrukturerade intervjuer med tio sjuksköterskor från Gävle Sjukhus. Utifrån vår teori har vi funnit teman som användes för att presentera empiri och analys. Dessa teman har valts för att skapa en röd tråd genom arbetet. Avslutningsvis presenteras slutsatsen som innehåller de resultat vi har funnit med studien.  Slutsats: Den slutsats vi kommit fram till är att vi upplever att Landstinget Gävleborgs arbetsgivarvarumärke har brister för att attrahera potentiell arbetskraft och bibehålla sin nuvarande. Vi har även sett tendenser att respondenternas svar i undersökningen överensstämmer med den teori vi presenterat om Generation Y. Uppsatsens bidrag: Studien visar på hur viktigt det är även inom den offentliga sektorn att ha ett starkt arbetsgivarvarumärke för att konkurrera om de bästa medarbetarna samt förståelsen om Generation Y:s värderingar och attityder till arbete.  Nyckelord: Arbetsgivarvarumärke, Employer Branding, varumärke, varumärkesvärde, varumärkes attribut

Ph.D. / Despite the extensive research undertaken in the subject area of services marketing, much is still unknown about services internal marketing, specifically internal marketing mix elements and how they affect brand awareness in services organisations. This study attempted to address this limitation. The study revolved around eleven internal marketing mix elements and their influence on brand awareness dimensions in the South African car rental industry. Services organisations of which car rental companies are an example play a vital role in South Africa’s economy, as services organisations contribute 74% to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Car rental companies like many other services organisations, are operating in a complex and extremely competitive environment. In order to attract and retain external customers, car rental companies need to focus on programmes to enhance their services delivery. Employees are the most valuable asset of an organisation, especially in the services environment. Internal marketing programmes aimed at employees are crucial to motivate them to improve service delivery to external customers. The four traditional internal marketing mix elements, namely internal product, price, promotion and place, as well as the three services internal marketing mix elements, namely internal people, process, and physical evidence are well known in product and services markets. However, this study contributed to the body of knowledge by adding four recent internal marketing mix elements, namely internal personal relationships, packaging, positioning and performance. Brand awareness refers to the strength of a brand’s presence in the customer’s mind. Awareness is measured according to the different ways in which customers remember a brand, ranging from recognition (exposure to the brand) to recall (what can be recalled vii about the brand) (Aaker, 2004:10). Brand awareness recall is associated with three dimensions, namely trustworthiness, overall evaluation and loyalty. In order to establish the influence of the eleven internal marketing mix elements on the brand awareness as perceived by the customers of selected car rental companies, an empirical investigation was conducted. The primary objective of this study was to determine the perceived influence of the different elements of internal marketing on the brand awareness as perceived by selected car rental customers in South Africa.

D.Phil. (Leadership in Performance and Change) / Many employees do not associate with their company's brand, because there is a gap between what they experience and perceive and what their company conveys about the brand. The external brand suffers as a result. Company leaders who fail to recognise the importance of internal branding and the need to align internal branding with external branding are primarily responsible for this. An initial literature review of the phenomenon led to the question of how the concrete experiences and views of managers of an organisation with regard to branding can be explored so as to develop a model of the alignment of internal and external branding. The question was answered by means of a study of managers of a South African organisation. The objectives were to use qualitative research to capture and unravel the experiences and views of the managers, to study the work of prominent scholars in the relevant study field in order to infer theoretical constructs and demarcate research findings that are relevant to understanding the managers' experiences and viewpoints, and finally to develop a model of branding that integrates the everyday experiences and viewpoints of the managers with the scholarly concepts. I opted for the modernistic qualitative approach, presented my research philosophy (ontology and epistemology) and key scientific beliefs (my position as to the use of literature and theory, and research ethics), and described the key decisions I took during the research process. The study was conducted in a leading South African motor retail company, which operates countrywide in more than 100 wholly-owned dealerships. Ten leaders of the company were interviewed, mainly during unstructured interviews, and detailed data were obtained. These data were complemented with observations, field notes, unsolicited essays and company documents. I used a computer-assisted qualitative data analysis software (CAQDAS) program, namely Nvivo 9, to assist me in sorting the comprehensive data set. I analysed the data with grounded theory's open, axial and selective coding. Altogether 36 themes regarding the company's branding and brand leadership emerged during open coding. With the aid of axial coding, the 36 open codes were grouped into 15 broad themes in the first round of axial coding, and consolidated into 6 core categories in the second round of axial coding. Having identified categories, properties and themes, I moved on to selective coding so as to find the core construct of the study, namely: the importance of the role of leadership in internal and external branding. Using Mouton and Marais's (1990) analytical "tools" to illuminate phenomena and Schutz's (1962) first-order and second-order constructs typology, I developed the Leadership and Brand Alignment Model (LBAM). More particularly, I integrated the first-order constructs (the participants' experiences and views) with the second-order constructs derived from theoretical discourse and research findings. The study contributes to theory by proposing the LBAM. Its methodological contribution lies in the application of grounded theory to create the model, being the first attempt of this nature in this field in South Africa. The successful use of Nvivo 9 instead of Atlas pi paves the way for the use of Nvivo 9 for data ordering and analysis in qualitative and grounded theory research in this country. In terms of a practical contribution, the study reiterates the need for synergy between the human resource department and the marketing department. The LBAM sheds light on the steps leaders should take to ensure that internal branding takes place in their organisations so as to produce satisfied customers. It also underscores that the responsibility for efficient internal organisational processes rests squarely on the shoulders of a company’s leaders. It is recommended that the LBAM be verified both in South Africa and abroad, that employees' views on company leaders' branding performance be explored so as to determine the success of branding, and that the relationship between brand performance, company performance and time be subjected to further research to establish how length of time impacts on brand and company performance. The validity of the employee-brand link and the suggestion that a brand is internalised when organisational socialisation establishes a fit between individuals' values and brand values should also be tested by further investigation.

Brands play an integral role in differentiating one company’s product or service from that of another. Brands are normally associated with big business however, brands are also critically important in small to medium enterprises (SME’s). SME’s play an important role in stimulating economic growth, job creation, poverty alleviation and the general improvement of living standards. The objective of this report was to gain a better understanding of what role branding plays during a SME’s start-up phase. The researcher’s objective was to answer four research questions by conducting in-depth face-to-face interviews with ten entrepreneurs. Research findings pointed out the impact and benefits of using network marketing. Respondents indicated that networking was the most prominent and effective means to create brand awareness, especially during the SME’s start-up phase. Word of mouth was also found to be an important component in the creation and establishment of a SME’s brand. Financing was shown to be a key prohibitor to brand establishment, respondents were unclear on the cost to benefit ration of investing in their brand. Lastly, results reflected the key role played by the entrepreneur in establishing the SME brand. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted