The profession of public relations has suffered negative associations and connotations as far as its role and practice are concerned. Alongside these, there are theories put forward within the field suggesting ways that could be used to assist public relations practitioners to become more successful in serving their organisations, marketing their organisation’s corporate image as well as reversing public relations’ negative legacy which has long existed as suggested by Steyn and Puth. This treatise argues that the real situation of the practice of public relations, its roles and the successes of PR practitioners in marketing the corporate image of their organisation might differ from what theories proposed. Thus this study seeks and intends to correlate what has been theorized with current practice in the profession. In addition, this study reflects and corroborates public relations practitioners’ roles in marketing the corporate image of organisations within the proposed new strategic role and through the existing traditional roles as compared to theory. Finally, this study also helps establish required changes to the traditional roles of the practitioners with the aim of reflecting the current situations in the existing selected organisations. In order to achieve the objectives of this study, the views and perceptions of public relations practitioners and managers of selected organisations were examined through a survey by questionnaire. This data was then analysed to determine their roles in marketing the corporate image of organisations in terms of the new strategic role and through the existing traditional roles as compared to theory. The sample included public relations practitioners and chief executive officers of Goodyear Tyre and Rubber Holdings (Pty) Ltd , Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality and Transnet National Ports Authority. The findings seem to support the hypotheses of the study in concluding that: The strategic roles identified in theory such as the solution around the myth and allegory of success in the practice and profession of public relations might not be realised in current practice, and Public relations practitioners’ effectiveness in marketing the corporate image of their organisations is affected by the way their roles are perceived within organisations. It is the hope of the researcher that, the findings of this investigation will set foundations for further research on the assessment and estimation of the practice of the public relations practitioners in marketing the corporate image of organisations.

El presente artículo analiza las prácticas de gestión comunicacional de crisis en tres grandes empresas de servicios: Telefónica del Perú, clínica San Pablo y el restaurante de comida rápida Kentucky Fried Chicken. Con sede en Lima, todas experimentaron diferentes situaciones de crisis. Hemos analizado la difusión pública que concitó estos hechos que recoge tanto la descripción de los hechos de crisis como la forma en que las empresas respondieron a las crisis. Asimismo, hemos observado las lecciones aprendidas que nos dejó el manejo de las crisis desde el punto de vista de la comunicación. La recolección de información sobre los hechos se hizo durante los meses de agosto, setiembre, octubre y noviembre del año 2014. El análisis se basó en la difusión de las crisis (noticias) en los medios masivos y se complementó con entrevistas sobre el tema a los encargados de comunicación en las empresas mencionadas. El principal hallazgo de este trabajo es la identificación de las respuestas esenciales (estrategias) que deben acompañar a una gestión efectiva de crisis y determinar cómo estas respuestas ayudan a la continuidad del negocio. / Trabajo de investigación

The thesis deals with the topic of image of a travel agency. The corporate image represents an important success factor for every company, rather that there is a strong competition as in the case of the Czech market of travel agencies. The paper shows results of several surveys, objective of which was to explore particular factors that influence image of a selected travel agency.

The master thesis deals with the topic of Corporate Social Responsibility and its impact on corporate image. The theoretical part of the thesis defines the concept of CSR and the environment of a company that CSR activities relate to. Subsequently, the thesis is concerned with corporate image and on the example of several studies in this area is examining the relationship between corporate social responsibility, company's image and purchasing behavior of consumers. The next chapter is focused on communication of socially responsible activities, as accuracy and efficiency of corporate communication may influence perception of corporate image and consequently customer's purchase intention. The next section analyzes the diverse portfolio of socially responsible activities of the Bosch Group that the author got to know thanks to an opportunity of a one year internship at this company. The Bosch CSR program represents an example of consistently planned CSR activities that are a part of a long-term corporate strategy. The last chapter of the thesis includes an own survey, in which the author focuses on the consumers' knowledge about the concept of socially responsible behavior, about trends in development and in particular about its effect on firms' image and purchasing behavior of customers. Results of the survey are compared with related surveys and studies.

Thesis is focused on corporate identity with accent on corporate design. It describes roles and relationships among particular components of CI. More detailed is aimed at corporate design. Practical part of thesis describes redesign process and presents results of research on this theme.

This thesis collects the information about concrete trademark and its marketing activities. By using the detailed analysis of Quiksilver Company its image and marketing communication the thesis indicates the importance of building a strong brand and shows how far can marketing goes. It includes analysis of the company´s image and marketing tools used by Quiksilver, through available documents and questionnaire survey. The main objective of this thesis is to capture the image of Quiksilver brandon the Czech market. The final section includes the evaluation of actual actions on the examined market and the provision of suggestions for improvement.

M.Com. (Industrial Psychology) / The main objective of this study was to establish whether Generation Y job seekers consider the ethical reputation of organisations in their job-seeking endeavours. Further objectives were to identify whether job seekers from this generational group would, despite their preferences, consider working for any organisation that 1) is prepared to provide them with employment, or 2) offers competitive financial remuneration. A quantitative research study was conducted, utilising a self-developed questionnaire, labelled the Organisational Choice Indicator (OCI). Due to the inherent difficulty of obtaining unbiased responses on sensitive topics, the questionnaire measured respondents’ responses from two perspectives —self-report and non-self-report. The questionnaire was administered using a sample of convenience at a South African-based university (n = 1 992). Exploratory factor analysis was conducted, using principal axis factoring with direct oblimin rotation to facilitate interpretation. One reliable factor was extracted, containing the eight ethics-related items included in the questionnaire, and was labelled Ethical reputation. Three other (non-ethics-related) reliable factors were extracted, namely Organisational characteristics, Opportunities and benefits, and Transformation. Findings show that, although ethical reputation is a factor for consideration, the Opportunities and benefits factor has the highest mean score, and is thus considered more important than any of the other factors when making organisational choices. The analyses of variance showed that the respondents who indicated that they will consider the organisation's ethical reputation as a factor in their decision-making, in turn also admitted that they will work for any organisation that offers them employment. This could be due to the high levels of job scarcity leading to survival ethics. Furthermore, those individuals who indicated that they would consider the ethical reputation of the organisation in their job-seeking endeavours, later indicated that they will not work for any organisation purely because the pay is good. This indicates that these individuals will not work for any organisation, regardless of the financial package being offered, without considering the ethical reputation of the organisation. The four factors that were reliably extracted (Ethical reputation, Organisational characteristics, Opportunities and benefits, and Transformation) were significantly positively inter-correlated. In addition, the findings indicate that respondents tend to respond in a similar manner when reporting on the self and on the non-self.

Bakgrund: Både plattformsstrategi och företags hållbarhetsarbeten är områden som ärintressanta för dagens företag och för framtidens strategi. Tidigare forskning behandlarbland annat hur plattformsstrategi ska implementeras, vilka konkurrensfördelar ellerproblem som medkommer strategin. Samtidigt finns det mycket forskning om hur CSRdefinieras, hur CSR-aktiviteter kategoriseras och analyseras, och hur företag generelltjobbar med det. Plattformsstrategi har visat sig medföra en bristande kontroll överföretagens kundupplevelser, vilket kan bidra till en negativ påverkan på derasföretagsbild. Därför är det intressant att belysa om och hur företag med plattformsstrategianvänder CSR för att väga upp för den bristande kontrollen över kundupplevelser somstrategin medför. Syfte: Syftet med studien är att belysa om och hur företag med plattformsstrategianvänder CSR som ett verktyg för att väga upp för strategins bristande kontroll överkundernas upplevelser. Metod: Studien har genomförts med en flerfallsstudie genom en kvalitativ metod med eniterativ ansats. Då studien ämnar förstå och sedan beskriva på ett detaljerat sätt hur ettfåtal företag med plattformsstrategi arbetar med CSR har ett fenomenologiskt perspektivutgjort den filosofiska utgångspunkten. Den empiriska datan har insamlats genom femsemistrukturerade intervjuer samt en dokumentstudie. Slutsats: Företag med plattformsstrategi arbetar med CSR på ett sätt som skiljer sig frånföretag utan en sådan strategi. CSR används för att väga upp för den svaga kontrollengenom att ha kundinriktade, kommunikativa och ekonomiska incitament bakom de CSRaktiviteter som utförs. / Background: Both platform strategy and CSR are areas that are interesting for today’scompanies and the future strategy. Former research is mainly about how platform strategyshould be implemented, which competitive advantages or which problems that comeswith the strategy. At the same time there are lots of research about how to define CSR,how CSR-activities are categorized and analyzed, and how companies in general workwith CSR. Platform strategy has shown to entail lack of control of the companies’customer experience, which could contribute to a negative impact on their corporateimage. Therefore, it is interesting to enlight if and how companies with platform strategyuse CSR to weigh up for the lack of control of customers experience that the strategyentail. Purpose: The purpose of the study is to examine if and how organizations with platformstrategy use CSR to weigh up for the lack of control of the customer experience thatcomes with the nature of the strategy. Methodology: The study was executed with a multiple-case design through a qualitativemethod with an iterative approach. Study aims to understand and describe in detail howorganizations with platform strategy use CSR, hence a phenomenological approach hasbeen the philosophical perspective. The empirical data has been collected through fivesemi-structured interviews and a document study. Conclusion: Organizations with an applied platform strategy use CSR in a way thatdiffers from organizations with other types of strategies. CSR is being used a way toweigh up for the lack of customer control by having customer-oriented, communicativeand financial incentives behind their CSR-activities.

Thesis (Ph. D. Commerce (Accounting)) -- University of Limpopo, 2016 / The purpose of this study was to determine the factors which spur corporate green investment practices amongst firms listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE). The data were sourced from companies’ annual sustainability reports over a period of five years (2010 to 2014) and were subjected to content analysis. This quantitative study adopted a multiple case research approach as it examined all 100 South African CDP companies listed on the JSE. Data analysis was conducted using Chi-Square tests, together with Phi and Cramer’s V tests. The findings indicate that legislation influences the corporate green investment practices of JSE listed firms as do corporate image, profitability and environmental consciousness. Legislation, corporate image, profitability and environmental consciousness showed a significant relationship with the green investment practices of JSE listed firms. Furthermore, the number of JSE listed firms which supported each of these variables as a factor which promoted firm green investment practices steadily increased during the period 2010 to 2014. This study makes a modest contribution to knowledge by suggesting a framework to understand corporate green investment practice in JSE listed firms based on the study’s findings and a review of the literature. Arising from this framework, suggestions are made for further research to scrutinise how a combination of the four determinants of firm green investment practice could influence corporate eco-efficiency, firms’ engagement in green operations and markets, corporate environmental compliance and the incorporation of environmental performance measures in corporate performance measurement systems. KEY CONCEPTS: Environmental legislation; Corporate image; Profitability; Environmental consciousness; Green investment practices;Environmental legislation JSE listed firms.

Brand loyalty is seen as a repeat purchase and also the ability to recommend services or products. Telecommunication service providers require loyal customers to stay in business. The current thesis examines the impact of how brand function and corporate image create loyalty in North America, Europe, and Africa's telecom service providers. The researcher employed an anonymous online survey in Africa, Europe, and North America. A total of 971 responses were received. Using Partial Least Square regression analysis, the research examined the relationship between the variables: Brand Function, Corporate Image and Loyalty. The study found that brand function and corporate image has a significant positive effect on customer satisfaction. In addition, the research used machine learning algorithm to model the best prediction for consumer recommendation of products and services through their telecommunication service provider to friends and family. / School of Computing / M. Sc. (Computing)