In the presence of globalization countries increasingly implement various initiatives associated to branding to effectively compete in the global market of capital, labour and knowledge. Most of these initiatives are focused on external markets – they are designed to attract foreign investors, tourists, talented people, etc. However, scientists increasingly emphasize the internal audiences’ importance, efforts to involve internal audiences in the process of country branding has recently emerged also in practice. Nevertheless, it was noted that the concept of internal country branding has not yet been established, its logic has not yet been explained, inconsistent use of definitions has been dominated and therefore it is suggested that the conceptualization and modelling of internal country branding is a relevant research problem. In this dissertation the internal country branding was approached from different perspectives. Results of the analysis of scientific literature on the country and internal branding allowed formulating an initial understanding about the concept of internal country branding. In order to provide solid empirical backgrounds for the conceptualisation and modelling expert and internal audiences’ opinion survey as well as analysis of the context related to internal branding created by the countries and spread in the internet were implemented. Summarizing the results a conceptual model of internal country branding was constructed. The model explains the... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Globalizacijos akivaizdoje vis daugiau valstybių imasi su ženklodara susijusių iniciatyvų siekdamos efektyviau konkuruoti pasaulinėje kapitalo, darbo ir žinių rinkoje. Dauguma tokių iniciatyvų yra orientuotos į išorines rinkas – jos skirtos pritraukti užsienio investuotojus, turistus, talentingus darbuotojus ir pan. Vis dėlto, įvairius valstybės ženklodaros klausimus nagrinėjantys mokslininkai vis dažniau akcentuoja ir vidinių auditorijų svarbą, pastangos vidines auditorijas įtraukti į vietovės ženklodaros procesą pastaruoju metu ryškėja ir praktikoje. Nepaisant to, pastebima, jog valstybės vidinės ženklodaros samprata dar nėra nusistovėjusi, nepaaiškinta jos logika, nenuosekliai vartojamos sąvokos, todėl teigiama, jog valstybės vidinės ženklodaros konceptualizavimas ir modeliavimas yra aktuali mokslinė problema. Šiame disertaciniame darbe valstybės vidinės ženklodara nagrinėjama iš keleto perspektyvų. Išanalizavus mokslinę literatūrą valstybės ir vidinės ženklodaros tematika suformuluota pradinė valstybės vidinės ženklodaros samprata. Konceptualiajam modeliavimui tvirtesnius pagrindus suteikė atlikti empiriniai ekspertų ir valstybių vidinių auditorijų nuomonės bei valstybių kuriamo su vidine ženklodara susijusio konteksto virtualiojoje erdvėje tyrimai. Apibendrinus tyrimų rezultatus sudarytas konceptualusis modelis, aiškinantis valstybės vidinės ženklodaros logiką ir pagrindinius elementus. Remiantis sudarytu modeliu atliktas Lietuvos Respublikos vidinės ženklodaros... [to full text]

Branding is a widely researched and discussed area, but the focus tends to be aimed towards business-to-consumer (B2C) companies rather than business-to-business settings (B2B). Brands per se used to be seen as the visuals belonging to an organization, but there has been a shift in meanings and it now includes perceptions and recognition of a brand - both internally and externally. Internal branding refers to company efforts to influence their employees to live the brand, which is explained as the organizational and managerial efforts to infuse enthusiasm into the employees in order for them to perform their best and to feel connected to the brand and the corporate values. This study focuses on internal branding, more specifically the managerial efforts taken to influence employees. In order to fulfill the purpose, we conducted a multi-case study with eight in-depth semi-structured interviews with two companies. The results show that if an organization and managers have the possibility to connect corporate brand identity and brand values with internal activities, the employees are more likely to show brand commitment, which in turn leads them into living the brand. However, incorporating such activities can be difficult due to various reasons, such as financial limitations, but it was found that managers who are involved and continuously engaging with their employees have a higher probability of making employees live the brand, than the managers who do not have an ongoing dialogue with staff members. Furthermore, it was apparent that internal communication should be a cornerstone of every business’ daily operations as it is a useful internal branding tool, seeing that it can have an impact on the way employees are understanding the brand.

Studiens övergripande syfte var undersöka de effekter internal branding processer, intern kommunikation och organisationsutbildning, hade på lärares organisatoriska engagemang inom en svensk kommun. Studien byggde på en kvantitativ enkätundersökning. Skalorna intern kommunikation, organisationsutbildning och organisatoriskt engagemang tillämpades för att mäta de olika variablerna genom två enkäter som utvecklades av Pswarayi (2013). Skalorna översattes från engelska till svenska och kontrollerades av fem deltagare för att försäkra att översättningen till svenska var korrekt. Urvalet för studien bestod av N=90 deltagare (62 % kvinnor, 36 % män, 1 % icke binär och 1 % av deltagarna ville ej uppge könsidentitet), vilka valdes ut genom ett målinriktat bekvämlighetsurval. Resultatet visade att organisationsutbildning och intern kommunikation korrelerade signifikant med organisatoriskt engagemang. Organisationsutbildning hade en positiv prediktion på lärares organisatoriska engagemang medan intern kommunikation hade en negativ icke signifikant prediktion på lärares organisatoriska engagemang. Organisationsutbildning var således den studerade kommunens interna process som predicerade lärares organisatoriska engagemang.

Bakgrund: För att bygga ett starkt varumärke krävs det att det interna varumärket genomsyrar hela organisationen. För att lyckas med detta måste företagen arbeta med sitt interna varumärke vilket innebär att de skall behandla sina medarbetare som sina interna kunder. Det krävs att företagen arbetar med sin organisationskultur och vision för att säkerhetsställa att medlemmarna i organisationen har en enhetlig uppfattning. För att lyckas med detta krävs det även att organisationen har en väl fungerande intern kommunikation. Tidigare studier belyser att det är viktigt för företag att arbeta med sitt interna varumärke, däremot finns det brist på tidigare forskning kring området franchisebolag och hur ledningen arbetar med det interna varumärket. Dessutom finns det väldigt lite forskning kring hur medarbetarna uppfattar det interna varumärket och hur det leder till engagemang. Syfte: Syftet med studien är att undersöka hur ledningen arbetar med det interna varumärket i ett franchisebolag samt hur detta uppfattas av medarbetarna. Metod: Studien utgår från en deduktiv ansats och genom en kvalitativ forskningsstrategi genomfördes totalt nio semistrukturerade intervjuer med ledare och medarbetare inom organisationen. Det insamlade empiriska materialet analyserades med hjälp av en tematisk analys.  Slutsatser: Studien visar att franchisebolaget inte har en uttalad strategi för det interna varumärket. Trots detta har företaget lyckats att skapa en enhetlig syn på företagsvarumärket genom en organisationskultur och vision som medlemmarna kan identifiera sig med. Ytterligare en slutsats är att organisationskulturen och visionen har en direkt påverkan på medarbetarnas engagemang som uttrycks genom begrepp som gemenskap, tillit och öppenhet. Dessutom kan den interna kommunikationen ses som ett nyckelverktyg för franchisebolaget och deras framgång för att engagera medarbetarna. / Background: To build a strong brand, it is necessary for the internal brand to involve the entire organization. To succeed in this, companies must work on their internal brand, which means treating their employees as their internal customers. Companies need to work on their organizational culture and vision to ensure that members of the organization have a unified understanding. To succeed in this, it also requires a well-functioning internal communication within the organization. Previous studies highlight the importance for companies to work on their internal brand, however, there is a lack of previous research on franchise companies and how the management deals with the internal brand. In addition, there is a lack of research on how employees perceive the internal brand and how it leads to engagement. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate how the management works with the internal brand in a franchise company as well as how this is perceived by the employees Method: The study is based on a deductive approach and through a qualitative research strategy, a total of nine semi-structured interviews were conducted with leaders and employees within the organization. The collected empirical material was analyzed using thematic analysis. Conclusions: The study finds that the franchise company does not have a pronounced strategy for the internal brand. Despite this, the company has managed to create a unified view of the corporate brand through an organizational culture and vision that members can identify with. Another conclusion is that the organizational culture and vision have a direct impact on employee engagement expressed through community, trust, and openness. In addition, internal communication can be seen as a key tool for the franchise company and their success in engaging employees.

Problemformulering Den befintliga forskningen om vad som motiverar anställda att leva upp till varumärkeslöftet är ostrukturerad. Forskare använder olika nämnare för att beskriva vad som motiverar anställda men det saknas forskning som sammanställer och ger en strukturerad bild av ämnet. Därför är det nödvändigt att systematisera nämnarna för att strukturera den befintliga forskningen. Syfte Syftet med studien är att systematisera de nämnare som driver anställdas motivation att leva upp till varumärkeslöftet. Forskningsfråga Hur kan nämnarna som driver anställdas motivation att leva upp till varumärkeslöftet systematiseras? Metod Studien består av en tvärsnittsstudie av anställdas motivation att leva upp till varumärkeslöftet. Det genomfördes en kvantitativ undersökningsmetod där kvantifierbar data samlades in med hjälp av enkäter. Slutsats För att strukturera befintlig forskning framkom det att nämnarna kunde systematiseras till de fyra faktorerna självständighet, delaktighet, ledarskap och bekräftelse. Det är dessa fyra faktorer som systematiserar de nämnare som leder till anställdas motivation att leva upp till varumärkeslöftet.

Syfte: Syftet med studien är att undersöka förhållandet mellan internt varumärkesbyggande och personal som arbetar på distans. Detta för att hjälpa företag att identifiera utmaningar vid internt varumärkesbyggande vid distansarbete. Genom att identifiera utmaningar ämnar studien att bistå företagen vid internt varumärkesbyggande. Forskningsfrågor: 1. Vilka utmaningar finns det vid internt varumärkesbyggande när personalen sitter på distans? 2. Hur bygger företaget det egna varumärket internt när personalen sitter på distans? Metod: I denna studie har åtta semistrukturerade intervjuer genomförts för att samla in empiri. Våra respondenter har sen tidigare en bred kunskap om varumärket och har därför valts ut som lämpliga respondenter. Ett hermeneutiskt synsätt har genomförts för att kunna tolka samt förstå internt varumärkesbyggande vid distansarbete. Studien har genomförts med en kvalitativ forskningsmetod och en induktiv ansats. Slutsats: Våra respondenter har ett väletablerat internt varumärke och det har varit en bidragande faktor till ett lyckat distansarbete. Företag bör bygga upp ett starkt internt varumärke för att lättare kunna implementera distansarbete i sitt företag. Studiens resultat visade även att det finns flertalet utmaningar när det kommer till att bygga internt varumärke när personal sitter på distans. Därav har en egen modell tagits fram för att tydliggöra dessa utmaningar och vi har även identifierat viktiga faktorer som kan underlätta vid internt varumärkesbyggande vid distansarbete. / Purpose The purpose of the study is to investigate the relationship between internal branding and personnel who teleworks. The study aims to help organizations identify challenges and solutions in internal brand building in teleworking. Reserch question The purpose of the study is to investigate the relationship between internal branding and personnel who teleworks. The study aims to help organizations identify challenges and solutions in internal brand building in teleworking. Method Eight semi-structured interviews were conducted to collect empirical data. Our respondents have previous knowledge of the brand and have therefore been selected as suitable respondents. A hermeneutic approach has been implemented to be able to interpret and understand internal brand building in teleworking. The study was conducted with a qualitative research method with a mixture of inductive and deductive approach. Conclusion Our respondents have an established internal brand and this has been a contributing factor to successful teleworking. Companies should build up a strong internal brand to iii more easily implement teleworking in their organization. The study's results also showed that there are several challenges when it comes to building an internal brand when having personnel who are at a distance. Hence, a separate model has been developed to clarify these challenges and we have also identified important factors that can facilitate the internal branding of teleworking.

Authors: JoAnna Caster & Dana Linnes Tutor: Setayesh Sattari Title: Internal Branding in Multinational Firms- A Gap Analysis of Internal Stakeholder Perceptions Background: As globalization increases, the topic of internal branding has grown in popularity, particularly as a way for firms to secure a competitive advantage in the global marketplace. The topic is quite new however, and there are many aspects that have not been fully explored, including the influence of internal stakeholder perceptions on a firm’s internal brand and related support activities. Purpose: The purpose of this research study is to 1) identify whether a gap exists between employee and manager perceptions of a firm’s internal brand and internal branding activities and 2) investigate the influence of a firm’s country of origin on those perceptions. Delimitations: The study was limited to only medium and large sized firms that have international operations. Additionally, only internal stakeholders were included in the study and the research was limited to respondent’s perceptions, and not necessarily the actual internal brand and related supporting processes or structures. Method: The research was qualitative and data was collected via 24 in-depth interviews of managerial and non-managerial employees at 10 medium and large sized firms. The data was then analyzed using a pattern-matching technique. Conclusions: Perceptions of both managerial and non-managerial employees did not indicate significant gaps, however there seemed to be an unclear understanding of what an internal brand is and what respondent’s firm’s internal brand represents. Also, the country of origin did not have a significant influence on those perceptions, as most respondents indicated that they perceived their firm’s internal brand as primarily “global.” Keywords: internal branding, internal brand, international marketing, marketing strategy, stakeholder perceptions, internal marketing orientation, human resource management, country of origin

Syfte: Syftet med denna studie är att skapa förståelse för hur ledningen i tjänsteföretag praktiskt arbetar med att internt kommunicera företagets kärnvärden, vision och företagskultur med hela organisationen. Metod: Empirisk data har samlats in genom intervjuer och studien omfattas därför av kvalitativ ansats. Semistrukturerade intervjuer har genomförts med respondenter på fyra olika fastighetsmäklarföretag. Datainsamlingen har sedan analyserats genom en abduktiv analysmetod med inspiration från A well grounded theory. Resultat & slutsats: Resultaten i denna studie visar att det främst handlar om att få alla i organisationen att leva företagets identitet i vardagen. För att lyckas med det använder sig företagen av olika kommunikationskanaler, utbildningar och inspiration, så som föreläsningar och tävlingar. Viktigt är också att ledningen uppträder föredömligt och att budskapen i varumärket genomsyras i alla företagets aktiviteter. Förslag till fortsatt forskning: Vi föreslår att framtida studier kan riktas mot tjänsteföretags uppföljning av dess interna varumärkesarbete. Ytterligare ett förslag är att studera effekterna av det interna varumärkesarbetet utifrån de anställdas perspektiv då tidigare forskning tyder på att de anställda kan uppfatta varumärket på olika sätt. Uppsatsens bidrag: Då det saknas empiriska studier rörande internt varumärkesarbete anser vi att vårt bidrag med denna studie är at vi har skapat förståelse för hur ledningen i tjänsteföretag kommunicerar företagsidentiteten internt inom organisationen. Vi har heller inte funnit någon tidigare studie som inriktat sig på det interna varumärkesarbetet enbart inom fastighetsmäklarföretag och anser därför att vi har bidragit med kunskap till denna bransch. / Aim: The purpose of this study is to create an understanding of how management in service companies work practically with the internal communication of the company's core values, vision and culture of the entire organization. Method: Empirical data were collected through interviews and therefore subject to the qualitative approach. Semi-structured interviews have been conducted on four different real estate brokerage firms. The collected data is then analyzed by an abductive method of analysis inspired by A well grounded theory. Result & Conclusions: The results from this study shows that it’s mainly about getting the organization to live the corporate identity in the everyday life. In order to succeed with this, companies is using different communication channels, training programs and inspirational activities, thus lectures and competitions. It is also important that the management appears admirably, and that the message of the brand is imbued in all corporate activities. Suggestions for future research: We suggest that future studies can be dedicated to how corporate brands monitoring its internal branding. Another proposal is to study the effects of internal brand building based on employees' perspective, as previous research indicates that employees may perceive the brand in different ways.Contribution of the thesis: Since there is no empirical studies related to internal branding, we believe that our contribution of this study is that we have created an understanding of how management in service companies communicates corporate identity internally within the organization. We have neither found any previous study that focused on the internal branding work exclusively in the real estate brokerage firm, and therefore believe that we have contributed knowledge to this industry.

The aim of this study is to investigate employees in knowledge-intensive organizations' intentions to stay in their workplace and to see if organizational culture and internal marketing activities have an effect to reduce voluntary staff turnover.There are several factors which affect employees' intentions to leave or stay in their current work position. The result of this study shows initially that there needs to be some form of agreement between the employee's and the employer's values, needs or vision of the future. Factors that may make an employee in a knowledge-intensive organization want to leave might be that the individual does not feel safe, does not have trust or confidence in their leader or colleagues. It can also be due to the individual not feeling that he or she is growing in his or her job role, has career opportunities or that he or she feels locked in and controlled in their tasks. Internal marketing activities and organizational culture are two factors that knowledge-intensive organizations can work with to become a more attractive employer and reduce voluntary staff turnover. Internal marketing activities are an initiative that in this study proved to have a positive effect on employee well-being, motivation, commitment and loyalty to the organization. Knowledge-intensive organizations that work with initiatives to promote internal marketing activities and organizational culture create good conditions for their staff to thrive better, get an attractive employer brand and lower involuntary staff turnover. In conclusion, it was found in this study that transformative leaders have the leadership qualities that are described as most desirable and sought after in knowledge-intensive organizations.

Service firms increasingly need to rely on other attributes than traditional quality and performance of their service employees to become and stay truly competitive. Strong brands are essential for differentiation in today's marketplace and it becomes naturally important to align the customer contact employees with the company brand to ensure consistency in all communication externally. For a service firm employee to fully enact the brand and display on brand behavior outwards it is pivotal to make them truly committed to the brand and organization. Internal branding processes have been shown to be an enabler of employee commitment to the organizational brand. While internal branding is stated to have a connection to commitment, the concept as such is according to Meyer & Allen (1991) constituted by three dimensions, normative, affective and continuance commitment. The bulk of the existing research has so far focused on internal branding and commitment as a single construct and not these dimensions. Much of this research is in addition limited to a few service sectors.The aim of this study was to determine the components of internal branding in order to clarify the relationship between internal branding and brand commitment of customer contact employees. The empirical investigation was conducted in the retail sector from the perspective of the customer contact employee by the use of a self-completion questionnaire measuring the affective commitment of the employees and the presence of the internal branding activities. The conceptual model for the study shows hypothesized positive relationships between the four internal branding activities and affective commitment. However, while all internal branding activities were significantly present, only three of these were found to have a significant positive relationship to affective commitment, excluding internal communication.The conclusions of this study gives managers of customer contact employee’s insights about how to enable affective commitment through the use of internal branding. Our results show that brand oriented training, recruitment and leadership all have a significant impact on affective commitment of customer contact employees. Although they had similar Beta values, brand oriented leadership showed a slightly higher predicting power indicating that leadership can play a greater role regarding the affective commitment of customer contact employees.