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O entendimento dos hábitos e necessidades dos consumidores é um elemento estratégico para a cadeia produtiva, mas o setor produtivo de carnes no Brasil ainda é carente de análises. Frente a esse desafio este trabalho busca caracterizar o perfil do consumidor da carne bovina da cidade de Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul – Brasil. Mais ainda, buscou-se definir os padrões de preferências e consumo destes consumidores, em função de diferentes espécies produtoras de carnes e cortes bovinos disponíveis no mercado local. Além disso, estimar a frequência de consumo da carne bovina, local de compra e quantidade em quilogramas comprada por semana relacionando essas informações com o perfil socioeconômico dos entrevistados. Os dados foram coletados através da aplicação de 1070 questionários nos principais parques, em dois períodos dos anos de 2011 e 2012. Os questionários foram divididos em dois blocos – primeiro com perguntas relacionadas à preferência e consumo das espécies de carne e o segundo com questões específicas sobre a carne bovina. A amostragem foi realizada pelo método survey quantitativo longitudinal e explanatório. Para as comparações entre preferência e consumo de espécies de animais produtores de carnes (tipo de carne) e dos cortes de carne bovina foram realizadas por Qui-quadrado com índice de concordância de Kendall pelo software SPSS 20.0. Para comparar as médias foi realizada uma análise descritiva dos dados e uma comparação entre as médias por Kruskall-Whallis também no SPSS 20.0. Para todas as análises, foi considerando nível de significância de 0,05. Os dados encontrados corroboram para os resultados de pesquisas já realizadas em Porto Alegre nos últimos anos. A população consume e prefere majoritariamente a carne bovina, sendo sua principal substituta é a carne de frango. A carne de peixe também se faz presente nos hábitos alimentares. A compra da carne bovina foi realizada principalmente em supermercados. O nível de renda e a instrução foram os fatores que mais influenciam na decisão de compra. Os cortes bovinos mais consumidos foram à alcatra, costela, carne moída e maminha, e os preferidos foram à picanha, costela, maminha, filé mignon, e alcatra. / Understanding the habits and needs of consumers is a strategic element in the supply chain, but the Brazilian meat industry still lacks researches. Therefore, this research aims to characterize the profile of beef consumers in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul – Brazil. Furthermore, it aims to define the standard of preferences and consumption of these consumers for different meats species and beef cuts available at the local market. In addition, estimate the frequency beef consumption, place of purchase and quantity in kilograms purchased for week, relating this information to the socioeconomic interviewed profile. Data were collected through the application of 1070 questionnaires in the main parks, in two periods of the years 2011 and 2012. The questionnaires were divided into two blocks - first with questions related to preference and consumption of meat species and the second with specific issues related to beef. The sampling was performed by longitudinal quantitative and explanatory survey method. To compare the preferences and consumption between meat species (type of meat) and beef cuts the Chi-square with Kendall concordance index was applied. To compare the means, a descriptive analysis and a Kruskal-Whallis were used. For all analyses were carried out in the SPSS 20, considering 0.05 significance level. The results corroborate with the previous researches carried in Porto Alegre in recent years. The consumers prefer beef meat, and it’s main substitute is the chicken meat. The fish meat is also present in eating habits. The purchase of beef was held mainly in supermarkets, and the income and educations levels were the factors that most influence the decision of buying power. The most consumed beef cuts were the rump, short ribs, ground beef e trip-tip, and the preferred cuts were top sirloin cap, short ribs, trip-tip, tenderloin and rump.

The purpose of this study is to identify the points-of-difference that should form the basis for Bryggarsalen’s future marketing efforts. Bryggarsalen is a newly established conference business in Stockholm. To be able to identify these points-of-difference, Bryggarsalen’s marketing problems have been studied from the resource-based view, claiming that the source of sustained competitive advantage derive from a firm’s unique bundle of resources. The study proceeded from the assumption that organizational embedded knowledge is a strategic resource that automatically is a source of sustained competitive advantage. In marketing terms we claim that this resource can be considered as a source for finding points-of-difference. However to be considered as points-of-difference, the organizational embedded knowledge must also be seen as valuable to target customer group. Therefore, this study starts by mapping Bryggarsalen’s and its parent company Studiefrämjandet’s organizational embedded knowledge. After that, the identified organizational embedded knowledge is matched with target customer needs. The method used to identify the organizational embedded knowledge is inspired by the technique for causal mapping. To identify target customer needs we have made a trend analysis of the Swedish conference market. Based on our findings following elements in Bryggarsalen’s access to organizational embedded knowledge can be considered as points-of-difference: Studiefrämjandet’s embedded knowledge regarding effective and interactive learning (folkbildningen); Studiefrämjandet’s embedded knowledge regarding keeping courses attractive; Martin Orchidéen’s embedded knowledge regarding cooking and UIf Cronheim’s embedded knowledge regarding event logistics.

In the service industry, human resource is the most vital and important component, because the positive appraisement of the service is usually based on the customer¡¦s orientation of the service provider. Thus, in order to instill employees with a sense of service and with enthusiasm, the organization needs to develop the internal marketing orientation. Additionally, manager should support customer service and demonstrates this ¡§service enthusiasm¡¨ in terms of organizational support. The concept of internal marketing was first reported in the area of service marketing. The initial concept came from the field of external marketing, which is based on the concept of treating employees as customers. The hope was to enhance employees' job satisfaction so as to further develop the sense of customer orientation of the members within the organization. Moreover, employee's customer orientation will influence customer service quality. In this research, author only focused on the front line employees in bank and transformed the concept of internal marketing into more management behaviors. This research uses quantitative research methods to explore the relationship between perception of internal marketing orientation and customer orientation. In empirical studies, the major findings are as follow: 1. author proposed an operational definition of the internal marketing orientation, and developed the scale. 2. author proposed a internal marketing orientation-customer orientation orientation model, which was empirical verified. 3. the relationship between the employee's customer orientation and customer service quality wasn¡¦t verified.

O entendimento dos hábitos e necessidades dos consumidores é um elemento estratégico para a cadeia produtiva, mas o setor produtivo de carnes no Brasil ainda é carente de análises. Frente a esse desafio este trabalho busca caracterizar o perfil do consumidor da carne bovina da cidade de Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul – Brasil. Mais ainda, buscou-se definir os padrões de preferências e consumo destes consumidores, em função de diferentes espécies produtoras de carnes e cortes bovinos disponíveis no mercado local. Além disso, estimar a frequência de consumo da carne bovina, local de compra e quantidade em quilogramas comprada por semana relacionando essas informações com o perfil socioeconômico dos entrevistados. Os dados foram coletados através da aplicação de 1070 questionários nos principais parques, em dois períodos dos anos de 2011 e 2012. Os questionários foram divididos em dois blocos – primeiro com perguntas relacionadas à preferência e consumo das espécies de carne e o segundo com questões específicas sobre a carne bovina. A amostragem foi realizada pelo método survey quantitativo longitudinal e explanatório. Para as comparações entre preferência e consumo de espécies de animais produtores de carnes (tipo de carne) e dos cortes de carne bovina foram realizadas por Qui-quadrado com índice de concordância de Kendall pelo software SPSS 20.0. Para comparar as médias foi realizada uma análise descritiva dos dados e uma comparação entre as médias por Kruskall-Whallis também no SPSS 20.0. Para todas as análises, foi considerando nível de significância de 0,05. Os dados encontrados corroboram para os resultados de pesquisas já realizadas em Porto Alegre nos últimos anos. A população consume e prefere majoritariamente a carne bovina, sendo sua principal substituta é a carne de frango. A carne de peixe também se faz presente nos hábitos alimentares. A compra da carne bovina foi realizada principalmente em supermercados. O nível de renda e a instrução foram os fatores que mais influenciam na decisão de compra. Os cortes bovinos mais consumidos foram à alcatra, costela, carne moída e maminha, e os preferidos foram à picanha, costela, maminha, filé mignon, e alcatra. / Understanding the habits and needs of consumers is a strategic element in the supply chain, but the Brazilian meat industry still lacks researches. Therefore, this research aims to characterize the profile of beef consumers in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul – Brazil. Furthermore, it aims to define the standard of preferences and consumption of these consumers for different meats species and beef cuts available at the local market. In addition, estimate the frequency beef consumption, place of purchase and quantity in kilograms purchased for week, relating this information to the socioeconomic interviewed profile. Data were collected through the application of 1070 questionnaires in the main parks, in two periods of the years 2011 and 2012. The questionnaires were divided into two blocks - first with questions related to preference and consumption of meat species and the second with specific issues related to beef. The sampling was performed by longitudinal quantitative and explanatory survey method. To compare the preferences and consumption between meat species (type of meat) and beef cuts the Chi-square with Kendall concordance index was applied. To compare the means, a descriptive analysis and a Kruskal-Whallis were used. For all analyses were carried out in the SPSS 20, considering 0.05 significance level. The results corroborate with the previous researches carried in Porto Alegre in recent years. The consumers prefer beef meat, and it’s main substitute is the chicken meat. The fish meat is also present in eating habits. The purchase of beef was held mainly in supermarkets, and the income and educations levels were the factors that most influence the decision of buying power. The most consumed beef cuts were the rump, short ribs, ground beef e trip-tip, and the preferred cuts were top sirloin cap, short ribs, trip-tip, tenderloin and rump.

O entendimento dos hábitos e necessidades dos consumidores é um elemento estratégico para a cadeia produtiva, mas o setor produtivo de carnes no Brasil ainda é carente de análises. Frente a esse desafio este trabalho busca caracterizar o perfil do consumidor da carne bovina da cidade de Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul – Brasil. Mais ainda, buscou-se definir os padrões de preferências e consumo destes consumidores, em função de diferentes espécies produtoras de carnes e cortes bovinos disponíveis no mercado local. Além disso, estimar a frequência de consumo da carne bovina, local de compra e quantidade em quilogramas comprada por semana relacionando essas informações com o perfil socioeconômico dos entrevistados. Os dados foram coletados através da aplicação de 1070 questionários nos principais parques, em dois períodos dos anos de 2011 e 2012. Os questionários foram divididos em dois blocos – primeiro com perguntas relacionadas à preferência e consumo das espécies de carne e o segundo com questões específicas sobre a carne bovina. A amostragem foi realizada pelo método survey quantitativo longitudinal e explanatório. Para as comparações entre preferência e consumo de espécies de animais produtores de carnes (tipo de carne) e dos cortes de carne bovina foram realizadas por Qui-quadrado com índice de concordância de Kendall pelo software SPSS 20.0. Para comparar as médias foi realizada uma análise descritiva dos dados e uma comparação entre as médias por Kruskall-Whallis também no SPSS 20.0. Para todas as análises, foi considerando nível de significância de 0,05. Os dados encontrados corroboram para os resultados de pesquisas já realizadas em Porto Alegre nos últimos anos. A população consume e prefere majoritariamente a carne bovina, sendo sua principal substituta é a carne de frango. A carne de peixe também se faz presente nos hábitos alimentares. A compra da carne bovina foi realizada principalmente em supermercados. O nível de renda e a instrução foram os fatores que mais influenciam na decisão de compra. Os cortes bovinos mais consumidos foram à alcatra, costela, carne moída e maminha, e os preferidos foram à picanha, costela, maminha, filé mignon, e alcatra. / Understanding the habits and needs of consumers is a strategic element in the supply chain, but the Brazilian meat industry still lacks researches. Therefore, this research aims to characterize the profile of beef consumers in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul – Brazil. Furthermore, it aims to define the standard of preferences and consumption of these consumers for different meats species and beef cuts available at the local market. In addition, estimate the frequency beef consumption, place of purchase and quantity in kilograms purchased for week, relating this information to the socioeconomic interviewed profile. Data were collected through the application of 1070 questionnaires in the main parks, in two periods of the years 2011 and 2012. The questionnaires were divided into two blocks - first with questions related to preference and consumption of meat species and the second with specific issues related to beef. The sampling was performed by longitudinal quantitative and explanatory survey method. To compare the preferences and consumption between meat species (type of meat) and beef cuts the Chi-square with Kendall concordance index was applied. To compare the means, a descriptive analysis and a Kruskal-Whallis were used. For all analyses were carried out in the SPSS 20, considering 0.05 significance level. The results corroborate with the previous researches carried in Porto Alegre in recent years. The consumers prefer beef meat, and it’s main substitute is the chicken meat. The fish meat is also present in eating habits. The purchase of beef was held mainly in supermarkets, and the income and educations levels were the factors that most influence the decision of buying power. The most consumed beef cuts were the rump, short ribs, ground beef e trip-tip, and the preferred cuts were top sirloin cap, short ribs, trip-tip, tenderloin and rump.

Being perceived as a sustainable brand by customers is becoming increasingly more important for companies. This has resulted in that more companies are communicating what actions they take to be more sustainable. Companies also utilize symbol and labels to signal suitability on products and services. As a result of insufficient regulations for how sustainability may and may not be marketed, customers are presented with a high number of exaggerated and false sustainability claims. Therefore, customers find it difficult to orient themselves among all the sustainability information. Also, companies are struggling to stand out and convince customers that theirsustainability information is true. In addition, it is difficult to change existing customer attitudes, which makes it difficult for companies that want to change negative perceptions of sustainability. To make it easier for customers to orient among all information, the EU Commission has developed new directives concerning greenwashing. However, this has further complicated the marketing and communication of sustainability, both internally and towards consumers. This study has examined success factors for signaling sustainability to be perceived as a sustainable brand by customers, as well as how to avoid greenwashing. The study was conducted using multiple-case studies in three different industries with a total of five respondents. The industries were transport, food producing companies and food retailer. Furthermore, three experts in brand strategy were interviewed. The study shows that companies can take initiatives internally as well as develop external signals related to sustainability in order to increase their perceived level of sustainability among customers. Internally, is it important that the company has sustainability as a natural part of the brand. If sustainability is streamed through the entire organization, the customer will perceive that the company possess a high level of sustainability. Furthermore, companies need to define what sustainability entails internally and establish ambitions and goals. Knowledge about society's and consumers' views and definition of sustainability is beneficial when sustainability is to be marketed. Also, it is important to be transparent about how sustainable the company actually is. With regard to the external signals,  storytelling proved to have a major impact on consumers' perception of sustainability. Sustainability information that is transparent is more likely to be perceived as authentic and has a positive effect on consumers' perception of sustainability. A larger number of decimals in numerical sustainability information can be perceived as more credible among consumers who are familiar with a company and less so among those who are unfamiliar. The use of third-party symbols and climate compensation should be seen as a complement, as it has less of an impact on consumers' perception of a company's sustainability. By creating a uniform definition, ambitions and goals around sustainability and transparently communicating it to everyone within the company, the risk for greenwashing will be reduced. Furthermore, it is important that all marketing of sustainability is reviewed by experts, for example through close collaboration between the sustainability department and the marketing department. / Att uppfattas som hållbara blir allt viktigare för företag. Följden av detta är att allt fler företag kommunicerar sina åtaganden för att bli mer hållbara. Företag applicerar även symboler och etiketter som ska signalera hållbarhet på produkter och tjänster. En konsekvens av bristen på tillräckliga regleringar för hur hållbarhet får och inte får marknadsföras är ett högt antal överdrivna och falska hållbarhetspåståenden. Konsumenter har därför svårt att orientera sig bland all information. Företag kämpar med att sticka ut och övertyga konsumenter om att information som berör hållbarhet är sann. Dessutom är det svårt att förändra befintliga attityder, vilket försvårar för de företag som vill förändra negativa hållbarhetsuppfattningar. För att underlätta för konsumenter har EU kommissionen utvecklat nya direktiv för greenwashing (grönmålning enligt EU kommissionen). Det har komplicerat marknadsföring och kommunikation av hållbarhet ytterligare, både internt och gentemot konsument. Denna studie har undersökt framgångsfaktorer för att signalera hållbarhet och därigenom uppfattas som ett hållbart företag av konsument, samt hur man undviker greenwashing. Studien genomfördes genom fallstudier med fem respondenter inom tre olika branscher. Branscherna var transport, matproducerande företag och dagligvaruhandel. Vidare intervjuades tre experter inom varumärkesstrategi. Studien visar att företag kan ta initiativ internt samt utveckla och effektivisera externa signaler som rör hållbarhet för att öka sin uppfattade nivå av hållbarhet hos konsumenter. Internt är det viktigt att företaget har hållbarhet som en naturlig del i företaget. Om hållbarhet genomsyrar hela organisationen ökar chansen för att konsumenter vid varje möte med företaget får en positiv hållbarhetsuppfattning. Vidare behöver företag definiera vad hållbarhet innebär internt samt etablera ambitioner och mål kring hållbarhet. Att ha samhällets och konsumenters syn och hållbarhetsdefinition i åtanke kan vara gynnsamt när hållbarhet ska marknadsföras. Det är också viktigt att vara transparant internt med hur hållbart företaget är. Vad gäller de externa signalerna visade sig storytelling kunna ha stor inverkan på konsumenters hållbarhetsuppfattning. Hållbarhetsinformation som är transparent har större sannolikhet att uppfattas som autentisk och påverkar konsumenters uppfattning av hållbarhet positivt. Ett större antal decimaler i numerisk hållbarhetsinformation kan uppfattas som mer trovärdigt bland konsumenter som är bekanta med ett företag och mindre bland de som är nya. Användandet av tredjepartssymboler och klimatkompensation bör ses som ett komplement, då det har mindre inverkan på konsumenters hållbarhetsuppfattning av ett företag. Genom att skapa en enhetlig definition, ambitioner och mål kring hållbarhet och transparant kommunicera det till samtliga inom företaget så minskar det risken för greenwashing. Det är dessutom viktigt att all marknadsföring av hållbarhet granskas av experter, förslagsvis genom nära samarbete mellan hållbarhetsavdelning och marknadsföringsavdelning.

A great deal of attention has been devoted by researchers to examine different aspects of the relationship between marketing orientation (MO) and competitive advantage, mostly within causal relationship style research. However, the mechanisms and intermediate variables underlying this relationship remain vague and poorly investigated. Drawing upon mixed method research utilising qualitative and quantitative techniques, this study aims to offer further insight into this relationship within Jordan’s telecommunications market, focusing on customer satisfaction and customer retention as two prominent performance indicators in this market. Hence, this research set out to investigate the mechanisms and interrelationships that link marketing orientation and organisational performance, the issue that seems to be highly justified in the matured and competitive market where consumers have more choices, switching cost are decreasing and retention of the market base is becoming more and more difficult. As a case study undertaken in Jordan’s telecommunications market, the main four telecommunications operators in the market were represented. Quantitative data analysis was used to determine the variations between the main operators in the market regarding their adopted levels of marketing orientation. On the other hand, the qualitative technique - namely semi-structured interviews - represents the main instrument the study utilises to gain an in-depth insight into the relationship between marketing orientation (MO) and organisational performance. This qualitative tool enabled the researcher to construct a rich picture of the mechanisms and ways by which firms manage the different attitudinal dimensions of customer satisfaction and the behavioural dimensions of customer retention. Results of the research confirm significant variations between high- and low-marketing orientation telecommunications operators with regard to the approaches, drivers and mechanisms by which firms manage their capabilities to achieve customer satisfaction and customer retention. Thus, two different patterns were indicated which were associated with the adopted level of marketing orientation of these firms. The most important finding to come out of the research was that genuine marketing orientation is an integrated attitudinal-behavioural perspective. Hence, any deficiencies or even ignoring of any aspect will weaken a firm’s overall value creation capability, the main mission of the marketing-oriented firm. In addition, internal culture emerged as a critical success factor for marketing-oriented firms. It serves as the glue that ensures a firm’s values are adhered to, and also allows a clearer understanding of a firm’s vision and mission, which in turn resulted in the fact that these firms are more capable to translate their attitudes into practice on the ground. Moreover, the role of marketing orientation was substantial as it worked as a supportive environment that stimulates a firm’s capabilities to integrate and coordinate its resources and competencies into new ones in such a way as to enhance its overall performance as well as to achieve congruence with the changing business environment. The importance of this research stems from its nature and approach in studying the relationship between marketing orientation and organisational performance. The main issue being evaluated is different from the bulk of marketing orientation works that have focused on examining different aspects of marketing orientation and organisational performance within causal relationship-style research, and mostly within a short-run view. In contrast, this study is concerned with gaining in-depth understanding of this relationship through evaluating its mechanisms and interrelationships, the aspect that was treated as a black box in prior research.

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