Thesis (M.M. (Strategic Marketing))--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, Graduate School of Business Administration, 2015. / Corporate rebranding has been a topic of study for many years, as exemplified in the work of scholars such as Rosenthal (2003), Simms and Trott (2007), Abratt and Kleyn (2012), and Muzellec and Lambkin (2006). Despite the high level of academic interest in researching corporate rebranding, there has been an overwhelming bias towards its effects on consumers within developed markets. Although the fact that many prior studies have been conducted on corporate rebranding and employee engagement, there is scant research on emerging markets, such as in South Africa. These previous studies did not adopt the Saks (2006) employee engagement model in an emerging market context to investigate the effects corporate rebranding can have on employee engagement in an emerging market context.
The chosen case studies are a talent measurement company that underwent a corporate rebranding process in 2011, as well as an advisory company that also went through rebranding in 2013. The two companies fall within the same industry, thus the choice of a single embedded case study. Since the research aims to explore “the how and why”, a qualitative research method was found most fitting.
The analysis was based on data collected during 26 in-depth interviews with senior managers, consultants, supportive staff, and marketing professionals. Data from the interviews were analysed using an open-code method in which eight key themes were identified. The researcher triangulated the data collected from the primary interviews, as well as secondary sources such as staff internal drafts, eComms, Q&A sheets, brochures, flyers, and media reviews.
The results of Company A (SHL), revealed that not all employees understood the reason for corporate rebranding. Senior levels of management and consultants seemed to understand that the reason for the rebranding was to reposition SHL and combine two companies following a merger with PreVisor. In Company B (EY), the results revealed a similar level of understanding behind the reasons for corporate rebranding. Managers understood the reasons for corporate rebranding as an opportunity to gain new markets and reposition EY.
ii
According to the cross-case analysis compared to the Saks model of engagement, the corporate rebranding exercise had a positive impact on organisational commitment and organisational citizen behaviour. In terms of intention to quit, a corporate rebranding exercise is more likely to reduce intentions to quit. It was also established that there was no direct impact on job satisfaction due to the SHL and EY corporate rebranding.
An unexpected outcome of the research was that during uncertain times of change, such as corporate rebranding, employees with strong loyalty to the brand are more inclined to stay with the brand and see the change through. This loyalty is rooted deeper than the current state of employee job satisfaction and engagement levels and more inclined to the company’s brand. The other interesting outcome was that a corporate rebranding exercise can ignite employees’ spirits and create a positive organisational culture, which is more likely to increase work efficiency and productivity. Even though the research could not link corporate rebranding to job satisfaction, the other contracts of the Saks model, which includes organisational commitment, intention to quit and organisational citizenship behaviour, could be directly linked.
Therefore, the outcome of the research identified the reasons for the companies to go through corporate rebranding exercises; namely to reposition the companies and gain new markets. In light of the second research question, which referred to the effects of corporate rebranding on employee engagement, the research revealed that in line with the Saks model of engagement, certain aspects of engagement are enhanced by corporate rebranding and others, just as job satisfaction, have no impact at all. At the end of the study, research implications, limitations, and areas for future research are suggested. / DM2016
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:wits/oai:wiredspace.wits.ac.za:10539/21120 |
| Date | January 2015 |
| Creators | Xaba, Thulisile Nosipho |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | application/pdf |
Page generated in 0.005 seconds