Introducing bi-directional participatory place branding: a theoretical model with multi-stakeholder perspectives

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Varsha Jain ◽  
Preeti Shroff ◽  
Altaf Merchant ◽  
Subhalakshmi Bezbaruah

Purpose A place brand is a culmination of its exclusive history, people and traditions that affect customer and community experiences. Place branding has become increasingly important for collective heritage brand strategy, as stakeholders undertake efforts to create an aura of a distinctive geographic location. Though place branding has received considerable scholarly attention, there is a lacuna: the role of residents as co-creators of a place and its heritage. Accordingly, this paper aims to develop a “bi-directional participatory place branding” model by applying the stimulus–organism–response approach grounded theory. Design/methodology/approach A grounded theory approach with multi-sited ethnography, personal interviews (with residents and city leaders) and observational techniques were adopted in a UNESCO world heritage city of India, Ahmedabad. Findings The findings indicate that the people (residents) aspect of place branding is associated with their life stories, past experiences, feelings and aspirations. However, the place acts as a nostalgia enabler, disseminating symbolic and heritage metaphors to residents and visitors as place brand ambassadors. When the place and people components are perceived positively, residents participate involve themselves with the place and thus, in turn, become the place ambassadors. Originality/value No prior studies have analyzed the association between residents, the place where they reside and the resultant behavior toward the place. The unique contribution is the bi-directional participatory place branding model, especially involving a UNESCO world heritage city rather than solely a site.

2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 99-114
Author(s):  
Roderikus Agus Trihatmoko ◽  
Roch Mulyani ◽  
Intan Novela Q.A.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is twofold: detecting, describing and providing a detailed understanding on the essence of buyer responses on the channel capability in deciding new product purchase; and describing the effectiveness of new product innovation related to the channel capability. The new product innovation intended here is an outcome of the brand strategy created by the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) manufacturer. Design/methodology/approach This research applies qualitative method and uses grounded theory approach and pragmatism interpretation, which are focused on FMCG. The approach chosen in research is grounded theory and pragmatism, parallel to the previous phenomenology and constructivism approach; therefore, the main data for this study use transcript records of the results of in-depth interviews in the field of study. Findings The research showed the following results: the channel capability aspects (warehouse space, shelf space and customer coverage) are the essence of buyers’ responses; construction of business buyer behavior and economic mechanism; the effectiveness of new product innovation; and channel capabilities of selling products. Practical implications The results of this research have some implications: developing the concept of business buyer behavior in a new-task purchase situation; expanding the micro-economic system of trading sector; and expanding the concept of marketing mix strategy. Originality/value Some of the theoretical implications are the originality of this research paper; therefore, the constructs will be described theoretically in order to provide practical understanding in some contexts of business importance.


2015 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 187-205 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marta Herezniak ◽  
Justyna Anders-Morawska

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe and analyse a process for developing indicators of effectiveness for the city brand strategy. Design/methodology/approach – A single-case study method is used as the analytical approach. The proposed indicators of effectiveness were developed in cooperation between the municipal government of a large, post-industrial Polish city and representatives from academia. Findings – The paper addresses three important considerations to be taken into account by city managers when they seek to develop criteria for measuring the effectiveness of branding: links between tangible and intangible effects of brand implementation; spillover effects that sectoral strategies such as those aimed at urban renewal have on the city brand and vice versa; and the adoption of a threefold temporal regime whereby the effects of projects that contribute to the brand strategy are measured in the short, medium and long term. Research limitations/implications – The proposed approach offers a useful point of departure for place managers for the design of place brand strategy evaluation systems. The study is limited to the case of a single city. Practical implications – The merger of brand management and public management perspectives re-evaluates the existing attempts to measure place brand strategy effectiveness. The new approach stimulates place authorities to consider multiple perspectives on the methods and instruments of measurement. It also implies the organisational shift where a number of units from the city hall coordinate their efforts to contribute to the assessment of the brand strategy. Social implications – A more systematic approach to measurement of place brand strategy effectiveness can be used to increase the level of legitimacy of brand-related activities in the eyes of internal stakeholders and to increase the level of professionalism among the public officers responsible for effectiveness measurement. Originality/value – Theoretical considerations and the practice of place branding alike tend to give insufficient attention to criteria for measuring the effectiveness of place-branding strategies. This paper concentrates on the process of translating general strategic objectives into specific, measureable and time-bound operational indicators. The combination of theoretical insights into place branding together with public management grounds this approach in the administrative environment in which local authorities work.


2015 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 90-102 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janne Lindstedt

Purpose – The paper aims to address a neglected issue in the literature on place brand co-creation, namely, the strategic planning of the branding process. Furthermore, the paper demonstrates the benefits of a deliberately emergent strategy. Design/methodology/approach – A qualitative case study focusing on Turku, Finland, supports the development of the argument. In this study, branding of Turku is examined both during the European Capital of Culture 2011 (ECoC) project and after it. Findings – The contribution of the ECoC 2011 project – which was widely perceived as a success – to Turku’s brand was based on a deliberately emergent strategy. Afterwards, the local government has, however, chosen a different approach to branding. Research limitations/implications – Given the increasing popularity of brand thinking among practitioners all over the world, it would be meaningful for scholars to pay more attention to the application of brand co-creation in place branding strategies. Practical implications – The deliberately emergent branding strategy could be considered an approach to applying the idea of brand co-creation in practice. It enables local stakeholders to make their voices heard and results in increased credibility of a branding process. Originality/value – Place brand co-creation has not yet been examined from strategic planning’s point of view. The need for this kind of examination is apparent, because branding strategies have traditionally been based on the idea of static place identity. The Turku case helps to propose a solution in terms of the notion of deliberately emergent branding.


2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 337-364 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arjya Chakravarty ◽  
Jyotsna Bhatnagar

Purpose Gender inequality is a critical economic challenge. A need to conceptualize and understand gender-based issues is of utmost importance to frame policies and processes for healthy workplaces. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach This study attempts to capture the nuances of “gender diversity” issues at the Indian workplace from a grounded theory perspective by highlighting the viewpoints of women leaders and their organizations in the Indian context. Findings The findings reveal certain important themes. Indian organizations which have eliminated stereotyping and sex typing (stereotypical categorization of people according to conventional perceptions of sex) in roles and have implemented gender neutral policies and processes have become preferred employers and achieved better business results. Research limitations/implications The study has proposed a linkage framework (Figure 1) and has suggested ways to understand an organization’s gender imbalance and lack of gender leadership with factors in the micro and macro environment. Organizations may use this model to gain perspective and adapt and invent policies and processes to have more gender diversity at workplace, for sustainable business results. Organizations should deepen their understanding of how “engendering leadership” should be embedded into the macro, micro and meso levels of an organization. Practical implications Organizations that have created gender neutralism by procreating a performance and talent-driven culture find themselves creating positive business results. This was made possible by involving all stakeholders in the efforts to remove and negate gender myths and biases. A false sense of complacency, by creating rules and policies which were never implemented in spirit, proved to be detrimental. Social implications This research attempts to investigate gender diversity’s coherence with the other features of the broader social context. Originality/value To gain perspective of how this phenomenon is manifested in reality in the Indian organizations, the authors conducted a qualitative study to gain deep immersed insights. This research has attempted to contribute and enrich the literature on gender leadership using a grounded theory approach. None of the earlier gender-related studies have applied grounded theory as a methodology.


2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 247-273 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arpana Rai ◽  
Upasna A. Agarwal

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the process of workplace bullying in Indian organizations from the victims’ perspective. Design/methodology/approach The study adopted the grounded theory approach and centered on the participants’ experiences, interpretations, and reactions toward bullying. In total, 23 self-reported victims formed the sample of the study. Data from interviews were analyzed using the coding procedure of grounded theory methodology. To enhance the validity of results, in addition to interviews, member checking technique was also used. Findings The study revealed that the process of workplace bullying in Indian organizations can be broadly explained in four sequential phases: exposure and confusion over mistreatment; making attributions; utilizing options within the organization; and adjustment with the current situation. The findings highlight the importance of sense-making, the social support network, complexity of coping behaviors, silence motives of employees as well as negative and nourishing effects of workplace bullying. The role of culture is visible in the bullying dynamics. Research limitations/implications The study examined bullying from the victims’ perspective; however, perpetrator and bystanders’ perspective would have added interesting insights into the findings. Practical implications The findings point toward the rhetoric of HRM practices in Indian organizations. A well formulated and implemented anti-bullying policy will reduce the rhetoric of HRM practices in Indian organizations. Originality/value The present study contributes to the limited literature on the process of workplace bullying by exploring the process in a new national context (India).


2018 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 491-512 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yoo Jin Kwon ◽  
Kyoung-Nan Kwon

Purpose The purpose of this study is to understand the values consumers pursue and roles consumers partake in selfie practice. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative research method was adopted. In-depth interviews were conducted with selfie enthusiasts. Data were analyzed with grounded theory approach. Findings Diverse activities and reflections pertaining to selfies were analyzed, which uncovered three consumer roles departmentalized and the nine values that selfie practice generates for consumers. The three roles are subject, photographer and user of selfies, and the roles are orchestrated together or selectively performed if necessary. In consequence of the interplay of performances and expectations of the roles, consumers pursue and gain four collaboratively created values and five individually created values. Originality/value Findings of the study expand the understanding of values of selfie practice and consumer roles in Web 2.0.


foresight ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rajasshrie Pillai ◽  
Shilpi Yadav ◽  
Brijesh Sivathanu ◽  
Neeraj Kaushik ◽  
Pooja Goel

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the use of Industry 4.0 (I4.0) technology and its barriers in human resourcemanagement (HRM) for Smart HR 4.0 and its impact on HR performance. Design/methodology/approach The research has been conducted using the grounded theory approach. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 122 senior HR officers of national and multi-national companies in India after the extensive literature review. NVivo 8.0 software was used for the analysis of the interview data. Findings I4.0 technology is used for HRM functions by HR professionals. It is revealed that Smart HR 4.0 that emerged from the I4.0 technology has leveraged the HR performance. It is also found that usage barriers, traditional barriers and risk barriers affect the use of I4.0 technology in HRM. Originality/value A model is developed using the grounded theory approach for HR managers to understand the impact of I4.0 on HRM. This study reveals the barriers affecting the use of I4.0 technology in HRM. It also provides the model for HR performance that emerged through the use of I4.0 technology in HR and Smart HR 4.0. The research delivered key insights for the HR professionals, marketers of HR technology and technology developers.


2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (5) ◽  
pp. 338-352 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seth Porter

Purpose This paper analyzes project and portfolio management within a major research library, while it was undergoing a complete physical renovation and reinvention of programs and services. This is a complex, almost 100-million-dollar undertaking that implemented a project management (PM) methodology known as portfolio management. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the implementation and management of this process and provide a brief overview on project and portfolio management as a discipline. Additionally, it provides strengths and weaknesses as well as recommendations when implementing PM. Design/methodology/approach The analysis uses a qualitative research methodology case study with a theoretical foundation of inductive grounded theory. The case study is based primarily on seven interviews of project managers who are involved with the project. It also uses document analysis to assist in triangulating the findings and provide a contextual overview of a complex process. A number of themes emerged into overall categories and findings. Findings The key takeaways were the perceived strengths and weaknesses of the process. The strengths were improved communication and transparency, improved organization and documentation and formal decision-making process and resource allocation. The weaknesses were the hammer and the nail problem, the tools and paperwork, rigidity and the lack of agility within the process. This study also describes the process in detail and gives recommendations for improving the methods implemented in similar circumstances. Originality/value This paper analyzes strategic management concepts from an empirical grounded theory approach and real-world perspective with key recommendations.


2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 347-363 ◽  
Author(s):  
Narcís Bassols ◽  
Thomas Leicht

Purpose This paper aims to analyze the case of Cartagena, Colombia, as a case of a failed destination branding. It also broadens the findings by connecting them to the extant literature about place branding, thus making this paper more explanatory. It tries to fit the fieldwork’s findings into the two main streams of branding research (bottom-up vs top-down). This paper also gives practical insights into the destination’s network of stakeholders and discusses ways to improve the destination’s management and branding. Design/methodology/approach This paper uses a mixed methodology approach. Field work consisted of online questionnaire to hospitality employees in the city plus semi-structured interviews conducted with 18 “expert” stakeholders in the destination. This paper is of empirical nature. Findings The main cause of the destination’s brand failure is found to be the top-down approach to the place brand strategy. The literature shows that cases such as this one are more common than assumed, and a possible way out of the problem is the application of bottom-up or “mixed” approaches, as these may circumvent the problems found. Research limitations/implications Cases like this one illustrate very well a local context but might be difficult to transfer to other contexts, so the generalization power of this paper is limited to similar places in the sociopolitical sense of the term. Practical implications For place branding practitioners and destination management organizations , this paper is a call for participative approaches which include all of the stakeholders of a place. Originality/value This paper offers an in-depth study of a branding case in Latin America, a part of the world relatively unexplored in the branding literature. On the basis of the presented case, this paper pitches top-down versus bottom-up approaches. Finally, it explains the findings by connecting the place to its broad geographical context.


2019 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 331-347 ◽  
Author(s):  
Komal Chopra

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to understand motivation of young consumers to use artificial intelligence (AI) tools such as chatbots, voice assistants and augmented reality in shopping by generating Vroom’s expectancy theory of motivation using grounded theory approach.Design/methodology/approachGrounded theory approach has been used to develop the Vroom’s expectancy theory. Initially data were collected through participant interviews using theoretical sampling. These data were analyzed and coded using the three step process, i.e. open coding, axial coding and selective coding. The categories created during coding were integrated to generate Vroom’s expectancy theory of motivation.FindingsThe findings indicate that Vroom’s expectancy theory of motivation can be used to explain motivation of young consumers to use AI tools as an aid in taking shopping decisions. The motivation may be intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation or force choice motivation. Expectancy represents the ease of using the tools, instrumentality represents competence of tools in performing desired tasks while valence represents satisfaction, rewarding experience and trust in using of tools.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings of the study are based on grounded theory approach which is an inductive approach. Alternate research methodologies, both inductive and deductive, need to be employed to strengthen the external validity and generalize the results. The study is limited to shopping motives of young consumers in India. A comparison with other consumer motivational studies has not been done. Hence no claim is made regarding the advantage of Vroom’s theory over other motivational theories.Practical implicationsThe study has strong implications for retailers in developing countries which are seen as an emerging market for retail and have introduced AI tools in recent years. The Vroom’s expectancy theory will help retailers to understand consumer motivation in using AI tools or shopping.Originality/valueVroom’s expectancy theory to understand consumer motivation to use AI tools in shopping was generated using the grounded theory approach.


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