Upplevelser av "Employer Branding" : En kvalitativ fallstudie av anställda hos BA

Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka hur medarbetarna på BA (fiktivt namn) upplever organisationens interna Employer Branding-arbete samt att belysa de aspekter som eventuellt skiljer strategi mot upplevelse. Det gjordes ett målinriktat urval av organisation medan valet av deltagare var ett slumpmässigt urval vilket resulterade i åtta respondenter (n= 8). Studien var en kvalitativ fallstudie med ett psykologiskt angreppssätt och innehöll en ostrukturerad intervju som tillsammans med dokumentation utgjorde intervjuguiden för den primära datainsamlingen genom åtta semistrukturerade intervjuer med medarbetarna. Fördelningen av urvalet var fyra kvinnor och fyra män med varierade yrkesroller inom en bemanningsdivision. Både den ostrukturerade intervjun och de semistrukturerade intervjuerna analyserades med hjälp av analysmetoden tematisk analys. Studiens resultat visade att BA:s interna Employer Branding och medarbetarnas upplevelser i stora drag överensstämde. Värderingar och interna karriärmöjligheter var centrala aspekter som både organisationen och respondenterna belyste. 

CSR Communication - An Employee Perspective : Tailoring Internal Communication using Employee Preferences for Content, Style and Channel.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) represents a theory and practice that is well-known and communicating its content has shown to play an important role in order to exploit its advantages and engage stakeholders on CSR issues. Even though, CSR communication has shown to be a real challenge, since corporations are encouraged to engage in CSR, but not to communicate too loud about this engagement. This study was inspired by Jenny Dawkins (2005) and her initial idea that tailoring CSR messages by exploring stakeholder preferences for content, style and channel, would solve the communication challenge. One stakeholder group that corporations are highly dependent on is employees and exploring their preferences for CSR communication became the purpose of this thesis: to understand employee preferences for style and channel within the content of CSR. This was of specific interest, since existing research on CSR communication has mainly been centered around financial and external issues on the expense of internal. In addition, the idea of a tailored approach has not gained any interest in research so far, and a possible explanation might be its diffuse meaning, a problem this thesis has addressed. In order to understand employee preferences for internal CSR communication, a qualitative case study research was conducted with in-depth interviews, observations and exercises at site. A total of 20 interviews were arranged in order to collect primary data during a one week prolong engagement at the case. The empirical findings from the respondents’ answers were then transcribed and analyzed using both inductive and theoretical thematic analysis. Based on the findings, the authors of this thesis contribute with two models that help practitioners to understand how to best communicate about various CSR content to employees. The first model developed suggests an implementation of the tailored approach for content, style and channel, and demonstrates a relationship between nature of content and constraint recognition. Also, the model explains how practitioners can provide CSR explanation in order to reduce skepticism and enable endorsement processes where employees communicate CSR to third parties. To show a more dependent relationship between how changes in nature of content and constraint recognition affect employee preferences, the authors created the "CSR Communication Grid". The authors made a theoretical contribution by clarifying and providing a framework for the tailoring approach as initially developed by Dawkins (2005). Additionally, the authors managed to draw a relation between Public Relations (PR) and CSR by referring models of PR to communication styles, which filled this gap in previous research.

International Branding Strategies : In Swedish and Russian Fashion Companies

There are a lot of different business strategies for any company. However, in the fashion industry, the best way to become successful is to develop the brand using special branding strategies. Hence, a brand is the main weapon for fashion companies, which helps to launch international market and to create loyal customers around the world. Nowadays, due to the difficult current political situations and the collapse of oil and the dollar a lot of companies in different industries have to change their business strategies. It is especially true for fashion companies, because they depend on consumers ' income and their purchasing power. In the case of the fashion industry, branding strategy development can be more effective, than just business strategy. Hence, this thesis discusses the following problem: What branding strategy should Russian and Swedish fashion companies choose in order to build a strong brand and enter the international market.  The purpose of this thesis is to analyze various branding strategies of Russian and Swedish fashion companies during the process of entering foreign markets. At the end of this thesis, practical contribution in their process of international branding strategy creation will be discussed. In order to answer research questions more broadly and accurately, the mixed research method, using quantitive and qualitative study through interviews and survey was chosen. Semi-structured interviews were made with the CEO and brand managers of Russian and Swedish fashion companies. Moreover, the survey was made with two different questionnaires: for Russian and for Swedish customers. In the case of qualitative research, the author found that fashion companies from Russia and Sweden have got not just some features and differences, but also common aspects. The primary data from interviews allowed the author to understand the specifics of brand management in the fashion industry. It was found, that there are some useful aspects in Swedish strategies, which can be used by Russian companies to develop their brands on the international market. In the case of quantitative research, preferences of consumers from Russia and Sweden were analyzed and also some features were identified. Survey results provided the author with a common understanding about purchase habits, attitudes and perceptions to fashion brands. According to these, some hypothesizes, which are formulated in the first part of the thesis, have been proven or disproven. It was found, that preferences of Russian and Swedish people are pretty the same, however Russian customers do not like to risk with new brands and prefer well-known and trusted brands while Swedish customers are open for any brand, which can satisfy their tastes.