break leaders. It is important to communicate wisely and never consider it a weakness to ask for help. When a person is too proud to ask for help it sows the seeds of failure early as when they cannot ask for help or advise when it is really needed, either emotionally or symbolically as a way to save face, they lose their ability to act and implement change or strategy, as well as losing integrity and ability to inspire at one stroke. Not only does everyone start somewhere, but no one ever stops learning and expanding in experience and knowledge. Sometimes we may feel wise and capable but be able to be stunned at the most simple of insights. Know what is going on and stay in touch. Not only within your team, but in the company, your clients, your suppliers and the general world around you. Be proactive. Oddly enough some individuals love or loathe this word. It means being aware and acting against possible problems and also to make possible opportunities into real opportunities.Vital components an individual must inculcate; A positive attitude towards, and belief in the organization. Innovation and creativity in furthering the organization’s objectives. 4.6 Being accountable for their own performance. Understanding the importance of their contribution and role in the organization. Accepting ownership of problems and responsibility for solving them- To actively seek opportunities to enhance knowledge and experience- Be respectful of, and helpful to, colleagues and able to openly discuss problems and issues.Effective corporate branding requires all company employees to adopt and behave according to a companys set of core values. Thus, strong corporate brands are associated with employees who are closely aligned with the core corporate values. Values are especially important as they are at the core of the corporate brand, are critical to how service brands differentiate themselves, and can inspire behavioral changes, motivation and commitment. 4.7 ADVERTISING AND CORPORATE IMAGE In an increasingly competitive marketplace, greater emphasis is being placed on brand image development as the basis for consumer discrimination. Advertising has a central role to play in developing brand image, whether at the corporate, retail or product level. It informs consumers of the functional capabilities of the brand while simultaneously imbuing
4.8 the remuneration package (not always provided by the employer)- further details and from application forms may be sought Image Advertising:It is a type of marketing that attempts to improve the companys reputation or increase theacknowledgment of its importance in relation to its competitors. This ad educates the public aboutthe companys leadership and market position in an attempt to show the company as a primaryreason a particular industry is prospering or beneficially impacting consumers. Opinion, or Advocacy, Advertising:This corporate advertising is primarily concerned with influencing public opinion on issues ofimportance to the company. The ad is educational, and may not even mention the company in amajor way.Its role is to implement product flow through the channels of distribution; to act as a catalyst inacquainting the consumer and to induce him to buy the product. Advertising is a device ofpersuasive communication through which a prospective industrial buyer becomes aware of thecompany and its product. Through the awareness or knowledge thus acquired the buyer showsinterest or liking for the product and finally makes purchases at least on basis. One may then saythat the ultimate purpose of advertising is to create sales which of course depends on the functionalrelationship between communication (through advertising messages) and sales.dvertising as a tool that aids in increasing demand for a product and, thus opens the way for largescale production at lower cost which ultimately passed on to the consumers in terms of lower pricethey pay for the product. Also, it increases the variety and quality of good offered, stimulatescompetition in technical progress, subsidizes the press and television services and thus, helps inproviding employment.What makes a good advertisement?Determine who the target market is – ratepayers, residents, community groups, stakeholders,visitors or others.Use a strong headline which clearly indicates what the advertisement relates to. If room permits,mention a benefit or make the headline newsworthy.John Caples, author of “Tested Advertising Methods”, has analysed the top ten most commonly usedwords in successful headlines. They are:-You Your How New WhoMoney Now People Want WhyAll vital facts are included. A handy checklist is to ask the five “W’s” when writing the copy for your advertisement – Who, What, When, Where, Why. All possible objections are
encourage shareholders to invest in a company, attract good staff, retain customers, increases profits and correlates with superior overall returns (Robert and Dowling, 2007). 4 Murray (2003) posits that corporate image builds strategic value for a company by granting it a competitive advantage over rivals. They do this by trying to outdo rivals in marketing new products, hiring the best job candidates and to show profitability. These make them gain image and good image can lead to higher sales. Martineau (2000) associated the image of an organization with the self-image of an individual customer, suggesting a model of how image affects patronage that people become customers where the image of the provider is similar to the image they have of themselves. Studies on corporate image have generally focused on the effect of advertising, corporate logo, brand preference or interaction with employees (Davies & Miles, 2000; Davies & Chun, 2002 and Chun and Davies, 2006). Kennedy, (2001) showed the effects company employees have on external image irrespective of what their employer might desire. Also, Bernstein, (2004) argued that the image the customer perceives cannot be separated from the reality of the customer’s experience. Worcester (1992) suggested four image categories: Product class image, Brand image, User image and Corporate image. His last category which is the corporate image is subcategorized as product image, customer relations, employer role and ethical image. Initially, image was regarded as an independent variable which drives corporate image, it was later regarded as a dependent variable, something that resulted from being a good employer, being seen as offering good service, being honest, reliable and dependent. Bromley (2003) defines image as the summary of the impressions or perceptions held by external stakeholders. Within this definition, “a self is taken into consideration from the position of the other” (Hatch and Schultz, 2000). Among external stakeholders, the main focus is on customers so that the image is defined not as what the company believes, but what customers believe or feel about the company from their experiences and observations. Bernstein (2004 also corroborate above submission that corporate image include the attitudes and feelings consumers have about the nature and underlying reality of the company or the result of how consumers perceive the firm. People seek cues in their relationships to guide them toward behavior that gains
and employee turnover. He gave several factors that can influence employee turnover among which include; not getting promoted, job market opportunities, ease of leaving a job, transferable KSA, (Adeniji & Oisbanjo, 2012) e.t.c. Sergeant and Frenkel (2008) reiterated that the interaction between customer and employees as part of the service on offer is likely to affect customer satisfaction, repeat patronage which enhances an organisation’s image. They argue further that motivated employees stay with the company longer and get to know their customers better, thus 8 leading to better service, greater customer satisfaction, improved relationship and enhancement of the corporate competitive advantage. Again, repeat patronage by customers satisfied with the value they receive and their contentment with the service offer is a source of pride and energy for employees. Therefore, the link between happy employees and happy customers shows some levels of organizational effectiveness which is a pointer to a good corporate image. Thus, we propose the following hypothesis; H3: Employee satisfaction is a function of an effective and good corporate image. Attracting new customers remain an important management task. Today’s companies must focus on retaining current customers and building profitable, long-term relationships with them. The key to customer retention is superior customer value and satisfaction, (Khodarahmi, 2009). However, service offering by an organization goes a long way to create an impression whether positive or negative about their image. The inclination of the customer to say good things about an organization via words of mouth could be building or destroying but satisfied customers are more likely to engage in positive words of mouth (Anderson, 2004 and Athanassopoulus, Gounaris, & Stathakopolous, 2001). Brown and Perry (2004) argue that an organization’s service offering has a positive direct effect on customer loyalty, recommendation and satisfaction. Just like people, organizations also leave some effects and pictures in their relation with the environment. The picture that is formed in the mind and defined as an important factor gives advantages to firms in realizing their aims, especially that of profitability. Consumers reward ethical behavior with a willingness to pay higher prices for a firm’s product, though they may buy from an unethical firm, they want to do so at lower prices. One of the challenges confronting organizations today is