Interface Inc. has positioned itself in the carpet industry as a leader in corporate social responsibility. Image courtesy of Interface Inc. Using equity to compensate outside board members has become a popular practice. The theory goes that if directors are paid with stock, they will have a stronger incentive to protect the interests of shareholders. [...]

Publication date: July 2013
Source:Journal of World Business, Volume 48, Issue 3

Author(s): Suraksha Gupta , V. Kumar

Sustainability research highlights new challenges and opportunities for businesses. This paper reviews the literature to understand the ability of sustainable green initiatives when practiced as a corporate culture to individually create new opportunities for operations, management and marketing. According to current research, business opportunities exclusively available to different functions of a firm can drive its performance. The role of marketing in the achievement of superior performance by virtue of sustainability practices is also explained by the existing literature. Branding literature, however, fails to explain the influence of a brand on sustainability-driven opportunities available to a firm for superior performance. The objective of this study is to explore if a brand can strengthen the ability of sustainability-based green initiatives of managers to drive opportunities available to a firm for superior performance. A conceptual framework grounded in the triple bottom line theory is presented based on the assumption that brand as a stimulating factor can accelerate the conversion of opportunities available to a business into superior performance. Academic and managerial perspectives have been used to draw upon the implications of the model. Both practitioners and academic researchers will benefit from future research on this topic.

Publication date: July 2013
Source:Journal of World Business, Volume 48, Issue 3

Author(s): Christine Vallaster , Adam Lindgreen

This article examines internal brand building, which is defined as the alignment of a corporation and employees around a brand. The notion of social interactions may provide a valuable perspective on brand-related interactive space, in which top management communicates brand-related information to employees and employees share brand-related information. Depth interviews, observations, and documentary analysis reveal how a social interaction-based, internal, brand-building process influences employees’ actions and perceptions of the branded environment. Social interactions might generate brand commitment and shared brand beliefs in certain conditions. These findings have key implications for sustainability.

Publication date: July 2013
Source:Journal of World Business, Volume 48, Issue 3

Author(s): Suraksha Gupta , Michael Czinkota , T.C. Melewar

Organisations offer products to consumers, buyers often question if the product or its production process are linked to the environmental, social or economic challenges being faced by mankind. Inquisitiveness of customers in this direction points towards an opportunity for marketers to create differentiation based on the concerns of brand towards overall issue of sustainability. The authors have synthesized knowledge from various domains with a positivistic approach to understand sustainability from the perspective of branding. Using empirical knowledge this study recommends embedding sustainability into brand knowledge and brand value for creating a differentiation for the brand in a competitive market.