Journal of Business and Management Research

6

Authors: Anis Gnichi

The business administration revolves around "say" and "do". Ways of doing things and ways of saying what is being done are closely correlated to represent, lead and govern managerial action. Better representation assumes that the words and deeds are better together. This dialectic implements simultaneously discourses and practices, those that we adopt and those that we appear or we will try to hide. Today, these ways of saying and doing are subject of a meditative attention from policy makers, who regard interests to reconcile, managerial conduct to regulate and business performance to improve. It involves underlying concepts to re-question beyond Darwin and Darwinism. Indeed, the current post-crisis requires a different view, a bold and creative approach that disciplinary, cognitive and behavioral approaches in corporate governance no longer know how to follow. It is necessary to identify paths to be covered to generate value and therefore identifying the weak points of speeches and practices.

11

Authors: Marc Durlberg

The purpose of this paper is to consider the social and psychological roles played by possession. When consumers buy brands they are not just concerned with their functional capabilities. They are also interested in the brand’s personality, which they may consider appropriate for certain situations. They look to brands to enable them to communicate something about themselves and also to understand the people around them better. The chapter focuses on consumer rather than organizational brands, reflecting the greater emphasis placed on brand personality and symbolism in consumer marketing. This does not necessarily mean they are inappropriate in business to business markets, rather that they are not as frequently employed. We open the paper by considering the added values from the images surrounding brands. We then address the symbolic role played by brands, where less emphasis is placed on what brands do for consumers and more on what they mean for consumers. Different symbolic roles for brands are identified, along with a consideration of the criteria necessary for brands to be effective communication devices. We draw on self-concept theory to explain how consumers seek brands with images that match their own self-image. A model of the way consumers select brands is presented, which shows how consumers choose brands to project images appropriate for different situations. We then examine how personal values influence brand selection and show the importance of brand personification as a means enabling consumers to judge brands easily. Different brand personalities give rise to different types of relationships and we explore these relationships. Finally, we review the way that semiotics, the scientific study of signs, can contribute to brand effectiveness.