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Full Chapter Business Digitalization Corporate Identity and Reputation 1St Edition Pantea Foroudi PDF
Full Chapter Business Digitalization Corporate Identity and Reputation 1St Edition Pantea Foroudi PDF
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Digital Transformation Now!: Guiding the Successful
Digitalization of Your Business Model 1st Edition
Daniel R. A. Schallmo
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“Digital transformation has become increasingly important in the real world
of management, yet academic research and guidance for management prac-
tice in the area of branding, identity and reputation have remained frag-
mented until now. This book fills that gap. The comprehensive approach
details the extent to which digital transformation affects the processes of
branding, identity and reputation. Writing about digital transformation is
notoriously difficult, as ‘hot’ topics can become dated very quickly but this
book manages to make sense of the rapidly changing digital environments.
This book has an accessible style that will encourage students to extend their
studies in digital transformation. I wholeheartedly recommend this text as
an invaluable resource for academics, doctoral, postgraduate, graduate and
final-year undergraduate students studying business, management and mar-
keting, as well as practitioners looking for insights into how to successfully
navigate the minefield of digital transformation.”
Charles Dennis, Professor in Marketing,
Middlesex Business School London
This series welcomes proposals for original research projects that are either
single or multi-authored or an edited collection from both established and
emerging scholars working on any aspect of marketing theory and practice
and provides an outlet for studies dealing with elements of marketing theory,
thought, pedagogy and practice.
It aims to reflect the evolving role of marketing and bring together the most
innovative work across all aspects of the marketing ‘mix’ – from product
development, consumer behaviour, marketing analysis, branding, and
customer relationships, to sustainability, ethics and the new opportunities
and challenges presented by digital and online marketing.
Edited by
Pantea Foroudi and Maria Teresa Cuomo
First published 2024
by Routledge
4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2024 selection and editorial matter, Pantea Foroudi and Maria
Teresa Cuomo; individual chapters, the contributors
The right of Pantea Foroudi and Maria Teresa Cuomo to be identified
as the authors of the editorial material, and of the authors for their
individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77
and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical,
or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including
photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval
system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks
or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and
explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN: 978-1-032-51235-8 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-032-51236-5 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-40128-5 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/9781003401285
Typeset in Sabon
by codeMantra
To my lovely brother, Dr Mohammad Mahdi Foroudi –
my life started when you were born; since you have flown
to heaven, we live with your memories; our love for you
shall live forever till we meet again. Also, to my father,
Dr Mohammad Foroud Foroudi and my mum,
Flora Mahdavi.
Pantea Foroudi
List of contributors xi
Index 183
Contributors
Introduction
In the new era of business digitalisation, corporate identity and reputation
have become so relevant and impact our lives. The globalised market has
become increasingly complex due to technological advancements and social
issues they have to take into consideration. At every level of the workforce,
being computer savvy has become crucial to be more competitive. In this
direction, technological advancements are not the only ones challenging
traditional management and organisational theories. Practitioners are also
being challenged to think innovatively about the peer-to-peer economy, arti-
ficial intelligence (AI), Metaverse, and alternative business models based on
sustainability.
Particularly digital technologies, corporate social responsibility and en-
vironmental issues, and the need for more innovation have become part of
the ordinary managerial strategies and agenda. Business is affected by socio-
cultural and socio-political issues at an unprecedented rate, and yet, academic
research is not evolving fast enough to develop the concepts and techniques
needed by practitioners, especially in the field of managerial studies. Digi-
talisation has suddenly become essential for businesses across all industries.
Those undergoing a tech-centric reimagining hope to achieve a new business
model, tap new revenue streams, or find new digital means to improve their
offers, extend their business reach, and outfox their competitors. In this sce-
nario, it is absolutely evident that there is a need to understand how “busi-
ness digitalisation” may affect corporate identity and reputation.
Furthermore, operating in such a dynamic context that cannot be sepa-
rated from terror and fear does not allow managers to focus on the conse-
quences of decisions made at the macro level and take initiatives that will
lead towards sustainability. Therefore, a key question to be answered in
these turbulent times is, how is it possible for corporations to incorporate
the safety, security, and satisfaction of stakeholders in the design of their
business models while they are struggling to achieve sustainable development
goals (SDGs) related to the environment and climate change? Considering
the multidimensionality of technological advancements and sustainability,
DOI: 10.4324/9781003401285-1
2 Pantea Foroudi and Maria Teresa Cuomo
will it be useful for managers to know how to direct their efforts towards
social development issues in the international market?
The challenges managers face in managing social development have not
been addressed in research studies. Scholars and practitioners barely acknowl-
edge the gap that exists. The necessity of understanding how technological
advances and big data analytics contribute to innovation and socio-economic
development becomes a moral obligation for scholars. Despite the growing
popularity of circular sharing economies around the world, we have a limited
understanding of how big data can help firms understand society’s needs,
streamline administrative complexities, and identify new business opportuni-
ties. For organisations and their stakeholders to succeed in maximising the
value of these new opportunities, it is crucial to know how management
practices and organisational strategies, resources, and capabilities can be im-
proved and what role business education plays in this process. There is no
answer to these questions yet.
In this book, different phenomena related to marketing and their digital
transformation will be examined as well as current and future trends. This
book provides academics and practitioners with an opportunity to bring to-
gether related bodies of knowledge to generate new insights by using a mul-
tidisciplinary approach. Using a digital transformation perspective, this book
aims to provide insight into the corporate identity. As a result, it contributes
to the knowledge of organisations and their stakeholders, as well as their
organisational strategies, resources, and capacities in order to maximise the
value of new opportunities (through digital transformation).
Our book, Business Digitalisation: Corporate Identity and Reputation,
aims to address the following objectives:
The readers will also be able to (i) develop and manage stakeholder strate-
gies and campaigns; (ii) analyse the complex web of stakeholders corporate
brands must address; and (iii) adapt to the changing needs of stakeholders,
such as employees, the media, and others.
Jane Hemsley-Brown
Introduction
The focus of this chapter is the links between digital transformation and
institutional brand identity. This chapter covers definitions, concepts, chal-
lenges and opportunities offered by digital transformation and examines the
implications for higher education institutions’ strategic brand identity.
Background
Digital transformation is driving the agenda for connecting all organisations
including higher education institutions and is rapidly changing processes, op-
erations and behaviour (Fitzgerald, Kruschwitz, Bonnet, & Welch, 2014).
Digitalisation and associated connectivity is also leading to a substantial in-
crease in information and data available for organisations to make decisions
(Kretschmer & Khashabi, 2020). Digitalisation has therefore substantially
changed the way universities and colleges interact with all members of their
community, including students and prospective students in addition to em-
ployees and alumni. Higher education institutions can expect to gain similar
benefits to companies where implementing and utilising new connective tech-
nologies can lead to great profitability and competitiveness (Fitzgerald et al.,
2014; Kretschmer & Khashabi, 2020).
Digital transformation is a multifaceted and complex phenomenon
(Kretschmer & Khashabi, 2020), and universities now recognise the need to
transform and revise their organisational models, processes and technologies
to take full advantage of the opportunities digital transformation provides
(Killian & McManus, 2015; Moi & Cabiddu, 2021; Osmundsen, Iden, &
Bygstad, 2018), for example, mobile technologies, social media platforms,
cloud technologies and data analytics are already being exploited by a wide
range of organisations (Morakanyane, Grace, & O’Reilly, 2017) including
universities.
Digital transformation offers new ways of generating data and access-
ing data outputs and leads to revolutionary ways of working and new tasks
which in turn result in familiar practices becoming obsolete (Kretschmer &
DOI: 10.4324/9781003401285-2
6 Jane Hemsley-Brown
and relationships” (cited by Lucas Jr, Agarwal, Clemons, El Sawy, & Weber,
2013 p. 372).
Second, authors also define digital transformation in terms of business
(re-)organisation arguing that in the longer term, digital innovation which is
central to digital transformation results in significant change to how business
is organised, and this leads to a transformation of not only the organisation
but the whole industry (Osmundsen et al., 2018). Others have also noted that
digital transformation goes beyond more limited reorganisation and can re-
sult in “development of new products, platforms, and services as well as new
customer experiences and other value pathways” (Nambisan et al., 2017,
p. 224), improved performance (Westerman, Bonnet, & McAfee, 2014) and
value (Bharadwaj, El Sawy, Pavlou, & Venkatraman, 2013). Authors (Kole-
kar, Chaudhari, & Patil, 2018, p. 305) also claim that digital transformation
enhances personalisation for customers which is “achieved by using data ef-
fectively and targeting the customers based on the known data”.
Third, the notion of digital transformation relies on the argument that tra-
ditional ways of doing business, business capabilities, processes and relation-
ships are fundamentally changed, and the focus shifts significantly towards
reliance on IT and strategic change in the ways business and marketing tasks
are carried out (Lucas Jr et al., 2013). Digital transformation enables firms to
target and offer services to new customers and new markets and to achieve
considerable competitive advantage (Lucas Jr et al., 2013). However, digital
transformation also demands that firms identify, target and revise their prac-
tices to take advantage of these opportunities (Magistretti et al., 2021). These
changes in practice have potential to impact on the individual, firms and soci-
ety (Lucas Jr et al., 2013). Digital transformation enables firms to target and
offer services to new customers and new markets and to achieve considerable
competitive advantage (Lucas Jr et al., 2013).
Fourth, digital transformation also demands that firms identify, target and
continuously revise their practices to take advantage of these opportunities
(Magistretti et al., 2021), and for this reason, digital transformation is de-
scribed as having dynamic capabilities (Magistretti et al., 2021; Teece, Pis-
ano, & Shuen, 1997). Dynamic capabilities are defined by Teece et al. (1997)
as firms’ capacity to be dynamic when creating and combining resources for
identifying, acting upon and taking full advantage of opportunities in the
context of digital transformation (Magistretti et al., 2021; Teece et al., 1997).
In terms of future developments as part of digital transformation, Kolekar
et al. (2018) speculate that applying machine learning and AI to target cus-
tomers and the development of real-time delivery of the relevant promotion
and advertising are key capabilities organisations can seek to exploit. Further
themes included in definitions of digital transformation include connectiv-
ity (Graesch et al., 2021, p. 140) which is one of four major levers to such
transformation: “new data, automation, digital interaction with customers
and connectivity”.
8 Jane Hemsley-Brown
relatively large-scale events have already shifted to online mode within only
a short time (largely from necessity), but the capability was already in place
only awaiting a strong incentive for more participants to engage. Microsoft
Teams, for example, provides an integrated communication environment to
facilitate different forms of engagement, communication and sharing. Per-
haps a fifth stage of digital transformation will further facilitate greater in-
tegration between different platforms, networks and databases to achieve a
transformation from which new business models and greater connectivity
will emerge in higher education.
discipline, the size of student cohorts and other factors can impede or hamper
transformation. For example, a business school with cohorts of 400 students
(some of whom study from a distance) might embrace digital transformation
ahead of a department with small cohorts studying a subject that requires
face-to-face study, e.g., in laboratories or drama studios.
Mulhern (2009, p. 93) provides examples of further challenges based
on the “a disconnect that frequently occurs between consumer insight re-
search and the planning process” and lack of integration across tasks, par-
ticularly, for example, where marketing communications activities are not
fully integrated. Laporte et al. (2021) identify three paradoxes as a result
of their empirical qualitative research on the implementation stages of digi-
tal transformation. These are set out as follows: first, a learning paradox,
which they observed as a combination of traditional and digital marketing
skills in operation during transition; second, an organising paradox, which
they indicate is both an expertise approach combined with an holistic view
of the transformation; and finally, they identify a performance paradox,
which they explain is a simultaneous focus on a customer-centric view and
a brand-centric view.
There are further challenges identified: first, investment issues – a large
investment in terms of commitment and finance as well as time is required
in order to introduce novel innovative approaches to customer engagement
(Cennamo et al., 2020); second, there is considerable pressure for organisa-
tions to be more competitive and to be innovative in the competitive strategies
adopted following digital transformation (Magistretti et al., 2021). Third,
firms also need to develop more flexible responses to challenges which authors
claim “involves a balance of top-down and bottom-up involvement” (Cron &
Baldauf, 2021, p. 104). Fourth, Vial (2019, p. 137) warns that “regulatory
frameworks and institutional pressures may prove insufficient to gain a deep
understanding of the challenges firms face in a digital world”. Fifth, further
challenges that higher education institutions may experience are the limited
availability of technical skills and experience required to capitalise on emer-
gent and new technologies (AlSharji, Ahmad, & Bakar, 2018; Stephens &
McLaughlin, 2020) which could further impede digital transformation.
Many of these challenges raise issues regarding the current and future
brand identity of organisations, including universities, as they embrace digital
transformation. Authors (Kolekar et al., 2018) have identified issues related
to the inevitable change in brand identity of an organisation, particularly
when connections are increased to incorporate platforms including websites,
blogs and phone apps and social media applications such as Facebook, Twit-
ter, Google+, (Farhat, Aslam, & Mokhtar, 2021; Rutter, Roper, & Lettice,
2016), WeChat and Weibo (Zhu, 2019). Such platforms and applications
have enabled organisations to reach substantial and international audiences
by offering interactive and engaging university course information, in addi-
tion to welcoming “comments from the posts from users as well as facilitat-
ing replies to those comments by the host account” (Zhu, 2019, p. 178).
14 Jane Hemsley-Brown
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