Taking brand initiative : how companies can align strategy, culture, and identity through corporate branding /

Hatch (Copenhagen Business School) presents a diagnostic model for assessing how well companies manage their corporate brands through coordination of strategic vision, organizational culture, and stakeholder images. The volume is divided into three parts. Part 1 describes the basics of what makes a corporate brand work, including the component elements of the brand; the meaning and importance of symbols to the branding process; the significance of corporate identity as a foundation for the corporate brand; and a discussion of the Vision-Culture-Image Alignment Model's contribution to branding. The second part examines the roles that corporate leaders, employees, and stakeholder groups play in the successful execution of a corporate branding initiative. Part 3 brings together previously introduced ideas, translating them into a set of branding principles. The final chapter also reflects on the future of corporate branding and provides advice for coping with common dilemmas faced by corporate managers. Undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, and practitioners alike can appreciate the book's colloquial style and extensive use of case studies. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-division undergraduate through professional collections. S. D. Clark St. John's University (NY)