David Jones Strategy and Branding
As the new CEO of David Jones, it is recommended that Zahra reinforces internal branding, leadership capabilities and undertakes a re-evaluation of David Jones’ company culture and employee skills to restore organisational stability and a favourable public image. Reinforcing Internal Brand to Restore Image
One of Zahra’s primary concerns should be to ameliorate the damage of McInnes’ actions on the integrity of the David Jones brand in the public eye. This is a critical organisational behaviour issue due to the correlation between projected brand image and firm cultural identity (Gioia et al. 2000). David Jones employees, of which 79.5% are female (David Jones Limited 2010) may feel alienated from organisation’s identity due to previously unaddressed sexual harassment allegations. As recent research has shown that employee solidarity with an organisation impacts customer service delivery (Coget 2011), McInnes’ actions can obstruct consumers from forming favourable relationships with the brand. It can be argued that the immediate resignation of McInnes has negated damage to organisational identity and customer brand loyalty (Lee 2010). However, resulting brand damage from McInnes’ actions may be counterproductive to their marketing strategy aimed at wealthy female consumers (Fenner and Schneider 2010). Hence, Zahra should restore David Jones’ image through reinforcing internal brand harmony amongst employees. It is recommended for Zahra to restore David Jones’ corporate image through conducting an independent audit of their Code of Ethics and Conduct, establish new grievance procedures and provide counselling services to staff (David Jones Limited 2010, Korporaal 2011). These steps will not only reflect an improved image of social consciousness to the public, but also reinforce an internal cultural brand that shows concern for staff well-being, lending improved customer service (Tosti and Herbst 2009). Building Leadership Credibility for Organisational
One of Zahra’s primary concerns should be to ameliorate the damage of McInnes’ actions on the integrity of the David Jones brand in the public eye. This is a critical organisational behaviour issue due to the correlation between projected brand image and firm cultural identity (Gioia et al. 2000). David Jones employees, of which 79.5% are female (David Jones Limited 2010) may feel alienated from organisation’s identity due to previously unaddressed sexual harassment allegations. As recent research has shown that employee solidarity with an organisation impacts customer service delivery (Coget 2011), McInnes’ actions can obstruct consumers from forming favourable relationships with the brand. It can be argued that the immediate resignation of McInnes has negated damage to organisational identity and customer brand loyalty (Lee 2010). However, resulting brand damage from McInnes’ actions may be counterproductive to their marketing strategy aimed at wealthy female consumers (Fenner and Schneider 2010). Hence, Zahra should restore David Jones’ image through reinforcing internal brand harmony amongst employees. It is recommended for Zahra to restore David Jones’ corporate image through conducting an independent audit of their Code of Ethics and Conduct, establish new grievance procedures and provide counselling services to staff (David Jones Limited 2010, Korporaal 2011). These steps will not only reflect an improved image of social consciousness to the public, but also reinforce an internal cultural brand that shows concern for staff well-being, lending improved customer service (Tosti and Herbst 2009). Building Leadership Credibility for Organisational
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