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Influencing external perceptions

The Marketing and Reputation Research Division is one of six academic areas within Henley Business School at the University of Reading. 

Henley has a strong heritage in the disciplines of strategic marketing, reputation management, and in matters relating to governance and leadership. We offer academic leadership and practitioner expertise in the fields of Strategic Marketing, Customer Management, Digital Marketing, Social Marketing, Reputation Management and Sustainability as well as the area of Corporate Governance and Board Directorship.

Our research interests in Marketing include customer management, customer experience and customer effort; services marketing and the role of internal climate and people management; digital marketing and the impact of social media upon customer and organisational behaviour; online shopping behaviour and the customer experience; not-for-profit marketing and health services marketing.

Within the Reputation field our research covers brand and corporate reputation management; corporate responsibility and well-being; individual and organisational resilience; decision-making within a stakeholder environment; positive psychology; the reputation and relationships of charities; influences on leadership behaviour and decision-making; and the impact of leadership teams’ reputation on organisations.

Effective governance is critical to ensuring the sustainable future of the organisation. Working through the Directors Forum, a team of international faculty research, teach and advise on how Boards can continually enhance their oversight of strategic decision making, diversity, risk, reputation, ESG, sustainability cyber, AI and block-chain adoption. Our approach to moulding robust boardroom dynamics provides for that unique balancing of compliance and stewardship, so that attention can be given to improving the performance of General Managers, the C-suite, and the overall organisation. The mandate is broad, attracting private, public and third sector bodies as well as a number of governments across 42 countries.

 

events

Marketing & Reputation hosts a monthly seminar seriesduring University term-time, with presentations delivered by both internal and external speakers on a wide range of topics.

Whitehall in London

research highlights

Civil Service effectiveness review: Professor Andrew Kakabadse carried out more than 140 confidential interviews with secretaries of state, junior ministers, permanent secretaries, special political advisers and others to review the effectiveness of the Civil Service. His review - thought to be the biggest of its kind since the 1854 Northcote-Trevelyan Report that established the Civil Service - highlights the critical nature of the relationship between the Secretary of State and the Permanent Secretary and its impact on policy delivery. It also includes recommendations for how to strengthen the role of Secretary of State through more thoughtful action by political advisors, and for better governance and oversight by departmental boards.

Shops rating customers with loyalty scores: Research by Professor Moira Clark, from the Digital Marketing, Consumer & Society Research Group, shows how the telecoms industry uses ‘customer lifetime value’ to determine the value of its customers. She reflects on how customers are rewarded by companies, and how data is used to make predictions about other consumer behaviour.

Informing the government communications framework: Research by Professor Kevin Money and colleagues at the John Madejski Centre for Reputation has contributed towards a guide that helps government departments communicate more effectively. The new Government Communication Service Evaluation Framework 2.0 provides additional guidance for major paid-for campaigns and other communication activity, from recruitment to raising awareness of issues such as taxes or terrorism. Professor Money used the Reputation Framework he developed with colleagues at Henley to work with the Government Communication Service and provide enhanced guidance on the evaluation of reputation and effective communication with broad audiences.

Reputation framework: Global organisations continue to improve their stakeholder relations thanks to a model developed by researchers from the John Madejski Centre for Reputation. Shell, Unilever, Oxfam and HM Revenue and Customs are among the groups who have worked with the Reputation Group at Henley, identifying the relational drivers and behavioural consequences of reputation. The Reputation team is increasingly researching societal topics, such as resilience, well-being and positive relationships between communities, individuals and organisations of all types. 

Entrepreneurship and global cities: The latest book by Professor Nada Kakabadse and Nikolai Mouraviev reviews how global cities with a largely cosmopolitan environment are successfully developing and attracting entrepreneurs from all over the world. The authors elucidate the policy approaches that support entrepreneurship in large urban areas, as a key driver of economic growth, sustainability and prosperity. They argue that successful entrepreneurship rests on the two pillars of the cosmopolitan environment: diversity and the creation of business opportunities. In contrast to globalisation’s standardised solutions in policy, commerce, banking and social issues, cosmopolitanism allows individualised value and solutions, whereby actors—entrepreneurs, businesses, families, interest groups, governments, non-governmental organisations and virtual communities—enjoy diversity as a norm.

Support for NEDs: A guide to boost the effectiveness of non-executive directors (NEDs)based on research to examine their contribution to the growth of UK companies was published at an event in London in September 2019. The research, by Dr Filipe Morais, Professor Andrew Kakabadse and Professor Nada Kakabadse, was sponsored by the Quoted Companies Alliances (QCA) and Downing LLP. Find out more.

 

Study opportunities

Henley Business School has a vibrant group of about 260 PhD and DBA researchers. Doctoral students are an integral part of our research community and participate in the research activities of the school. Doctoral students have dedicated computer labs, access to funding for conference presentations, career support and a series of school-wide events with opportunities for cross-discipline discussion and networking. Doctoral research topics are aligned with the research interests of the supervisors. Henley Business School offers up to 28 full scholarships per year representing an overall investment of £840,000 in postgraduate research education.

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