Handbook of Research on Cross-culture Business and Management

Volume 1

Edited by Chandan Maheshkar, Madhya Pradesh Bhoj (Open) University, Bhopal, India; East Nimar Society for Education (ENSE), Indore, India and Vinod Sharma, SCMHRD, Symbiosis International University Pune, India

As organizations and businesses continue to expand in the cross-border and multicultural markets, culture needs to be taken into consideration. At present, culture introduces significant changes in the core assumptions of business practices and skill expectations. Gaining cross-cultural compatibility is now a serious concern for businesses and organizations. Appreciating the overall view of cross-cultural business environment, 'Handbook of Research on Cross-culture Business and Management' is a significant attempt to contribute a piece of knowledge on different aspects of cross-cultural business and management, facilitating practitioners and academicians to explore different cross-cultural business practices and develop competencies. This book will be a unique source for cross-cultural business and management practices, helping people of both industry and academia to understand the cross-cultural business environment and improve management practices.

Effective Corporate Governance: Theory and Best Practices

Kirimi Barine and David Minja

Corporate governance has attracted considerable attention worldwide, especially in light of the widely publicized, high-profile global corporate failures and scandals. Since Corporate Governance contributes to the success of any institution, it must therefore be prioritized. In this very practical book, 'Effective Corporate Governance' explores the theories and models of corporate governance as well as the regulatory framework in which corporate governance operates. The authors have also talked about the pillars and best practices for good governance, including what a good board looks like and, at the same time, giving practical ideas on how to measure corporate governance health and what to do to get back on track. In addition, it includes case studies from the African context where the authors have extensively consulted with both for profit, not for profit and government institutions. This book will keep you relevant and ahead of the game whether you are a leader or student of leadership in the public or private sector, a religious institution or even a small and medium enterprise.

Advances in Brand Semiotics & Discourse Analysis

Edited by George Rossolatos

This volume addresses some of the most important conceptual, methodological, and empirical challenges and opportunities with which the sister disciplines of semiotics and discourse analysis are mutually confronted in the context of considering new avenues of cross-disciplinary application to distinctive branding research streams. In continuation of the collective volume 'Handbook of Brand Semiotics' (Kassel University Press, 2015), which sought to consolidate relevant scholarship and to identify the main territories that have been established at the cross-roads between branding and semiotic research, the current 'Advances in Brand Semiotics & Discourse Analysis' aims at accomplishing further strides in critical areas, such as the exigency for reconsidering the aptness of existing semiotic theories in the face of the radically shifting co-creative landscape of digital branding, the benefits of systematically micro-analyzing brand communities’ discourses by drawing on CAQDAS programs, the combination of big data analytics with discourse theory in corpus analysis, and the epistemological issues that emerge while combining discourse analysis with time-hallowed marketing qualitative and quantitative research methods. At the same time, the volume hosts a resourceful blend of empirical studies and novel conceptual frameworks in burgeoning streams, such as place, heritage, culinary, personal, and political branding.

Leading and Managing Open and Distance e-Learning (ODeL) Institutions in Africa

Edited by Cuthbert Majoni, Zimbabwe Open University, Zimbabwe

'Leading and Managing Open and Distance E-Learning (ODeL) Institutions in Africa' focuses on e-learning, especially in developing countries in Africa. The outbreak of COVID-19 has forced most educational institutions, including conventional institutions in higher education, to embrace e-learning as a tool to ensure that education is not paralysed but continues to thrive. However, the major challenge has been shifting focus from the conventional face-to-face mode to the e-learning mode. This calls for a change of mindset and a review of practices to ensure success in implementing e-learning. This book has 12 chapters that explore the leadership theories and approaches that influence administrative practices in ODeL institutions, as well as student support within library and information services, the complexities of student affairs, the inclusion of students with special needs, the contemporary issues of innovation and industrialisation, and effective marketing techniques for the survival and growth of tertiary institutions. It is hoped that the recipients of this book can acquire the theoretical and practical knowledge relevant to the successful implementation of e-learning.

The Faces and Stakes of Brand Insertion

Edited by Sébastien Lefait, Aix-Marseille University, France and Sandrine Villers, Paris 8 University, France

With traditional forms of advertisement facing increasing challenges, brand placement - the integration of a product or brand in a work of art - has exploded. It has become a lucrative phenomenon whose goal is to produce a reaction of purchase in the mind of the receiver (reader, viewer or listener). This volume seeks to complement extant studies of product placement strategies by introducing a methodology more systematically related to the field of cultural studies, especially where the reception and impact of product placement are concerned. It explores the many iterations of brand placement in popular culture, with a consideration of the crossover between advertisement and art in everything from Wes Anderson, "Blade Runner" and the "Fast and Furious" franchise, to music videos, late night shows and plastic art. The book considers the impact of brand placement in TV series on teenagers, as well as the evolution of such placement in literature. The originality of this volume is that, when the impact of the placement is mentioned, it is to be understood as an intended aesthetic impact at least as much as a prompt to buy a product. Consequently, the placement of consumer goods in a cultural production, the book suggests, may both increase the sales of specific products and positively impact the production’s ratings. This book is perfect for researchers and students interested in marketing, brand placement, mass media, art, film, and cultural studies.