The interrelationship of CRM, PR, current market conditions and intermediating firms to improve the corporate image improvement of public organizations in the Netherlands : the analysis of the gap between the corporate

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(1)Master thesis: The interrelationship of CRM, PR, current market conditions and intermediating firms to improve the corporate image improvement of public service organization in the Netherlands & The analysis of a gap between the corporate identity and the corporate image of public service organizations based on two different perspectives. Author Student number Date of Submission Version Course Institution Thesis supervisor Second supervisor. : Wilma Achterstraat : 10282734 : 09-08-2015 : Final : Executive Program in Business Studies : ABS : Drs. Ing. A.C.J. Meulemans : Prof. Dr. J.H.J.P. Tettero. CONFIDENTIAL.

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(3) Abstract This research plan is about the examination of interrelationships between four variables (Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Public Relations (PR), current market conditions and intermediating firms) and their influence on corporate image improvement for public service organizations in the Netherlands. Furthermore, this plan includes the analysis of a gap between the corporate identity and the corporate image of public service organizations in the Netherlands. Here, corporate identity refers to the internal view of employees on the organization they work for, whereas corporate image refers to the external view of the public on the same organization. Public service organizations in the Netherlands are generally bureaucratically organized and are often negatively exposed in the media. Due to these reasons Dutch public service organizations often suffer from a severely bad corporate image. In previous literature CRM, PR, current market conditions and intermediating firms have proven to be influencing variables for corporate image improvement of many worldwide private organizations. In this plan evidence was found for CRM, PR, current market conditions and intermediating firms to be similarly influencing variables for the corporate image improvement of public service organizations in the Netherlands. The four described variables were tested separately and with interrelationships. Analysis on corporate image scores revealed some combinations of variables to be more effective than other combinations. Market conditions did not or weaken the relationship between CRM and the corporate image of public service organizations in the Netherlands. In this plan, the corporate image scores were tested from a public’s perspective and measured through the conduction of 15 different surveys with articles and semantic differential scales. Employees of public service organizations, who wish to improve their own corporate image, need to understand the public’s perspective towards their own organization in order to maintain a good image and to secure the organization of a long-term existence. Therefore, this plan also describes the analysis of a certain gap between the beliefs and feelings of employees (corporate identity) versus the beliefs and feelings of the public (corporate image) towards public service organizations in the Netherlands. A large gap between corporate identity and corporate image was found through the conduction of interviews with employees. Theorists can build further on the theory of corporate image improvement for public serviceand other types of organizations within or outside the Netherlands. Different combinations of variables could similarly be tested in order to create a broader understanding of the most effective ways to improve a corporate image. By the correct understanding and use of the variables, practitioners are able to continuously improve the corporate image of their own organization.. Keywords: Customer Relationship Management, Public Relations, current market conditions, intermediating firms, corporate identity corporate image.

(4) Preface While attending the Master program ‘Business Studies’ at the Amsterdam Business School I have chosen to write my master thesis about factors that could influence the corporate image of public service organizations in the Netherlands. For several years I have worked for a well-known public service organization called UWV. Similarly to many other public service organizations in the Netherlands, this organization holds a very negative corporate image. For that reason, I found it interesting to analyze what specific factors are able to improve the corporate image of these organizations. During my master program I chose to follow the marketing track and therefore I became focused on what specific role marketing techniques could have on corporate image improvement for public service organization in the Netherlands. The link between marketing and corporate image improvement for public service organizations appeared to be an interesting topic since I came to find out that many public service organizations were not actively applying any marketing techniques. As a result of my master thesis I did research on the relationship between several (marketing) variables and corporate image improvement for public service organizations in the Netherlands. This research was performed according to the beliefs and feelings of the Dutch public towards these organizations. In addition, I analyzed if there was any difference between the beliefs and feelings towards the image of public service organizations from an employee’s and from a public’s perspective. The reason for analyzing this gap was because I believed that investment in corporate image improvement would only be effective if the public’s desires were well understood. Many people have made a contribution to the fulfillment of my thesis on this interesting topic. First of all, I would like to thank my supervisor, Drs. Ing. A.C.J. Meulemans, for his wonderful advice and support. Moreover, I would like to thank him for his patience when I was not able to continue writing on my thesis due to some personal situations. Further, I would like to thank all the respondents who took part in the surveys and interviews for the collection of my data. I would like to thank my husband, Sameer Agarwal, who helped me with the analysis of my data in SPSS. Last but not least I would like to thank my mother, Christien Hermens, for taking care of my daughter so I was able to work on my thesis and to attend all the required meetings with my supervisor.. I hope you all enjoy reading this master thesis!. Yours sincerely, Wilma Achterstraat Vleuten, August 2015.

(5) ‘Corporate image is more effectively built by company performance than by anything else. Good company performance plus good PR will buy a lot more than corporate advertising’ -. P. Kotler (2003).

(6) Contents 1. Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1. 2. Literature Review ............................................................................................................................ 5 2.1. Definition of public service organizations .............................................................................. 5. 2.1.1. Public service organizations in the Netherlands .............................................................. 6. 2.1.2. Bureaucracy amongst public service organizations......................................................... 7. 2.2. Definition of corporate image and corporate identity ............................................................. 8. 2.2.1 2.3. 4. Definitions of CRM and PR .................................................................................................. 11. 2.3.1. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) ................................................................ 11. 2.3.2. Public Relations (PR) .................................................................................................... 12. 2.4. 3. Managing corporate image ............................................................................................ 10. Definition of current market conditions and intermediating firms ........................................ 13. 2.4.1. Definition of current market conditions ........................................................................ 13. 2.4.2. Definition of intermediating firms................................................................................. 13. 2.5. Research Gaps ....................................................................................................................... 13. 2.6. Causal model and hypotheses................................................................................................ 15. 2.6.1. Causal model ................................................................................................................. 15. 2.6.2. Conceptual framework .................................................................................................. 17. 2.6.3. Hypotheses .................................................................................................................... 20. Research method ........................................................................................................................... 22 3.1. Research design ..................................................................................................................... 22. 3.2. Research setting..................................................................................................................... 22. 3.3. Sample ................................................................................................................................... 24. 3.3.1. Sample description ........................................................................................................ 24. 3.3.2. Sample size .................................................................................................................... 24. 3.4. Constructs and measurement scales ...................................................................................... 26. 3.5. Methods of data collection .................................................................................................... 28. 3.5.1. Surveys .......................................................................................................................... 28. 3.5.2. Interviews ...................................................................................................................... 30. 3.5.3. Layout of the surveys and interviews ............................................................................ 30. 3.6. Hypothesis testing using the surveys and interviews ............................................................ 31. 3.7. Statistical procedure .............................................................................................................. 32. Results ........................................................................................................................................... 35 4.1. Pre-analysis ........................................................................................................................... 35. 4.2. Demographics........................................................................................................................ 36.

(7) 4.2.1. Demographic analysis for survey and interview data .................................................... 36. 4.2.2. Demographic analysis data for survey 1 ....................................................................... 39. 4.3. 5. Hypotheses Testing ............................................................................................................... 41. 4.3.1. Hypothesis 1 .................................................................................................................. 41. 4.3.2. Hypothesis 2 until 11 ..................................................................................................... 42. Discussion ..................................................................................................................................... 48 5.1. Theoretical and practical implications................................................................................... 48. 5.2. Limitations ............................................................................................................................ 53. 5.3. Further research ..................................................................................................................... 54. 6. Conclusions ................................................................................................................................... 55. 7. Bibliography .................................................................................................................................. 58. 8. Attachments ................................................................................................................................... 62 8.1. Attachment 1: Survey baseline measurement for corporate image of UWV and the ABU .. 62. 8.2. Attachment 2: Survey 2-15.................................................................................................... 64. 8.3. Attachment 3: Structured interview for UWV employees .................................................... 69. 8.4. Attachment 4: Survey cover letter ......................................................................................... 70. 8.5. Attachment 5: Interview cover letter ..................................................................................... 71. 8.6. Attachment 6: Demographic Data of Surveys and Interview ................................................ 72. 8.7. Attachment 7: Comments to the open-ended question of the interviews .............................. 73.

(8) List of Tables and Figures Table 1: Corporate image dimensions of the applied semantic differential scale ................................ 29 Table 2: Group comparisons of surveys and interviews to test the hypotheses of the research plan ... 32 Table 3: Test results of a paired t-test for hypothesis 1 ........................................................................ 41 Table 4: T-test results of hypotheses 2 until 11 ..................................................................................... 45 Table 5: Planned contrast one-way ANOVA results for hypothesis 2 until hypothesis 11.................... 46 Figure 1: The relationship between corporate identity, corporate image and corporate reputation as presented by Grahame Dowling 10 Figure 2: Integrating marketing communications to build brand equity .............................................. 12 Figure 3: Causal model of this research plan ....................................................................................... 17 Figure 4: Conceptual framework of this research plan......................................................................... 20 Figure 5: Sample semantic differential scale outcome for one respondent ........................................... 29 Figure 6: Distribution of gender of the respondents of the surveys and the interview .......................... 37 Figure 7: Distribution of age of the respondents of the surveys and interviews ................................... 37 Figure 8: Distribution of age of the respondents of the surveys and interviews ................................... 38 Figure 9: Distribution of received benefit of the respondents of the surveys ........................................ 38 Figure 10: Distribution of employment of the respondents of the interviews ........................................ 39 Figure 11: Outcomes of corporate image dimensions divided over gender .......................................... 39 Figure 12: Outcomes of corporate image dimensions divided over age groups ................................... 40 Figure 13: Outcomes of corporate image dimensions divided over level of education ......................... 40 Figure 14: Outcomes of corporate image dimensions divided over duration of received benefit ......... 41 Figure 15: Mean result of corporate image dimensions for UWV and the ABU................................... 42 Figure 16: Mean result of corporate image and corporate identity dimension scores for UWV .......... 47.

(9) Abbreviations and acronyms ABU CBS CRM Hn PR RQn SWOT SZW UWV ZBO. = Federation of private employment agency = Dutch central agency for Statistics = Customer Relationship Management = Hypothesis n = Public Relations = Research Question n = Strengths. Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats = Ministry of social affairs and employment = Employee insurance agency = Autonomous administrative authority. Types of benefits from UWV IVA Wajong WAO WAZ WAZO WGA WIA WW. = Full invalidity benefit regulations = Disablement assistance act for handicapped young persons = invalidity insurance act = Self-employed persons Disablement benefits act = Work and care act = Return to Work (partially disabled) regulations = Work and income according to labour capacity act = Unemployment insurance act.

(10) 1 Introduction Most organizations are aware of the importance of creating and maintaining a positive corporate image. Corporate image reflects a company’s reputation and therefore it should be given a high degree of importance (Dowling & Moran, 2012). Moreover, corporate image plays an important role in the creation and maintenance of trust and reliance inside and outside the organization (Karadeniz, 2009). Although the importance of a good corporate image may be well understood, there is yet insufficient knowledge about what influences could cause a corporate image to change. In this research, we investigate how several variables relate to the corporate image of public service organizations in the Netherlands. The definition of public service organizations could be given as: ‘organizations that are controlled by and are responsible to a government body, rather than to shareholders’ (Doyle & Stern, 2006, p. 368). Although public service organizations do not rely on profit generation, these organizations may have different motives for improving their corporate image. One major motive for public service organizations to improve their own image is to gain security of a long-term existence. For public service organizations a negative corporate image may lead to a poor relationship with vendors and governmental officials, which is extremely harmful because these organizations rely on funding (Reference for business, 2014). Public service organizations in the Netherlands often suffer from a negative corporate image caused by several reasons. One big reason for the negative image of public service organizations is due to negative publicity from the media (Eggink, Verbeek-Oudijk, & Pommer, 2013). Another reason for the negative image of public service organizations is because these organizations are believed to be driven by bureaucratic procedures rather than being driven by customer desires (Kotler & Lee, 2006, p. 9). Customers may, for instance, be unsatisfied with the long-winded processes and the organization’s focus on protocols rather than on customer’s desires (Weber, 1978, p. 650). In the literature we find many examples of studies in which a diverse number of marketing activities have proven to influence the corporate image for many worldwide organizations (Chen & Chen, 2014; Owizy, 2013; Ko, Yoo, & Eun, 2012; Muralidharan, Dillistone, & Shin, 2011). Unfortunately these studies are generally written for private organizations rather than for public service organizations. Similar to the private sector, we expect marketing techniques to be able to influence the corporate image of public service organization in the Netherlands. The Dutch public service sector usually does not go hand in hand with the use of marketing; however they are very much connected. Dutch public service organizations are renowned amongst the public but unfortunately most of these organizations hold a negative corporate image. Instead of using marketing techniques, such as the well-known four P’s of the marketing mix, Dutch public service organizations are being blamed for only using the ‘p’ of politics (Toponderzoek, 2013).. 1.

(11) Due to the fact that public service organizations have high customer interactions, we expect marketing activities with a social characteristic to have the greatest influence on corporate image improvement. In this research we test what influence CRM and PR could have on the corporate image of public service organizations in the Netherlands. CRM and PR have been selected because they consist of a social characteristic and have an emphasis on connecting with the public. Obviously, marketing activities are not the only variables that could influence corporate image improvement. For that reason we selected another influencing variable to involve in our research plan. ’perceived social responsibility’ and ’current market conditions’ are two other variables that could influence the corporate image according to Dowling (2001, pp. 10,11). We chose to analyze the relationship between current market conditions and corporate image, because this variable is always present, albeit in a positive or in a negative way. After all, market conditions cannot be switched on or off. Instead they can only be good or bad. Current market conditions serve as an external factor that cannot be controlled by the organization. Therefore, we analyse how current market conditions can influence the corporate image of public service organizations in relationship with the use of CRM and PR. Current market conditions are therefore tested as a moderator throughout our research plan. The delegation of business tasks to intermediating firms outside the public service sector is also expected to influence the corporate image of public service organizations in the Netherlands. This is because intermediating firms may cover a part of the negative image of the organization they apply services for. Intermediating firms are after all not involved with the bureaucratic issues of public service organizations. Besides, intermediating firms are likely to speak positively about the public service organization they work for. Therefore, we analyze the influence of task delegation to intermediating firms in combination with the use of CRM and PR on corporate image improvement for public service organizations in the Netherlands. Dutch public service organizations are currently not delegating (some of their) business activities to intermediating firms, mainly due to financial reasons (ZBC, 2010). Instead they apply shared services with other public service organizations to centralise some of their activities and to save costs (ZBC, 2010). Applying shared services is unlikely to lead to corporate image improvement, because both organizations apply shared services in the same bureaucratic sector and therefore both organizations hold the same negative corporate image. In addition, corporate image could be seen from two different perspectives: internally from an organizational perspective (corporate identity) and externally from a public’s perspective (corporate image). We believe that an organization may not fully understand the public’s perspective on the corporate image. In particular, those organizations that hold a resource-based view do not have a good market orientation and so they may not understand the public’s true needs. (Barry, Clulow, & Gerstman, 2005). Having a tunnel vision may cause corporate image management to be practised only from an internal perspective rather than from an external perspective. Exclusively managing from an internal perspective may degenerate the corporate image from a customer perspective. For this reason we wish to analyze if there appears to be a significant gap between the corporate identity and the 2.

(12) corporate image of Dutch public service organizations. Further we would like to analyse the underlying reasons of the existence of such a gap. For the execution of our research plan we formulized the following two research questions: RQ1: ‘How must CRM, PR, intermediating firms and current market condition be interrelated to improve the corporate image of public service organizations in the Netherlands?’ RQ2: ‘How significant is the gap between the corporate identity and the corporate image of public service organizations in the Netherlands?’ This research plan relates to a mixed method of explanatory and exploratory research. According to Saunders et al (2009, pp. 48,49) the explanatory analysis aims to establish the causal relationships between variables, whereas exploratory type of research aims to create an understanding of ‘what is happening’. For our explanatory type of research we analyze the relationship between five variables: Corporate image, CRM, PR, current market conditions and intermediating firms. In order to test the established relationships, research is carried out by conducting surveys amongst customers of UWV, a very bureaucratic public service organization in the Netherlands. Throughout our research plan these customers of UWV are identified as the Dutch public. For our exploratory type of research we investigate if there is a possible gap between the corporate identity and the corporate image of public service organizations in the Netherlands. Corporate identity refers to the beliefs and feelings of the employees towards the organization they work for. Corporate image refers to the beliefs and feelings of the public towards the organization. The search for a gap will be performed by the conduction of interviews with employees of UWV. The surveys and interviews will be collected in Qualtrics and distributed to IBM SPSS 22 where all statistical analysis is executed. This research plan will mainly be of relevance for practitioners who are employed within the public service sector inside the Netherlands. The results of this plan may assist them in understanding how they could improve the corporate image of their own organization. Practitioners will gain understanding of the factors that could influence a corporate image. Moreover they will gain understanding of the consequences of corporate image management from an internal perspective only. This study will also be of relevance for theorists who wish to build further on the theory of corporate image improvement. Theorists may choose to perform the same tests within different types of organizations and/or within different sectors. Due to a limited amount of time, this study only focuses on the public service sector inside the Netherlands and our analysis is performed on only one organization of the Dutch public service sector. For this reason the results of this study only relate to the Dutch public service sector. More research is mandatory to make reliable conclusions on the entire public service sector and/or other specific sectors inside or outside the Netherlands. This research plan is divided into six chapters including the introduction. The introduction outlines the research background, the aims and objectives of this study and summarizes the structure of this research paper. Chapter two provides a literature review relating to the main topics of this research plan: public service organizations, corporate image, corporate identity, Customer 3.

(13) Relationship Management, Public Relations, current market conditions and intermediating firms. Moreover this chapter describes the research gaps of this plan which are based on the current literature. Chapter two ends with the presentation of a theoretical framework and the description of hypotheses which count as the groundwork for our research plan. The methodology as described in chapter three discusses the methods and analysing procedures of our research plan. Chapter four describes the results of our two research questions. Chapter five outlines a discussion as based on the results of chapter four. Chapter six presents the conclusions of the main findings of our study. Finally chapter seven presents all attachments which have been used for the completion of our research plan.. 4.

(14) 2 Literature Review This chapter describes the current theoretical knowledge on the topics of our research plan. Chapter 2 commences with a description of our dependent variable, which is ‘public service organizations’. Thereafter, the other variables of our research plan are defined and outlined. These variables are: corporate image, corporate identity, Customer Relationship Management, Public Relations, current market conditions and intermediating firms. Next, the research gaps of our research plan are being described. Finally we present a causal model, a conceptual framework and a set of hypotheses which we wish to analyze throughout our research plan.. 2.1. Definition of public service organizations. Many theorists who write about organizations often incorrectly take the definition of this concept for granted. This may lead to misunderstanding of the topic. The Oxford business dictionary defines ‘an organization’ as: ‘a social unit of people that is structured and managed to meet a need or to pursue collective goals’. Aldrich (2008) defines an organization as ‘goal directed boundary maintaining, activity systems’. Hecht (1980) suggests that any organization is: ‘a complicated system of interactions between people working at various levels in that organization and reacting with the social, economic, cultural, political and competitive systems which surround it’. The definition of organizations can be viewed from many different perspectives and types of organizations could be classified into many different categories. For example they could be classified according to size, profit generation and activity performance. Gareth Morgan (2006) classified organizations into groups using eight basic metaphors in order to understand and deal with different organization problems. Likewise, Joyline Makani and Sunny Marche (2011) classified organizations into knowledge intensive organizations (KIO’s) and non-knowledge intensive organizations (nonKIO’s) in order to present the differences between these two types. To differentiate between several types of organizations we use the classification system as described by Peter M. Blau and W. Richard Scott (2003, p. 5). Blau & Scott’s classification keeps all social parties into consideration while focusing on differences between 1. The members, 2. The owners or managers of the organization, 3. The clients and 4. The public at large. Their classification is based on four categories, mentioned as: •. Mutual-benefit associations: Mutual benefits associations gather together to serve the interests of members. Examples of such organizations are: political parties, unions, fraternal associations, clubs, veterans’ organizations, professional associations and religious acts. Individuals join such organizations to satisfy their need for affiliation, associations and security. The strength of such organizations therefore lies in membership. Mutual-benefit associations are likely to get in to conflicts and therefore their failure rate appears to be higher than for other organizations.. 5.

(15) •. Business concerns: Business organizations are economic entities established for the purpose of making economic gains. Examples of such organizations are: industrial firms, mail-order houses, wholesale and retail stores, banks, insurance companies and similar organizations privately owned and operated for the creation of profit. The prime beneficiaries of business organizations are owners and/or shareholders.. •. Commonweal organizations: For commonweal organizations the prime beneficiary is the public at large. They are created to provide standards and they serve a large segment of the population. Some examples of commonweal organizations are: the State Department, military services, police and fire departments and the research departments within universities. There is no profit motive behind the formation of these organizations.. •. Service organizations: The prime beneficiary of service organizations are the public who are in direct contact with the organization. The basic function of service organizations is to serve clients. Included in this category are: social work agencies, hospitals, schools, legal-aid societies and mental health clinics. Welfare of their clients is presumed to be the main concern for all service organizations. Within service organizations the word ‘client’ refers to both the segment of the public in direct contact with the organization and the segment that benefits from its services. According to Doyle and Stern (2006, p. 368) service organizations could further be divided into the following two types:. 1. Private non-profit organizations: A private non-profit organization is an organization whose prime goal is non-economic. However, in pursuit of that goal it may undertake profit-making activities. Examples of private non-profit organizations are: Oxfam and several trade unions. 2. Public organizations: A public sector organization is one that is controlled by and responsible to a government body rather than to shareholders or members. The given definition of public organizations is not watertight, because some public organizations like universities engage in profit making activities and rely on a mixture of financing from the government, consumers and voluntary contributions from donors. Some public organizations like post offices are desired by the government to make a surplus. Other public organizations like police-offices are inherently non-profit generating. Finally there has been a striking movement towards privatising public sector organizations such as the ones providing gas, electricity and railway services. Due to the fact that this research plan primarily focuses on the Dutch public service sector we will first examine the true definition of public service organizations in the Netherlands. 2.1.1. Public service organizations in the Netherlands. In brief we can state that public service organizations are those organizations which are controlled by and responsible to a government body (Blau & Scott, 2003; Doyle & Stern, 2006, p. 368). The main 6.

(16) goal of public service organizations is to provide welfare services to two different types of clients (Blau & Scott, 2003, p. 5): 1.. The ones who are in direct contact with the organizations. These can be described as the direct customers of the organization.. 2.. The ones who benefit from services of the organizations. These can be described as the society at large.. A direct translation of public service organizations in Dutch could be given as: ‘overheidsdiensten’. According to the Dutch Kernerman dictionary ‘overheidsdiensten’ are services that are managed by the government (Kernerman nederlands leerderswoordenboek, n.d.). On the website of the Dutch national government we can find a list of all public service organizations in the Netherlands. This list includes: governments, provinces, water boards, regional cooperation bodies, professional associations, States General, High Council of State, ministries, advisory boards, independent governing bodies, ministry of justice, police and firemen (rijksoverheid, n.d.). Public service organizations in the Netherlands generally hold a negative corporate image. This negative image is mainly caused by negative publicity in the media (Eggink et al, 2013). Another reason for the negative image of public service organizations is because these organizations are believed to be driven by bureaucratic procedures rather than being driven by customer desires (Kotler & Lee, 2006, p. 9). Instead of using marketing techniques, such as the well-known four P’s of the marketing mix, Dutch public service organizations are being blamed for only using the ‘p’ of politics (Toponderzoek, 2013) The following paragraph describes the causes and effects of the bureaucratic nature of public service organizations in more detail. 2.1.2. Bureaucracy amongst public service organizations. Public service organizations are quite often subject to considerable criticism and hostility, mainly caused by the media (Eggink et al, 2013). Criticisms focus on both their inefficiency, such as being overstaffed, and their ineffectiveness, such as being extremely slow in reacting to problems. Bureaucracy and over complex systems are believed to be the cause of these problems. Bureaucratic organizations are known to have rigid and tight procedures with stringent control as well as a reluctance to adopt or change. Bureaucratic organizations are generally organized with a high degree of formalities in the way they operate. All individuals understand who is in charge and what his or her responsibilities are. Decisions are made through an organized process and there is a large amount of control present all the time (Kotler & Lee, 2006, p. 9) . According to Weber (1978, p. 650) almost all modern administrative organizations from all over the world are bureaucratically organized. While creating a theoretical framework Weber (1978, pp. 650-678) described the distinctive characteristics of bureaucratic organizations as following: 1.. Organization tasks are distributed amongst the various positions of official duties. 2.. The positions or offices are organized into a hierarchical authority structure. 7.

(17) 3.. A formally established system of rules and regulations governs official decisions and actions.. 4.. Officials are expected to assume an impersonal orientation in their contacts with clients or with other officials.. 5.. Employment by the organization constitutes a career for officials.. Now that we described our dependent variable, we will continue to describe the other six variables in the next few paragraphs of chapter 2.. 2.2 Definition of corporate image and corporate identity The origins of the subject ‘corporate image’ dates back to the middle of the 20th century. Corporate image was historically linked to graphic design rather than to marketing issues, with most attention given to aspects like name selection, logo design and marketing collateral (Howard, 1998, pp. 1,2). This idea no longer suits the global and dynamic world in which organizations operate these days. Corporate image now focuses more on aspects like the quality of the products, the leadership style and marketing strategies of the organizations (Howard, 1998, pp. 1,2). In the literature we find many different definitions for ‘corporate image’. Unfortunately, these definitions are often incorrectly being mixed up with other definitions, such as ‘corporate identity’ and ‘corporate reputation’. For example Karadeniz (2009) states ‘a corporate image should be given a high degree of importance, because it reflects a corporate reputation’. There is a strong difference between the definitions of a corporate image, a corporate identity and a corporate reputation. However, they are believed to be in a direct relationship with each other. Dowling (2001, p. 19) gives the following definitions to corporate identity, corporate image and corporate reputation: -. Corporate identity: The symbols and nomenclature an organization uses to identify itself to people (such as the corporate name, logo, advertising slogan, livery etc.).. -. Corporate image: The global evaluation (comprised of a set of beliefs and feelings) a person has about an organization.. -. Corporate reputation: The attributed values (such as authenticity, honesty, responsibility, and integrity) evoked from the person’s corporate image. The definitions of ‘corporate identity’, ‘corporate image’ and ‘corporate reputation’ as given. by Dowling (2001, p. 19) illustrate that corporate identity relates to the internal view of the organization, whereas corporate image and corporate reputation relate to the external view of the organization. Corporate identity is based on all features that belong to the organization, whereas corporate image and corporate reputation are both based on the intangible mindset of the public. The right sequence in which corporate identity, corporate image and corporate reputation usually appear is that: 1. People first make an association between an organization and its identity symbols (for example. 8.

(18) the golden arches of Mc Donald’s). 2. Then these identity symbols help people to recall their image of the organization, which may include a mental picture and/ or sensory feelings about it. The symbols may also automatically enhance a corporate image. 3. The design of a desired image (set of beliefs and feelings) is linked to one or more values which are important to the public and turn into the creation of good corporate reputation. An example of a well-known organization which successfully created a link between the stakeholders’ values and corporate image is the Walt Disney Company. The core value for Walt Disney is that its products (films, theme parks) touch is good, clean and family entertaining (The Walt Disney company, 2012). Thus, a corporate identity may affect a corporate image when people associate a company with its identity symbols and are able to recall them. Corporate image is affected by the beliefs and feelings people simultaneously create for an organization. If the beliefs and feelings of a person fit well with the individuals’ values, then the individual will perceive that the organization has a good reputation. This relationship is revealed in figure 1 of Grahame Dowling (2001, p. 20). Corporate image is built around two different components: a logical (cognitive belief) component and an emotional (feeling) component. Both of these components are necessary and usually appear simultaneously in an individual’s mind. The role of the logical component is to make the individual believe in the organization. The role of the emotional component is to energize the individual to respond to the organization (for example a customer buying a product). Beliefs without emotions and emotions without beliefs are not effective to stimulate action. In this research plan we only focus on the variables ‘corporate identity’ and ‘corporate image’. Corporate identity could be accepted as the fundamental aspect of how internal employees perceive and manage their own organization. Corporate image is based on how customers perceive an organization through their own beliefs and feelings. We do not focus on the variable ‘corporate reputation’, because a broader research on this topic would become very time consuming. The next paragraph describes in detail how several types of organizations manage their own corporate image.. 9.

(19) Figure 1: The relationship between corporate identity, corporate image and corporate reputation as presented by Grahame Dowling. 2.2.1. Managing corporate image. Every organization has a corporate image, whether it wants it or not. Having a good corporate image creates many advantages and opportunities to grow. A corporate image which is designed and managed in the proper way can lead to a financial value, a marketplace value or a human resource value (Howard, 1998, pp. 31-36). Some organizations may give more importance to these values than other organizations. For example private organizations may desire a financial value more than nonprofit organizations. Organizations like IBM or Mc Donald’s, could be guided by their goal to generate profits. Other organizations, like UNICEF and the Museum of modern art, could be guided by goals to achieve something for the society. Therefore, it would be interesting to first understand how different types of organizations manage their own corporate image. Corporate communication appears to be the direct link between corporate identity and corporate image. Corporate communication can help companies to improve their personal brand images (Abratt, Peters, & Hawabhay, 2009). In his book ‘Defining corporate communication’ Cornelissen (2004, p. 15) refers to corporate communication as ‘any type of communication activity undertaken by an organization to inform, persuade or relate to individuals and groups in its outside environment’. Cornelissen (2004, p. 10) also wrote how corporate communication could be used to 10.

(20) establish a favorable corporate image and corporate reputation. The book describes how corporate communication started off with publicity-seeking outside the organization. Over the years corporate communication became more and more internally integrated and at one specific moment, several disciplines like ‘marketing’ and ‘public relations’ emerged. Since the 80’s these two disciplines were brought together under the same umbrella of a new management function called ‘corporate communication’. Through the presentation of several models, Kotler and Mindak (1978) identified the value of combining marketing with public relations to improve a company’s identity and corporate image. Kotler and Mindak (1978) divided organizations into four classifications based on their knowledge of marketing and public relations. It turned out that small nonprofit- and social service organizations barely performed any marketing- and public relations techniques. This situation has barely changed over the years. Applying marketing and public relations techniques could be very effective for public service organizations that aim to improve their own corporate image. Marketing could be seen as a tool to communicate with the external market, while public relations could be seen as a tool to communicate with the public. Based on the information above, we can state that corporate communication is extremely valuable for the improvement of corporate image. Moreover, corporate communication can help organizations to decrease the gap between corporate identity and corporate image. Due to the fact that public service organizations have high customer interactions, we believe that investment in marketing techniques with a social characteristic would be most effective for improving the corporate image of these organizations. Therefore, we decided to analyze the influence of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Public Relations (PR) on corporate image improvement for public service organizations in the Netherlands. The following paragraph outlines the definitions of CRM and PR in more detail.. 2.3. Definitions of CRM and PR. This paragraph outlines the definitions and specific characteristics of both Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Public Relations (PR). 2.3.1. Customer Relationship Management (CRM). Customer relationship management could be defined as: ‘The process of carefully managing detailed information about individual customers and all customers touch points to maximize customer loyalty’ (Kotler, Keller, Koshy, & Jha, 2009, p. 128). A customer touch point could be defined as ‘any occasion on which a customer encounters the brand and product, from actual experience to personal or mass communications to causal observation’ (Kotler et al, 2009, p. 128). Companies often focus well on CRM functionality and integration, but they may forget some of the basic touch points. Touch points of, for example a hotel chain, may include: reservations, check- in & check out, room service and restaurants. An organization connects with its customers through the investment in CRM. By. 11.

(21) investing in CRM, organizations can customize market offerings, services, programs and (media) messages. Applying CRM is important because the customer base of organizations is a major driver of their profitability. 2.3.2. Public Relations (PR). Public relations could be defined as: ‘those activities that the organization undertakes to communicate to its publics that are not paid for directly’ (Doyle & Stern, 2006, p. 279). Major activities undertaken in public relations are: achieving positive coverage in the media, sponsoring special events and creating and reinforcing the corporate image. Creating and reinforcing the corporate image could be achieved through the provision of annual reports, brochures, stationary, business forms and uniforms (Doyle & Stern, 2006, p. 279). By applying these activities an organization communicates its identity to the public. According to Kotler, Keller & Burton (2009, p. 511). ’Public relations is one of the eight modes of the marketing communications mix. The other seven modes are: advertising, sales promotion, events and experiences, direct marketing, interactive marketing, word-of-mouth marketing and personal selling. Kotler, Keller & Burton (2009, p. 511) describe Public Relations as ‘a variety of programs designed to promote or protect a company’s image or its individual products’. Examples of public relations activities are: speeches, seminars, annual reports, publications and identity media. All marketing communications activities contribute to brand equity and drive sales by: creating awareness of the brand, linking the right associations to the brand image in customer’s memory, eliciting positive brand judgments or feelings and facilitating a stronger consumer-brand connection (Kotler et al, 2009, p. 511). This relationship is shown in figure 2.. Figure 2: Integrating marketing communications to build brand equity. 12.

(22) 2.4 Definition of current market conditions and intermediating firms This paragraph outlines the definitions and specific characteristics of both current market conditions and intermediating firms. 2.4.1. Definition of current market conditions. The definition of current market conditions could be presented as: ‘Characteristics of an industry sector which can affect buyers and sellers in that sector’ (Financial times, n.d.). Factors to consider include, for example, the number of competitors, demographics and economical changes. Naturally, market conditions can be either good or bad. Organizations should adjust their business activities according to these market changes. In order to identify the current market conditions, an organization could draw up a SWOT analysis (Mindtools, n.d.). With this analysis an organization is able to plan its activities according to the changing market conditions. By continuously keeping track on the changing market conditions an organization is able to secure its own existence in the market. 2.4.2. Definition of intermediating firms. In this research plan intermediating firms relate to organizations that take over (a part of) the business tasks of other organizations. Intermediating firms can fulfill any type of business tasks, from IT technology to serving customers. In this research plan we aim to test intermediating firms as those organizations that supply services to customers of the public service organizations, here defined as the Dutch public. Public service organizations are currently not making use of intermediating firms, due to financial reasons (ZBC, 2010). Instead they use shared services to centralise their activities and to save costs (ZBC, 2010). The delegation of business activities to intermediating firms could be advantageous for public service organizations that wish to improve their corporate image. This is because intermediating firms may cover a part of the public’s negative view towards public service organizations. Besides, intermediating firms that performs tasks for the public service organization are likely to speak positively about the organization they work for. However, the delegation of tasks to intermediating firms is only expected to improve the corporate image of public service organizations when the intermediating firms work outside the public service sector. Delegating business tasks to another public service organization is expected to be ineffective, because such an organization may probably hold a similar negative image.. 2.5 Research Gaps Marketing techniques, according to Dowling (2001, pp. 57,58), are one of the main factors that could influence the corporate image of any organization. Likewise, Howard (1998, p. 9) described that there is a strong link between marketing excellence and corporate image of organizations in general. Many studies in the literature also provide evidence for the relationship between the use of several marketing 13.

(23) techniques and corporate image improvement for many worldwide private organizations (Ko et al, 2012; Chen & Chen, 2014; Muralidharan et al, 2011; Owizy, 2013). Unfortunately these studies were mainly not written for the public service sector. Public service organizations are generally dependent on governmental funding and do not aim for profit generation. However, the funding of public service organizations is, by nature, very dependent on the corporate image of the organization. Therefore, investment in corporate image appears to be even more important for public service organizations as compared to private organizations. Since most public service organizations are bureaucratically organized a lot of criticism is focused on their inefficiency, such as being overstaffed, and their ineffectiveness such as being extremely slow in reacting to problems (Weber, 1978, p. 650). This bureaucratic culture, with a focus on procedures and protocols rather than on a culture of creative, strategic & market driven change, leads to further worsening of the corporate image (Weber, 1978, p. 650). Therefore, we perform analysis on public service organizations which are ruled by bureaucratic issues. Such organizations may have the biggest challenge to improve their corporate image since their prime beneficiary is focused on the public. The missing link between marketing techniques and corporate image improvement for public service organizations is an important gap to analyze because public service organizations often suffer from a negative corporate image and are the subject of considerable criticism and hostility (Boertien Groep, n.d.). Kotler and Lee described several advantages of the utilization of marketing techniques for governmental agencies, which belong to the public service sector (2006, pp. 9,10). For example, they describe how marketing could be an effective tool for governmental agencies to create a strong brand identity, gather citizen input and evaluate efforts. Although Kotler and Lee (2006, pp. 9,10) do not mention a direct link between marketing and corporate image improvement for governmental agencies, they stress the importance of applying marketing techniques for these organizations. Kotler and Lee (2006, pp. 9,10) describe how marketing techniques could lead to aspects which are in line with a good corporate reputation. According to Dowling (2001, pp. 10,11) there appears to be a strong link between corporate image and corporate reputation. Therefore, we may argue that according to the theory of Kotler and Lee (2006, pp. 9,10) the use of marketing techniques indirectly results in corporate image improvement for governmental agencies, which are part of the public service sector. In this research plan we aim to analyze if the use of marketing techniques could indeed improve the corporate image of public service organizations in the Netherlands. We want to test the influence of marketing techniques that consist of a social characteristic because public service organizations have high customer interactions. Therefore, these marketing techniques are expected to be most influential for corporate image improvement. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Public Relations (PR) are expected to have the biggest influence on corporate image improvement for public service organizations because of their social characteristic and their focus on relationship-building with the public. Obviously, market conditions are not the only variables that are able to improve the corporate image of organizations. Therefore, we test what other variables could also improve the corporate 14.

(24) image of public service organizations in the Netherlands. Current market conditions’ could, according to Dowling (2001, pp. 10,11) also lead to corporate image improvement for organizations in general. Therefore, we test if current market conditions also results in corporate image improvement for Dutch public service organizations. Public service organizations can easily hide their negative corporate image by delegating (some of their) business tasks to intermediating firms. Through the delegation of business tasks the bureaucratic procedures become less noticeable for the public. This is due to the fact that they are no longer confronted with the bureaucratic procedures of the original organization providing the services. Besides these intermediating firms are likely to speak positive about the organization they work for. Unfortunately Dutch public service organizations are not very familiar with delegating their activities to intermediating firms, though they do apply shared services amongst each other (ZBC, 2010). Applying shared services will not take away the negative image of public service organizations, because both organizations operate in the same bureaucratic sector. Delegating business tasks to organizations that operate in non-bureaucratic sectors is expected to result in corporate image improvement for public service organizations. This is because after delegation of business activities the bureaucratic procedures of the public service organization become less visible to the public. In this research plan we will investigate whether the delegation of business activities to intermediating firms that work outside the Dutch public service sector could indeed result in corporate image improvement for bureaucratic public service organization in the Netherlands. A corporate image could be seen from two different perspectives: internal as well as external. Internal employees may hold a different view on their own company image as compared to the external public. Employees with a tunnel vision may manage the corporate image according to their own perspective while ignoring the publics’ needs and desires. Based on the theory of Dowling (2001, p. 19), we refer to the internal view as ‘corporate identity’. The external view is referred by us as ‘corporate image’. A gap between the corporate identity and corporate image may lead to further worsening of the corporate image if the public’s desires are not being fulfilled. An extreme negative image could finally lead to bankruptcy of the organization.. 2.6 Causal model and hypotheses This paragraph describes the hypotheses we wish to analyze in order to give answers to our research questions. The hypotheses are drawn out in a causal model to present the correlation between all variables. 2.6.1. Causal model. Figure 3 presents a causal model of our research plan with eleven hypotheses to be analyzed. The eleven hypotheses represent our six variables. We perform measurements on these variables in order to test our hypotheses. By testing our hypotheses we are able to answer the two research questions as 15.

(25) described in paragraph 2.6.3. Moreover, testing our hypotheses will help us to understand the interrelationship between our variables and their effect on corporate image improvement for public service organizations in the Netherlands. The six variables of our causal model represent: CRM, PR, current market conditions, intermediating firms, corporate image and corporate identity. CRM and PR are expected to positively influence the corporate image of public service organizations in the Netherlands because these activities have already proven their effectiveness on corporate image change for many private organizations. ‘Intermediating firms’ serves here as a mediator, because this variable is assumed to be a cause of corporate image improvement. Intermediating firms can reduce the bureaucratic issues of public service organizations in the Netherlands. The addition of intermediating firms is expected to strengthen the relationship between CRM and PR and corporate image improvement for public service organizations in the Netherlands. ‘Current market conditions’ is another variable, which we expect, influences the corporate image improvement of public service organizations in the Netherlands. The relationship between current market conditions and corporate image is based on the theory of Dowling (2001, pp. 10,11). If the economy is good, we expect the corporate image of public service organizations to improve because with good market conditions these organizations have more money to spend on the services and special rights for the public. The public is after all dependent on many rights they receive from public service organizations. In this research plan current market conditions serve as a moderator. Current market conditions are seen as an uncontrollable factor which is always present, whether it is good or bad. Market conditions are expected to strengthen or weaken the relationship between CRM and PR with the corporate image of public service organizations in the Netherlands. Finally, we expect the corporate identity of public service organizations to be different from the corporate image of these organizations. Corporate identity relates to the internal view of employees towards their own organizations. Corporate image relates to the external view of the public towards organizations. In this research plan, the view of employees and the public are both based on their personal beliefs and feelings towards these organizations. Figure 3 presents a delta-symbol between corporate identity and corporate image, which relates to an incremental change between both variables. The difference between corporate identity and corporate image is based on the theory of Dowling (2001, p. 19).. 16.

(26) Figure 3: Causal model of this research plan. 2.6.2 Conceptual framework Figure 4 presents the complete conceptual framework with all the relationships between variables we wish to analyze throughout this research plan. The analysis of relationships between variables allows us to answer our research questions as described in paragraph 2.6.3. Our conceptual model is built around three closely linked variables: corporate identity, corporate image and corporate reputation, as described by Dowling (2001, p. 19). Corporate identity is based on the internal view (beliefs and feelings) and the identification of organizations. An organization may use several aspects to identify itself to the public such as symbols, the type of organization and other identifying issues. Corporate image is based on the global evaluation (beliefs and feelings) the public creates about organizations. Corporate reputation is based on several attributed values evoked from the evaluation of the public. In this thesis we only focus on the variables corporate identity and corporate image. Research question 1 only focuses on the variable corporate image, while research question 2 focuses on both variables corporate identity and corporate image. The first research question will be answered through the analysis of hypothesis 1 until 10. At first we test if the public perceives the corporate image of non-public service organizations to be more positive as compared to the corporate image of public service organizations in the Netherlands. This analysis functions as the baseline measurement to secure that public service organizations are indeed believed to have a bad corporate image as compared to non-public service organizations. The baseline measurement for testing the corporate image of public service organizations in the Netherlands is presented as hypothesis 1 in figure 4. 17.

(27) Then we analyze if the application of 2 marketing techniques (CRM & PR) are able to improve the corporate image of public service organizations in the Netherlands. Several marketing techniques have proven to be positive influencers for the corporate image of many private organizations in general (Chen & Chen, 2014; Ko et al, 2012; Muralidharan et al, 2011; Owizy, 2013). Kotler and Mindak (1978) have also demonstrated a positive relationship of marketing and PR with corporate image improvement for government agencies through the use of several models. In this plan we focus especially on public service organizations in the Netherlands. These organizations are generally ruled by bureaucratic procedures and mostly suffer from a negative corporate image (Boertien Groep, n.d.). The marketing techniques we use in our research are CRM and PR. These marketing techniques are expected to have the greatest influence on corporate image improvement for public service organizations in the Netherlands due to their social characteristic and their focus on public interactions. The link between CRM and PR with corporate image is presented as hypothesis 2 and 3 in figure 4. Next, we analyze if the delegation of business tasks to non-public service organizations can also improve the corporate image of public service organizations in the Netherlands. In this thesis these non-public service organizations are referred to as ‘intermediating firms’. People who receive services from a public service organization through an intermediating firm (such as consulting firms) may no longer be victims of bureaucratic procedures. We test if the application of CRM and PR activities along with the delegation of business activities to intermediating firms can improve the corporate image of public service organizations in the Netherlands. Intermediating firms are believed to strengthen the relationship between CRM & PR with corporate image. For this reason intermediating firms are tested as a mediator throughout this research plan. The link between CRM and PR and corporate image with the addition of intermediating firms as a mediator is presented as hypotheses 4 and 5 in figure 4. Naturally, marketing techniques are not expected to be the only influencing variables of corporate image improvement. Current market conditions are believed to be another variable that could influence the corporate image improvement (Dowling & Moran, 2012). Current market conditions are seen as an uncontrollable factor that is always present. In contrast with the application of CRM and PR activities, market conditions can never be ‘switched off’. Neither can they be controlled by the organization itself. Market conditions can only be good or bad and both scenarios should have a different effect on the corporate image of public service organizations. Good market conditions are expected to have a positive influence on how the public perceives the corporate image of public service organizations in the Netherlands. Likewise, bad market conditions are expected to have a negative influence on how the public perceives the corporate image of public service organizations in the Netherlands. In this research plan we test if good current market conditions and bad current market conditions are able to influence the corporate image of public service organizations in the Netherlands. While current market conditions are set as a moderator, we believe that this 18.

(28) variable could weaken or strengthen the relationship between CRM and PR with the corporate image of public service organizations. The baseline measurement for testing the effectiveness of current market conditions on corporate image is presented as hypothesis 6 in figure 4. Next, we test if the application of CRM and PR activities, along with the addition of market conditions as a moderator, can influence the corporate image of public service organizations in the Netherlands. This means that public service organizations that apply CRM and PR activities should result in a more positive corporate image when market conditions are good as compared to when market conditions are bad. The link between CRM and PR and corporate image with current market conditions as a moderator is presented in hypothesis 7 and 8 in figure 4. Finally we test if the application of CRM and PR, along with delegation of business tasks to intermediating firms as a mediator and the presence of market conditions as a moderator, can influence the corporate image of public service organizations in the Netherlands. The link between CRM and PR, with the addition of intermediating firms as a mediator and current market conditions as a moderator is presented in hypothesis 9 and 10 in figure 4. The analysis of our second research question focuses on the gap between corporate identity and corporate image. Corporate identity represents how the corporate image is perceived from an internal point of view, based on the beliefs and feelings of employees. Corporate image represents how the corporate image is perceived from an external point of view, based on the beliefs and feelings of the public. Investment in techniques to improve the corporate image is usually carried out from an internal perspective, leaving the customers judgments uncounted. The result of this tunnel vision may lead to an unsatisfied public and thus to a decreased corporate image. Therefore, we aim to analyze if there appears to be a gap between the corporate identity and the corporate image of public service organizations in the Netherlands. This link is presented in hypothesis 11. The specific type of organization could be seen as part of the organization’s corporate identity features. People would first make an association between the organization and its identity features, including the type of organization. Then these identity symbols may help people to recall their image of the organization which may include a mental picture and/ or sensory feeling about it. The design of the image, based on people’s beliefs and feelings, is linked to one or more values which are important to them and turn into the creation of corporate reputation (Dowling G. , 2001, p. 19). And this is how the circle of the 3 main variables ‘corporate identity’, ‘corporate image’ and ‘corporate reputation’ becomes complete. In addition, the variables CRM, PR, current market conditions and intermediating firms are believed to influence the corporate image of these organizations.. 19.

(29) Figure 4: Conceptual framework of this research plan. 2.6.3. Hypotheses. In this research plan we analyze the following two research questions: RQ1. ‘How must CRM, PR, intermediating firms and current market condition be interrelated to improve the corporate image of public service organizations in the Netherlands?’. RQ2. ‘How significant is the difference between the corporate identity and the corporate image of public service organizations in the Netherlands?’. RQ1 will be analyzed by testing the following hypotheses: H1. The corporate image of non-public service organizations in the Netherlands is judged better by the public than the corporate image of public service organizations.. H2. The corporate image of public service organizations in the Netherlands is judged better by the public when CRM activities are applied.. H3. The corporate image of public service organizations in the Netherlands is judged better by the public when PR activities are applied.. H4. The corporate image of public service organizations in the Netherlands that apply CRM activities and delegate business tasks to intermediating firms is judged better by the public as compared to public service organizations in the Netherlands that do not apply CRM activities and do not delegate business tasks to intermediating firms.. H5. The corporate image of public service organizations in the Netherlands that apply PR activities and delegate business tasks to intermediating firms is judged better by the public as 20.

(30) compared to public service organizations in the Netherlands that do not apply PR activities and do not delegate business tasks to an intermediating firm. H6. The corporate image of public service organizations in the Netherlands is judged better by the public when market conditions are good as compared to when market conditions are bad.. H7. The corporate image of public service organizations in the Netherlands is judged better by the public when they apply CRM activities and market conditions are good as when they apply CRM activities and market conditions are bad.. H8. The corporate image of public service organizations in the Netherlands is judged better by the public when they apply PR activities and market conditions are good as when they apply PR activities and market conditions are bad.. H9. The corporate image of public service organizations in the Netherlands is judged better by the public that apply CRM activities and delegate business tasks to an intermediating firm when the market conditions are good as compared to public service organizations in the Netherlands that apply CRM activities and delegate business tasks to an intermediating when the market conditions are bad.. H10. The corporate image of public service organizations in the Netherlands is judged better by the public that apply PR activities and delegate business tasks to an intermediating firm when the market conditions are good as compared to public service organizations in the Netherlands that apply PR activities and delegate business tasks to an intermediating when the market conditions are bad.. RQ2 will be analyzed by testing the following hypothesis: H11. There is an observable difference between the corporate identity and the corporate image of public service organizations in the Netherlands.. 21.

(31) 3 Research method The following chapter describes the empirical part of our research plan. At first a basic description of our research design is shown. Then the research setting is being described. Following up the two sample groups along with the necessary sample size are being outlined. Then, the constructs and measurement scales of our research plan are being outlined. Afterwards, the methods of data collection from our two different sample groups are being described. Finally, a brief discussion of the statistical approach is briefly explained.. 3.1 Research design For this research plan we used a deductive approach in which hypotheses are set to answer our research questions. To provide answers for our eleven hypotheses and our subsequent two research questions we used surveys and interviews to collect our data. Through the execution of surveys and interviews enough data was collected in order to create reliable statements and to find established relationships between all variables of our research plan. We chose to use a quantitative method because a qualitative method would not have allowed us to create enough data or to compare all the retrieved data. This research relates to a mixed method of explanatory type of research and exploratory type of research. Explanatory research concerns studies that establish causal relationships between variables, whereas exploratory research concerns studies that aim to find out ‘What is happening, to seek new insights, to ask questions and to assess phenomena in a new light’ (Saunders, Lewis, & Thornhill, 2009, pp. 48,49). This plan is divided in two parts in which hypotheses 1 until 10 belong to the first part and hypothesis 11 belongs to the second part of our research plan. In the first part of our plan we tested the relationship between two independent variables (CRM and PR) with one dependent variable (Corporate image). One variable (current market conditions) was set as a moderator and one variable (intermediating firms) was set as mediator. We tested if both the moderator and the mediator applied for strengthening (or in case of bad current market conditions for weakening) of the relationship between the independent variables and the dependent variable. Hypotheses 1 until 10 were tested through the provision of surveys. In the second part of our plan we tested if there appeared to be an observable gap between the corporate identity and the corporate image of UWV. Corporate identity refers to how the employees perceive the image of the organization they work for. Corporate image refers to how the public perceives the image of an organization. Hypothesis 11 was tested through the conduction of interviews.. 3.2 Research setting This research is particularly focused on public service organizations in the Netherlands. Public service organizations in the Netherlands are assumed to be bureaucratically arranged. We chose to perform 22.

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