Editorial

The term ‘Halal’ is becoming more visible: as an ingredient brand, a label and as a seal of approval. However, it is debatable whether current branding approaches encapsulate the full nature and spirit of what Halal is and means. The implications being that concepts of Halal will be changed and even eroded – affecting Muslims, brands and businesses.

The purpose of this paper is to provide insight into how branding is used in an innovative manner, when looking to generate equity and strengthen stakeholder relations – by a global car manufacturing company, governed by Iranian Islamic law. Following this, suggested areas of discussion are offered, in the interests of stimulating new thinking and further knowledge – surrounding marketing and branding in a Muslim context; Iranian culture; and the differences between Arab and Persian-centric approaches, towards an adherence to Islamic ethic.

Much has been written about the ‘Holy Grail’ of branding and the iconic status of brands in the modern world. Within the language used lies the allusion that powerful brands are western-centric and marbled with Christian symbolism and underpinnings. However, a key question remains as to whether these concepts can be applied to, or embrace the rise of Islamic marketing and Muslim consumer behaviour – especially concerning concepts of risk, decision-making and emotion.

ABSTRACT
The role of training and education in the development of senior management and leaders is critical to the long-term development of organisations. This paper seeks to explore and discuss the methods used for training and developing senior and executive managers across Africa, China, Europe and the Middle East. The paper outlines the methods used to identify training needs, selection of trainers and trainees, curriculum development and implementation of delivery. The paper further considers the evaluation criteria used to gauge the success of training in meeting training needs and provides an insight into the challenges faced by course designers and deliverers. The paper uses evidence collected over a five-year period between 2005-2009 on groups of senior managers and executives receiving training in the UK, sponsored by both British and other national governments. The paper has found little difference in the manner in which curriculum has been developed and how trainees are selected. However, the training needs and the identification of trainers have shown differences in approach and selection. Whilst there is evidence to suggest that training needs have been met, this is only in the short term and long-term needs are yet to be addressed. Furthermore, in support of long-term objectives, the ability to recognise and accommodate religion and culture remain areas necessitating further understanding.

ABSTRAK
Peranan yang dimainkan oleh latihan dan pendidikan dalam perkembangan pengurusan kanan dan pemimpin adalah kritikal bagi perkembangan jangka panjang organisasi. Kertas kajian ini bertujuan meneliti dan membincangkan kaedah yang digunakan untuk melatih dan membentuk para pengurus eksekutif dan kanan di Afrika, China, Eropah dan Timur Tengah. Kertas ini menggariskan kaedah yang digunakan bagi mengenal pasti keperluan latihan, pemilihan pelatih dan jurulatih, perkembangan kurikulum dan pelaksanaan penyampaian. Kertas ini juga meneliti kriteria penilaian yang digunakan bagi menilai kejayaan sesuatu latihan dalam memenuhi keperluan latihan dan seterusnya memberikan tanggapan tentang cabaran yang bakal dihadapi oleh pereka kursus dan para penyampai. Kertas ini menggunakan bukti yang dikumpul bagi tempoh lima tahun antara 2005-2009 bagi kumpulan-kumpulan pengurus kanan dan eksekutif yang menerima latihan di UK, yang ditaja oleh kedua-dua kerajaan British dan kerajaan-kerajaan lain. Kertas ini mendapati terdapatnya perbezaan yang kecil antara cara kurikulum dibentuk dan cara pelatih dipilih. Walau bagaimanapun, daripada segi keperluan latihan dan pengenalpastian jurulatih, terdapat perbezaan daripada sudut kaedah dan pemilihan. Walaupun terdapat bukti yang menunjukkan bahawa keperluan latihan sudah dipenuhi, namun ia hanya berbentuk jangka pendek dan keperluan jangka panjang masih belum dipenuhi. Selain itu, dalam menyokong objektif jangka panjang, keupayaan untuk menambil kira dan seterusnya memasukkan agama dan kebudayaan masih menjadi bidang yang memerlukan pemahaman lanjut.

More recently, terms like ‘avatars’ and the phenomenon of fanatical conspicuous consumption, or anti-branding movements opens up thinking towards other religious belief systems, eastern perspectives and politics linked to brands. This paper presents case examples, whilst sharing philosophical concepts – of relevance to academics and practitioners.

The paper provides a critical reflective review of Islamic Leadership, using John  Adair’s  2010 book, The Leadership of Muhammad as a conceptual starting point. Renowned leadership guru, John Adair, investigates leadership styles, present in Arab Bedouin social settings. His book asserts that the key to understanding Muslim perspectives on leadership lie in analysing those traits exhibited by the Prophet Muhammad (sas) and more generally Bedouin leadership styles. The conclusions drawn are that the book offers a concise and anecdotal historical overview, painting a halcyon picture of a significant period in Islamic history – which has helped to shape Arab Bedouin culture indelibly. However, rather than Bedouins, the author asserts that Islamic and Muslim Leadership are instead more significantly influenced by urbanites, who maintain rural connections – of whom the Prophet Muhammad is an exemplar.

Is there an argument for elite athletes retiring before their sporting performances dip, in order to protect their brand equities and make the movement into a new career easier? Also, how much time should an athlete spend on image building, when looking to: support sporting excellence; maximize revenue generation, ratifying professionalism; and demonstrate potential in a future industry role?

An extension of the work awarded 'Best Paper' in the Sports Marketing track, at the Academy of Marketing Annual Conference, July 7th-9th 2009, Leeds Metropolitan University, UK.

Human identities are becoming more complicated and hybridized - which can be observed through the increasing number of national teams that fans are willing to support. Rather than this being a zero sum game, hybridization is leading to wealth creation. National brand strengths can be increased through encouraging and celebrating multiculturalism (or even evoking concepts of polytheistic or polygamous consumption), instead of demanding monogamous loyalty. Furthermore, this phenomenon is using branding as a unifying factor, metaphor and language.

Qualitative investigations, in the form of a 16 month Expert Delphi Study, elicited iterated views from an international panel of academics and practitioners. Findings assert that culture and brands have the ability to influence each other; and share strong human relationship bonds and allegorical likenesses. Furthermore, successful brand management requires a cultural approach and leaders, who can mediate dynamic and complex networks of brand stakeholder relations. It was concluded that understanding brands, culture and management have to take into account: context, space and time – as porous boundaries of transience and transcendence. A new, grounded theoretical framework for brand management was developed - which took its inspiration from Aristotle’s Praedicamenta. In addition, alternative criteria for collecting and analysing biographical data were proposed.

Rather than just being a marketing tool and commercial commodity, Hip hop is presented here as offering two new contributions to knowledge: Firstly, how an ethnocentric sub-culture can make it mainstream – bridging racial, cultural, language, age and class divides globally. Secondly, how its ethos, approach and delivery provides a fertile ground for brand managers and designers to learn new ways of being creative.

As brands push the agenda towards developing relationships and friendships, psychological contracts are formed alongside physical ones. However, what happens when things go wrong. For example, will consumers seek compensation - even when products or services are ‘technically’ sound, but they feel that the brand has been less than a friend, betraying their promises and friendships?

It’s official – everyone wants a piece of the Halal action. If it’s for rewards in the hereafter, or revenue generation in the here and now: achieving halal status is something that many businesses are exploring. Halal, as a means for delivering competitive advantage, is considered to be an x-factor – which can help to expand operations, creating new markets and drawing in more consumers. Here are six hurdles that have to be cleared.

Adele Anouarbekova interviews Dr Jonathan Wilson (written in English and Russian) following his,
(1) speech:
"The Intersection Between Transformational Leadership, Corporate  Communications And Cultural Branding – Closing The Delta"
(2) One day workshop:
"The Art, Language & Mindset of game-changing / Branding, Public Relations & Corporate Communications"

At the 'Almaty PR Experience', Kazakhstan 6th & 7th February 2013.

http://www.thepworld.com/pevents/event/12/almaty-pr-experience

The interview talks about:
- Current trends in the Public Relations industry, as an academic and practitioner
- Employment prospects
- And suggestions to develop the Kazakh PR industry, market and national brand