Progress Madzvamuse G11M4627 Supervisors: Mbongi Ndabeni THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN RHODES UNIVERSITYS ACADEMIC BRAND IMAGE AND

THE UNIVERSITYS ABILITY TO COMPETITIVELY ATTRACT SKILLED NON-ACADEMIC TALENT AMONGST RHODES UNIVERSITY STUDENTS: AN EXPLORATORY STUDY. This thesis is submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Commerce with Honours in organisational psychology. Rhodes University October 2011

Acknowledgements I would like to thank and express my sincere appreciation to the following persons: Mbongi Ndabeni, my supervisor, for his constant support and guidance throughout my research. Bernadette King, my supervisor, for taking time to oversee and guide my research.
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Rhodes University Dean of students and the Registrar for allowing me to step in and conduct my research using Rhodes students. I would like also to thank the students who agreed to be interviewed, without whom this research would not have been possible. I would like to thank and express my humblest appreciation to my sponsor, the prestigious Andrew Mellon scholarship that funded me throughout my research.

TABLE OF CONTENTS LITERATURE REVIEW.. Introduction.. Brand and branding Employment branding..
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Brand and Brand extension Talent attraction Employment branding and talent attraction.. Flow chart.. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY Aims.................... Research question.. Research approach. Sample and Sampling. Data collection Data processing. Data analysis Validity and reliability of results. Ethical considerations.. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION. Discussion.. Summary of results CONCLUSION. Discussion of results Validation of results. Limitations of the research. Recommendations for future research References .
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Appendix A Informed consent form. Appendix B

CHAPTER ONE LIRETATURE REVIEW TO BE EXPANDED (12-15 pages); 1. INTRODUCTION This research proposal will begin by reviewing literature that is relevant to the current research topic. Due to the length limitations of the paper the review will be brief and cover only key theoretical concepts and relevant documented empirical research. The review of literature will be done under the context section. Methodology as it relates to how the data will be collected and analysed in the current study, who will participate in the study and how the sample will be drawn from the population of Rhodes University postgraduate students will follow after the context section. Finally, ethical issues pertinent to the current research will be addressed.
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2. CONTEXT This section highlights the context within which the current study takes place. This will be done through the review of theoretical and empirical literature relevant to the research topic i.e. branding, employer branding, brand extension and talent attraction. The next section reviews the concept of branding. The review shall highlight the interrelatedness of concepts in a manner similar to a conceptual framework. 2.1Brand and branding A brand is a product or service made distinctive by its market positioning relative to the competition and by its personality (Bainbridge, 1997). Consumer behaviour theories (e.g. utility maximization and product positioning) suggest that the purpose of a brand is to differentiate between products or services. Branding is a sign of identification through; inter alia, the label which differentiates one product from those of competitors (Scott, 2000). A brand can be richly understood if metaphorically viewed as an iceberg. Many organizations were forced into liquidation because of their failure to recognise the impact of the hidden part of the brand. Underestimating the power of a brand is similar to underestimating the effects of an iceberg (Chernatony, 2001). Davidson (1997) postulated a brand iceberg model that has become popular in marketing circles. The model stressed out that the visible part of the brand namely the logo and the name constitute a paltry 15 percent and the invisible but most important part which includes values, intellect and culture constitute a hefty 75 percent. Branding can also be viewed as an orthogonal projection of a cluster of values that were injected into the production of a product and ideally the nature of many products is multifaceted. Such a branding definition entails a cluster of values which might include quality, innovation, value for money, fun, authenticity, freedom, individualism, success and sense of challenge among others (de Chernatony, 2004). People associate certain brands with subtle meanings, for example, Nokia is associated with durability just as Samsung is associated with affordability if cell phone products are being ranked and rated. Likewise in the motoring industry Mercedes Benz is associated with success and executive lifestyle while Royce rolls is for the classy lifestyle. Ferrari on the other hand is associated with sporty lifestyle coupled with trendy, speedy lifestyle and Toyota is associated with quality such that market segmentation can be done on the basis of lifestyles for these products (Mody, 2003). Mainly branding can be done using a brand as a logo, legal instrument, ageing entities and name. These forms of branding will be explored in the next paragraphs using examples.

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The definition of brand as a logo is deeply seated in visual signifiers primarily as a basis for differentiation purposes as witnessed by the notable examples of Apple Mac which has the parteaten apple ,the BMW`s rotating blue and white turbine ,MacDonald wavy m logo (de Chernatony ,2001). Universities also use visual signifiers as their differentiation modes for example Rhodes University uses the purple colour as its official brand colour while the brand colour for University of Wits is blue. When branding is done using a legal instrument, it is done in parameters wherein one ensures that a brand is legally enforceable and that a statement of ownership is availed. This might have been done due to the reason that branding represents investment which organisations safeguard by seeking legal ownership of title as protection against imitators. Examples of brands that are also legal instruments include trademarks, patents and franchises. A trademark is defined as any registered sign for example words, designs, letters, numerals or shape of packaging capable of being represented graphically and capable of distinguishing goods or services from one undertaking to another undertaking (Murphy &Hart, 1998). Franchising is a form of licensing, by which the owner (franchisor) of a product obtains exclusive rights to distribute a branded product through an established network of affiliated dealers (franchisees) (Stobart, 1994). Similar to franchising are organisational letterheads which are part of branding in such a way that letters printed on them are more recognised than those which are not ,for example, a letter with a university letterhead carries more weight than any other letter though all may have originated from the same university Branding can be done using the concept of ageing entities since brands have been found to be unique, dynamic offerings which evolve over time reflecting the changing demands of customers. Despite the fact that brands evolve over time, the brands core values do not change which however is not the case for the peripheral values of the brand. Core values of a brand are values that an organisation will remain true to regardless of external changes while peripheral values are values of a secondary nature to the organisation which will be changed to suit the challenge in time (Tybout &Calkins, 2005). Over a long time brands have been shown to fail and one of the reasons of failure include brand amnesia whereby brands just like old people forget their values. A notable example is the new coke formula that failed to make it in the market in 1985. Brand ego can also assist in brand failure for example if Harley Davidson tries to sell perfume it is most likely that it will fail. Sometimes brand megalomania which exists when brands want to expand into every product category adds up to failure as mistrust will be rampant (Haig, 2003). Understanding how an institution of higher education might be affected by branding is essential for the planning and implementation of focused
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marketing and recruitment strategies because Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) are also affected by the perception of their image. A brand name is the name of the given organization or institution for example Rhodes University. A brand mark, which is known as a logo, is an extension that is visually communicated but not spoken (Shank, 2005). Many at times HEIs enjoy advantages that arise from using logos as brands which include generation of additional revenues as has been the case with Wits University which has managed to secure huge funding for its sporting facilities and sports teams. Some of the advantages attributed to HEIs include soliciting for corporate partners with great easy, for example ,Rhodes University managed to gather a bunch of corporate partners during the main library renovation in 2011 and garner national media exposure, all of which was made possible by use of name, colours, symbols, and logos to communicate a sense of brand identity. Branding therefore is a sign of identification through; inter alia, the label which differentiates one product from those of competitors (Scott, 2000). Branding can be done by a tagline that is created nicely, is attractive or a punch line for one`s brand that gives it a significant visibility in all branding efforts. The tag line should be in accordance with your organization values, goals, work etc. so that it reflects an overall image of the brand everywhere. Rhodes University has employed the brand tagline where leaders learn to differentiate itself from competitors. Within the discipline of psychology, a brand is analogous to personality applied to a service or a product. Features of a product contribute to how it is perceived by current and/or prospective consumers in the market. Such perceptions may be positive or negative. An example of how features may contribute to a brand being perceived positively are the features of the Mercedes Benz brand highlighted in, among others, its excellent safety features, quality and reliability (Schmemann, 2000). Similarly, pricing and perceptions about safety make the brand more exclusive and therefore a status symbol than competitor brands. This exclusivity also helps Mercedes Benz to target its typical consumer/customer since a certain category of people will more likely associate with these attributes. If the brand promise is consistent with the brand quality then the expectations and perceptions about that brand are met. When perceptions about a brand are good, and customer expectations based on those perceptions are met, repeat buying is likely to occur (Doyle, 2002). When this line of reasoning is applied to human resources in the employment relationship, it is referred to as employee attraction and retention. When the same logic is applied to Higher Education Institutions, this may be achieved through the prestige of degrees offered as well as availability and quality of necessary facilities e.g. libraries and student residences. Like features in cars, these facilities also mean that fees in these institutions become more expensive, meaning that
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the University mainly attracts students of a certain calibre or background (both academically and socio-economically). This study therefore seeks to investigate whether or not the Universitys attributes that attract students extend to students intentions to work for the University. 2.1.1Employment branding Employer branding is a relatively new area of HR that came up as a result of the current war and competition for skilled talent and is based on the general assumptions used in the concept of branding but now applied to employment. Employer branding is a concept that stems from the organisations vision, values, culture or relationship with the environment. One central question in the employment branding literature is: what differentiates one organization from the next and, why should prospective employees choose one organization over others? It is defined as the efforts of an organization (both within and outside the organization) to promote a clear view of attributes which make them a desirable, unique employer (Ambler and Barrow, 1996; Backhaus and Tikoo, 2004; Balmer and Greyser, 2002). For example the Virgin groups of companies` values include value for money, innovation, good quality, brilliant customer service and fun heavily influences its employment brand. They are therefore able to attract employees who value fun and innovation or all of these values. Increasingly, firms are using employer branding to attract recruits and assure that current employees are engaged in the culture and the strategy of the firm. The employer brand puts forth an image showing the organization a good place to work. Its aim is to develop an image of the organization as an employer of choice in the minds of existing and potential employees, as well as other stakeholders including customers and recruiters. The objective is not only to offer these tangible benefits, but to also develop an emotional link with them. A strong employer brand should connect an organizations values, people strategy and HR policies and be linked to the company brand (Gioia and Thomas, 1996). An employer brand is the full physical, intellectual, and emotional experience of people who work there, and the anticipated experience of candidates who might work there. It is both the vision and the reality of what it means to be employed there. It is both the promise and the fulfillment of that promise (Van Dick, 2004). The employer brand radiating out of an organizations name inspires loyalty, productivity, and a sense of pride. Lievens et al., (2007) argued within the social identity theory paradigm using a theory called the Cocktail Party Theory observable at company social parties that if an employee mentions which organisation he works for and the audience have low regard for it, they will most likely change the direction of the conversation as they will be avoiding negative talk about such an
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organisation. However, if there is high regard for such an organisation, then they will keep talking about that organisation mainly praising the good attributes of such an organisation. Low regard and high regard therefore are good indicators of whether the employer is low-end or high-end product. Just like tangible products, HEIs can be evaluated using the social identity theory whereby the employer brand can be categorised into either low-end or high-end. The social identity theory in this instance postulates that peoples identity and self esteem are partly determined by their membership of social organizations they work for or their specific workgroup(Haslam & Ellemers, 2005). Although social identity theory was originally developed to explain intergroup relations, it has heavily influenced research on organizational identity and identification in the last 15 years (Golden & Shortell, 2002). The basic premise is that organizational members develop a sense of who they are, their goals, attitudes and what they ought to do from their organizational membership (Lievens& Highhouse, 2003). It is further posited that both the perceived organizational identity (i.e. insiders perception of what the organization stands for) and the construed external image (i.e. insiders perception of what outsiders think the organization stands for) of an organization are related to peoples identification with that organization (Hatch & Schultz, 2000). The employer brand is an authentic description of an experience, similar to a consumer brand. It includes pay, working conditions, culture, job title, intangible rewards, and the emotional connection employees have with the organization and manager (Keller, 1993). It tells candidates who the organization is, what they want, and what they stand for. Just as a marketer attracts customers with a compelling product brand, a company attracts candidates with a compelling employer brand (Barber, 1998). An employer brand is more than a one-way description of what its like to work in an organization. Its a multidimensional conversation among the companys leadership, its employees, and candidates in the marketplace, alumni, and even outsiders such as the press, bloggers, and anyone else who has an opinion (Dohm, 2000). Therefore the employer brand includes the companys professional reputation, a description of company culture, and news reports about the company, both good and bad (Rynes, 1991). It also includes word-of-mouth statements about the company, a description of the companys future, how the employers brand compares to the competition (Aaker, 1996). Beyond conversation, its also a set of subjective candidate experiences, such as applying for a job on the organization`s web site or via e-mail, interviewing for a position, talking to employees and walking through the workplace sites, using products, services, or customer help, the companys impact in the candidates
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community(Aaker & Biel,1993). An employer brand can be used to help organizations compete effectively in the labour market and drive employee loyalty through effective recruitment, engagement and retention practices. All organizations have an employer brand, regardless of whether they have consciously sought to develop one. Their brand will be based on the way they are perceived as a place to work, for example by would-be recruits, current employees and those leaving the organization.

To be effective, the employer brand should not only be evident to candidates at the recruitment stage, but should inform the approach to people management in the organization. For example, the employer brand can inform how the business tackles: induction, performance management and reward, managing of internal communications, promoting effective management behaviors, exits from the organization (Barber and Roehling, 1993). It is important that the employer brand is not merely rhetoric espousing the organizations values, but is reflective of the actual experience of employees. The ability of the business to add value rests on its front-line employees, or 'human capital'. Organizations that wish to succeed have to get the most out of this resource. In order to do this, employers have to know what employees expect from the work. The employer brand can be seen as an attempt by the employer to define the psychological contract with employees so as to help in recruiting and retaining talent. The psychological contract which is defined as the perceptions of both parties to the employment relationship, organization and individual, of the reciprocal promises and obligations implied in that relationship offers a framework for monitoring employee attitudes and priorities on those dimensions that can be shown to influence performance (Breaugh & Starke, 2000).

Employer branding is very important, though it may not very necessarily be displayed explicitly in every organization. Most organizations, especially in the service industry, are now waking up to the realization that their business sustenance comes through their workforce. In this scenario, attracting and retaining good talent is crucial and therefore projecting the employer brand is an essential to this goal. An organization prefers to work inside out having a strong commitment to employees which is depicted as a part of an organizations vision and values. Employees carry the brand forward and are more than willing to invite friends and family to share the experience as the part of the organization (Keller, 1993). Therefore developing a good employer brand is crucial; as it helps to attract people that would fit well into the organisation. It acts as a filter that ensures that only

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suitable candidates applied for vacancies, and would also help to retain current employees, thus decreasing employee turnover and saving on the costs of dismissal and hiring procedures.

Understanding how an institution of higher education is perceived is essential for the planning and implementation of focused marketing and recruitment strategies because Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) are also affected by the perception of their image. Livingstone (2006) said that a University is constantly battling an image problem as this image may negatively influence the decision-making process of prospective university staff. The choice of an organization is affected by value for money, cognitive dissonance and self image therefore branding of HEIs tends to affect employees. Organizations are assumed to be attractive employers when prospective employees view them positively in terms of their organizational image (Yoo & Donthu, 2001). This may be based on perceptions about work environments, and embracing of issues of diversity (Daniel et al., 1997). One of the key aspects of an organisation that is likely to lead to attraction of talents is organizational image (Lievens, Van Hoye & Anseel, 2007). Organizations that possess a good image are likely to attract more employees and thus afford to be more selective in choosing highquality applicants to interview compared to organizations with a poor brand image (Turban and Cable, 2003). This is particularly important for organizational sustainability particularly in a country with acute skills shortage as South Africa. Rhodes University also has a set of values that set it apart from other universities. These are the respect for diversity, aspiration for academic excellence, fostering of an African identity, etc. On the basis of this, this study seeks to measure whether Rhodes Universitys brand as an academic institution extends to attraction of skilled employees particularly the non-academic professionals. This will be done by investigating whether current students experiences as students extend to intentions to work for Rhodes University. For this research, third year students or honours students who are about to enter the labour market will be used as the study sample. In the next section brand extension concept will be reviewed. 2.1.1 Brand and Brand extension (very brief) A successful brand can be used as a platform to launch related products and exploit benefits of an existing brand (Doyle, 2002). That strategy in consumer behaviour is called brand extension alternatively called brand name extension and it involves taking advantage of the widespread name recognition of the original brand (Chaudhuri and Holbrook, 2001). Brand extension is about leveraging the values and/or status of a brand in order to take the brand into new markets/sectors using familiarity of the brand name. Positive images and strengths of existing brand / parent brand
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are leveraged to bring another success story for new product. For example the extension of the Apple brand from personal computers (iMac) to cell phones (iPhones) or the Virgin brand from airways, soft drinks, mobile phones and the financial markets is based on the success of Virgin in preceding markets (preceding meaning before the introduction of new service/ product lines). Over the years brand names have been trademarked and successfully developed resulting in them being valuable assets for organisations (Dacin & Smith, 1994; Keller & Aaker, 1992). For this reason, an increasing number of organisations have turned to leveraging their existing brand names by introducing new products under these established names (Pitta & Katsanis, 1995). Brand name extension is most likely to be successful when there is existence to a higher degree, of linking between the brand name and the new product. Successful brand extensions have three characteristics: perceptual fit wherein the consumer must perceive the new item to be consistent with the parent brand, benefit transfer which means consumers must be able to identify tangible benefits offered by the parent brand that have been transferred and is desired by consumers of products in the new category and competitive leverage wherein the new items must match up favourably to established items in the new category ( ). Brand extensions can be classified as either vertical or horizontal extensions. Typically, horizontal brand extensions either apply or extend an existing products name to a new product in the same product class or to a product category new to the company. There are two varieties of horizontal brand extensions which differ in terms of their focus (Aaker and Keller, 1990). Diet Coke and Diet Pepsi are examples of line extensions since they focus on the diet conscious segment for colas not served by their parent products. Most of the recent research in brand extension has focused on horizontal extensions.Vertical extensions involve introducing a related brand in the same product category but with a different price and quality balance. The advantages of brand extension are reduced risk with a new product, cross fertilization which advertising the core brand can bring for example, Diet Cherry Coke benefited from the advertising and familiar packaging of Diet Coke despite the fact that no television ad was ever made for Diet Cherry Coke, consumers could easily recognize the package and realize that it was a distinct product, yet was familiar .brand extension also results in enhancing of the core the core product. Like a successful offspring, an extension may reinforce the core products brand image instead of weakening it. Diet Cherry Coke is clearly positioned as a tasty, low-calorie soda and reinforces Diet Cokes association with low calorie content and good taste.

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However brand extensions can end up as failures. Some examples of brand extensions failures include McDonalds Arch Deluxe for adults which failed because McDonalds primary association? For arch deluxe was as fast-food for kids, Volvo 850 GLT sports sedan which failed because Volvos primary association is with safety whereas the Volvo 850 GLT was primarily a boxy armoured car and Bayer Aspirin-free which turned into failure due to the reason that Bayers primary association is with aspirin (Daye,2007). Researchers have predominantly investigated brand extensions amongst tangible goods despite the fact that notable brand extension activity has taken place in services, for example, Virgin moving into radio stations, airline, financial services, and bridal services (Keller 1998). In line with this, the current study will investigate whether Rhodes academic brand image extends to the attraction of skilled non-academic professional employees using the pool of students who are more ready to enter the labour market. In the labour market an employment brand is said to be strong if it helps to attract prospective and retain current employees (Collins & Stevens, 2002). Literature on talent attraction and its relationship to employment branding is reviewed next. 2.2Talent attraction (very brief) Talent attraction is a relatively new concept of human resources psychology which is defined as the planning process done to persuade skilled, high potential, scarce and/or relatively scarce and experienced would-be-employees to apply for a job (Woodruffe, 1999). This definition is going to be used as the operational definition of talent attraction in this study. Such a subject has become important in the current work environment which has witnessed a marked increase in competition for skilled talent unprecedented since the agricultural and industrial revolution (Barber, 1998). Consistent with this, this research will use final year students as the focus of the study. Talent attraction is a by-product of talent management which is defined as a range of elements that exists in a value cycle of employee issues. Talent management is comprised of 3 phases that include: the attraction phase, development phase, reward and retention phase (Cojer, 2010). The attraction phase focuses on recruiting and contingent staffing of employees. The development phase of talent management is a phase in which issues of competency management; leadership development and assessment are observed and met. Reward and retention phase involves workforce performance management, compensation and succession planning. Tubridy (2010) argued that HR strategies attract and retain high performers in these magnitudes: 79% who stay because of opportunities for advancement, 69% who stay because their job is
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redesigned and 65% who stay because they are learning new skills. He also stressed that careful planning into recruitment and orientation, development, deployment, performance, succession, rewards, engagement; retention will result in attraction of skilled personnel. Corporate Leadership Council (1999) highlights that increased competition in the labour market has led to changes on how employees and prospective employees view working life. The Council further highlights that the labour market today is much more fluid because of more and better information that is readily available to employees than ever before meaning employees in this environment are coming to view their employment offer like a product in market. As such, it has become more difficult for many organisations to retain current employees and/or recruit new ones using old and traditional methods. One of the key measures of organizational success/effectiveness is therefore its ability to competitively attract and retain skilled talent. The next paragraphs review the relationship between employment branding and talent attraction. 2.2.1 Employment branding and talent attraction (very brief) Building on the preceding paragraphs, this sub-section shows how employment branding strategically positions organizations to attract employees. Prospective employees of the 21st century are attracted by employer value propositions such as work life balance, corporate social responsibility, commitment to employee development, good working environment, respect for diversity,etc (Wasmer, Williams and Stevenson (1997). Examples of some of the top organisations that use these value propositions as a talent attraction strategy include Google, Virgin, Apple and Microsoft (Samuel, 2011). Effective employer branding leads to employees being more committed to the organisational goals, increased employee retention, reduced recruitment costs, improved reputation as employees recommend your organisation as a good place to work (Corporate Leadership Council, 2010). By concentrating on the employer brand and by increasing their appeal to the right candidates, organisations will gain a distinct advantage in the labour market. This is enabled by the fact that there is a clear link between talent management and employer branding. Deloitte (2010) hinted that the depth and quality of planning today will separate the talent winners from the talent losers tomorrow. Empirical research supports the existence of a relationship between employer branding and talent attraction. For example, in a study involving a sample of 101students conducted in Pakistan, results showed that employer branding is positively related to talent attraction (Shahzad, Gul, Khan and Zafar, 2011). In a similar study done in India involving a sample of 125, results showed that
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employer branding was positively related to talent attraction (Agrawal and Swaroop, 2009). The same results were observed in a Swedish study conducted on both students and young employees in Sweden using online questionnaires (Melin, 2005). However, these results cannot be generalised to Africa because of previous study limitations like small sample sizes, different socio-economic conditions in these regions and different cultural environments. Another study that investigated this relationship was an explorative case study done by American researchers from Troy University (Lee, Miloch, Kraft and Tatum, 2008). Their findings also showed that employer branding was positively related to talent attraction. Much of the empirical evidence is on the relationship between overall brand image and talent attraction but not with specific dimensions of employer brand such as brand extension and talent attraction. Following these studies, the current study will apply the consumer psychology concepts of branding and brand extension, as well as HR concept of employment branding to investigate whether or not RUs academic brand image may be used as a competitive to advantage to attract skilled non-academic professionals. Flow chart

Brand and branding

Talent attraction(employer attraction)

Employment branding(employer image)

Brand extension

Backhaus and Tikoo (2004) highlighted that employer brand establishes the firm as an employer of choice and thereby enables it to attract the best possible workers. The circular relationship between branding, employer branding and talent attraction is in the brand extension that may be possible if the brand is a strong brand. The distinctiveness of a brand allows the organization to acquire scarce
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skilled employees and because organisational identity is an attitudinal contributor to employer brand loyalty (Mosley, 2007). Assuming that an employer brand is developed on the basis of the organizations values, it is most likely to result in loyalty and satisfaction. The employer brand is the cognitive image held by an organisations members about the organisation. It can be conceived as the collective attitude about the employees working in the organization. This is made possible by the fact that people seek to identify with an organisation that has values they value, and will readily do so if they find the organisational image to be attractive or unique.

CHAPTER TWO 3. METHODOLOGY (5-8 pages) 3.1 Aims The current study sought to:

1. Investigate whether or not there is a relationship between Rhodes Universitys academic brand image held by current students and the universitys ability to competitively attract non-academic talent amongst Rhodes University Students; 2. Investigate the main organizational attributes that influence RU students intentions to work for the university as non-academic employees; 3. On the basis of results, and if the relationship does indeed exist, give suggestions on what that translates into if embraced by Rhodes University as competitive advantage in attracting scarce skills non-academic professionals. 3.1.1 RESEARCH QUESTION This study sought to address the following research questions: Is there a relationship between the Rhodes University academic brand image and its ability to competitively attract skilled non-academic employees among Rhodes students? Is this relationship strong enough (i.e. statistically significant) to be used as a competitive advantage to attract professionally qualified students?
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3.2 Research approach The current study employed a quantitative research approach. The explanatory power of numbers (e.g. correlation co-efficient) was useful in explaining the relationship between brand image and talent attraction. The strength of the relationship was better explained in numbers rather than qualitatively. 3.3 Sample and Sampling The current study will use a sample of at least seventy Rhodes University students who will include students from various faculties. Post-graduate and final year students from the departments of accounting, economics, pharmacy and psychology department will be used in this study because they are currently looking for employment or are likely to start doing so in the near future. Students in these faculties have specifically been targeted since they are in professional fields that are highly sought after by private sector employers. A non-probability sampling will be used since it will mean that only this category of students (i.e. in these departments) will be targeted as opposed to the entire final year and postgraduate student population (Terre Blanche, Durrheim &Painter, 2006). Once the permission has been granted by the Dean of Students and the Registrar the researcher will visit the respective lecture halls and seminar venues to administer the questionnaire. Permission to do so will be negotiated with lecturers. 4. Data collection For this research two scales which are the brand image scale and talent attraction scale were developed. The brand image scale measured brand image perceptions. The talent attraction scale measured students intentions to work for Rhodes University. Both scales asked the participants to agree or disagree with statements on a five point Likert-type scale where 1 =strongly agree; 2=agree; 3=neutral; 4=disagree and 5 =strongly disagree. The brand image scale measured perceptions about Rhodes ` academic brand and asked questions like, Rhodes University actively encourages embracing of diversity while the talent attraction scale measured why such students intend to work for Rhodes University and will ask questions like, I will join Rhodes University not because of the money. The rationale for developing such an instrument is that most of the questionnaires for example Universum online survey questionnaire used in previous research were not tailor-made for students. 5. Data analysis

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Data collected was largely ordinal in nature (i.e. ranked order showing high and low scores) since a Likert-type scale was be used (De Vellis, 1991; Fife-Schaw, 1995). Collected raw data was coded using Excel spreadsheet and then analysed using STATISTICA, a software that analyses descriptive and inferential statistics and is mostly used by social scientists conducting similar research. Coding was done to simplify analysis. For example, variables like gender were coded 0 for female and 1 for male. Two independent scales were used in this research wherein descriptive statistics for example the differences in means was used in establishing the strength or level of certain variables within a group. Inferential statistics for example Correlation Coefficient at 5% level of significance were used to test whether there was a significant relationship between talent attraction and brand image. The psychometric properties of the questionnaire i.e. validity and reliability were covered in data analysis section. 6. Validity and reliability On the one hand, validity is defined as the degree to which the tool measures what it purports to measure (Coolican, 1994) and produces findings that are convincing and believable (Terre Blanche et al, 2006, p.93). Reliability (i.e. dependability) on the other hand refers to the degree to which consistency is maintained in measurement such that the test can be repeated without producing marked differences in results (Blaikie, 2004). Since the scale has never been used before there is no information about its validity and reliability. To ensure validity and reliability before it is actually used in the study the instrument will be pilot tested using a sample of Rhodes University employees. The researcher will then make sure these pilot study participants do not participate again in the actual study. This will avoid possible biases brought in through history and maturation. 7. Ethical considerations Ethical issues that are going to be considered in this research are informed consent, confidentiality, anonymity (Kumar, 2005). The participants will sign a consent form to show that they agree to participate in this research. The informed consent form will inform the participants about the nature and purpose of the study and all relevant information that they may use to decide whether or not to participate. Since participation will be voluntary, participants will be informed of their freedom to withdraw any time after the study has commenced if they decide so. To ensure confidentiality, data about the participants will not be divulged to any other person and the researcher will not discuss the outcomes of the study with anyone else unless the participants have consented to that. The questionnaire will also not ask for personal identifiers like names or students numbers. The study will not mention personal identifiers like names and student numbers in the report or during data collection. The study will not mention personal identifiers in the actual report as well.
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CHAPTER THREE DISCUSSION ((15-20 pages) Respondents were tasked to rate their perceptions on a 5-point likert scale as either 1, 2, 3,4 or 5 which translated respectively into disagree, strongly disagree, neutral, agree and strongly agree on the brand image scale which primarily measured brand image perceptions of Rhodes university. The talent attraction scale which measured students intentions to work for Rhodes University was also rated using a five-point likert scale rated also as either 1,2,3,4 or 5 for respective responses disagree, strongly disagree,neutral,agree and strongly agree. Data was collected from Rhodes university students using a questionnaire which was handed to 80students.participants were from the department of psychology, pharmacy, economics, management, computer science and information systems. The numbers and percentages portrayed in the charts and raw data tables are based on participants answers and their individual perceptions on Rhodes university brand image perceptions and intentions to work for Rhodes University. Descriptive statistics The results from the questionnaires were coded onto an excel spreadsheet and were run on a statistical package named STATISTICA.The results were represented in the diagrams and tables that will occupy following paragraphs. Gender

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Figure 1
Pie Chart of Gender Spreadsheetchairo.sta 39v*80c

Male, 34%

Female, 66%

Gender

Frequency table: Gender (Spreadsheetchairo.sta) Count Cumulative - Count Percent Cumulative - Percent Male 27 27 80 80 33.75000 33.7500 66.25000 100.0000 0.00000 100.0000

Female 53 Missing 0

Figure 1 shows that they were a total of 80 participants that served as the sample for this study. Demographics reveal that the majority of the participants were females. Female participants amounted to 66% while the male participants amounted to 34%. Respectively the female participants percentage translated to 53 females while the 34% male participants percentage also translated to 27 participants. This suggests that the dominating perceptions might have been from the female participants as well.

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Age Figure 2
Pie Chart of Age Spreadsheetchairo.sta 39v*80c 25+, 6%

18-21, 25%

22-25, 69%

Age

Frequency table: Age (Spreadsheetchairo.sta) Count Cumulative - Count Percent Cumulative - Percent 18-21 22-25 25+ 20 55 5 20 75 80 80 25.00000 25.0000 68.75000 93.7500 6.25000 100.0000 0.00000 100.0000

Missing 0

Figure 2, shows that in the current study, 55 participants were mainly aged between 22-25 years and constituted 69% of the research participants. 20 participants participants were aged between 18-21 years and constituted 25% percent of the total participants while the remaining 6% was for participants aged over 25 years of age who totalled a paltry 5 . This means that the main perceptions came from the 22-25 age group.

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Year of study 34 third year students participated in this study and 46 fourth year students which respectively translates to 43% and 57%as depicted in figure 3. This seems to suggest that the main perceptions about this study were from fourth years that are generally mature and ready to get into the labour industry. Figure 3
Pie Chart of Year of study Spreadsheetchairo.sta 39v*80c

3rd year, 43%

4th year, 57%

Year of study

Frequency table: Year of study (Spreadsheetchairo.sta) Count Cumulative - Count Percent Cumulative - Percent 3rd year 34 4th year 46 Missing 0 34 80 80 42.50000 42.5000 57.50000 100.0000 0.00000 100.0000

University residence status In general, a great number of participants were living off the campus as depicted in figure 4 wherein the actual figure totalled 54 out of the 80 participants. 26 of the participants were living in the university residences. Approximately 33% of the participants were living in the university
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residences while 68% of the participants were living outside the university residences. Generally, this implies that the views of the study were from students who were living off the campus. Figure 4
Pie Chart of Living Spreadsheetchairo.sta 39v*80c

yes, 33%

no, 68%

Living

Frequency table: Living (Spreadsheetchairo.sta) Count Cumulative - Count Percent Cumulative - Percent yes no 26 54 26 80 80 32.50000 32.5000 67.50000 100.0000 0.00000 100.0000

Missing 0

Nationality The information from the figure 5 postulates that 45 participants were South Africans and 35 participants were non-south Africans and from the total research participants, 56% of the participants were locals while the remaining 44% were non-South Africans. Generally, this impacted on the results on the perceptions on Rhodes Universitys brand image and the university`
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ability to competitively attract non-academic talent as the measurements were main indicators of the largest group of participants which were South Africans. Figure 5
Pie Chart of SA Spreadsheetchairo.sta 39v*80c

no, 44%

yes, 56%

SA

Frequency table: SA (Spreadsheetchairo.sta) Count Cumulative - Count Percent Cumulative - Percent yes no 45 35 45 80 80 56.25000 56.2500 43.75000 100.0000 0.00000 100.0000

Missing 0

Living with parents The information from Figure 6 postulates that 9 of the research participants were staying with parents while studying and 71 participants were not staying with their parents while studying. Ideally, the pie chart depicts that 11% of the participants were staying with their parents while studying and 89% of the participants were not staying with their parents while studying.

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Therefore the indications on the perceptions of the Rhodes Universitys brand image and the university` ability to competitively attract non-academic talent was greatly attributed to mostly students who were not staying with parents. Figure 6
Pie Chart of staying with parents Spreadsheetchairo.sta 39v*80c yes, 11%

no, 89%

staying with parents

Frequency table: staying with parents (Spreadsheetchairo.sta) Count Cumulative - Count Percent Cumulative - Percent yes no 9 71 9 80 80 11.25000 11.2500 88.75000 100.0000 0.00000 100.0000

Missing 0

Residing in Eastern Cape The pie chart for eastern-capers that participated in this study in figure 7 indicated that 24 % were indeed from Eastern Cape while the remaining participants constituted 76%. The actual figures for eastern capers who participated in this study were 19 while the remaining 61 participants were not from Eastern Cape. This significantly implies that the perceptions posited from this study are an indication of perceptions of Rhodes students as mainly perceived in the eyes of non-eastern capers.

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Figure 7
Pie Chart of eastern caper Spreadsheetchairo.sta 39v*80c

yes, 24%

no, 76%

eastern caper

Frequency table: eastern caper (Spreadsheetchairo.sta) Count Cumulative - Count Percent Cumulative - Percent yes no 19 61 19 80 80 23.75000 23.7500 76.25000 100.0000 0.00000 100.0000

Missing 0

Grahamstowner Participants Out of the total research participants, 15 of them were residing in Grahamstown while 65 were nonGrahamstown residents whose nationalities were either South African or African in general. Ideally, 81% of the participants were non-Grahamstowners while 19% of the participants were Grahamstowners as depicted in figure 8.The perceptions on Rhodes Universitys brand image and the university` ability to competitively attract non-academic talent in this study therefore is what non- Grahamstown students perceive of Rhodes university brand image.

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Figure 8
Pie Chart of grahamstowner Spreadsheetchairo.sta 39v*80c

yes, 19%

no, 81%

grahamstowner

Frequency table: Grahamstowners (Spreadsheetchairo.sta) Count Cumulative - Count Percent Cumulative - Percent yes no 15 65 15 80 80 18.75000 18.7500 81.25000 100.0000 0.00000 100.0000

Missing 0

Participants from sadc Sadc is an acronym for Southern African Development Community. Sadc is a region that stretches all over Southern Africa. In this study, participants were mainly from sadc as indicated in Figure 9 wherein 96% were sadc members while 4% were non-sadc members. Therefore whatever results indicate on the whether the Rhodes university brand image extends to talent attraction is an aggregation of the perceptions of sadc member students.
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Figure 9
Pie Chart of sadc member Spreadsheetchairo.sta 39v*80c no, 4%

yes, 96%

sadc member

Frequency table: sadc member (Spreadsheetchairo.sta) Count Cumulative - Count Percent Cumulative - Percent yes no 77 3 77 80 80 96.25000 96.2500 3.75000 100.0000 0.00000 100.0000

Missing 0

Participants with parents working for Rhodes Out of the 80 participants, 74 indicated that they had no relatives working for Rhodes while 6 had parents working for Rhodes University.93 % of the participants had no relative working for Rhodes University while 8 % had one or tow relatives working for the university. Therefore the perceptions of students on Rhodes Universitys brand image and the university` ability to competitively attract non-academic talent is a reflection of students whose relatives dont work for Rhodes University.

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Figure 10
Pie Chart of have parents working for rhodes Spreadsheetchairo.sta 39v*80c yes 8%

no 93%

have parents working for rhodes

Frequency table: have parents working for Rhodes (Spreadsheetchairo.sta) Count Cumulative - Count Percent Cumulative - Percent yes no 6 74 6 80 80 7.50000 7.5000 92.50000 100.0000 0.00000 100.0000

Missing 0

Correlation co-efficient The Pearson correlation coefficient was used to investigate whether or not there is a relationship between Rhodes Universitys academic brand image held by current students and the universitys ability to competitively attract non-academic talent amongst Rhodes University Students. After the data was run on the statistical programme called STATISTICA,the correlation co-efficient was deduce for the relationship between this two variables and depicted in a diagram A correlation coefficient is a measure of the degree of linear relationship between two variables. The degree of
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correlation between Rhodes Universitys brand image and the university` ability to competitively attract non-academic talent was 0; 28045. This meant that there is a slightly positive linear relationship between Rhodes University `s brand image and the university `ability to attract nonacademic talent. The Cartesian plane approach results show that there is a slight linear relationship between Rhodes Universitys brand image and the university` ability to competitively attract nonacademic talent. Figure 11

Scatterplot: BTOTAL vs. TTOTAL (Casewise MD deletion) TTOTAL = 35.997 + .30327 * BTOTAL Correlation: r = .28045 60 30 0 70

60

TTOTAL

50

40

30

20 35

40

45

50

55

60

65

70 0

BTOTAL

30 60 0.95 Conf.Int.

Hypothesis testing Pearson product moment correlation co-efficient were used as seen in both figure 11 and Table 1. This enables us to look at whether there is a linear relationship between Rhodes Universitys brand image and the university` ability to competitively attract.

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H0: There is no significant linear relationship between Rhodes Universitys brand image and the university` ability to competitively attract non-academic talent H1: There is a significant linear relationship between Rhodes Universitys brand image and the university` ability to competitively attract non-academic talent r=0.28045, n=80, p-value=0.012 Since the p-value is less than 0.05, we reject the null hypothesis which postulates that there is no significant linear relationship between Rhodes Universitys brand image and the university` ability to competitively attract non-academic talent. In such an instance, we are 95% confident that there is a linear relationship between Rhodes Universitys brand image and the university` ability to competitively attract. This is shown graphically in figure 11 above. The graph above graphically portrays the talent attraction scale against the brand image scale and it is clear from figure 11 that the results show a linear relationship between Rhodes Universitys brand image and the university` ability to competitively attract Table 1
Correlations (Spreadsheetchairo.sta) Marked correlations are significant at p < .05000 N=80 (Casew ise deletion of missing data) Variable TTOTAL BTOTAL .2804 p=.012

However according to scale of correlation, the correlation coefficient is very small to significantly attract non-academic talent to come and be employed despite there existing a linear relationship which would suggest that brand image is associated with the level of talent attraction. SUMMARY OF RESULTS The results indicated that there is weak association between Rhodes universitys brand image and its ability to competitively attract non-academic talent especially university graduates. In this research only students were used and in this study no names were mentioned. There was no significant relationship between Rhodes Universitys brand image and its ability to competitively attract non-academic talent. Therefore there is significant evidence to conclude that the Rhodes university brand image does not easily extend to attraction of talent.
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CHAPTER FOUR CONCLUSION Discussion of results Since there was no relationship between Rhodes brand image and the university to competitively attract non-academic talent suggestions could be made to the HR department on how to attract university graduates. The next section reviews suggested strategies that can be used in attracting non-academic professionals. Suggested strategies that Rhodes Universitys human resources can use to effectively attract skilled non-academic professionals HR can always conduct stay interviews in which they can interact with the employee and ask them regarding their career prospects, their alignment with the company, their feedback regarding their concerned departments, etc. These feedbacks can be analysed and used for different purposes by which one can create an internal brand image of the company. The HR department can conduct exit interviews which carry a fair chance of initiating the chain reaction among the employees. Care should be taken in analysing the exiting reasons so that organization can overcome the justified ones in the future.

The HR Department should design policies very strategically. A policy should be designed in such a way that it holds good even after a long period of time. A frequent internal policy change sends a message to the outer world that the company is not consistent and knowledgeable and reliable.

Customer orientation focus may help Rhodes University HR department because customers are always the most important factor. HEI`S workforce are mainly motivated towards delivery of customer oriented services. These customers can be of either type, internal for example other departments within Rhodes University or external.

Employee participation which is the oldest trick in HR practice book will help the HR division in its attracting talent. This is assertion is just as true as the results from the study which have shown that maximum participation from the employee side, either in terms of internal events participation or external events would lead to effective attraction of skilled non-academic professionals.

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Trained employees are the equivalent of interest on human capital. Therefore the department should advocate proper training of employees before they are engaged in work. This training should be in all the aspects like policies, vision, mission, organization. This will project a good picture of organization on the new employee. These are few to count with but based on the requirement and strategy, the list may increase or shorten during the training process. Limitations of the research The limitation of this research lies in the fact that I piloted the questionnaire using students thereby reducing the pool of participants as they were automatically omitted from the actual study. During my data collection, I faced a challenge in accessing professional employees as access to the HR DIRECTORY could not be granted in time by the gatekeepers. I however strongly believe the findings of the results might have been slightly different from what could have been gathered from the current employees of Rhodes. If this study was to be repeated, it might be suggested that the participants be employees from Rhodes University. Justification of doing research using employees of HEIs is because they already employed but could have chosen other organizations to work for and therefore might outline what attracted them to Rhodes University. Students proved not to be good predictors of the relationship between Rhodes Universitys brand image and the university` ability to competitively attract non-academic talent as they Another aspect of data collection that may have affected the results was the difficulty of gaining participants. Due to difficulty of access, students were used rather that employees Recommendations for future research This study has various implications for HR professionals. HR professionals must pay attention to various needs of employees. Some of them want to see a clear picture of the company. The old social contract of the employee being loyal to the company and the company taking care of the employee until retirement no longer holds. Employees are now more responsible for managing their own careers. According to this study, potential employees still want to see the advancement opportunities in the companies (Daft R., and Marcic D., 2007). Another implication for HR practitioners is assessing periodically their brand strength in the labour market. Employer branding is an integral activity that is used to establish an image of the
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organization and communicate this in a number of different ways to either current or potential employees. So the corporations who want to attract integrators should identify organizational values, by clarifying the advantages and the benefits of work place. As well as conversations with the employees to clarify what the organization needs in terms of values, attributes and characteristics is needed. For further research, I have some suggestions to the academicians and practitioners who are interested in the employer branding concept. A longitudinal study of whether employer branding leads to brand extension in an organisation exhibited by talent attraction would be ideal and possibly will be a good indicator of whether this assertion maybe true. When looking at descriptive statistics, one could argue that a qualitative study would have produce much depth of the employer brand attributes that leads to talent attraction for HEIs as they struggle to recruit graduates. Finally, apart from the fact that several authors highlight the importance employer branding in the context of human resource management and marketing, I would urge that the aim of the scholars and practitioners should be finding the integration points of these two disciplines in organisations.

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Appendix A Informed consent form

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Appendix B

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