Dr Tim Andrews

Director of International MBA (Southeast Asia)
Senior Lecturer, International Management, Business School, University of Strathclyde

Topic Synopsis

Brand Consistency Through Service Delivery In A Culturally Diverse World

In this presentation Dr Andrews will focus on the challenges facing services firms in their quest for strong and coherent brand development and delivery across geographical and cultural borders– especially in Asia. Unlike product-based brands – where quality standards can be largely assured through production systems/technology – the consistent delivery of service brand experiences is critically dependent on employee values and behaviour, an internally-based but yet far less predictable phenomenon. Dr Andrews will highlight how socio-cultural and developmental differences across societal boundaries can influence services brand consistency from within, often detrimentally and sometimes fatally. In particular he will examine how such variables can be identified, understood and – in consequence – successfully managed. Case illustrations from a range of both B2B and consumer services brands in Asia will be explored. The salient implications for the regionalization of exported services brands across the Asian region will then be discussed.

Biography

Tim G. Andrews, a senior management academic at the University of Strathclyde, is founding editor of the Routledge Working in Asia book series and has published widely on Asian brand-related issues in some of the world’s foremost academic journals– notably the top-tier Journal of International Business Studies. Formerly a marketing executive at both Shell France SA and Castrol (Thailand) Ltd, Tim’s research into branding has been published in a number of edited volumes including the Handbook of Business Research in Asia, Multinationals in Southeast Asia, International Management (4th edition) and the Changing Face of Management in Thailand. He is currently co-editing/authoring a number of Asian branding publications including a special issue of the Asia Pacific Business Review on Branding – New Perspectives. Focusing on the complex and under-estimated issue of internal branding across societal boundaries Tim is consulting a number of major MNEs in Asia including the OCS group and Accor Hospitality.