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Purpose -The study aims to examine the usefulness of the brand origin concept in shaping the perceptions of Indian consumers. Design/methodology/approach -Guided by recent advance in social identity theory and social motivation theory, a dynamic iterative model of brand origin recognition is proposed. Six hypotheses were tested using a sample of 145 consumers from west of India. Using paired t-test, average consumer preference of brand origin was analysed for different product categories. A factor analysis with varimax rotation for determining band images was also carried out. Findings -The results demonstrated that most consumers can recognise the brand origin correctly but the power of recognition decreases when the brand has a long history of ''localization''. Distinguished trajectories of consumer perceptions of foreign brands and domestics brands were projected, and this allowed one to extend existing country of origin (CO) research to brand of origin research. Practical implications -The results implied that brand origin is a useful concept for companies engaging in an emerging market such as India. But the changing nature of the concept requires careful steering and nurturing if companies want to attach a positive value to its brand via brand origin association. Originality/value -Research into CO effect has been extensive. However, few studies examine empirically the effect of ''brand origin'' which is more appropriate in emerging market in today's increasingly competitive global environment. This paper is a first to explore the validity of the concept of brand origin in the Indian market.

This paper proposes an integrated approach to examining and dealing with the complex issue of nurse recruitment, retention, healthcare quality and patient satisfaction. The paper depicts and describes a generic conceptual framework or chain derived from a review of the literature on nurse recruitment and retention, service quality and human resource management. The chain is made up of the following components: NHS and Trust conditions and environment (internal quality) –service capability – nurse satisfaction –nurse retention – quality of patient care – patient satisfaction. The value of the chain is derived from its synthesis and display of the prime constituents or drivers of nurse satisfaction, quality of patient care and satisfaction. From this holistic picture it is possible for both national and local initiatives to be integrated in a mutually reinforcing way in order to achieve improvements in nurse recruitment, retention, quality of care and patient satisfaction.

This paper presents the findings of a qualitative study, based on interviews with over 130 nurses and midwives in four London Trust hospitals on: the main factors influencing nurse satisfaction and retention; empirical support for the robustness of a conceptual framework or model "the nurse satisfaction, service quality and nurse retention chain"; and some managerial considerations for recruitment and retention. The three main factors influencing job satisfaction were patients, the inherent characteristics of nursing and the nursing team; the two main sources of job dissatisfaction were staff shortages and poor management and amongst nurse retention strategies improving working conditions was more important than increased pay. For recruitment, as well as retention, improving the image and reputation of nursing along with improvements in work-life balance were pre-requisites for meeting the challenging target of an additional 20,000 nurses on the wards by 2004.

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