Enrique Murillo

The manuscript cover letter is a consequential but understudied genre: it is the last document an author prepares before submission and often the first an editor reads. This article argues that, as an occluded genre, invisible in the scholarly record, its demands fall unevenly on non-native English speakers (NNES). Synthesizing literature across genre theory, intercultural rhetoric, and AI-assisted writing via a structured narrative review, this article makes three contributions. First, it shows that the cover letter compounds two disadvantages for NNES authors: an occluded genre learned without visible models, and a form of calibrated self-promotion whose register is culturally asymmetric. Second, it advances a dual-beneficiary framing, arguing that assistance that improves cover letter quality benefits authors and editors simultaneously, since better-prepared letters support efficient editorial screening in an era of increased submission volumes. Third, it reviews empirical evidence on large language model performance to propose a four-consideration framework for effective, responsible AI use, offered as a starting point for practice rather than a validated instrument. The article positions academic librarians and research support professionals as the primary audience to translate this framework into publishing consultations and outlines a research agenda to measure the posited editorial efficiency gains and to field-test the framework through ongoing advisory practice.

This research aims to empirically examine the internal branding processes implemented by a global sports fashion firm to turn all employees into competent brand ambassadors. Brand-oriented training was hypothesized as an antecedent of salesperson brand identification and brand commitment, which drive brand-aligned behavior, the critical trait of employee brand ambassadors. These hypotheses were tested by surveying 141 corporate and retail employees of a global sportswear fashion brand's regional operations in Mexico. The principal conclusion is that brand-oriented training proves a significant driver of salesperson brand identification. Furthermore, brand identification drives brand commitment and brand-aligned behavior among all company employees, not just salespersons.

The literature on internal brand management (IBM) has accumulated over 240 Scopus-indexed articles in the last two decades since the first seminal studies. This chapter undertakes a systematic literature review complemented with a bibliometric cluster analysis to highlight the studies with the most impact, the dominant themes, as well as the authors driving this emerging research phenomenon. The analysis provides a roadmap of the theories, methods and contexts that have been used in past studies and proposes a number of meaningful and relevant contemporary research avenues. As IBM research matures with increasingly repetitive studies, future investigations are encouraged to emphasize more actionable and meaningful research topics for academia and businesses, as well as to develop strong theoretical underpinnings and diverse research methods to break new ground.

Scholarly research in brand management has experienced exponential growth in the two decades since the turn of the century. This is largely driven by seismic shifts in the consumer landscape. A new era of consumerism has emerged in which value is defined by experiences, relationships, and algorithms. Accordingly, a new imperative is warranted, one that can aptly be summarized by the motto ‘Live Large-Carry Little’. While today’s consumers still demand enjoyment, convenience and enrichment, they are far less interested in owning ‘things’. Organizations and brand managers are thus challenged to make sure that what defines their brands’ value proposition is meaningful and relevant to today’s consumers. This volume provides an up-to-date overview of the extensive field of brand management research, including key foundational topics and several novel theoretical perspectives. Chapters are authored by leading international scholars, all subject-matter experts. This Introduction provides a detailed review of all book chapters.