PurposeThis paper aims to examine the level of internal market orientation (IMO) in Indian banking as seen from the perspective of internal customers and suppliers, particularly with regard to the three components of market orientation: intelligence generation, intelligence dissemination, and responsiveness.Design/methodology/approachThe study is based on primary research conducted with data gathered from 611 internal customers and 37 internal suppliers of an Indian private sector bank.FindingsThe results indicate that all the three components of market orientation mentioned above determine the IMO level. Furthermore, the continuous emphasis on IMO by internal suppliers results in organizational commitment and job satisfaction among internal customers.Research limitations/implicationsThe study is limited to the three main dimensions of IMO: intelligence generation, intelligence dissemination, and responsiveness.Practical implicationsIn order to ensure increased satisfaction of internal customers, internal suppliers have to give due cognizance to the three aspects of IMO as these influence the internal customers' commitment, loyalty and hence their retention.Originality/valueThe research findings should prove to be of immense help to bankers, academicians and policymakers. Bankers will be benefited to the extent of ensuring zero internal customer defection through the implementation of effective intelligence generation, intelligence dissemination and responsiveness to internal market needs. Policymakers can devote their energies and resources towards identifying the constraints that lead to lower internal customer satisfaction and accordingly formulate policies aimed at maximizing their satisfaction level, thereby enhancing both market and financial performance of an organization.

Purpose -This paper seeks to further the understanding of the domain of the IMO construct in a developing country, as suggested by Lings and Greenley. It seeks to build on their proposed construct and provide empirical evidence of its impact in the context of the Indian banking industry. Design/methodology/approach -The behavioral dimensions of the construct are confirmed in a manner consistent with established market orientation (external) construct. The paper validates scale pertaining to the wants and needs of bank employees for effective intelligence generation and dissemination as well as for effective response implementation. Findings -The authors find a positive significant relationship between internal market orientation and staff attitude and perceived customer satisfaction. Further, the impact of staff attitude on employee job satisfaction is also significant. Research limitations/implications -Internal market orientation, with the passage of time, may not be as prevalent and exhaustive as it is now because the nature of the marketing environment is extremely dynamic. So, there is a need to make changes as time evolves so that this scale remains focused with a high level of reliability and validity. Practical implications -To generate internal market intelligence, bank management should not only rely on internal customer surveys, but also the intelligence obtained through a variety of formal and informal means, such as meetings and discussion with internal customers; analysis of sales reports and worldwide customer databases; and formal market research, such as employees' attitude surveys and sales response in a test market. Originality/value -The present research would be of value to managers across the world for identifying key requirements of internal customers, which need to be evaluated consistently from time to time, for different strategic actions.

The study aims at m.eas uring the 1 vel f Internal Market rientati on (I ) through internal customers' perspective particularly with r gard to its three behavioural componen ts v iz., intelligence generation, intelligence dissemination and res ponsiven s . Inadeq uate research inputs to exam ine the e xtent of IMO p art·icularly with respect to banking sector have encouraged the efforts of undertaking the p resPn t initiative . The study is primarily based on first hand informa tion gathe red from 611 internal customers of one of the best Indian private sector banks viz., Ja mmu and Kash mir Bank Pvt td (J&K). The findings of the s tudy indicate all th ree compon nlc; of TMO viz., intelligenc generation, intelligence dissemination and responsiveness, having a s ignificant impa t on increasing the lev I of IMO vis-a-vis the bas ic ingred ients of IMO playing a significant role in determining overall internal customers' satisfaction.

There has been a lot of research on implementation of the concept and examination of the link between market orientation and business performance. In these offerings, scales such as MARKOR, introduced by Kohli, Jaworski, and Kumar (1993), and MKTOR, introduced by Narver and Slater (1990) have been frequently employed without further investigation. Analogous to this academic endeavour, few marketing researchers have raised doubts regarding the reliability and validity of the extant scales and have also shown concern towards the definition of the concept. Apropos, the present study has been planned to examine the degree of market orientation from management perspective and also to develop a scale for measuring market orientation in the selected public and private sector banks, viz., State Bank of India (SBI), Punjab National Bank (PNB), and The Jammu and Kashmir Bank Pvt. Ltd. (JKB). The study finds: Significant difference between the responses of management with respect to Internal Market Orientation (IMO) and External Market Orientation (EMO). The management of all the three major banks, viz., PNB, SBI, and JKB is more optimistic with regard to the three dimensions of EMO than that of IMO. Significant impact of internal market orientation on the overall market orientation as compared to external market orientation. Positive and significant relationship between internal customers' and external customers' satisfaction; internal customers' satisfaction and business performance, and external customers' satisfaction and business performance. For improving market orientation in the banking sector, managers are suggested to take the following initiatives: Initiate crucial steps towards developing a healthy work environment — delineating employee expectations; discussing goal achievement, tracking performance and feedback; and devising an appropriate mechanism for follow-up and employee appraisal. Employees should be made the root cause identifiers and solvers whereas managers must be problem eradicators. Ensure parallel inter- and intra-departmental communication. An open door policy can be encouraged to communicate through various formal and informal channels so that inter-departmental work teams can perform efficiently. Conduct internal market research once a year to generate information pertaining to the job requirements of internal customers. Retain its employees through the successful implementation of internal marketing strategies which in turn demands proper understanding of employees' work-related needs, feelings, emotions and intellect, proper treatment as an individual, open and free communication with the management, and establishing and managing effective long-term employee-management relationships.