Internal marketing: a review and some interdisciplinary research challenges

Abstract

The concept of internal marketingThe need for real improvement in organizational capability for, and the delivery of, valuable customer service, which matches customer needs, as a basis for competitive strategy and competitive advantage has received widespread attention in the academic and professional management literature (Christopher et al., 1991;Wilson et al., 1992). To date, however, most of the attention has been focused on service providers, particularly health care, financial and professional services in the USA (George, 1986;Grönroos, 1983;Gummesson, 1991a;Schlesinger and Heskett, 1991), and the service element of what manufacturing organizations do for their customers has yet to be fully addressed. Some work has recognized that all suppliers are service providers and that value is increasingly being created for customers through distinctive service competence (Quinn et al., 1990). This "servitization" (Vandermerwe and Rada, 1988) is resulting in more employees becoming service providers, to one another and to customers. A service-centred business philosophy is called for and competitive advantage is increasingly achieved through the mobilization of the accumulated "know-how" of individual employees to create value for customers through processes (service activities) which are not easily imitable.There is continuing internal resistance to marketing in some organizations, particularly when the pursuit of a marketing organization would require major change (Kotler, 1986). In addition much of the work on quality management has failed to deal with the clear link with the role of marketing in securing a customer focus in the organization. Gummesson (1987a) is an exception in identifying quality as "the most important weapon in the marketing warfare".Internal marketing was originally proposed as an approach to service management which entailed the application of the traditional marketing concept and the associated marketing mix inwards within an internal market, in which employees are treated as customers of the organization in order to improve corporate effectiveness by improving internal market relationships (Helman and Payne, 1992). Internal marketing has been proposed as a management approach which enables and motivates all members of the

HRD: the shapes and things to come

“…Varey (1995) highlights a number of writers who have anticipated a convergence of HRM, organizational development, marketing and quality management in describing internal marketing in terms traditionally associated with the domain of the human resources specialist, including training, recruitment, motivation, and reward…”

“…Meanwhile in the UK, quality function deployment aims to represent the voice of the customer during design and production of products and services, while customer satisfaction surveys provide measures of conformity to performance standards in service delivery, which should be set by the customers themselves (Varey 1995).…”

Measuring Internal Market Orientation

“…In order for organizations to better understand the nature of employee friendly manager behaviors, and the impact that these behaviors have on front-line staff, it is necessary for internal marketing to develop past its embryonic, and descriptive or prescriptive position (Varey 1995). Calls have been made for research to develop a single clear understanding of the construct, for the development of a suitable instrument for measuring it, and for serious empirical fieldwork to assess its impact, (Varey 1995;Rafiq and Ahmed 2000;Bansal et al 2001).…”

“…Calls have been made for research to develop a single clear understanding of the construct, for the development of a suitable instrument for measuring it, and for serious empirical fieldwork to assess its impact, (Varey 1995;Rafiq and Ahmed 2000;Bansal et al 2001). …”

Smes Marketing Mix: Examining Influencing Factors for Its Successful Management

“…An improperly managed marketing mix diminishes a firm"s customer base, forces the company to rely on a volatile marketing mix and erodes the firm"s market share [6]. Furthermore, inappropriately managed marketing mix factors occur along a continuum of severity [7][8][9][10], although the dilemma might be caused by the fact that marketing mix management is not widely accepted in this industrial business-to-business sector [9][10][11] and that there is no information about the existence of marketing mix management available [1,5].…”