Human Resource Management

and Internal Marketing

This book explains various key concepts of internal marketing and its relation
to human resource management, commitment, service quality, market
orientation, etc. Various human resource models are insufficient to define
internal marketing. Therefore, there is a need to focus on the models and
key concepts of human resource management and internal marketing and in
what way they contribute to organizational success. It involves motivation,
internal market research, internal communication, internal segmentation,
employee retention, inter-functional coordination, and internal branding.
The current need for human resource management is to link human resource
management and marketing practices which are called internal marketing.
Internal marketing plays an eminent role in organizational success.
This book helps students, practitioners, start-ups, and educationists. This
is a research monograph that will assist an organization to decide the future
of human resource management as well as organizational development.
This book is for marketing as well as human resource discipline, as internal
marketing is the integration of marketing and human resource management.
Due to new technology, globalization, and liberalization market need and
demand are also changing, thus it is necessary to understand new trends in
the application of human resources. Therefore, it is necessary to motivate
and satisfy internal customers and make them market and skill-oriented.

Teena Mishra holds a Ph.D. in Management.

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Cross-cultural Knowledge Management

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Human Resource Management and Internal Marketing

Teena Mishra

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SE0305
Human Resource
Management and
Internal Marketing

Teena Mishra
First published 2023
by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158
and by Routledge
4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2023 Teena Mishra
The right of Teena Mishra to be identified as author of this work has
been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical,
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Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks
or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and
explanation without intent to infringe.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Mishra, Teena, 1984- author.
Title: Human resource management and internal marketing/Teena Mishra.
Description: 1 Edition. | New York, NY: Routledge, 2023.
Series: Routledge advances in management and business studies |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2022036653 | ISBN 9781032209364 (hardback) |
ISBN 9781032209401 (paperback) | ISBN 9781003266013 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Personnel management. | Marketing – Management. |
Organizational effectiveness.
Classification: LCC HF5549. M52778 2023 | DDC 352.6–dc23/
eng/20220803
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022036653
ISBN: 978-1-032-20936-4 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-032-20940-1 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-26601-3 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/9781003266013
Typeset in Bembo
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
Contents

List of Figuresx
List of Tablesxi
List of Boxesxii
Acknowledgmentsxiii
Acronymxiv
Prefacexv

1 Introduction 1
Introduction 1
Internal Marketing 3
Definition of Internal Marketing 3
Evolution of Internal Marketing 5
Concept of Internal Marketing 7
Aim of Internal Marketing 8
Objectives of Internal Marketing 9
Internal Customers 10
Internal Customer Service 11
Categorization of Internal Customers 11
Internal Marketing and Human Resource Management 13
Process of Human Resource Stages 14
Conclusion 17

2 Thoughts on Internal Marketing 21

Introduction 21
Thoughts of Internal Marketing 21
Principles of Internal Marketing 26
Conclusion 30

3 Internal Marketing Dimensions 33

Introduction 33
Studies on Internal Marketing Dimensions 35
vi Contents
Internal Marketing Dimensions 36
Dimension of Internal Marketing Related to Human
Resources 38
Studies on Internal Marketing Dimensions 38
Conclusion 41

4 Significance of Internal Marketing in the 21st Century 47

Introduction 47
Significance of Internal Marketing 48
Case Studies on Internal Marketing 49
Internal Service Quality Study (Case Study of Hotel Soaltee
Crowne Plaza (SCP), one of the 5-Star Deluxe Hotels
in Nepal) 52
Case Study on Employee Empowerment in HDFC Bank 53
Inside-Out Approach 56
Implementing Brand Voice 57
Meaning of Brand Voice 57
Conclusion 60

5 Implementation Strategy 63
Introduction 63
Meaning of Internal Marketing Process 64
Internal Marketing Implementation 64
Phases of Internal Marketing Implementation 65
Process of Internal Marketing by Dr. K.S. Jaiswal et al. 67
Case Studies on Internal Marketing Implementation 74
Building and Sustaining Strong Corporate Brand Through
Internal Marketing: Case Study of UNISON, Britain’s
Biggest Trade Union 76
Conclusion 78

6 Models of Internal Marketing 81

Introduction 81
Internal Marketing Models 83
Internal Marketing Approach 83
Empirical Studies on Internal Marketing Models 83
The Model Proposed for Internal Marketing 93
Adaptation to Work 94
External Communication 94
Market Research 95
Conclusion 95
 Contents vii
7 Internal Marketing, Human Resource Management,
and Technology 98
Introduction 98
Evolution of Human Resource Management 99
Modern Human Resource Management 102
Human Resource Management and Internal Marketing 102
Technology Reformed Internal Marketing and Human
Resource Management 103
Wearables 108
Self-Charging Phones and Wireless Electricity 108
Conclusion 109

8 Service Journey of Internal Marketing 111

Introduction 111
Internal Marketing and Service Organizations 112
Internal Marketing as Organizational Coaching 114
Internal Marketing Works as a Strategy 114
Internal Marketing Is to Create Awareness and
Development 115
Internal Marketing Is an Innovative Phenomenon 115
Three Groups of Internal Marketing Components 115
Positive Internal Relationships Make an Impact
on Employees’ Work Experience 116
Work–Life Balance 116
Modern Mix of Marketing Components 116
Internal Performance Management 116
Corporate Social Responsibility Initiatives 117
Relationship Marketing Theory and Social Exchange
Theory 117
Job Design 118
Career and Development Plans 118
Internal Market-Oriented Culture 118
Team Performance 118
Quality Management Systems 120
Conclusion 121

9 Mechanism of Internal Marketing 126

Introduction 126
Role of Internal Marketing on Organizational Performance 130
Employee Retention Is a Big Concern in Today’s Businesses 131
Role of Internal Marketing in Branding 132
viii Contents
Role of Internal Marketing in Service Delivery 132
Internal Marketing and Market Orientation 135
Conclusion 137

10 Reorientation of Total Quality Management 142

Introduction 142
Selection 143
Similarities Between Internal Marketing and Total Quality
Management 145
Differentiation Between Internal Marketing and Total Quality
Management 146
Conclusion 148

11 Internal Marketing and Market Orientation 150

Introduction 150
Internal Market and Market Orientation 150
Future Trends of Market Orientation 151
Market Orientation 152
Internal Customer Orientation 154
Dimensions of Internal Market Orientation 154
Dimensions of Internal Customer Orientation 154
Recent Studies on Internal Market Orientation 157
Proactive Competitor Orientation 160
Technology Orientation 161
Responsive Competitor Orientation 161
Learning Orientation 161
Conclusion 162

12 Internal Marketing and Service Quality 167

Introduction 167
Internal Marketing and Service Quality 167
Internal Marketing and Service Quality 169
Internal Service Quality 170
Approaches with Internal Service Quality 170
Dimensions of Internal Service Quality 171
Measurement of Internal Service Quality 171
INTSERVQUAL Scale 174
Market Orientation and Service Quality 176
Conclusion 179
 Contents ix
13 Internal Marketing and Commitment 183
Introduction 183
Organizational Commitment 184
Types of Commitment 185
Internal Marketing Practices and Commitment 187
Relationship Between Internal Marketing and Commitment 190
Internal Marketing and Job Satisfaction 191
How Are Internal Marketing and Commitment Related? 192
Conclusion 193

14 Thoughts on Internal Marketing 197

Introduction 197
Trends of Internal Marketing 198
Best Internal Marketing Practices 199
Case Studies on Internal Marketing Practices
in Various Sectors 207
Future of Internal Marketing Practice 210
Pfizer 211
Asia Pacific Brewery 212
Conclusion 214

Author’s Short Biography217

Index218
Figures

1.1 Elements of internal marketing 4

1.2 Objectives of internal marketing 9
1.3 Internal customers providing service 12
1.4 VC Judd matrix 12
2.1 Love job 22
2.2 A man feeling boredom during his job 23
2.3 Marketing mix 27
2.4 Business ideas 28
3.1 Training, motivation, skill, and knowledge to achieve goal 34
4.1 Employee and organizational growth 55
4.2 Training 56
4.3 Facebook 58
5.1 Simple process of internal marketing 69
5.2 Obstacles in implementing internal marketing 72
5.3 Communication media‌ 77
6.1 Berry’s model of internal marketing 85
6.2 Gronroos’ model of internal marketing 86
6.3 The meta-model of internal marketing 88
6.4 Exchange model of internal marketing 89
6.5 Diamond shape model of internal marketing 92
7.1 Social media‌ 106
7.2 Use of the internet in business 107
8.1 Customer service by internal customers 113
9.1 Employees in the organization 127
9.2 Employees doing job 128
10.1 Quality management 146
11.1 Value addition chain of internal and external marketing 152
12.1 Service quality 168
12.2 Customer service 169
13.1 Employee commitment to achieving organizational goals 184
13.2 Employees do not want to continue their job 186
13.3 Research model 190
14.1 Teamwork 200
14.2 Business culture 201
Tables

5.1 Internal marketing scale 70

10.1 Difference between internal marketing and total quality
management147
11.1 Different perspectives of customer orientations 153
11.2 Dimensions of internal customer orientation 155
12.1 Dimensions of internal service quality 172
14.1 Internal communication practices 207
Boxes

1.1 Definition of internal marketing by Rafiq and Ahmed 3

1.2 Definition of internal marketing by American Marketing
Association5
1.3 Internal marketing definition by Wood 2008 5
1.4 Definition of internal customers 11
2.1 Definition of satisfaction 23
4.1 Meaning of brand voice 57
5.1 A case study of internal marketing implementation by
Dr. K.S. Jaiswal 67
9.1 Definition of motivation 128
10.1 Definition of internal communication 142
10.2 Definition of selection 143
10.3 Definition of quality, Jain and Gupta (2004) 144
14.1 Case study: Increasing employee engagement through
human resource management (Harrods) 205
14.2 Case study: Microsoft 213
14.3 Case study: Molson coors beverage company 214
Acknowledgments

I would like to thank the Taylor and Francis Group, Ms. Brianna, for her
support and suggestions. I would also like to say thanks to Ms. Jessica,
Ms. Naomi as well as the other staff, at Taylor and Francis Publishers, for
their assistance during the book’s development process. I would like to thank
God for providing the opportunity to publish my work in such a high-
quality publication. I would also like to thank my mother, who has been a
source of inspiration in my life, and also thanks to my father, who provided
moral support and kept me motivated during the development of the book.
Acronym

AMA American Marketing Association

ESP Employee Suggestion Programs
HRM Human Resource Management
IM Internal Marketing
IMO Internal Market Orientation
ISQ Internal Service Quality
IT Information Technology
MO Market Orientation
NPM New Public management
OAB Overactive Bladder
OC Organizational Commitment
OCB Organizational Citizenship Behavior
QM Quality Management
RBV Resource-Based Theory
ROI Return on Investment
SQ Service Quality
TQM Total Quality Management
Preface

This book “Human Resource Management and Internal Marketing” is

about the need to understand current marketing and human resource prac-
tices. There is a myth that both concepts are similar but both differ and
require clarity in concept. The book is divided into 14 chapters. Chapter 1
provides an introduction to internal marketing and human resource man-
agement, which includes the concept of internal marketing and internal
customers and the objective of internal marketing. Chapter 2 conferred
thoughts on internal marketing and principles of internal marketing. This
chapter discusses various thoughts of internal marketing which are motiva-
tion and satisfaction, internal customer orientation, internal service quality,
and inter-functional coordination, internal marketing is similar to human
resource management, and internal marketing is the link between marketing
and human resource management.
Chapter 3 provides an overview of various internal marketing dimen-
sions, for example, motivation, inter-functional coordination, customer ori-
entation, management support, empowerment, employee engagement, job
product, internal service quality, etc. Chapter 4 explains the significance of
internal marketing in the 21st century. This chapter also discusses the recent
trend of internal marketing and various practical cases.
Chapter 5 describes the implementation strategy of internal marketing,
the phases of internal marketing, and its process. Chapter 6 explain various
models of internal marketing which are the Berry model, Gronroos model
and meta-model, exchange model, and diamond shape model. Chapter 7
is internal marketing, human resource management, and technology which
is a combination of current business practices. It describes the relationship
between internal marketing and human resource management, the stages
of human resource management, and the role of technology. Chapter 8
­elaborated on the service journey of internal marketing. Internal marketing
starts with service marketing. Initially, it is to improve the service quality of
the organization but later it is found beneficial in various forms. Chapter 9
discusses the mechanism of internal marketing which shows the mechanism
of its functioning.
xvi Preface
Chapter 10 is the re-orientation of total quality management. It explains
the similarities and differences between internal marketing and human
resource management. Chapter 11 is about internal marketing and mar-
ket orientation. Internal marketing is to create market orientation recog-
nized in the second stage of its development and relevant in today’s market.
­Chapter 12 is internal marketing and service quality which explains studies
of internal marketing and service quality and the dimensions of internal
service quality.
Chapter 13 is about internal marketing and commitment and describes
various studies on it and the relationship between both of them. Chapter 14
is a practical-oriented chapter that discusses various practical cases on inter-
nal marketing and its current trend.
Dr. Teena Mishra, PhD in Management
1 Introduction

Introduction
Internal marketing started to treat employees as internal customers and jobs as
products. Employees are treated as customers to motivate and delight them,
which results in customer satisfaction and successful marketing. This notion
is not limited to external customer satisfaction only. It works as an internal
exchange process to promote customer orientation and inter-functional coor-
dination and enhance the relationship between the ­employees and the organi-
zation, positively impacting external marketing. Various authors explained
internal marketing in their ways but revealed its benefits to improving organi-
zational systems, which leads to profitability. Internal marketing dimensions
used by South West Airlines include reward, empowerment, open communi-
cation, training, career development, and employment security. Internal Mar-
keting plays a vital role in organizational growth and performance. It improves
the operational and financial performance of the organization. According
to Zarinjoin Soheila (cited in Mishra, July 2020), internal marketing is all
about customer satisfaction and asserts that the organization puts little practi-
cal emphasis. The business organization must strengthen its internal organi-
zational system to beat the competition. Various organizations are gaining
competitive benefits in the market, for example, Microsoft, Tesla, South East
Asian Airlines, Amazon, ­McDonald’s, Walmart, Apple, etc. A concept behind
the internal marketing notion is that external customers can be satisfied by
satisfying internal customers. Wachovia is the fifth big bank in America. This
bank merged with two smaller banks and formed in the year 2001. This bank
used a brand identity plan and successfully executed it (Mishra, July 2020).
Internal marketing is a rising concept that has been to gain a sustainable
competitive advantage, improve employee–employer relationships, increase
service quality, improve inter-functional coordination, and strengthen
human resource management. Internal marketing operations include
informing employees, training employees, fostering teamwork, motivating
employees, and fostering togetherness, according to Jarvi (cited in Paliaga
and Strunje 2011). It is a method of managing numerous functions within
the organization depicted by Don and Prebeac (cited in Paliaga and Strunje

DOI: 10.4324/9781003266013-1
2 Introduction
2011). It functions in two ways; firstly, it secures employees at all levels,
management included, to comprehend and experience company business
operations and all activities in the light of the environment. Secondly, it
produces an awareness of the importance of customers and ensures that all
employees are prepared and motivated for customer-oriented behavior.
Due to rising competition, amalgamation, mergers, and joint ventures
are overall strategies followed by the organizations. Thus, it is challenging
to tackle human resources in such circumstances. Various authors such as
MacStravic and Ballantyne et al. (cited in Mishra, July 2020) agreed that
internal marketing and human resource management are similar concepts.
However, both are different concepts. There is debate regarding the similar-
ity between internal marketing and human resource management, but they
are different from each other. There are various stages in the development of
human resource management practices that can be classified as follows: the
19th-century industrial revolution, the trade union era, the social respon-
sibility era from the beginning of the 20th century, the scientific manage-
ment era from 1990 to the 1920s, the human relations era from 1930 to the
1950s, the behavioral science era from 1950 to the 1960s, and the system
and contingency approach era from 1960 onwards. A new period does not
always mean the end of an old one. There is, however, overlap (“Evolution
of Human Resource Management” n.d.). As a result, there is some over-
lap between internal marketing and human resources management. Inter-
nal marketing practice does not imply the end of human resource practice.
However, due to dynamic changes in the marketing world that encourage
the growth of this notion, it has been discovered that human resources are
insufficient to improve organizational culture. Consequently, it is critical to
create a concept that boosts employee morale and enhances connections
between employee and employer, resulting in an interchange phenomenon.
Internal marketing is the best method for dealing with organizational
change (Finney and Scherrebeck-Hansen 2010) and increases organizational
performance and efficiency (Magatef Ghaleb Sima et al. (cited in Mishra,
July 2020). It significantly impacts customer happiness, market share growth,
service quality, and overall organizational performance.
In the age of modern marketing, internal marketing is the best practice for
dealing with organizational change (Finney and Scherrebeck-Hansen 2010).
Various authors Zaman et al and Magatef Ghaleb Sima et al. (cited in Mishra,
July 2020) studied that internal marketing improves organizational perfor-
mance and efficiency. It strongly impacts customer satisfaction and builds
market share, service quality, and overall organizational functioning. Many
changes occur in the organizational process and functioning in today’s com-
petitive world. Because of the world’s changing dynamics, firms focus on
their staff and renaming them “internal customers.” Customer satisfaction,
driving customer orientation, boosting service quality, internal branding,
inter-functional coordination, employee retention, and customer loyalty are
all advantages of internal marketing. Internal marketing includes different
components due to the numerous benefits it provides. As a result, it is vital
 Introduction 3
to investigate this concept for businesses to benefit from its adoption. It must
be prioritized in all aspects to be executed properly. This chapter introduces
the topic, which improves the understanding of the succeeding chapters.

Internal Marketing
Internal marketing is the most effective approach, strategy, and process for
enhancing the organizational system. The impact of internal marketing is
investigated on organizational performance in Zimbabwe’s hotel industry
(Nyasha, Vision, and Rutendo Faith 2015). It is a customer-focused strat-
egy to improve organizational performance. Many research (Magatef and
Momani 2016; cited in Mishra, July 2020) verified that internal market-
ing enhances organizational performance and organizational people’s effi-
ciency, which leads to financial performance (Mishra, July 2020). There is
no ideal measurement instrument to assess the impact of internal marketing
on financial performance due to its diverse definition.

Definition of Internal Marketing

According to the literature review, there are several definitions of internal
marketing. Following are the types of internal marketing definitions based
on their scope and dominant perspective (George and Prakash 2019):

• Human Resource Management as a synonym for internal marketing

• Internal marketing uses marketing methods within a company’s internal
marketplace
• Internal marketing as a requirement for happy external customers

Due to no unified definition of internal marketing, it is vital for gaining a

competitive advantage. However, it is an essential notion for organizational
success and growth. Thus, it is a prerequisite to understanding the organi-
zation’s needs for successful implementation. It is not necessary to accept a
specific definition but to analyze this idea in depth.

Box 1.1. Definition of internal marketing by

Rafiq and Ahmed

Internal marketing defines as “a planned effort using marketing like

approach to overcome organizational resistance to change and to align,
motivate and inter-functionally coordinate and integrate employees
toward the effective implementation of corporate and functional strat-
egies in order to deliver customer satisfaction through a process of
creating motivated and customer-orientated employees” (Rafiq and
Ahmed 2000).
4 Introduction

Figure 1.1 Elements of internal marketing

Source: Rafiq and Ahmed (2000)

According to the definition of internal marketing given by Rafiq and

Ahmed (see Box 1.1), it is an organizational change management strategy
and stresses internal marketing as a holistic approach. This definition is the
third phase of internal marketing evolution (Rafiq and Ahmed 2000). The
first and second phases reflected internal marketing as “treat employees as
customers” and customer-oriented employees. This definition is a later
development of the concept, which focuses on the broad characteristics
of this concept (Qiu, Boukis, and Storey 2021). Based on the definition,
the five elements (Employee motivation and satisfaction; customer orienta-
tion and customer satisfaction; inter-functional coordination and integra-
tion; marketing-like approach; and implementation of specific corporate
and functional strategies) of internal marketing are identified (Figure 1.1).
All the five elements of internal marketing play a key role in internal mar-
keting implementation. It represents phases of internal marketing develop-
ment. American Marketing Association defines it as a process (see Box 1.2).
 Introduction 5

Box 1.2. Definition of internal marketing by

American Marketing Association

According to the American Marketing Association (AMA), internal

marketing is oriented toward employees and it permits employees to
efficiently execute their tasks. Source: (Kotler 2000).

The American Marketing Association’s definition of internal marketing

defines it as the process of focusing on employees so that they may accomplish
their responsibilities efficiently (see Box 1.2). According to this notion, it is
critical to focus on internal marketing ideas to boost employee performance.
We are now in the relationship era; therefore, organizations’ need is not only
to improve employee performance but also to maintain a good relationship
with internal customers as well as external customers. In this regard, Wood
2008 explains the significance of building and managing the relationship in
the new age of marketing and defines internal marketing (see Box 1.3).

Box 1.3. Internal marketing definition by Wood 2008

Wood (2008) defined “Internal marketing aimed at marketing to

managers and employees inside the organization for constructing rela-
tionships as a foundation for implementing marketing plan and satisfy-
ing customers” (Wood 2008).

Based on this definition, internal marketing improves internal relation-

ships by implementing marketing plans so that external customers can be
satisfied. Internal marketing is defined as “Attracting, developing, moti-
vating, and retaining qualified employees through work products to satisfy
their needs.” This definition is employee focused and stressed on qualified
employees. This definition means it is vital to focus on competent employ-
ees and satisfy their needs to improve the organizational system (Al-Nasrawi,
Al-Tameemi, and Thabit 2018, cited in Thabit and Younus 2020).

Evolution of Internal Marketing

Internal marketing first emerged from service marketing in early 1970 to
provide high-quality services (Sasser and Arbeit). The term internal market-
ing, invented by Berry in 1970, was first used as a key to delivering high-
quality service. Later on, this notion was explored by Piercy 1995; Sasser
and Arbeit 1976; Pitt and Foreman 1999 (cited in Paliaga and Strunje 2011).
6 Introduction
It appeared almost 30 years back, and this concept has not become widely
accepted by managers while its potential benefits are often ignored (Bannon
2005, cited in (Ali 2020). According to the growing literature on IM by
Barnes 1989; Berry 1981; Cahill 1996; Collins and Payne 1991; Flipo 1986;
George 1977; Gronroos 1981; Richardson and Robinson 1986; Piercy and
Morgan 1991; Pitt and Foreman 1999; Sasser and Arbeit 1976 (cited in
Rafiq and Ahmed 2000), internal marketing is applied practically by only
some organizations. As there is no unified definition, it is challenging to
apply it practically.
The primary assumption of internal marketing is that the inter-
nal exchange between the company and its employees must be efficient
for external marketing initiatives to be successful. Generating motivated
and customer-oriented employees attempts to organize, motivate, inter-­
functionally coordinate, and involve employees in the efficient implementa-
tion of functional and corporate initiatives to achieve customer satisfaction.
Internal marketing is an excellent technique for implementing strategic
plans (Roberts-Lombard 2010).
Internal marketing is the strength that marketing executives have to exe-
cute their marketing strategies and develop an internal marketing notion
of customer orientation, according to Flipo 1986. The greater employee
satisfaction will be more likely to develop an orientation toward customer
orientation (Gronroos 1981). Donnelly (1989) replicates the internal mar-
keting concept as an attraction and retaining internal customers to meet
their requirements to improve performance. Similarly, Berry and Parasura-
man (1991) focused on employees as customers. Bateson (1991) stressed the
work of hiring, training, and motivating employees so that they politely
serve customers, and Levionnois (1992) focused on the internal market-
ing methods and techniques to allow a company to enhance its level of
effectiveness and the advantage of employees and customers (Bateson 1991;
Levionnois 1992, cited in De et al. 2015).
According to Thompson (1998), Internal marketing means that if employ-
ees do not feel participating and committed to the organization, they have
two options: leave the organization or remain there without providing their
best and work with low quality. Internal marketing is the best way to sell the
company objectives, strategies, structure, leaders, and other elements to an
internal customer who works in the internal market. The ultimate goal is to
improve motivation and performance. As a consequence, their productivity
will increase. There is a need for an excellent internal operational environ-
ment to reach external customers De et al. 2015).
Internal marketing is the set of methods and techniques applied in a
­particular order to permit the company to enhance its effectiveness in the
interest of its customers and employees Almerana, Romeo, and Roca (2005).
Ahmed and Rafiq stressed inter-functional coordination and effective com-
munication between organizational functions and business departments
(Rafiq and Ahmed 2000). Moreover, it emphasized that internal marketing
 Introduction 7
works as a strategy for customer satisfaction attained through customer-
oriented strategies, motivating and coordinating efforts of all organizational
functions.
Rafiq and Ahmed conducted a study directed on the scope of internal
marketing and the relationship with the management of human resources
and showed that internal marketing is a model used to attract, develop, and
retain motivated staff of the organization. They focused on the marketing
of services and presented the relationship between internal and external
customers. In everyday marketing situations, customers do not buy prod-
ucts; they do not want to buy, and this case is not the same with employees,
as they have to accept the job products that the company offers or best suit
their profile (Rafiq and Ahmed 1993). On the controversy, Kotler stated
that “it is difficult to satisfy every customer.” Similarly, it is difficult to satisfy
all internal customers. Internal marketing creates internal customer aware-
ness which makes a positive impact on external customers (Kotler 1999,
cited in Mishra, A New Insight, 2018).
Internal marketing reflects all marketing activities to employees seeking
to enhance their conditions of them, producing them a pleasure (Greene,
Walls, and Schrest 1994). Before creating market orientation for the external
customers, it is necessary to focus on domestic or internal market orienta-
tion (Piercy 1995). It creates market orientation and helps the organization
respond to changes (Varey 1995). According to Quintanilla (1994 cited in
De et al. 2015), there are two aspects of internal marketing; the first is man-
aging attitudes, and the second is communication management. The three
types of attitudes are satisfaction in the workplace, involvement in his or her
job, and organizational commitment. According to authors (De et al. 2015),
management attitudes are the organization of beliefs, feelings, opinions, and
relatively continuing behavioral tendencies toward objects, events, groups,
or socially meaningful symbols. It is the feeling or overall assessment of a
person, object, or matter. The employees must communicate the organ-
ization’s goals, values, and behaviors to actively encourage employees to
participate in business success. The outcome is to prepare for employee atti-
tudes and understanding of organizational change. Marketing experts have
recently focused more attention on the internal market, specifically in the
second half of the 1990s, aware of balancing internal and external marketing
as a precondition of successful performance. Various authors argued that a
successful marketing approach is probable if internal and external marketing
work as a joint and mutually dependent system (Caruana and Calleya 1998).

Concept of Internal Marketing

Internal customers are working in the internal market, and delivering value
to internal customers is known as internal marketing. Due to increasing
competition, internal marketing is gaining attention to compete in the
external environment. Various successful organizations are knowingly and
8 Introduction
unknowingly implementing internal marketing. Many organizations utilize
this concept, but they do not know the actual direction of its process. It is
necessary to identify the internal marketing process so that other organiza-
tions take advantage of it.
Internal marketing is a growing concept in the organization. Firstly, we
start with who is responsible for internal marketing in the organization.
According to various studies, the human resource manager or top manage-
ment is responsible for it. In various big companies like GE, Zappos, 3M,
and Google, the CEO/top management is responsible for internal market-
ing. Yastrow and Company work for various companies to improve internal
marketing. According to Steve Yastrow, successful organizations focus on
marketing outside and within the organization. Most organizational people
are unanswerable about their brand promise. Even they do not know the
reason for their work. Every employee should know about what is the aim
of the organization. There is a need for brand harmony in the organization.
For example, Kimpton Hotels and Restaurants employees, whether they
are top executives or frontline employees, have the same understanding of
the mission and vision of Kimpton. Another example of a well-known
organization is Apple. Apple understands the value of customer interaction
with employees. They provide the best training program on how to rep-
resent the Apple brand. At the time of training, employees bring a Credo
card, which has a short message about becoming an Apple brand. Vari-
ous studies of internal marketing are related to improvement in marketing
functions. However, it also has strategic implications. For example, software
firms understand the importance of internal marketing in marketing func-
tion and strategy. It makes an impact on the efficiency of the employees.
Corporate brand influence is more than the product brand. Working for a
reputed corporate brand is the center of attention for people. Brands, for
example, Infosys, TCS, and Unilever attract and retain people. Internaliza-
tion of the organizational culture is the prerequisite for internal marketing.
Firms like Marriott, Apple, Microsoft, Infosys, TCS, and GE have a robust
internal structure that educates employees about the organization’s culture
(Mishra, A New Insight, 2018).

Aim of Internal Marketing

The aim of internal marketing is as follows:

1) To create internal and external customer awareness: Traditional market-

ing focuses on satisfying external customers only. Internal marketing is
found as a solution to deliver better customer service to customers by
satisfying internal customers.
2) To eliminate functional barriers in the organization: There are many
obstacles in the working of the organizational system. Handling peo-
ple is a difficult task. There is a need for proper coordination and
 Introduction 9
cooperation between internal customers and suppliers to attain the
organizational goal. It improves organizational effectiveness and earns
long-term benefits.
3) To inform and educate customers: Internal marketing is to inform and
educate internal customers to deliver better products and services to exter-
nal customers. It is vital to inform and educate employees about products
and services, expectations of organizational customers, and organizational
mission, vision, goals, and strategies (Collins and Payne 1991).

Objectives of Internal Marketing

The main objectives of internal marketing (Figure 1.2) are:

• Treat employees as customers: To meet the needs of internal cus-

tomers to motivate and satisfy them. The purpose behind this is to make
employees organizational, and customer focused.
• To enhance service quality. Both internal and external customers
play a vital role in improving the organization’s service quality. In the
internal marketing concept, it is necessary to treat internal customers

Figure 1.2 Objectives of internal marketing

10 Introduction
similarly to external ones. The assumption behind this is that by treating
employees as customers, they become motivated and satisfied, improv-
ing service quality. Internal marketing evolved as a tool to motivate and
satisfy internal customers to improve service quality.
• To improve the products and services of the organization:
Internal marketing adds value to the internal products and services of
the organization for internal customers.
• To make employees customer-oriented: The focus of internal
marketing is to make employees customer-oriented so that they are
customer-focused and successful in external marketing.
• To reduce organizational conflict: In the internal market, there
is a conflict between employees and employee–employer, so there is a
need to reduce conflict among them for the smooth functioning of the
organizational system.
• To improve inter-functional coordination: Internal marketing
improves the relationship between internal customers and suppliers and
improves coordination to accomplish organizational goals.
• To manage change: Change management is the current problem
facing various organizations due to changes in technology, Human
resource practices, organizational system, and competitive environment.
Internal marketing assists in coping with the changes in the internal and
external environment.

Adopting an efficient internal marketing policy will achieve the following

goals: (Awwad and Agti 2011):

1. Dissemination and exchange of employee information

2. Offering incentives to stimulate and encourage staff to enhance their
performance is one way to go.
3. Developing employees’ competencies and capabilities in industrial and
service economic units.
4. Providing capable personnel to economic units to carry out administra-
tive duties and communicate with the public.
5. Conduct internal promotion efforts to develop and activate personnel’s
role in achieving strategic goals.
6. One of the most important aspects impacted by this is creating an
organizational atmosphere in which people are aware of and excited
about their work. The backing of high management is one of the most
important variables in determining this.
7. Retaining highly skilled workers by meeting all material and moral
requirements.

Internal Customers
The definition of “internal customer” is shown in Box 1.4. Any organiza-
tion member can be an internal customer. Thus, all company employees are
 Introduction 11

Box 1.4. Definition of internal customers

Internal customer is defined as “any member (employee) of the

organization receiving service and product from other members of
the organization to carry out his or her job.”

Source: El-Samen and Alshurideh 2012

called internal customers. Every employee is a customer and a supplier to

another employee in the internal market. Each member of the organizational
staff is both an internal customer and an internal supplier to one another.

Internal Customer Service

Internal service means the service provided between different organiza-
tional departments (Kang, Jame, and Alexandris 2002, cited in El-Samen
and Alshurideh 2012). Internal customer service aims to identify the need
of internal customers and internal service providers (Varey 1995, cited in
Jun and Cai 2010). Internal customer service allows the employees to work
­hassle-free and make a notable contribution. It offers a solution to an inter-
nal customer problem. It is vital to the employee’s overall experience to
confirm an effective workflow in the organization (Figure 1.3). For instance,
if an accounts department of a call center has trouble retrieving the PMS,
those will reach out to the IT department (Bhasin 2016). An internal cus-
tomer is present in every department. Internal customers are all employ-
ees working in the organization. Common examples of internal customers
are temporary workers, contractors, full-time employees, and sharehold-
ers (Bhasin 2016). Internal customer service is a two-way process between
internal customers and internal suppliers. Internal suppliers act as providers
of service to internal customers.

Categorization of Internal Customers

All employees are treated as internal customers. Based on the job or work
profile, they are divided into frontline customers, back service customers,
service provider customers, etc. Internal customers can be divided on the
basis of the type of business. For example, various types of internal custom-
ers in the manufacturing industry work in the organization’s operational
activities, such as machinists, engineers, middle-level workers, and lower-
level workers. In the service industry, various types of customers perform
work as services providers. VC Judd categorized internal customers into
four subgroups. The 2*2 matrix of VC Judd explained four categories of
service firms’ employees: contactors, modifiers, influencers, and isolated
12 Introduction

Figure 1.3 Internal customers providing service

Source: https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2017/11/11/14/58/need-help-2939262__480.png

Figure 1.4 VC Judd matrix

Source: cited in (Jhanji n.d., 185)

(Figure 1.4). Contactors are the frontline employees involved in various

activities like handling customer queries, sales, and promotion. Modifiers
have a low level of participation in marketing activities. They are work-
ing with customers, for example, receptionists and call center personnel.
Influencers have infrequent contact with personnel and involvement in
 Introduction 13
marketing activities. Isolated are working as supporters and involved in data
processing, maintenance work, back office, etc (Bhattacharjee 2009)

Internal Marketing and Human Resource Management

Internal marketing is similar to human resource management, according to
various authors. The logic of treating the internal marketing concept with
the human resource management is the similar goals of both. Internal mar-
keting and human resource management both focus on employees. In the
human resource management notion, humans are assets of the organization.
They strive to attain organizational goals and thus play a significant role in
the organization. Management is to manage human resources, while mar-
keting is associated with producing and selling products and services for the
organizational employees’ and other stakeholders’ benefits.
Internal and external customers are significant for both organizational
growth and development. In internal marketing, employees are internal
customers. Employee orientation or internal customer orientation is the
key objective of internal marketing. There are high-value human resources
in modern companies that are unquestionable. The most valuable human
resource has the knowledge and competence required to consolidate
physical activity habits in sports and other recreational service companies
(Widawska-Stanisz 2021).
Customers have more contact with the person executing the services than
in other industries. They interact directly with the frontline members of
personnel such as coaches and instructors, according to Widawska-Stanisz
e t. al. 2021). The competent, loyal, motivated personnel and recognition
of the company’s objectives and mission are undoubtedly vital in building
the company’s image in the eyes of the external customer, which stimu-
lates a certain logic of events. The company’s positive image in customers’
minds consequences the customer’s willingness to develop relationships with
such an entity. On the other side, building customer engagement creates a
long-lasting competitive advantage (Tsitskari, Antoniadis, and Costa 2014,
p. 514, cited in Widawska-Stanisz 2021).
The increasing importance of human resources as the most significant
factor in the competitiveness of sports and recreation companies creates the
requirement to search for and implement innovative solutions and human
resource models and identified the importance of the personnel and treat-
ing the employees as internal customers in recreational and sports compa-
nies. This study aimed to present the role of an employee in a sports and
recreation service company and also show the relations that exist between
the company’s stakeholders, including personnel as internal customers
(­Widawska-Stanisz 2021).
Gummesson (2000, cited in Paliaga and Strunje 2011) iterated that inter-
nal marketing performs as a border between internal organization and exter-
nal markets. The essential functions of human resource management are
14 Introduction
attraction, recruitment, compensation, training, and motivation. Internal
marketing aims to provide direction to the organization to add value to the
organizational system for its growth and development by utilizing inter-
nal customers, according to Paliaga and Strunje (2011). On the other side,
the basic activities of internal marketing are to inform employees, moti-
vate, train, and develop teamwork and togetherness in the internal market,
according to Jarvi (2009).
Ozretić Došen and Prebežac (2000) described internal marketing as a
process of total management of various roles and functions in the com-
pany. There are two ways of internal marketing functions. Firstly, it secures
employees at all levels and creates awareness of the significance of internal
customers. Secondly, it secures that all employees are developed and moti-
vated for customer-oriented behavior.
Many researchers describe internal marketing notion in its way. Thus,
it created confusion and no uniformity in thought. Berry first recognized
the organization as a market and internal marketing as an employee. The
primary conception of internal marketing is to treat employees as a cus-
tomer and hence motivate and satisfy them to buy job products (Gummes-
son 2000; Berry 1981; Preston and Steel 2002).
Internal marketing performs as a strategy to sell job products. Thus, it is
essential to provide job products that make employees happy to offer excel-
lent service to the organization. There is a need for a successful internal
exchange process to retain employees. Collins and Payne (1991) described
buying and selling relationship between an organization and employees. The
organization produces goods and services and sells them to employees, and in
this process, employees earn profits and sell labor to earn income. Though,
in this process, it is unclear about buying and selling relationships as there is
no clarity in internal products. Internal products are not limited to job prod-
ucts, but they stress all the activities of internal customers to produce some-
thing. According to Keller et al. (2006), internal products are work products
that include physical experience, the social environment of employees, and
information by which they perform their duties and responsibilities.

Process of Human Resource Stages

• Labor Welfare Stage: The beginning of HRM may have started
from industrial conflicts and disputes. An inquiry on defining reasons
for industrial conflicts and disputes highlighted many problems with
employees’ living and working circumstances across industries. This
query tinted the limitations of businesses that gained human resources
as machines to increase productivity and profits at a low cost. Workers
performed long hours in active working situations which led to the
development of trade unions. These trade unions stressed promoting
and protecting workers’ interests but faced resistance from the business
management, thus directing industrial disputes and conflicts.
 Introduction 15
• Personnel Management Stage: When labor welfare issues pro-
vide legal assurances, organizations initiate focusing on behaviors of
employees at all levels at an individual, group, and overall organiza-
tional foundation. A “Personnel” was appointed to manage the rela-
tionship between employee–employer by managing issues related
to human resource planning, recruitment, and selection, potential
appraisal and performance, transfer, training and development, promo-
tions, quality of working life, compliance to labor laws and legislations
and compensation.
• Human Resource Management Stage: HRM is a mix of labor
welfare and personnel management. HRM aims to maximize employee
performance according to the aim set by an organization. HRM is
a consequence of increasing organizational size, changing social and
cultural norms, easy access to information technology, and globaliza-
tion. Accordingly, it tries to build a more humane worker–employees
relationship with motivation, training, development, retention, worker
protection, etc. Also, under HRM, HR managers need to attain and
incorporate knowledge and possible changes that may influence the
overall organization. HR managers thus make efforts to execute rel-
evant strategies to confirm the smooth transition of changes without
disturbing inter-relationships and evading conflicts within an organiza-
tion. Human resource plays a crucial role in the organization in today’s
global and competitive environment. The notion of human resource
management has originated from personnel management. The term
personnel management originated in 1945 after the world war. During
this stage, the personnel managers differentiated themselves from other
managerial functions, and personal function was started as a separate
managerial function. At that time, the scope of personnel function was
disapproved due to the organization’s “hire and fire” policy. The idea of
HRM has evolved through various stages of the industrial revolution,
scientific management, trade union, human relations, and behavioral
science. Thus, the notion of HRM has gradually substituted the term
personnel management. HRM is the most suitable name to deal with
human resource as it shows the importance of the human beings work-
ing in the organization.

Some of the components of internal marketing and human resource man-

agement are alike. However, there is a difference in the manner they are
used. Employee reward is the most vital component of human resource
management, which again focuses on the internal marketing concept. After
the employees perform their role, they expect a reward for it. If they do
not receive a reward, they develop negative attitudes and feelings toward
the organization and become disinterested in their work. In this way, per-
formance reduces and ruins their positive and innovative ideas and working
culture, etc.
16 Introduction
Internal marketing develops internal and external customer orientation;
hence, it enhances the relationship between internal and external customers
and thus improves the relationship between internal and external customers.
Therefore, building relationship is the critical component of human resource
management. Internal marketing develops internal and external customer
orientation; thus, it enhances the relationship between internal and external
customers. Also, it builds a strong relationship between internal customers
and internal suppliers. Therefore, it enhances the relationship of the internal
market. To attain the organization’s objectives, internal exchange between
the organization and staff plays a significant role. Building relationships with
different markets is the nature of relationship marketing, while the nature
of internal marketing is to make relationships between organizations and
employees strengthen relationship marketing.
Internal service quality is the current origin of the organization. It is
not adequate to focus on service quality alone in the present competitive
era. To enhance the organization’s total quality, service quality and internal
service quality are vital. Various researchers agreed that internal market-
ing improves relations between internal suppliers and internal customers
to enhance internal service quality. Various researchers agreed that internal
marketing enhances interactive marketing between employees and custom-
ers. From another point, internal marketing also enhances internal custom-
ers’ and internal suppliers’ interaction. Internal suppliers play a significant
role in selling job and organizational products to internal customers. Thus,
internal marketing enhances interactive marketing between internal sup-
pliers and internal customers. Before directly moving toward external cus-
tomer service, first, it is necessary to enhance internal customer service.
Thus, internal marketing first enhances interactive marketing between
internal customers and suppliers.
The significance of the internal customer notion came into being in the
mid-1980s. Internal customers are present in every organization as explained
by Nagel (Nazeer, Zahid, and Azeem 2014). All employees of the organiza-
tion are internal customers. Internal exchange is happening in the organi-
zation; therefore, Gronroos (1981) suggested that every employee is both
a customer and supplier to the other employee. The logic behind internal
marketing is that organizations and employees perform for mutual benefits.
Organizations as a marketer sell job products, and employees as customers
buy them. On the other hand, employees as marketers sell their services to
organizations, and organizations as customers pay in the form of monetary
and non-monetary benefits. Employees are buyers that are motivated to
buy all the work products. Thus, when employees are motivated to buy
job products, they also develop an interest in the organizational product.
Moreover, they are ready to sell their service for which they get a reward.
Internal marketing is not limited to job products, and it focuses all the
activities of employees on producing something that is work products.
For example, Keller et al. (2006) work products mean elements such as
 Introduction 17
information, physical, experience, social environment, and physical of
employees by which they perform duties. Similarly, George (1990) pointed
out that to attain success in the external marketplace or provide satisfac-
tion to external customers, relational exchange between employees and the
organization and employee satisfaction is the first requirement.

Conclusion
Internal marketing is the strategy to enhance in-house marketing. Lings
depicted internal marketing as enhancing interaction between internal
suppliers and internal customers to enhance the quality of products and
services. Internal customers are employed in every organization. Every
employee in the organization performs the role of the supplier and cus-
tomer to the other employees. There are three essential elements: internal
marketing motivation, customer orientation, and service quality. Internal
marketing is a continuous organizational process through which value deliv-
ers to the customers for the successful exchange between internal customers
and the organization. Internal marketing is adding value to products and
services. Internal marketing is not only helpful for service organizations but
also for product organizations. Internal marketing adds value to the organi-
zational product and services by selling them in the internal market. It is the
internal exchange process in which internal customers first sell products and
services in the internal market before it sells in the external market. Berry
defines jobs as the product of the organization. According to Berry, the
organization sells job products to internal customers to provide services to
the organization.

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2 Thoughts on Internal
Marketing

Introduction
The basic idea behind internal marketing was to consider employees like
customers and employees as a product. Employees in the internal market
create relationships with one another because they humanely conduct their
tasks. Employees cannot execute their duties alone; they must collaborate
with their coworkers. When a corporation sells them, employees begin to
use their resources to complete jobs. Marketing does not end when a prod-
uct is sold. Marketing is now focusing on how customers interact with their
products. A relationship develops in the internal market. Employees com-
municate both formally and informally with one another. If the job product
is not satisfactory, improvements must be made as well as internal customers
must be convinced.
Internal marketing is developed in three stages: motivation and satisfac-
tion; client orientation; inter-functional coordination; and implementation
strategy. However, it has various meanings that distinguish it. This concept’s
goal is to create value in the internal market so that employees become more
organizationally focused. To create value in the internal market, it is neces-
sary to please internal customers and be willing to accept changes (Rafiq
and Ahmed 2000).

Thoughts of Internal Marketing

Internal marketing thoughts include internal and external customer service
quality, motivation and employee satisfaction, internal customer orienta-
tion, inter-functional coordination, and implementation strategy, internal
marketing and commitment, internal service quality, relationship building,
and internal branding and innovation.

Internal Customer and External Service Quality

Sasser and Arbeit (1976) pioneered the notion of the internal customer by
marketing-making employment in the service sector to make the job more
DOI: 10.4324/9781003266013-2
22 Thoughts on Internal Marketing
interesting to the employee. In the 1980s, numerous authors (e.g., Berry
1981; Gummesson 1990, referenced in Li 2010) expanded on this concept
of internal marketing. Berry believed that treating employees as internal
service customers would encourage them to approach their work as internal
products. Employees will be happier as a result, and they will deliver better
service to external clients (Li 2010).

Motivation and Satisfaction

Motivation and satisfaction are the first thought of internal marketing.
Because of increased competition in the service economy, greater emphasis
is being placed on service quality. The problem for them is to please their
internal customer while simultaneously satisfying their exterior customer.
Service quality is the defining characteristic in the service sector for gaining
a competitive advantage. The concepts of motivation and satisfaction are
used to increase the service quality, motivation, and contentment of internal
customers (Berry 1981). This takes into account “workers as internal cus-
tomers.” Jobs are regarded as a product in the internal market, and employees
are considered customers. Know what gives satisfaction and motivation to
employees to implement internal marketing successfully (Figure 2.1).

Figure 2.1 Love job

Source: https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2019/03/30/10/05/man-4090877_1280.png
 Thoughts on Internal Marketing 23
Many private companies give opportunities to their employees. However,
as we see today, the internal market of an organization is full of boredom,
stress, conflict, tiredness, etc., and employee satisfaction gives way to remov-
ing these problems from the internal market (Lings and Greenley 2005).
According to Kotler (cited in Sri Lestari et al. 2021), employees from
expectations through their marketers, experienced coworkers’ advice, and
competitor information (see Box 2.1).

Box 2.1. Definition of satisfaction

Satisfaction means a person’s feeling of pleasure or disappointment

consequential for evaluating product perceived performance or out-
comes to his/her expectations.

Source: Kotler 1994, cited in Sri Lestari et al. 2021

For example, if a rival offers a higher wage than the firm, it attracts the
firm’s internal consumers. If competitors offer better perks to their employees
than the firm, they will also recruit internal customers. If the employees are
dissatisfied with their jobs (Figure 2.2), they may begin looking for new ones.
Employee unhappiness causes several issues for the firm. The main issues
are rising employee turnover and increasing employee exploitation. The

Figure 2.2 A man feeling boredom during his job

Source: https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2021/02/22/05/26/employee-6038877_1280.png
24 Thoughts on Internal Marketing
second issue is that, although being paid for labor, employees are underu-
tilized as privatization increases. Employees are dissatisfied but continue to
work in this scenario (Qayum, Musadiq, and Sahaf 2013).
Internal marketing is the practice through which employees can be moti-
vated. According to Bansal, employee attitudes and behaviors contribute to
customer satisfaction (Bansal and Voyer 2000). Internal customer satisfaction
improves business success. Many authors believe that the goal of internal
marketing is to motivate and satisfy employees. It has a favorable impact on
external customer satisfaction, which leads to organizational profitability.
Prathibha A and Kristie highlight the primary aspects of internal customer
satisfaction as rewards, discounts, and incentives, as well as empowerment
(Dabholkar and Abston 2008).

Customer Orientation
The second phase of internal marketing thought is to improve client ori-
entation. Gronroos (1981) emphasized consumer orientation, and later,
various authors agreed on it. Employees provide services to customers and
interact with them, which is known as “interactive marketing.” Grönroos
(1985) argued against the concept of “workers as customers.” As employees
are encouraged to raise consumer awareness, the internal marketing idea
has enlarged the meaning of internal marketing by including marketing-
like activities within. Internal marketing consists of three components:
employee motivation, employee-customer awareness, and marketing-
related activities.

Inter-functional Coordination and Implement Strategy

The third stage of internal marketing is inter-functional coordination and
strategy implementation. Internal marketing is the implementation of a plan
to achieve organizational goals. Winter defined internal marketing as the
management of personnel to achieve organizational goals.
According to Christopher, Payne, and Ballantyne (1991), the goal of
internal marketing is to increase cross-functional coordination. Internal
marketing is not just applicable to service firms but also to product organi-
zations (Harrell and Fors 1992). Its application is being researched, and it
is thought to be more than just encouraging personnel. Employees that
have direct contact with customers require motivation to improve interac-
tive marketing and focus on external customers. However, it is up to all
employees in the organization to successfully implement the plan.
Its implementation area has been expanded to support organizational
growth and development. Change management is critical for improving the
organization’s working system, staying competitive, and improving cross-
functional coordination (Rafiq and Ahmed 2000).
 Thoughts on Internal Marketing 25
Internal Service Quality
Employees have received very little attention from the firms. The discussion
about internal services has been so far mostly shown in literature rather than
in practice (Reynoso and Moores 1995). The concept of internal service has
been realized by firms in recent years. Especially for service organizations,
it has been recognized that employee satisfaction has a strong influence
on customer satisfaction. More and more researchers (e.g., Berry, Pervaiz
and Ahmed, Groonroos, and Mishra), suggest that firms have to treat their
employees as external customers by providing excellent internal services like
how they satisfy their customers (Bansal, Mendelson, and Sharma 2001).
Among those authors, Stauss (1995) defined internal services as the services
delivered by one department to another department or employee within
the organization. The internal services provided by one organizational unit
(internal service provider) will be used by another organizational unit(s) or
people (internal customer) to create a deliverable for the final customers.
Frontline staff are mostly expecting to receive high-quality internal services
from other support departments, so that they will be able to fulfill the needs
of the company’s external customers (Li 2010).

Internal Marketing Is Similar to Human Resource Management

HRM is concerned with managing employees through recruiting, planning,
organizing, directing, controlling, developing, compensating, motivating,
integrating, and maintaining employee–management relationships. Accord-
ing to several authors, human resource management is similar to internal
marketing in that both operations are focused on employees.

Internal Marketing Is a Link Between Human Resources

and Marketing
IM is the link between HRM and Marketing; it includes the functions of
HRM and tactics of marketing to construct a successful organization. It is
the integration of human resource management and marketing functions.
According to Collins and Payne (1991), internal marketing includes all the
functions of the organization, but the key relation of internal marketing
is with the human resource function. It describes the marketing practices
internally. In marketing, there are customers and suppliers, in internal mar-
keting, every department and every person is both supplier and customer.
All are working toward organizational goals. Internal customers and internal
suppliers support each other to achieve organizational goals and strategies.
They examine the use of internal marketing in the human resource system.
Through internal marketing, the human resource manager finds effective
solutions to key problems. The market-oriented human resource manager is
more effective than the human resource manager. They know how to make
26 Thoughts on Internal Marketing
policies, and strategies and utilize them. Market-oriented managers do not
work blindly, for example, people who are taking “chawanprash,” their bod-
ies become stronger and function better. In a similar manner to running an
organizational body, better internal marketing plays a vital role. It makes the
organizational body stronger. It is an energy booster for HRM. Through
internal marketing, HRM becomes stronger.

Relationship Building
High loyalty is based on high satisfaction with the working environment
which can also lead to high-quality performance. Management should make
a great job and build a good relationship with their employees because only
by doing so, the management can then expect an excellent level of services
which will be delivered finally to the external customers (Li 2010).
The majority of the firms have focused on building a relationship with
external customers in terms of identifying and satisfying their needs and
requirements. Internal marketing practice plays a vital role for the employee
satisfaction which leads to relationship building that improves organizational
performance (Huang and Rundle-Thiele 2014).

Principles of Internal Marketing

Marketing principles of marketing are agreed-upon marketing ideas that
companies use for the implementation of an effective marketing strategy.
Marketing principles are those on which marketers build their promotional
strategies. Marketing principles can use for the effective promotion of either
goods or services (Cruz 2018). In internal marketing jobs and services offers
to the internal customers need to promote in the internal market and then
direct external marketing. Some companies use the 4 Ps strategy for external
marketing (product, price, place, and promotion) which is called a market-
ing mix (Figure 2.3).
These are called controllable categories. Government rules and policies,
and political, technological, and economic issues are not under control. 4 Ps
of Marketing mix also extended to 7 Ps. Due to the importance of services
in marketing, there are three more Ps of the marketing mix: 5) Physical
Evidence, 6) Process, and 7) Participants.

Internal Marketing Mix

1. Product: According to Philip Kotler, a product is offered to a market
to satisfy the need of want. Products in internal marketing are jobs
that are essential for changing and influencing employees’ attitudes
and behaviors and it is not possible to determine the product from
the management viewpoint to perform internal marketing successfully;
rather needs and conditions of employees must be considered (cited
 Thoughts on Internal Marketing 27

Figure 2.3 Marketing mix

Source: https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2014/09/20/09/23/growth-453482_1280.jpg

in Aeeni 2013). There are ten kinds of products explained by Kot-

ler, which are: 1) physical goods, 2) services, 3) Experience, 4) Events,
5) Persons, 6) Places, 7) Properties, 8) Organizations, 9) Information,
and 10) Ideas. From the internal marketing perspective, there are vari-
ous tangible goods present in the internal market. Various facilities are
needed for employees for their well-being, for example, cooler, AC,
stationery, lunch, etc. Services are provided to employees since they join
the organization, for example, canteen, library, sports facilities, etc. Pro-
moting internal communication through top management is necessary
to develop trust in the internal market. Organizations are organizing
events, providing good work to employees, and improving the inter-
nal supply chain. Properties mean the intangible right of ownership
of properties. Organizations are building a positive image and dissemi-
nating information to all staff to create internal customer orientation.
Organizations welcome innovative ideas from the internal market to
improve the organizational system (Figure 2.4).
  In the internal market, jobs are products that are intangible but they
also used tangible products to perform the activity. According to Rafiq
and Ahmed, there are two levels of products in the internal market
which are strategic and tactical level. The strategic level includes mis-
sion, vision, policies, and plans to work. The tactical level is the level of
the act to perform. The reason to treat jobs as the product is to make
employees motivated and satisfied.
  For example, Organization XYZ gave Rama a job of product man-
ager for his new branch. In this new branch, there were working 20
employees. Rama’s job is of a very responsible person. Thus his psychic
and energy cost to perform is more than other employees of the branch.
28 Thoughts on Internal Marketing

Figure 2.4 Business ideas

Source: https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2019/06/13/09/41/business-4271251_1280.png

Organization as a marketer needs to analyze the manager’s requirement

to perform that job. What are his requirement human and material
elements required for a job to perform, his work environment in the
branch, and His experience before this job? Now organizations need to
communicate well about organizational policy, strategies, and mission,
to Rama. And also his duties and responsibilities and also understanding
what would be the expectations of Rama after performing this duty.
During his job, he needs to interact with 20 employees of the organiza-
tion. It is not the end of the organization’s duty after this they also need
to focus on how Rama performs his activity in the internal market of
a new branch. In the internal market, 20 employees and one manager
interact with each other. Is Rama getting satisfaction by handling 20
employees? In what way do they build a relationship with each other.
After some days of the working organization asks Rama if he was able
to manage properly in the new branch. Ram said that it is difficult
to interact with 20 employees. There is a need for a person who can
handle employees. The organization gives his solution after face-to-
face interview with Rama that assigns one person among 20 employees
your subordinate who works with you. When the branch workload will
 Thoughts on Internal Marketing 29
increase in future then we recruit a new one. In this way, Ram’s prob-
lem was resolved and efficiency also improved.
2. Price: Employees have to pay the price at which they buy job products.
Internal pricing is the whole activity that Strunje uses as an investment.
Before investing there is a need for cost and benefit analysis in the inter-
nal market. In the internal market, employees are paying time costs,
psychic costs, opportunity costs, and energy costs. Internal custom-
ers want to maximize their advantage in the cost that they are paying.
Organizations also want benefits in terms of organizational performance
which leads to organizational profitability. Internal pricing equilibrium
can be attained by adding employees’ cost with organizational cost;
therefore, internal pricing includes employees’ cost and organizational
cost which needs to equate with employees’ benefits and organizational
benefits for maximum satisfaction (Mishra 2018). According to Rafiq
and Ahmed (1993), employees are paying a cost in the following forms
which are time demand, commitment, and fear of changes. Organiza-
tional costs are training, reward, salary, and employee development cost.
The Organizational Human resource system is focusing all of the costs
involved in managing human resources. The internal marketing focus
is to evaluate employee cost and organizational cost, to get maximum
satisfaction between the two.
3. Place/Distribution: In external marketing, distribution relates to how the
product reaches the target customer. Element of place in the internal
context of the organization could show visible and tangible and invisible
and intangible features of the work and working environment (Aeeni
2013). To attain any task in the internal market also there is a need for
a distribution channel that saves time and energy for employees. The
organization implements in delivering products and communication,
for example, seminars, meetings, intranet, etc. (Mishra). In a good work
environment, employee loyalty increases (Aeeni 2013).
4. Promotion: Promotion and communication are the same (Piercy and
Morgan 1991). The internal market is different from the external mar-
ket; thus, various approaches are needed in both of them. The purpose
behind the promotion is to build a relationship with the employees.
Employee welfare measures are used to promote organizational rela-
tions with employees and it is most effective to make relationships with
employees. Promotion improves communication and it is the most
effective promotional tool. Employee welfare measures are promot-
ing employee efficiency. Overall employee welfare measures have an
impact on employees’ mental, physical, moral, and overall efficiency of
the worker. It brings happiness to employees and makes them motivated
and satisfied. Organizations need to promote a benefit for all employees,
for example, promoting a fair workplace, safety, hygiene, skill devel-
opment, etc. Various welfare facilities provided by organizations are
­housing facilities, free medical facilities, retirement benefits, children
30 Thoughts on Internal Marketing
and adult educational benefits, etc. Informal communication is the most
effective form of communication (Mishra 2020). It is an effective tool
for improving employees’ awareness (cited in Aeeni 2013).
5. Physical Evidence: According to Pervaiz Ahmed, physical evidence
involves interaction between the internal customer and internal sup-
plier to deliver the product. In addition, it gives evidence that, finally,
the product was delivered. After 4 Ps of marketing, there are some other
Ps which are process and participants.
6. Process: It includes how customers are receiving their product or how
the product is delivered and what are the methods used to deliver it.
7. Participants: These persons are included in receiving and delivering
the product. An organization’s mission, vision, strategies, policies, and
application in the internal market play an important role in the delivery
of the job products. A Job product is manufactured by the organization
and it works as a wholesaler and plays a central role in delivering job
products. Internal marketing is the exchange process between employ-
ees and the organization for mutual benefits. Thus, there are two main
participants: 1) Organization – It is the enterprise in which employ-
ees are working, and 2) Internal people – In internal people, there are
internal suppliers and internal customers.

Conclusion
This chapter discussed various thoughts on internal marketing thought of
motivation and satisfaction, customer orientation, service quality, inter-
functional coordination, and implementation of the strategy. The human
resource manager is dealing with the people of the organization. They are
working for people to achieve organizational as well as individual goals.
Internal marketing gives the direction of the human resource manager. The
market-oriented human resource manager is more responsible for the suc-
cess of the company. They help other managers to increase their produc-
tivity. Marketing is a solution to many problems; it gives solutions to key
corporate problems. Human resource manager handles all the functions
related to human resource management but they do not know how to work
on them. Various marketing activities make it possible to work on them.
Thus, it gives direction to human resource management. Various researchers
explained the scope of IM in a different manner
HRM is a broad concept and internal marketing is a part of it. In
the present scene, a human resource manager is not enough. Nowadays
­market-oriented human resource managers are required to manage the peo-
ple of the organization. The internal marketing mix is product, price, place,
and promotion. In the external market, external marketing principles are
implemented, and in a similar manner, internal marketing principles are
implemented. For the effectiveness of internal marketing, it is necessary to
develop internal customer-oriented strategies to motivate and satisfy them.
 Thoughts on Internal Marketing 31
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3 Internal Marketing
Dimensions

Introduction
The business world is always changing in terms of its economic, politi-
cal, and social environment, resulting in ongoing instability in national and
international marketplaces (Ramos 2015 cited in Mero et al. 2020). As
a result, it is vital to rely on human capital that is becoming increasingly
devoted to the organization’s aims and objectives (Zare et al. 2018, cited in
Mero et al. 2020). Internal marketing is a modern marketing concept that
emerged around the end of the 20th century.
Internal marketing can be defined as an economic unit action that seeks
to keep and retain good personnel to provide good services to c­ ustomers
(Thabit and Younus 2020). According to the internal marketing concept,
which includes handling internal relations problems in the ­economic unit,
economic units are concerned with training personnel, increasing their abil-
ities, and determining the forms of cooperation among them (Thabit and
Younus 2020). Internal marketing is a new concept that is transforming the
world of human capital.
It is not a human resource practice, nor is it a quality management prac-
tice. It is also not external marketing. But it strengthens everything. Internal
marketing serves as the organization’s central framework for improving the
overall system. It is a distinct idea. Because of their differing perspectives,
many authors utilized internal marketing dimensions in a variety of ways.
Thus, internal marketing is an exchange process in which the employee and
employer are both marketers and customers to one another, selling and buy-
ing for mutual satisfaction and relationship building. It can also be defined
as follows.
Internal marketing is an in-house marketing approach in which employ-
ees and employers engage in a purchasing and selling relationship to improve
organizational internal service quality, establish partnerships in the organiza-
tional market, and achieve mutual satisfaction. Internal marketing, accord-
ing to this definition, consists of three pillars: improving internal service
quality; creating relationships in the organizational market; and employee
and employer satisfaction.

DOI: 10.4324/9781003266013-3
34 Internal Marketing Dimensions

Figure 3.1 Training, motivation, skill, and knowledge to achieve goal

Source: https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2016/08/09/08/46/education-1580143__480.jpg

There are various dimensions of internal marketing based on the dif-

ferent viewpoints of it. If we group different dimensions, we find three
main groups of internal marketing dimensions which are human resource
practices, total quality management, and marketing approach. Based on
the human resource practices authors used dimensions are training, team
management, job design, improving employee skills, staffing, incentive, and
motivation system, reward, Appraisal, Empowerment, work motivation, job
satisfaction, etc. (Figure 3.1).
On the controversy, some authors differentiate it from human resource
practices and follow quality service and marketing approach. Based total
quality management dimensions are quality improvement, inter-­functional
coordination, the establishment of service culture and service qual-
ity improvement, etc. Internal marketing is also explained as a marketing
approach that includes dimensions such as internal segmentation, internal
promotion, internal communication, etc. Dimensions don’t need to use
based on any particular approach. Various authors implement a holistic
internal marketing approach. The reason behind the use of the internal mar-
keting dimension is to make employees customer-oriented, to improve the
service quality of the organization, to make employees customer-oriented,
to improve the organizational system, and to implement strategy and change
in the organization (Thabit and Younus 2020).
 Internal Marketing Dimensions 35
Studies on Internal Marketing Dimensions
Selling job items in the internal market is the most important activity of the
organization. Employees’ cost and technical criteria do not just influence
their buying decisions in this reference. Other approaches include internal
customer service, providing new opportunities in the internal market, pre-
senting a new management style, and so on. Poor inter-functional coop-
eration impedes implementing market orientation. Motivation from the
departments is required to foster cooperation. A cooperative environment
inside the organization can be developed by motivating departments and all
organizational members.
Everyone in the internal market (internal customer, internal supplier, and
employer) is working for personal gain. In an internal market, it is difficult to
foster cooperative conduct according to Flipo (2000). This is because every-
one in the company is trying to gain an advantage in the current conditions
and positions. As a result, conflict persists in the organization. The question,
therefore, becomes, how can internal marketing lessen conflict? To answer
this topic, it is critical to recognize that the human propensity is to get more
for personal gain. This is also true for businesses that wish to make a profit.
In such a case, it is vital to strike a balance between the organization and its
personnel to reap the rewards. The source of conflict in the company is the
unequal treatment of the organization and improper exploitation of organi-
zational employees; and challenges in understanding and meeting internal
customer expectations; thus, internal marketing plays an important role in
resolving the issue by promoting successful exchange between organizations
and internal individuals while enhancing value addition in the internal mar-
ket. Only cooperative behavior in the internal market can result from this.
If they have the financial means, everybody can select the best opportunity
in the internal market. Marketing exists only when customers are willing
and able to pay for it.
As a result, internal marketing entails understanding internal cus-
tomers’ requirements and desires and meeting only their demands.
Internal marketing benefits internal employees and allows them to com-
pete in the ­external market. Inter-functional coordination is the coordi-
nation of all the organization’s activities (Tomaskova 2009). International
coordination can also be defined as the degree of cooperation between
the department and various functions inside the organization (Tay 2007).
According to a recent study, market orientation focuses on the organizations’
actions to improve performance. To conduct outbound market ­orientation
operations, inter-functional collaboration is essential. As a result, to attain
internal market orientation, all actions in the internal market must be coor-
dinated. When it comes to selling new items, it is not just the price and
technical specifications that influence the buyer’s decision.
Customer happiness and service delivery are critical to a successful organ-
ization in the service sector, and a happy staff is crucial. Thus, to achieve
36 Internal Marketing Dimensions
long-term organizational development and greater organizational perfor-
mance in this competitive market, a special emphasis on successful internal
marketing practice is required (Sarker and Ashrafi 2018). Nonetheless, there
has been a significant amount of research on internal marketing elements in
the industrial industry. Internal marketing is a concept that may be used in
any industry.
Internal branding is the recent dimension of internal marketing that is
used by various sectors and has different internal branding tools and meth-
ods. Sabir et al. (2021) revealed the positive impact of internal branding on
employee performance. Sarker and Ashrafi (2018) studied the relationship
between internal marketing factors (training and development, rewards and
pay, retention, policy influence job satisfaction, organizational support) and
employee job satisfaction in the retail sector of Bangladesh. Results revealed
that there is variation in the impact of internal marketing dimensions on job
satisfaction. Thus, it means that the stronger the impact of internal market-
ing practices the better the level of employee satisfaction (Sarker and Ashrafi
2018) Integrated framework of internal marketing adopted by and identi-
fies four distinct periods and six aggregated dimensions of internal market-
ing research (Qiu, Boukis, and Storey 2021). Elgaed studied the analysis of
the internal marketing process and its impact on employee performance
in Libya. It is found that internal marketing in non-profit organizations
has gained significance in the past few decades. A significant relationship
was found between internal marketing and employee performance (Elgaed
2019). There is no significant relationship found between the dissemination
of marketing information to employees and employee performance. Internal
marketing is a modern topic in the field of marketing management as it rep-
resents the relationship between the employees and the organization in the
triangle of marketing relations and the area of human resource management.

Internal Marketing Dimensions

There are various definitions of internal marketing that give diverse under-
standings of its concept and the way to explain it. Various dimensions for
measuring internal marketing are:

1. Compete for talent, offer a vision, improve employee skills and make
them knowledgeable of their roles, and team management, increase
employee freedom, and link achievement with rewards and job design
(Parasuraman, Berry, and Zeithaml 1991).
2. Staff selection, training design, measurement of competency, strategic
rewards, staff climate monitors, internal communication, and quality
improvement (Ballantyne, Christopher, and Payne (1995).
3. Hogg, Cart Communication, staff training, appraisal and feedback, and
customer consciousness (Hogg, Carter, and Dunne 1998).
4. Dissemination of Information, Development of competence, Develop-
ment of incentive and motivation system Varey and Lewis (1999).
 Internal Marketing Dimensions 37
5. Reward, Development, and Provision of vision (Foreman and Money
1995).
6. Bansal model: Job security, extensive training, generous reward, sharing
information, employee empowerment, and reduced status distinctions
(Bansal, Mendelson, and Sharma 2001).
7. Internal marketing components are recruiting, training, developing,
and motivating. The focus is on external marketing (Broady-Preston
and Steel 2002).
8. Strategic rewards, internal communication, training and development,
organizational structure, senior leadership, physical environment, staff-
ing, selection and succession, inter-functional coordination, incentive
systems, empowerment, operational changes (Rafiq and Ahmed 2003).
9. Marketing tools are applicable to attract and retain the best employees.
IM constructs are inter-functional coordination and integration, cus-
tomer orientation, marketing-like approach, job satisfaction, empower-
ment, employee motivation, quality of service, employee development
vision of the organization, strategic rewards, internal communication,
senior leadership (Che Ha and Jaafar 2007).
10. The service training program, performance incentive, and vision for
service excellence (Tsai and Tang 2008).
11. Panigyrakis and Theodoridis (2009) investigated the effect of these
internal marketing constructs on business performance in a retail con-
text. Formal Interaction, Reward system, Feedback, Internal Proce-
dures and policies, and Internal customer orientation.
12. Establishment of service culture, development of marketing approach
to human resource management, dissemination of marketing informa-
tion to employees, implementation of reward and recognition. They
used these dimensions to study the extent of implementation of internal
marketing in Egyptian five-star hotels (Tag-Eldeen and El-Said 2011).
13. Meager empirical research on internal marketing: elements for employee-
related outcome: 1) job satisfaction, 2) work motivation, and 3) organiza-
tional commitment customer-related outcome service q­ uality (Wieseke
et al. 2009).
14. Internal marketing elements are awarding system, supervision support,
empathy, appraisal system, and empowerment (Shekary et al. 2012).
15. Narteh’s (2012) elements are training and development, reward
and recognition, international communication, and empowerment
(Narteh 2012).
16. To measure the level of internal marketing in Japanese companies. ­Factor 1:
Leadership, Factor 2: Collaboration, Factor 3: Degree of information
utilization, Factor 4: Operational Strength, and Factor 5: Market Devel-
opmental Strength (Kimura 2011). These dimensions were used to study
employees’ job satisfaction in the State Bank of India and found a posi-
tive impact on job satisfaction. Internal marketing dimensions of employee
job satisfaction are Work Content, Training, Work Environment, Superior
Support, Coworker, and recognition (Kameswari and Rajyalakshmi 2012).
38 Internal Marketing Dimensions
Dimension of Internal Marketing Related to Human
Resources
Internal marketing encompasses various dimensions related to human
resources that focus on employees as one of the elements of the market-
ing mix in economic units that aim to pay attention to workers in the
front and back lines to be considered internal customers (Raewf and Thabit
2015). Marketing mix is the controllable factor that organization uses to
make impact on customers response. Organization focuses to develop such
a structure which results in highest level of customer satisfaction with the
attainment of organizational objectives (Thabit and Raewf 2018). Inter-
nal marketing dimensions can be as follows (Hoffman and Bateson 2010;
Zaman et al. 2012; Alves, Paço, and Roberto 2015, cited in Thabit and
Younus 2020):

Recruitment Policy: Recruiting policy encompasses polarization, selec-

tion, and recruitment and is a component of internal marketing.
A successful recruitment policy will be reflected in other aspects of
the economy.
Organizational and Administrative Support: This concept originates
from theories of social trade and benefits exchange. These theories
have contributed to the understanding of the motivations behind
working individuals’ attitudes and behaviors toward management.
Staff Retention: Economic units that acquire respectable employees and
make significant efforts to train and develop as well as provide them
with the necessary support to ensure a high level of internal service
quality must make efforts to retain them.
Incentives: People’s incentives and privileges are one of the most impor-
tant elements of retention, as many workers leave jobs in some eco-
nomic units for reasons connected to the quality of those incentives.
Employee productivity must address the issue of incentives, whether
individual or communal, pecuniary or moral.
Training and Development: The Godliness of services that fulfill the
expectations of clients is the goal that all economic entities must strive
for. The key to this approach is to offer all personnel the necessary
training sessions. Training is one of the most important tools for devel-
oping people and their abilities to perform well at work (Thabit and
Younus 2020).

Studies on Internal Marketing Dimensions

The identification of the firm as an internal market and the definition of
the employees as internal customers are two major aspects of the concept
of internal marketing (Lings and Greenley 2010; Ali 2016; Braimah 2016
cited as Cruz 2020). Thus, the dimensions of this construct are projected to
 Internal Marketing Dimensions 39
represent these properties (Foreman and Money 1995; Lux, Jex, and Hansen
1996, cited in Cruz et al. 2020). Even though Parasuraman, Zeithaml, and
Berry (1985) and Gronroos (1990, cited in Cruz et al. 2020) propose a unidi-
mensional model of internal marketing based solely on the macro d­ imension
of client orientation. Even though this model was used in the current study.
Jaworski and Kohli (1993) and Lings (1999) distinguish three characteristics
of this construct due to difficulties in the deployment of internal marketing
strategies: 1) internal intelligence generation, 2) internal communication,
and 3) Internal intelligence response.
Rafiq and Ahmed (2000) revamp the one-dimensional models of
­Parasuraman, Zeithaml, and Berry adding three new dimensions of empow-
erment, inter-functional coordination, and communication, to create
a four-dimensional model. Bansal et al. (2001) propose a model with six
internal marketing dimensions: job stability; attractive rewards; thorough
training; information sharing; employee empowerment; and reduced status
distinction.
The application of the Jaworski and Kohli (1993) and Lings (1999) mod-
els in several studies has increased the likelihood of determining the validity
and stability of their dimensions, albeit with a focus on mercantilist firms
and in a geographical and cultural field different from that under study in
this research (Ruizalba Robledo, Arán, and Pérez-Aranda 2015; Kim, Song,
and Lee 2016; Cerqueira, Mainardes, and Oliveira 2018). Recent studies
(Ruizalba et al. 2014; Braimah 2016; Cerqueira, Mainardes, and Oliveira
2018; Park and Tran (2018, cited in Mero et al. 2020) have reformed Jawor-
ski and Kohli (1993) and Lings’ three-dimensional model in light of the
initial sub-dimensions of the same as true first-class dimensions, leading to
the suggestion of a much more complete and versatile model of six dimen-
sions, which are identified as: value exchange, internal market segmentation,
internal communication, management concern training, and work/family.
The multidimensional vision of internal marketing has been studied in
various empirical studies, primarily in the United States, Europe, and Asia,
with excellent results that have allowed for the consolidation of internal
marketing in these geographical areas (Clampitt and Downs 1993; Back,
Lee, and Abbott 2010; cited in Cruz et al. 2020), but there is a significant
gap in empirical research in Latin America (Cruz et al. 2020).
In one study, the antecedents of employee and manager commitment
were investigated by utilizing internal marketing strategies in elderly care
facilities. Internal marketing initiatives for employees and managers must be
implemented with a varying emphasis to replicate work settings that could
contribute to improved service offerings. They propose that open and hon-
est communication and value exchange in nursing homes is a critical step in
improving service quality and staff and manager retention. This study dis-
covered that several factors influence employee and manager commitment
to internal value exchange. According to the findings, a different emphasis
on internal value exchange is necessary to improve the commitments of
40 Internal Marketing Dimensions
employees and managers. Internal value exchange, internal horizontal com-
munication, internal vertical communication, and training were the only
components of internal marketing evaluated in this study in Finland. As the
world’s social and organizational structures evolve, service organizations, in
particular, must adapt by improving their practices and tactics as observed
in Finland, a country with the fastest aging population. This has resulted in
labor shortage, rising pension costs, and increased demand for health care
and other services. However, elderly care homes are not limited to Fin-
land. It applies to other countries as well. This study helps practitioners to
enhance service quality in elderly care homes (Bermúdez-González, Sasaki,
and Tous-Zamora 2016).
Abbas researched multiple elements of internal marketing (work satisfac-
tion, understanding standing and distinction, and inter-functional cohesion
and integration) to determine the impact on the organizational commit-
ment of employees in Faisalabad, Pakistan. This study was conducted on
private banks in Faisalabad and focused on how to effectively use internal
marketing to create dedicated staff (Abbas and Riaz 2018).
The impact of internal marketing characteristics on organizational com-
mitment was scientifically examined, and the results demonstrated consider-
able growth and progress within the social economy, demonstrating a clear
example of a sustainable and effective company model (Coraggio n.d.).
­Historically, these social institutions have provided an appropriate response
to stakeholders’ desired and specialized socioeconomic needs (Limnios
et al. 2018).
Cooperatives could develop incentives to gain access to information
about their employees’ expectations and requirements, to improve employee
satisfaction, attitudes, and skills. This will also help to provide a high-quality
service (Puusa, Hokkila, and Varis 2016). Jaworski and Kohli (1993) and
Lings (1999) served as references for the study’s model. This model takes
into account the stated dimensions of value exchange, internal market seg-
mentation, internal communication, management concern, training, and
work–family balance.

Identify Value Exchange: This component is to collect information from

the moment a new employee is hired to match their values to the busi-
ness (Zebal 2018).
Internal Segmentation: It consists of the grouping of employee functions
into different levels of responsibility (Cerqueira, Mainardes, and
Oliveira 2018).
Internal Communication: Internal communication is regarded as a critical
aspect in organizations since it is the mechanism by which interper-
sonal relationships are formed (Ali 2016). In this regard, Albassami,
Al-Meshal, and Bailey (2015) demonstrate that internal communica-
tion aids in the development of corporate activities.
 Internal Marketing Dimensions 41
Management Concern Dimension: This dimension means that leaders and
those in charge are concerned about their employees’ current and
future expectations and demonstrate effective practices to drive their
performance (Chareonwongsak 2017).
Training: Another critical component for both the individual and the
company is training, which allows the organization to rely on employ-
ees who are prepared for the activities that will take place in their
workplace, resulting in improved performance (Abzari, Ghorbani, and
Madani 2011).
Work/Family Dimension: It expects firms to establish rules that allow them
to balance family and work-life while retaining human capital (Gou-
naris 2006 cited in Mero et al. 2020).

Internal marketing research helps to connect external marketing research

efforts to explain actual opportunities based on current and future compe-
tencies and capabilities.
It serves as the initial stage in translating transformation visions or mis-
sions into reality. Internal marketing research is found to play a role in the
technique of internal segmentation at the second stage by assisting in the
explanation of the participants into segments as well as reviewing their qual-
ities, resistances, and motives.
Banks in Nigeria require coherent and consistent management of inter-
nal systems to achieve inter-functional coordination. It is the relationships
between the departments that decides the quality of internal system. Employ-
ees in the organization should understand that their attempts to increase
inter-functional coordination will succeed or fail based on the effectiveness
of internal communications. According to the findings of this study, banks
should focus more on building organizational commitment among employ-
ees, with a focus on inter-functional coordination and integration, training,
and motivation (Olorunleke and Akinyele 2011).
Internal marketing is the development of business tactics that improve
the well-being of employees, who then inspire others to achieve goals. As a
result, internal marketing is a multidimensional construct that can be meas-
ured in six dimensions: identify value exchange, internal market segmenta-
tion, internal communication, management concern, training, and work/
family balance (WFB) (Cruz, 2022).

Conclusion
This chapter discusses various dimensions of internal marketing that all play
important roles in the organization (internal segmentation, internal com-
munication, training, internal segmentation, managers’ concerns, establish-
ment of service culture, appraisal, job product, teamwork, inter-functional
coordination, customer orientation). It is critical to define the internal
42 Internal Marketing Dimensions
marketing dimensions and processes before implementing internal market-
ing. Understanding employee desires, service delivery, welcoming employ-
ees’ ideas, developing close relationships, developing work culture, and team
spirit are all important in the internal market. Internal marketing dimensions
can be used in any organization; the key is to understand the organizational
system and focus on how to develop it so that it improves organizational
performance and leads to organizational profitability.

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4 Significance of Internal
Marketing in the
21st Century

Introduction
Internal marketing is a recent topic in the field of management. It shows
the relationships between the organization and employees in the triangle
of marketing relations and the field of human resources because it requires
attention, development, and boosting relationships with employees. The
philosophy of internal marketing goes further because it tries to link the
HR department with the marketing department by explaining employees
as interlinked.
It is discovered that implementing internal marketing ­strategies helps
to increase employee satisfaction, improve their performance, and develop
their abilities and skills to give high-quality services to customers. M
­ arketing
performance has evolved from simply delivering items for sale to focusing
on employees and treating them as internal customers within the firm. It is
critical to provide them with advantages and services in order to strengthen
their skills and capacities, which will boost their satisfaction and level of per-
formance. Various firms, particularly service organizations, have recognized
the benefits that can be obtained from implementing an internal marketing
plan. This strategy provides the firm with personnel that has good exper-
tise and abilities, allowing them to take responsibility and give high-quality
services to customers (Firdos and Yousef 2020). It is revealed that the term
internal marketing has been the most discussed topic of the 21st century
among the HR professional, marketing teams, and academicians which
directs toward high performance with successful attainment of personal and
organizational ambitions.
Economic disturbances produced by the technological revolution,
increasing uncertainty in global markets, and crises of complexity produced
by social media all make this a remarkably challenging time for organiza-
tions seeking to develop or refine their brand identities (Siegel n.d.). The
philosophy of modern management is based on the principle that customers
always expect the best from the organization, and through the internal mar-
keting vision of employees as internal customers, it aims to motivate, train,
and support employees, as well as promote empowerment, which works to

DOI: 10.4324/9781003266013-4
48 Significance of Internal Marketing in the 21st Century
improve employee relationships, satisfies their desires, and contributes to
their satisfaction (Ahmed, Rafiq, and Saad 2003).
There are diverse definitions of internal marketing and diverse approaches.
Internal marketing practice had been examined and the management percep-
tions of internal marketing understanding were measured. The consequence
proposes that the companies researched use communication methods and
motivation programs. It can be assumed that they need an enclosed market-
ing mindset. In addition, the managers seem to have enormous information
about the topic researched (Vasconcelos Queiroz, Regina, and Matos n.d.).

Significance of Internal Marketing

Various organizations experience a move in their lifecycle through ­mergers
and alliances, downsizing or launching new and modern systems such as
information technology or new business practices, and other changes such
as changing their name, brand, objectives, and mission. It is essential to
communicate internal marketing programs and policies with all pertinent
parties comprising employees within the organization to enhance this
change. The objective of internal marketing and its practices can contribute
to preparing the organization to be more flexible and responsive to change
in the internal and external environment by developing inter-departmental
coordination and cooperation within the organization and provide a strong
internal communication system to assist any change of the organization,
making this change acceptable to everyone. A society’s reputation for vari-
ous ­organizations is reliant on their strength and weakness depending on the
quality and nature of communication between the community and those
organizations and the extent of community impact on their activities. The
procedure of building a good reputation for the organization is complex.
The main matters facing the organizations are the failure of borders and the
separation between the internal functions and their external relations. The
internal relations of the organization are interconnected with the daily prac-
tices of its employees. It performs to integrate the organizational structure,
HRM, work culture, vision, and organizational strategy with the social and
professional needs of these workers, which contributes to developing a posi-
tive collective image of the organization to the community.
It is difficult to replicate the strategies of firms that have achieved a com-
petitive edge. There are two reasons for this. The first is that it is diffi-
cult to imitate strategies. Second, it may be expensive to replicate a skilled,
adaptable, and motivated workforce as a means of achieving a long-term
­competitive advantage (Javadein et al. 2011).
Any strategy demands the efforts and full coordination of the company
and its personnel in its planning, development, and implementation. Inter-
nal marketing practices can help to reduce conflict among employees. There
is a great deal of importance to internal marketing in meeting the needs and
desires of employees. It also creates an internal environment that supports
 Significance of Internal Marketing in the 21st Century 49
the morale employees have and develops positive behaviors that increase
employee satisfaction.
The internal marketing notion assumes that employees, like external cus-
tomers, want to meet their demands as internal customers. The rationale
is that by addressing the requirements and happiness of internal consum-
ers, the business would be in a better position to provide high-quality ser-
vices and earn the loyalty of external customers. Individual productivity is
boosted when management influences an individual’s desire by addressing
his or her incentives and demands. Internal marketing assists organizations
in discovering and meeting these motives and demands, resulting in perfor-
mance improvement as a result of internal marketing processes. Employees’
lack of organizational commitment in any organization has disastrous effects,
including the organization’s dissolution. The primary pillar of the inter-
nal marketing concept is to guarantee that employees believe and feel that
the organization’s management cares about them and strives to meet their
requirements. Employees will sense organizational commitment and organi-
zational citizenship toward their organizations if these criteria are addressed.
Employees gain numerous advantages and benefits as a result of implement-
ing and implementing internal marketing tactics. These advantages add to
employee happiness and a sense of stability. Looking at their expectations
and addressing them is one of the most essential things contributing to
employee satisfaction and performance improvement.

Case Studies on Internal Marketing

The impact of internal marketing on employee performance was studied by
Acar et al. and the result showed that there is a strong correlation between
“internal marketing practices, employees’ performance and organization
commitment” (Akar et al. 2012). It is recognized that internal marketing
fields such as promotion of internal marketing and reward systems are predic-
tor variables while an effective organizational commitment was accepted as
a moderating variable analysis and a variable standard for employee perfor-
mance. The consequence represents a vital and positive impact of internal
marketing promotion on employee performance (Andy and Amangala 2013).
KILOMERO Sugar Company Limited (KSCL) investigated the impact
of internal customer care management on service quality. The study spe-
cifically examined how the working atmosphere, supervisory conduct, and
serving personnel influenced service quality. The study used an explanatory
research design and a survey strategy to establish a relationship between vari-
ables. According to the findings of descriptive and multiple regression analy-
sis, the working environment, supervisor behavior, and serving employees’
behavior positively and significantly ( p ≤ 0.05) boosted service quality at
KSCL (Kupeni and Magali 2022).
Employee engagement has replaced job satisfaction and organizational
commitment as a prominent topic in the workplace, both of which have been
50 Significance of Internal Marketing in the 21st Century
shown to influence organizational outcomes. As the world’s largest paint and
coatings company, AkzoNobel has set its sights on employee engagement
and conducts an employee engagement survey once a year using Gallup’s
Q12, but the engagement score in Corporate HR is far lower than in other
AkzoNobel functions and benchmarks from the Gallup database.
Improving employee involvement in corporate HR is crucial to attaining
the company’s goals. Structured interviews were conducted in corporate
HR to investigate management behaviors that influence employee engage-
ment, and approaches for boosting employee engagement were advised on
the basis of the interview and a study of current research.
The research findings and recommended remedies were presented and
debated in the corporate HR team meeting. According to the q­ uantitative
research findings, job autonomy, performance feedback, difficult work,
work–person fit, development assistance, and coworker connection, all have
a strong linear association with employee engagement. And the suggested
remedies, such as forming an action team, increasing team activities, and
developing a formal action plan for employee engagement for both large
(Corporate HR) and small teams, will boost their engagement over time.
According to the findings, employees consider engagement to be an impor-
tant topic but not a top one. They are aware that they should do something
to increase participation, but no actual action has been taken. It is necessary
to start with certain activities or team discussions to raise awareness among
all employees.
In the interview with employees and managers in Corporate HR, it is evi-
dent that employees are disengaged because they feel they don’t have enough
development opportunities and their managers don’t proactively support their
development. Leaders’ and managers’ behavior needs further improvement in
corporate HR for better employee engagement. For example, managers are
expected to give more performance feedback and they should be able to give
them more challenges at work. Besides, employees expect to have a job that
fits their interests, strengths, and ambitions, while work–person fit has been
a problem in corporate HR that frustrates employees.
Employees are disengaged when they believe their employer does not
allow them to utilize their talents or excite them. Although the issues of
employee engagement in corporate HR are serious, taking action to address
the issues is a significant task. Many staff changes are taking place as a result
of the Dynamo project, which is now AkzoNobel’s most important pro-
ject. And also because of the project, people are too busy with the project
of building One HR (e.g., one HR system, global functional capability
building) to do extra work for engagement. Unlike employee performance,
employee salary, or other HR topics, employee engagement is a relatively
new topic and intangible.
People may or may not believe it. Employee engagement should not be
regarded as a separate project or topic; it is relevant to everything you will
 Significance of Internal Marketing in the 21st Century 51
think of or do in the workplace, such as how you talk to others, how you
respond to others, how you behave in teamwork, and so on, which means
that people will not see the outcome or the influence on their work for a
certain period after the actions. It dampens employees’ motivation to take
employee engagement initiatives to some level.
Employee engagement is always on the list of topics that should be dis-
cussed but are postponed to the next meeting due to time restrictions or
other priorities in corporate HR team meetings. Employee engagement
is an essential topic because of the company’s strategy and objectives for
employee engagement, but it is not a priority because workers do not see
its immediate impact on their work (Difeng 2013). During the several team
meetings in Corporate HR, employee engagement is always the topic on
the list that should be discussed but is put off to the next meeting because
of time constraints or other priorities. It is obvious that people all regard
employee engagement as an important topic because of the company’s strat-
egy and objectives on employee engagement, but not a priority because
people don’t see its direct effect on their work (Difeng 2013).

Netflix’s Customer-Oriented Practice

Netflix uses a combination of quantitative and qualitative ways to meet cli-
ent needs and gain fans.
They’ve used this method over the years to:

Reduce DVD shipment times by establishing more distribution hubs.

They employ more customer-friendly terminology.
Improve the movie’s quality and show customer suggestions.
Of course, that customer-oriented mindset even extends to customer
service.

REI’s Customer-Oriented Practice

In a crowded sector of outdoor equipment dealers, REI manages to sepa-
rate. They’ve accomplished this by getting into their consumers’ thoughts
and learning what makes them tick (Difeng 2013).

Amazon Provides an Excellent Customer Experience

Amazon lives and breathes customer experience. The company goes to
remarkable lengths to make customers happy. They describe their leader-
ship philosophy as “start with the customer and work backward.” CEO
Jeff Bezos even reads customer complaint emails. It’s safe to say that a
customer-oriented approach to business has worked out pretty well for
them (Difeng 2013)
52 Significance of Internal Marketing in the 21st Century
Internal Customer Orientation Tips
Internal customer loyalty encompasses the entire network of people involved
in the company’s internal activities, including suppliers. These procedures
function best when all parties involved collaborate and work together. Aside
from professional competence, effective collaboration is also based on the
human factor. This is addressed by making all employees and service provid-
ers feel respected. As a result, focusing on the human component is prudent.
Another requirement that can be seen in procedures and individual opera-
tions is efficient structures. Nothing is more aggravating than an inefficient
process that stops all parties from working together rather than simplifies
things. Commitment, know-how, and a proper individual attitude are also
essential. Internal consumer loyalty will be formed only when these are cre-
ated and maintained (“Customer Orientation” n.d.).
A growing number of businesses are realizing the benefits of customer-
centric initiatives, which include better revenues, cheaper costs, and stronger
employee and customer loyalty. However, in their efforts to transform
­customer journeys and improve direct connections with customers, many
businesses underestimate the need to involve the entire organization, includ-
ing support functions, in a customer-centric transformation.
Developing exceptional customer-service operations in support a­ ctivities
(such as information technology, finance, human resources, purchasing,
and real estate) is a significant lever for sustaining and expanding a full
customer-centric transformation. It contributes to the development of a
new service culture that strengthens customer-centric initiatives at all levels
of the company. It increases long-term impact and full employee engage-
ment by applying customer excellence principles to employees’ journeys.
Leading customer-centric firms, such as Disney, begin with a shared vision
and require an engaged and energetic staff capable of translating individual
experiences into fulfilling end-to-end customer journeys. The rationale for
extending that commitment internally to support employees is compelling.
“If you want your front-end employees to be very good at the relation-
ship with their clients, then the core of the company, including the support
functions, in particular, has to be very good with the back,” says Françoise
Mercadal-Delasalles, group head of corporate resources and innovation
at the French bank Société Générale (see “How good is your company’s
internal customer experience?”). In short, as a top-management priority,
the internal customer experience frequently lags behind the exterior one
(“When the Customer Experience Starts at Home | McKinsey,” n.d.).

Internal Service Quality Study (Case Study of Hotel

Soaltee Crowne Plaza (SCP), One of the 5-Star Deluxe
Hotels in Nepal)
This study looked at how the Service Quality (SERVQUAL) model and
Internal Service Quality (IQS) aspects such as tangibles, dependability,
 Significance of Internal Marketing in the 21st Century 53
responsiveness, assurance, and empathy affect employee work engagement.
The study discovered a substantial association between work engagement
and empathy but not with the other independent factors. Based on the find-
ings, it is recommended that employees be well cared for and that employers
be aware of their employees’ emotional levels, as empathy has been found
to have a highly significant association with work engagement. The study’s
findings have long-term ramifications, as incorporating SERVQUAL aspects
for employee job engagement and decreasing staff turnover leads to greater
productivity (Shakya and Tamang 2020).

Case Study on Employee Empowerment

in HDFC Bank
We live in a globalized economy, and labor is the most important and distin-
guishing element of this international competitive environment. According
to this, a company’s success is wholly dependent on its human resources.
Banks are also on board with this concept. This study is being conducted to
gain a better understanding of employee empowerment in connection to a
variety of demographic criteria such as age, income, qualification, educa-
tion, and so on. A fulfilled and happy employee is usually regarded as an
organization’s most valuable resource.
A bank is a service-based enterprise, and its personnel is accountable
for the company’s high productivity and profitability. Employees that are
empowered work more positively and confidently, which leads to better
results. However, the status of employee empowerment remains a mystery;
hence, this study was launched to ascertain the extent of employee empow-
erment at HDFC Bank in New Delhi. Leadership, motivation, perfor-
mance, job satisfaction, issues of control, and employee engagement with
demographic criteria such as age, income, education, gender, and designa-
tion are some of the dimensions that are considered here. Data from 220
respondents shows that employees are satisfied and believe that the firm
supports employee empowerment. Employee empowerment has the poten-
tial to improve service quality while also increasing employee happiness. In
this situation, policymakers and managers have shifted their focus to pro-
viding various types of facilities to their employees to please them. This
study examined the impact of various factors on the job empowerment
level of employees at HDFC Bank’s New Delhi division. The findings sug-
gested that these characteristics adequately explained the level of employee
empowerment and that policymakers and managers should focus on these
elements to boost work satisfaction levels if they want to grow their firms.
Furthermore, the survey revealed that employees in the middle age group
feel more empowered than older or younger bank employees. The study
also reveals that there are some gender differences. Males are more empow-
ered than females in this situation, or male employees are more engaged
in empowering themselves. The analysis shows that education qualification
makes a difference in shouldering responsibilities. Graduates are the most
54 Significance of Internal Marketing in the 21st Century
empowered category, able to make small or large decisions quickly, whereas
second-level employees are slightly slower in decision-making. However,
according to our research, highly educated employees are the least empow-
ered. Similarly, the higher income group is less empowered than the other
two. Managers, on the other hand, have a lot of power. According to this
investigation, senior-level personnel is more empowered, yet they are not
prompt in making decisions. According to the findings, education quali-
fication makes a difference in shouldering obligations. Graduates are the
most empowered group, with the ability to make small or large decisions
rapidly, whereas second-level employees are slightly slower. However, our
study shows that highly educated employees are the least empowered. Simi-
larly, the higher income group has less power than the other two groups.
Managers, on the other hand, wield enormous power. According to this
investigation, senior-level workers have more authority yet they are slow to
make judgments (Jindal and Gupta 2016).
Employees are critical to achieving a company’s goals. Employees are the
most valuable organizational resource that contributes to a company’s com-
petitive advantage. This study looks into the function of relationship qual-
ity in mediating the relationship between internal marketing and employee
empowerment in Sudan commercial banks. Internal marketing and
employee empowerment were found to have a good link. Furthermore, the
study discovered a link between relationship quality and employee empow-
erment, and relationship quality mediates the link between effectiveness,
leadership, pay motivation, and employee empowerment. The theoretical
contribution and empirical data contribute to the field’s existing literature.
It can help practitioners understand the impact of internal marketing on
consumer empowerment and how relationship quality influences leadership
effectiveness (Ali, Balal, and Abdo 2014).
The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of internal market-
ing in its four dimensions; effectiveness, leadership, pay motivation, com-
munication, and emotional motivation; on employee empowerment and
relationship quality as a mediator in a Sudanese commercial bank. Employee
empowerment is favorably related to pay motivation. Many scholars are
conducting considerable research on the effects of pay motivation and emo-
tional motivation as one component of reward and motivation. This chapter
divides reward and motivation into two categories: monetary motivation
and emotional incentive. Employee empowerment is positively associated
with effective leadership. This study’s findings show that the four types of
internal marketing (pay motivation, effectiveness leadership, communica-
tion, and emotional motivation) have a good link with employee empower-
ment. This means that commercial banks in Sudan are directly promoting
employee growth and empowerment (Figure 4.1).
The role of relationship quality in moderating the relationship between
internal marketing and employee empowerment The findings support inter-
nal marketing’s mediating effect on employee empowerment. However, the
 Significance of Internal Marketing in the 21st Century 55

Figure 4.1 Employee and organizational growth

Source: https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2016/12/18/10/22/arrows-1915356_1280.png

findings of this study show that relationship quality partially mediates the
relationship between internal marketing and empowerment; that it fully
mediates the relationship between effective leadership and empowerment;
and that it partially mediates the relationship between employee training and
empowerment (Figure 4.2).
Sheng-Hshiung Tsaur, Chang Mei, and Wu found that the more empow-
ered staff feel, the better service quality customers perceive. Furthermore,
the findings show that there is a mediating effect between employee empow-
erment and service quality (cited in Ali, Balal, and Abdo 2014).

Internal Marketing and Sustainability

In a competitive and dynamic environment, it is essential to gain a competi-
tive advantage to survive and prosper. Human resource or intangible assets
plays a vital role to get success. Internal marketing enhances the service
quality of the organization. To gain a competitive advantage it is necessary
to focus on external as well as internal customers. The objective of internal
marketing is to enhance knowledge of internal as well as external custom-
ers that improves organizational effectiveness described by Christopher. In
the literature, the main focus was on external factors but internal factors are
similarly vital to gaining success in strategy implementation. According to
56 Significance of Internal Marketing in the 21st Century

Figure 4.2 Training

Source: https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2018/02/27/10/49/training-3185170_1280.jpg

Foreman and Money et al., satisfying internal customer need and enhanc-
ing internal chains of supply organization consequence in better customer
orientation. Service quality is the best way to gain customer loyalty and
satisfaction viewed by Soltani et al. (2008). Skills, attitudes, and behavior of
employees play a vital role to deliver service (cited in Javadein et al. 2011).
Core competency is the most vital element in strategic planning that
directs to competitive advantage according to Hitt, Duane, and Hoskisson.
In the current scene, human capital is the best way to gain a sustainable
competitive advantage suggested by Cahill (cited in Javadein et al. 2011).
There are four parts of the marketing process explained by Gronroos
(2000) which are understanding individual customers and markets, select-
ing suitable situations and market sectors and customers, selecting programs
and activities for planning and execution, and preparing an organization for
execution of plans.

Inside-Out Approach
By utilizing insights generated within the firm, an “inside-out” approach can
help to achieve a distinct and credible branding program. Validation research
is carried out by gathering employees and external audiences to respond
to concrete ideas, thereby confirming that the strategy will be relevant and
 Significance of Internal Marketing in the 21st Century 57
engaging (Siegel n.d.). It is akin to treating symptoms rather than the actual
condition, depending on the consumer. Customers may be able to identify
several issues that they would like to see addressed, but they rarely have
enough information to fully comprehend the company (Siegel n.d.).
To drive with a clear purpose the firm’s brand identity is required. An
effective organization’s purpose statement defines why it is in business. It
offers solutions in the marketplace and helps to address difficulties (Siegel
n.d.). Employees benefit from consistency when a clear and concise purpose
statement is defined. It shows:

• What inspires its work?

• What does the company stand for?

It is the driving force behind taking strategic as well as other decisions

(Siegel n.d.).

Implementing Brand Voice

Developing a brand for the 21st century is no simple task. The start of
social media has provided a podium for employees and customers to voice
their criticism of once impervious brands. Rather than fight this perva-
sive change, organizations would do well to evolve toward more authentic
identities and more transparent practices. Employees will become powerful
brand ambassadors if their organization’s culture holds a set of values that
resonate authentically and deeply. Developing an environment in which it
happens depends on actions (Siegel n.d.).

Meaning of Brand Voice

Brand voice (see Box 4.1) plays a vital role in business. Corporations have
recently concentrated on unifying their diverse communications, but this has
been disruptive to the hard work. Recent corporate communication tools
include email, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and other platforms for all

Box 4.1. Meaning of brand voice

“Brand voice” is defined as “the distinct style and tone of an organiza-

tion’s communications, which should reflect its personality and posi-
tioning while also providing consistency for its brand throughout all
communication stages.” These voices can be split to a large extent due to
advertising and public relations, uncoordinated financial management,
direct-response mailings, and internal communications Siegel (n.d.).

Source: Siegel (n.d.)

58 Significance of Internal Marketing in the 21st Century

Figure 4.3 Facebook

Source: https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2014/08/22/15/27/facebook-424521_1280.jpg

levels of internal and external communication (Figure 4.3). “Brand voice”

is growing more decentralized and social. Digital platforms are becoming
more sophisticated, and their audiences are expanding (Siegel n.d.).

Personalized Marketing
According to Arora et al. (2008), personalized marketing refers to the sell-
er’s process of personalizing messages to provide relevant prospects with
answers. According to Vesanen (2007), this allows for customer interaction
and retention. It creates value for the customers. Individual interaction can
occur through collaborative customization, adaptive personalization, surface
personalization, segment marketing, or translucent personalization. Accord-
ing to Kwon and Kim (2012), personalized marketing retention can materi-
alize by providing superior customer value.
As an actionable agenda, personalized marketing allows firms to return
to the traditional exchange procedure between vendors and purchas-
ers. According to Vesanen (2007), personalization is primarily driven by
projected one-on-one marketing and customer relationship management
(CRM) benefits; but, as with any selling technique, there are drawbacks.
According to Kotler and Keller, advertising campaigns have used a five-
method decisional strategy to generate brand preference or educate p­ eople
on target market identification and buyer motivation analysis. These meth-
ods include mission, money, message, media, and ­measurement (Davis n.d.).
 Significance of Internal Marketing in the 21st Century 59
According to Griffiths and Howard (2008, cited in Davis n.d.), mass
media (print, television, and radio) have grown less effective as customers
shift to the internet since the engagement premise is communication to
the customer rather than communication with the customer (Griffiths and
Howard 2008).

Marketing Changes and Adaptations

According to Karaszewski, one of the changes influencing the way organi-
zational formations are directed is marketplace globalization (Davis n.d.).
As a result, managers and executives must shift from a casual and thought-
less marketing perspective to a relational stance that embraces diversity and
quick process reform while maximizing political borders. In this regard, the
merger or deletion of a business process is a complicated functional collec-
tion of unique enigmas fundamentally typical of design in a global environ-
ment (Griffiths and Howard 2008, quoted in Davis n.d.).
Marketers have identified trust as a vital success component. According
to Cazier, Shao, and St. Louis trust is an influential aspect in developing
internet-based usage, particularly at the worldwide level (Davis n.d.).

Consumers on the Internet

The internet provides creative communication channels that empower
buyers and sellers by increasing business-to-consumer and consumer-
to-­consumer information and perspective diffusion. The Internet has
expanded the number of interactions between marketers and customers
(Griffiths and Howard 2008, referenced in Davis n.d.). This phenomenon
provides marketers with one-of-a-kind channels for boosting marketing
contact efficacy and efficiency, as well as developing new client acquisition
and retention tactics. Consequently, this phenomenon presents marketers
with unique conduits for enhancing marketing interaction efficiency and
effectiveness as well as designing novel customer acquisition and conserva-
tion strategies.

Integration of Direct and Interactive Marketing

Direct and interactive marketing can be used within a strategic marketing
plan to create a competitive edge. Companies can get a competitive edge
by integrating direct and interactive marketing by combining two func-
tional systems: database management and interactive integrated marketing
communication. Serial procedure connectivity occurs at the detail level via
data collection, CRM development, database building, IMC plan creation,
communication campaign, and customer response (Peltier, Schibrowsky,
and Schultz 2003, quoted in Davis n.d.) or dialogue.
60 Significance of Internal Marketing in the 21st Century
Innovation
The process of translating an idea into a functioning and marketable value prop-
osition, thus creating a creative opportunity, is known as innovation (Hunter
2012, cited in Davis n.d.). Users who communicate with digital technology
are now providing commercial product and service innovations, according to
Piva, Rentocchini, and Rossi-Lamastra (2012, cited in Davis n.d.).

Influence of Internal Marketing and Job Satisfaction During

the COVID-19 Pandemic
To slow the spread of the virus, establishments have implemented ­restrictive
measures such as restricting individual movement; establishing a general or
local quarantine; closing non-essential stores; imposing a general or local
quarantine; and physically separating and isolating vulnerable people. ­Distant
working has become the “new normal” for many organizations, posing new
challenges for employees who are already dealing with anxiety, technostress
from digitalization and a lack of social interaction, occupational burden,
frustration, counterproductive work behavior, exhaustion, depersonaliza-
tion, burnout, and increased turnover intention.
All these factors, verified by prolonged limits, have contributed to a
reduction in employee satisfaction, decreased performance, and produced
counterproductive behavior. Based on the social exchange theory, this
research study aims to investigate the impact of internal marketing on job
satisfaction, counterproductive work behavior, and task performance in the
framework of the COVID-19 pandemic in an evolving market, namely,
Romania. Internal marketing was found to have a significant impact on
job satisfaction while not affecting task performance or counterproduc-
tive work behavior. Job satisfaction positively activates task performance,
contributing to a reduction in counterproductive job satisfaction and the
impact of job satisfaction on job performance and counterproductive work
behavior (Davis n.d.) All of these issues, as seen by extended limits, have
contributed to a decrease in employee happiness, decreased performance,
and counterproductive conduct. Based on the social exchange theory, the
purpose of this research is to explore the impact of internal marketing on
job satisfaction, counterproductive work behavior, and task performance in
the context of the COVID-19 pandemic in Romania, a developing market.
Internal marketing discovered a considerable influence on job satisfaction
while having no impact on task performance or unproductive work behav-
ior. Job happiness positively activates task performance, contributing to a
decrease in counterproductive job satisfaction and the impact of job satisfac-
tion on job performance and counterproductive work behavior (Davis n.d.).

Conclusion
Internal marketing is critical for both service and manufacturing organiza-
tions in the 21st century. Internal marketing practice must be understood by
 Significance of Internal Marketing in the 21st Century 61
all parties. It works to increase internal communication, branding, internal
promotion, and relationships. It increases dedication and improves the quality
of internal services. It fosters internal customer focus and develops internal
marketing strategies, resulting in a competitive advantage for the firm. Some
modern concepts have emerged to improve an organization’s internal market,
such as innovation, internal interactive marketing, internal personalized mar-
keting, integrated internal communication, change adaptations, and so on.
Because we live in the digital age, new technologies that speed up communi-
cation are becoming more popular. There is also a need to introduce improve-
ments in the internal market by adapting to new technology and improving
internal and external communication, which develops trust in the company.

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5 Implementation Strategy

Introduction
Internal marketing implementation in an organization is a difficult endeavor.
The cause behind this is a lack of knowledge and a poor understanding
of concepts. Implementing internal marketing concepts is difficult due to
­differing perspectives and perceptions of them. According to Panigyrakis
and Theodoridis (2009), the fundamental cause of the poor application
of IM is a lack of a proper understanding of it. Internal marketing meth-
ods are used by many successful businesses and are an important p­ ractice.
Internal marketing is used by several well-known companies, including
Motorola, Xerox, J­ohnson & Johnson, and others (Paliaga and Strunje
2011). In Egypt, such examples include Southwest Airlines, Ritz-Carlton,
Apple, Raya, Dell, Mobinil, Vodafone, and Eva Pharma. These compa-
nies set an excellent example for internal marketing techniques and have
demonstrated their ability to create a distinct competitive advantage in the
market. Internal marketing applications are not limited to enterprises with
a high level of human interaction, such as airlines, hotels, or other service-
based ­businesses. Internal marketing applies to many types of organizations,
including for-profit, non-profit, small businesses, major corporations, and
others. ­Companies should train marketing managers and other functional
managers. All managers who lead employee teams must understand this.
To execute internal marketing techniques, marketing managers must work
more closely with human resource management. Internal marketing meth-
ods must also be linked to employee performance and achievement, as well
as overarching corporate goals and objectives (Shamma n.d.).
Most previous research on the potential application of internal market-
ing has identified four key aspects: the treatment of employees as inter-
nal customers (Berry 1981), the development of employees’ orientation
toward internal and external customers (Piercy and Morgan 1991), the
orientation of internal marketing toward human resource management
(Hwang and Chi 2005), and development of internal exchange (cited in
Paliaga and Strunje 2011). Internal marketing implementation depends
on internal marketing dimensions, internal marketing scale, and phases of

DOI: 10.4324/9781003266013-5
64 Implementation Strategy
internal marketing implementation. It depends on the organizational sys-
tem, human resource needs, and objectives of the organization. The right
process of internal marketing implementation cannot be predicted. There-
fore, it is essential to understand the internal marketing dimensions, inter-
nal marketing scale, and the whole organizational system and to use the
proper steps within it. Internal marketing dimensions are already discussed
in Chapter 3. Before moving forward, first, understand the meaning of the
internal marketing process.

Meaning of Internal Marketing Process

Internal marketing is defined as the process by which employees are moti-
vated and happy, resulting in an interaction between employees and external
consumers and improving the firm’s service quality, resulting in satisfied
external customers (Paliaga and Strunje 2011). As a result, the purpose of
the internal marketing process is to inspire and please employees, improve
interaction in the internal market and between employees and external cus-
tomers, and improve the service quality of the organization.

Internal Marketing Implementation

Several studies on internal marketing show that it works as a strategy, prac-
tice, or method to achieve company goals. Shamma investigated internal
marketing applications in Egypt (Shamma 2012). There is no data on the
scope of internal marketing applications. As a result, this study offered case
studies and conducted in-depth interviews with top-level managers to
examine their perspectives on internal marketing techniques in their firms.
Internal marketing has been identified as a source of competitive advantage
for businesses.
Internal marketing is the development of organizational methods that
increase the well-being of employees, who in turn inspire others to achieve
institutional goals. The purpose of this research is to examine the dimen-
sions of internal marketing by validating a measuring instrument that has
been applied to this sector of the social economy in a developing country.
Internal marketing is a multidimensional construct with six dimensions that
can be evaluated: identification of value exchange, internal market segmen-
tation, internal communication, management concern, training, and work/
family balance (González Santa Cruz et al. 2020).
Internal marketing is a key aspect of human talent management and
development. The outcome revealed a multidimensional tool for analyz-
ing internal marketing that seeks to strengthen the strategic management of
Ecuadorian cooperatives’ human resources. Thus, the study on the dimen-
sions of this construct has its primary use in the creation of a scale that allows
measuring internal marketing in such a way that it supports firms in improv-
ing their connections with employees. It should be noted that contemporary
 Implementation Strategy 65
experiments on this construct have been implemented in purely mercantile
organizations in Europe, the United States, and Asia with positive results.
Although each area of application has different cultures, beliefs, conven-
tions, and ways of thinking and behaving, which confirms the necessity
of adapting and validating a questionnaire following the reality of Ecuado-
ran Cooperativism to achieve the research’s goals (Elyse 2022). This study’s
uniqueness is tainted since cooperatives have a broader range of activities
and market orientations than mercantilist firms. These social-economic
organizations have been recognized for their cooperative values and prin-
ciples, where the spirit of involvement and collaboration for the pursuit of
socioeconomic fulfillment and the well-being of their stakeholders is par-
ticularly important. As a result of the empirical investigation and validation,
the measuring instrument for internal marketing for the cooperatives of
this developing Latin American country was developed, demonstrating that
internal marketing can be quantified using six dimensions and 22 items. The
measuring scale provided in this study becomes an instrument that can be
used in other financial as well as non-financial sectors, given that the Ecua-
doran cooperatives develop their activity in various sectorial environments
such as housing, services, production, and consumption, among others, and
very diverse volumes of business (Elyse 2022).

Phases of Internal Marketing Implementation

Internal marketing was originally used to inspire and please employees
through job goods. Employee motivation is founded on the notion that
it enhances internal customer satisfaction. According to many authors,
internal marketing is the application of marketing internally. Ahmed and
Rafiq (2003) define an internal marketing mix as “product, price, place,
and promotion for the internal market.” Berry describes how employees are
motivated through job products. Later, it is discovered that employees are
motivated by the entire internal marketing mix.
Internal customer orientation is a component of internal marketing.
Internal customer orientation academics provide various dimensions, the
most essential of which are internal communication and segmentation. The
significant dimensions of internal customer orientation are internal market
intelligence generation (identification of value exchange, segmentation),
communication of internal market intelligence and its dissemination (com-
munication), and response to internal market intelligence by an organiza-
tion (managers’ concern, implementation of managers’ concern, training)
(Ruizalba et al. 2014). Internal customer orientation comprises the devel-
opment, transmission, and responsiveness of internal intelligence. The most
significant internal customer orientation efforts are segmentation and inter-
nal communication. Market orientation is developed for the external mar-
ket in the same manner that internal customer orientation is developed for
the internal market.
66 Implementation Strategy
Employees that perform well are rewarded. This serves as market intel-
ligence. Rewards were identified as a component of internal marketing
measures by several researchers. Internal marketing employs incentives as a
form of transaction. Employee performance as a consumer was purchased
and paid for by the organizations in the form of a reward. Marketing is a
mutually beneficial exchange. They required a reward for the employee’s
performance. If it does not meet their expectations, people acquire a nega-
tive attitude and lose interest in their work. The next time they don’t work
properly or work with unpleasant emotions, positive ideas, inventiveness, a
positive mentality, a good attitude, a decent workplace culture, and so on
all dwindle.
Beyond building an internal customer orientation, there is a need to elab-
orate on the internal marketing process. This requires understanding the
significance of the third phase of internal marketing, which is to implement
change, decrease conflict, and implement strategies within the firm. This
stage also emphasizes the value of all employees, whether they are on the
front lines or not. Harrell and Fors (1992), for example, apply it to manu-
facturing organizations through inter-functional coordination to ensure that
all internal functions function properly. It also improves employees’ ability to
assist both internal and external consumers (Hallowell 1996).
Interaction between internal customers and internal providers is critical
to enhancing internal service quality. In his study of internal service quality,
Hallowell discovered that job happiness promotes service capability. Cus-
tomer happiness is achieved by an organization’s service capability. “Service
capability” refers to the ability to serve consumers. Berry believes that cli-
ents may be satisfied through internal marketing. This assumption is related
to internal service quality, which improves service competency and hence
increases customer happiness (Hallowell 1996). Various research from 1990
to 2022 shows that internal marketing works as a process, but it is required
to discover how to properly execute it in the firm. In 2011, Strunje gave a
framework for internal marketing implementation; let us understand it.

Strunje’s Framework of Internal Marketing Implementation

Strunje et al. provide a framework for implementing IM in the organiza-
tion. They investigated the application of IM in the Republic of Croatia.
Their findings reveal a high level of acceptance and execution of the internal
marketing idea in Croatian businesses, and they describe the four stages of
internal marketing. All four phases are essential to improving employee con-
tact with external consumers (Paliaga and Strunje 2011).

1. First Phase: The first phase includes management engagement, model

development, explicit objectives, objects, and other activities. The first
stage in adopting internal marketing is managerial participation. Man-
agement must be prepared to both motivate and satisfy their personnel.
 Implementation Strategy 67
Its model governs how it is used, and it can differ from one organization
to the next. The essential concern for management is how to create
objectives, budgets, and other processes, as well as what resources should
be employed to encourage and satisfy employees. It should be based on
the goals, budget, and other processes. The process in this context sug-
gests that internal marketing must be implemented. There must be a
cost–benefit analysis with the advantages outweighing the costs.
2. Second Phase: It is now time to put the framework for internal mar-
keting into action. In the second phase, employees are educated on
the organization’s mission, vision, and strategies, as well as the mar-
keting campaign and internal marketing mix. Employee training and
assistance are required. Employee training focuses on how to bridge the
gap between existing and expected performance.
3. Third Phase After the second phase, employees are motivated and sat-
isfied. Employees have a better knowledge of their role in the company.
4. Fourth Phase: It is the interaction phase. Employees engage with out-
side buyers. It enhances service quality since only a happy and motivated
person can please others. This results in increased corporate profitability.
The final step in the preceding strategy is to approach external buyers.

Process of Internal Marketing by Dr. K.S. Jaiswal et al.

For the implementation of internal marketing first, plan the strategies for it.
As discussed earlier, marketing strategies are market research, segmentation,
promotion, and internal pricing. Dr. K.S. Jaiswal et al. suggested a process of
internal marketing by using the AOSTC pattern. Jobber also used a similar
approach (Jaiswal and Saha 2007).

Box 5.1. A Case study of internal marketing

implementation

Dr. K.S. Jaiswal et al. suggested a process of internal marketing by

using the AOSTC pattern.

A- Analysis
O-Objective
S-Strategies
T-Tactics
C-Control

This is the best method for change management. For change manage-
ment, first understand internal customers.
68 Implementation Strategy

The first objective is set, for example, to persuade 100 staff to join
PRP (performance-related pay) scheme. Then use strategy to focus
on employees. It depends on employee segmentation. The internal
market segment is divided into three: supporters, neutrals, and oppo-
nents. It is the best method to identify internal customers.
For example – If the company was to relocate closer to its market.
First target supporters – showing them a video about the low prop-
erty price in a new location.
Second group, Neutral – targeted with incentives such as pay
increases.
Third group, opponents – forced to accept change ( Jaiswal and
Saha 2007).

Process of Internal Marketing

There are two perspectives on the IM process in the literature. The first goal
is to encourage and satisfy staff, while the second goal is to increase service
quality. Several investigations have confirmed that the IM process is divided
into two subgroups. The first step is to understand employee needs to keep
them satisfied and motivated (Lings 2000). The second group employs a
whole quality management approach. It improves service quality, according
to them. The goal is to improve service quality and cross-functional coordi-
nation (Ballantyne 2000) (Figure 5.1).
It is difficult to increase service quality without staff motivation and hap-
piness. As a result, both groups are related. It has been established that ser-
vice quality is the marketing approach. Marketing is an effort to provide
the finest service to clients (Ghorbani and Mostafavi 2013). According to
Lamb, Hair, and McDaniel (2005, cited in Wang, Chen, and Chen 2012),
implementing market orientation is the first stage. Thus, based on the above
two groups, there are five steps (identifying needs, motivating and satisfying
employees, implementing strategies, improving service quality, and satisfy-
ing external customers) of the internal marketing process.
To achieve motivational success, it is vital to recognize employees’ needs
and provide them with what they desire. The internal marketing process
begins with this phase. Employees are driven and satisfied when they obtain
what they want. The third step involves implementing techniques in the IM
to improve the services delivered to external clients. Thus, applying tactics
in the internal market improves service quality. In the end, external custom-
ers are satisfied. Thus, it is a simple process of internal marketing. The final
step of the above process is toward external customer satisfaction.
Wymer revisited a study conducted by Jou, Chou, and Lu (2008, men-
tioned in Azêdoa, Alves, and Wymer 2012) to assess the perception of
 Implementation Strategy 69

Figure. 5.1 Simple process of internal marketing

Source: Adapted by Lings and Ballantyne concept

internal marketing. Both pieces of research were carried out in the inter-
est of health care. Jou Chou developed an IM scale for the field of health
care. Its activities are critical to employee motivation. Managers improve
employee relationships through inter-functional cooperation to achieve
organizational success. Internal marketing operations are boosted by IM.
Organizations achieve success in external marketing by strengthening inter-
nal activity. Paliaga and Strunje (2011) offer four steps of the IM process that
aim to improve employee engagement with external consumers (Paliaga and
Strunje).

Internal Marketing Scale

Internal marketing (IM) measurement is critical so that financial investors
understand the value of human capital. There is no standard method for
calculating intangible assets.
There is no ideal scale for assessing internal marketing. There are numer-
ous internal marketing scales depicted in the literature (Table 5.1).
Table 5.1 Internal marketing scale
INTERNAL MARKETING SCALE
1. Foreman and Money (1995,
cited in Azêdoa, Alves, and
Wymer 2012) scale
2. Conduit and Mavondo (2001,
cited in Azêdoa, Alves, and
Wymer 2012)
3. Lings and Greenley (2005,
cited in Azêdoa, Alves, and
Wymer 2012)
4. Gounaris (2006, cited in
Azêdoa, Alves, and Wymer
2012)
DESCRIPTION
15 items scale of foreman and money is based on
Berry and Parasuraman (1991).
This scale is based on the market-orientation
concept; thus, they adopted Gronroos’ concept
of internal marketing. This scale aims to find
out the impact of internal customer orientation
on market orientation. This is also called the
internal customer orientation scale.
This scale measures the market orientation
adoption in the internal market.
To measure internal marketing Gounaris adopted
Kohli and Jaworski (1990) and Lings’ (2004)
concept of market orientation.
70
DIMENSIONS
Implementation Strategy
1) Development for employees
2) Reward for employees
3) Vision for employees
They used five categories of internal marketing activities:
1) Employee education
2) Management support
3) Internal communication
4) Human resources
5) Employee’s intervention in internal communication.
Five dimensions adopted for measuring market orienta-
tion in the internal market are:
1) Informal information generation
2) Formal face–face information generation
3) Formal written information generation
4) Information dissemination
5) Responsiveness
1) Internal market intelligence generation
2) Identification of exchange of value
3) Aware of labor market conditions
4) Internal intelligence dissemination
5) Communication between managers and employees
6) Communication among managers
7) Response to internal intelligence
8) Internal market segmentation
9) Internal segments targeting
 10) Job description
11) Remuneration
12) Management concern
13) Training

5. Tansuhaj, Wong, and
McCullough (2007, cited in
Azêdoa, Alves, and Wymer
2012) Scale
In what way management is oriented toward an
employee is the main aim of this scale.
1) Employee training programs
2) Communication between management and
employees
3) Reward systems
4) Employee–customer interaction
5) Employee motivation

6. Gounaris (2008, cited in Azê-
doa, Alves, and Wymer 2012)
This scale is worked to find out the impact of
internal market orientation on internal market-
ing practice. Its internal market orientation
was based on Gounaris’ (2006) scale. Internal
marketing practice adopted by Hartline and
Ferrell (1996), Oliver and Anderson (1994),
and Johlke and Duhan (2001) scale.
Three dimensions for internal marketing practice:
1) Empowerment (Hartline and Ferrell 1996)
2) Participative decision-making (Oliver and Anderson
1994)
3) Communication formality (Johlke and Duhan 2001)
Internal market orientation:
1) Internal market intelligence generation
2) Internal Intelligence generation

Implementation Strategy
3) Response to internal intelligence

7. Tag Eldeenanad and EI-said They used 45 items after modification of the 1. Establishment of service culture
(2011, cited in Azêdoa, Alves, Lings and Greenley scale. 2. Development of marketing
and Wymer 2012) 3. Approach to human resource management
4. Information dissemination
5. Reward and Recognition system
Source: Adapted from Azêdoa, Alves, and Wymer (2012)

71
72 Implementation Strategy
Internal marketing is changing as a result of the evolution of internal
marketing thought. Gounaris’ 2006 internal marketing scale is based on cus-
tomer orientation. Gounaris’ 2008 internal marketing scale is employee-
focused. Tag Eldeenanad and EI-said adapted Lings and Greenley’s 2005
scale in 2011. As a result, freshly created scales are employee-centric, which
promotes customer orientation.

Obstacles in Implementation of Internal Marketing

Internal marketing implementation faces numerous challenges. The follow-
ing points highlight the challenges that businesses face when implementing
it (Figure 5.2).

1. Internal marketing is an ambiguous concept: According to academics and

practitioners, the meaning of IM is not clear. Therefore, it is difficult
to implement it. The problem is that concept is not vague; various

Figure. 5.2 Obstacles in implementing internal marketing

 Implementation Strategy 73
viewpoints given by researchers or practitioners make it vague. Inter-
nal marketing is for internal people. Various researchers used IM to
improve external customer service and external customer marketing,
rather than in-house marketing (Ahmed, Rafiq, and Chartered Institute
of Marketing 2016).
2. Inter-functional conflict and resistance to change: By absorbing the view
of Berry and Gronroos, Rafiq and Ahmed (cited in Schultz 2004)
depict that IM is difficult to implement due to inter-functional con-
flict and resistance to change of employees. First, we take Berry’s view
of “Employee motivation and satisfaction” to implement internal mar-
keting. This is the first stage of its implementation. And Groonroo’s
view of “customer-oriented employees” to implement IM is changed
from its first stage of Berry that emphasized the importance of employ-
ees. Marketers always give importance to external customers according
to Gronroos et al. Inter-functional conflict and resistance to change
arise due to a lack of application of internal customer orientation and
lack of interaction between the organizational people. Organizations
using external customer orientation despite internal customer orienta-
tion creates resistance to change and inter-functional conflict between
employees inside the organization (Schultz 2004).
3. Lack of financial measures to check the success of internal marketing: It is hard to
measure the financial return from internal marketing programs. Through
IM programs employees develop a positive attitude and overcome resist-
ance to change, their behavior improves, the value of employee’s job
increases, and internal conflict reduces. Due to internal marketing pro-
grams, organizational reputation increases and employees retain for a
long time. It also increases the brand value of the organization. All these
things make an impact on the external market, reducing organizational
costs, internal costs, and reducing employees cost. Organizations invest-
ing in IM programs first have to choose the right path to implement
them. If they implement them improperly and expect immediate finan-
cial returns, then it is its biggest mistake. The first organization has to
keep in mind they are investing in the IM program. This is not a sale
that gives instant financial return to the organization. This is not a deal.
Through this, organizational performance is enhanced. More research
is required to find out the financial measure of IM (Schultz 2004).
4. There are different viewpoints in the literature about who takes the responsibility
for internal marketing. They are as follows:
  Internal marketing originates from service marketing literature.
According to this, frontline employees are important for an organiza-
tion because they serve external customers. It is necessary to motivate,
train frontline employees and retain them for a long time. It enhances
interactive marketing for external customers. This means that internal
marketing is implemented on frontline employees, but nowadays it is
also useful for product organization.
74 Implementation Strategy
  Internal marketing is viewed by many researchers that it is the strat-
egy to implement external marketing. Therefore, its implementation
is the function of marketing. According to a holistic view of internal
marketing, its implementation is not only the duty of the marketing
department only. To implement it, all people or all departments need to
improve their relationship to enhance their marketing.
  According to researchers, internal marketing is to strengthen Human
Resource management. Thus, its implementation is the responsibility
of the human resource department.
  One of the viewpoints is that internal suppliers satisfy the need of
internal customers. Thus, its implementation depends on internal sup-
pliers and how they serve their internal customers. All the above points
give various viewpoints that are obstacles in its implementation process.
  Internal marketing increase cost and no organizational return: Various
organizations or employers think that it increases cost and that there
is no return from internal marketing. Therefore, they are not seriously
taking part in it. According to them, if they work on external mar-
keting, it gives them more benefits. Therefore, they are using internal
marketing practices for improving their external marketing. They are
not interested to implement internal marketing in their organization.
This means they give value to their external market and are not aware
of both the market (Schultz 2004).
Other obstacles
Environmental Problems – Management is not supporting to implement
due to the cost involved in it. According to their view, it is a cost that
is not giving any return.
Mechanism Problem – There is a technical and operational fault in the
implementation of internal marketing which means how and in what
way to implement it is under-researched.
Learning difficulties – There is a misunderstanding of the concept of inter-
nal marketing (Schultz 2004).

Case Studies on Internal Marketing Implementation

Shamma researched internal marketing to find out its applications in organ-
izations. Some of the organizations that are applying internal marketing
practices in their organization are: (Shamma 2012)

1) Case Study of Wachovia Bank

Wachovia is one of the five largest banks in America. The bank was formed
in the year 2001 (“Internal Marketing” n.d.) after two smaller banks merged.
They used an internal marketing plan to build their brand identity and suc-
ceed in it. The end goal of Wachovia was exceptional customer service.
 Implementation Strategy 75
Training, new technology, and motivation of employees are the strategies
used by them. To motivate employees, they offered maternity leave and
benefits for their families. Most internal marketing efforts provide incen-
tives for their employees to motivate them (“Internal ­Marketing” n.d.).

2) ARM Case Study

An Innovative Work Environment Creates Motivation

ARM is a semiconductor intellectual property supplier. It is founded in
1990 and it is famous in the world. Its technology is used in 95 percent of
the world’s mobile handsets and various other electronic arm devices. It is
famous globally in the semiconductor industry.
It is not the money that motivates employees. It is intrinsic motivation
that helps to engage employees and results in organizational performance.
ARM believes in innovations. The people of the organization are the
best source of innovation in it. For creating global solutions, ARM used the
following HR strategy:

1. Global learning and development

2. Talent management
3. Best reward system
4. Develop and retain the skills and expertise

This organization is dynamic. Thus it requires a commitment of all to

do an effort and retain in the organization. Research revealed that a
10 ­percent increase in employee commitment can give 6 percent effort to
employees. Teamwork is also important in an innovative culture (Business
Case Studies 2019a).

3) Southwest Airline
This is one of the most successful airlines in the United States because
employees are important to them. They are applying a fair reward system,
empowerment, training, open communication, employment security, and
career development in their organization. Various airlines are not adopting
these dimensions of internal marketing. Employees from various depart-
ments run a “culture committee” to care for their organizational people.
The compensation of employees is higher in this organization. They also
offer a reward for better performance. Employee branding strategy imple-
ments to make strong relationships with employees has been indicated
by Miles and Mangold (2005, cited in Shamma 2012). Employees of the
southwest feel pride in their work, friendly environment, and respect in the
organization. In the market, they created a positive reputation due to their
employees (Shamma 2012)
76 Implementation Strategy
Building and Sustaining Strong Corporate Brand
Through Internal Marketing: Case Study of UNISON,
Britain’s Biggest Trade Union
The total number of members of Unison is 1.3 million, and its headquar-
ter is in London. There are 12 regional offices and 1,200 total staff, 1,300
branches.
For internal communication, the following activities are used by Unison:

1. Workshops are the best idea to get people involved.

2. Project groups used to implement policies.
3. In-house magazine to communicate to all staff members, other meth-
ods are email, posters, staff briefings, and meetings. Information on an
intranet for staff members.

People in the Unison try to reduce all barriers of noise. Policy plan in trade
union comes from its members, and employees put plans into action (Busi-
ness Case Studies 2019b).

• National Health Service Day campaign by Unison

The aim of the campaign is to support hospitals. Government provides assis-

tance to create health awareness and Unison started it.
Thus, communicating through the local newspaper and providing leaf-
let for people that describes the problem of local hospitals were done. For
this campaign, Unison also communicated with the media, that is, news-
paper, T.V., and radio were used. For conducting activities, website is used
(Figure 5.3).
Public meeting was used to create awareness. The campaign is supported
by unions and other key bodies. Promotional items like balloons and hats
were used to advertise the event. With this campaign, disputes became vis-
ible. Members of the union feel that they get support from their union.

• Internal Market Relationship in Avis Car Rental Group, South

Africa

In one of the studies of Avis Car 225 branches were studied in South Africa
to identify the relationship with employees. The internal marketing con-
ceptual framework comprised six constructs; internal marketing environ-
ment, motivation of employees, approaches of employees towards internal
marketing, building blocks of internal marketing, implementation of inter-
nal marketing activities, and internal marketing research areas. The findings
of the study revealed that there is a need to enhance the level of internal
communication between managers and their employees. This would lead
 Implementation Strategy 77

Figure. 5.3 Communication media

Source: https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2020/05/18/16/17/social-media-5187243_1280.png

to mutual respect, trust between managers and employees and improve the
internal market environment. It makes impact on service delivery to cus-
tomers. Relationship in the internal market is necessary to gain competitive
advantage of the organization (Roberts-Lombard 2010).

• American Express (Amex)

American Express is interested to confirm that all 700 employees of Global

Commercial Card (GCC), Europe, Africa, Middle East felt that their opin-
ions were identified and valued to enhance their levels of involvement in the
company. It focused to give answers to questions increased in an employee
conference earlier in the year and to maintain a steady two-way flow of
information. Amex also required an innovative communication tool to
develop main points to the sales and account development community on
the new platinum card which would come directly from Brendan Walsh,
EMEA’s senior president (Case Study: “Project Buddy” Runner Up for Best
Internal Marketing Campaign n.d.).
78 Implementation Strategy
Conclusion
Various other organizations are implementing internal marketing in their
way. Due to a lack of studies, organizations are unable to implement it
properly. But by using its dimensions they understand the importance of it.
Those organizations that understand its importance and implement it are
improving their business quality and quantity both.
This chapter discussed internal marketing implementation which is very
significant to bring practicability to the organizational system. Various cases
represented diverse processes and applications of internal marketing. Most
of the studies focus on the IM concept to improve an external marketplace.
But actually, internal marketing is to work on the internal market. Its main
responsibility is toward an employee or internal customers. Strunje, Rafiq
and Ahmed, Gronroos, Mishra, El-said, Azedoa, Wymer, and Shamma are
some of the researchers who gave direction in the internal marketing prac-
tice. Various banking, tourism, education, and other service and manu-
facturing sectors are successful due to internal marketing practices. There
is a need to understand the process of internal marketing to implement
it successfully. Internal marketing practice not only improves the external
marketplace but also makes an impact on overall organizational growth. To
give more insight on its implementation, internal marketing steps, phases,
and internal marketing scale and various examples are also presented in this
chapter.

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6 Models of Internal
Marketing

Introduction
Internal marketing is associated with work as a product and employees as
internal customers who must be satisfied with the work they do for the
organization to achieve its goals. According to Rafiq and Ahmed (1993),
internal marketing is a human resource model used to attract, develop, and
retain engaged employees of a firm. They concentrated on service market-
ing and highlighted the internal link between internal suppliers and internal
customers to develop the relationship with external customers.
Customers do not normally acquire potentially unwanted items, but this
is not the case with employees. They must accept the product offered by
the corporation. As a result, Rafiq and Ahmed opposed employees like cus-
tomers and instead focused on marketing and inter-functional coordination.
Various studies, however, show that the first market is the internal market,
and employees are customers. Internal marketing is a concept that empha-
sizes that employees are the first market to be targeted and that there is a
sense of urgency before pursuing external marketing. According to Mathis
and Jackson (2003, cited in De et al. 2015), internal marketing is linked to
job satisfaction, which is a critical factor in explaining organizational com-
mitment. Because of the rivalry for services, we have identified the vital role
of employees in achieving excellent service and client happiness.
Communication is internal marketing that involves teams in identifying
their needs that must be addressed with expectations that must be met.
Proper internal communication is required for the implementation of a mar-
keting program that generates internal motivation and employee satisfaction,
develops customer orientation, and aids in the implementation of organiza-
tional initiatives that produce competitive advantages. Internal communica-
tion begins as an essential component of the management function and is an
indisputable requirement from the standpoint of marketing for the organi-
zation’s external communication plan. The rivalry for services has resulted
in the recognition of employees’ vital role in achieving excellent service
and client satisfaction. Internal marketing communication enables teams to

DOI: 10.4324/9781003266013-6
82 Models of Internal Marketing
recognize their needs that must be met with expectations. Marketing is not
only the responsibility of the marketing department. As a result, internal
marketing is responsible for coordinating marketing operations across all
divisions. An internal marketing study conducted in the United Kingdom
was connected to the values of customer service, employee training, and ser-
vice quality. A quantitative rather than experimental, cross-descriptive, and
explanatory internal management approach for the Polytechnic University
of Tulancingo was explored as a trigger to develop worker commitment.
Internal communication management, attitude management, work hap-
piness, organizational commitment, and customer loyalty are the variables
tested for the model (De et al. 2015).
Hogg, Carter, and Dunne (1998) conducted a study on the importance
of internal marketing and organizational culture, observing that employ-
ees must convey the organization’s aims, beliefs, and behaviors for them
to participate actively in corporate success. The outcomes are intended to
influence employee attitudes and organizational transformation. According
to research conducted by the Yemeni banking industry, internal marketing
measurements and instruments consist of 28 items that are trustworthy and
valid, and the items are classified into five multi-item factors: staff develop-
ment, vision, rewards, empowerment, and internal communications. The
discovery also revealed an excellent model fit, with all fit indices in the
anticipated internal marketing model satisfied (Ismail and Sheriff n.d.).
Gibson, Ivancevich, and James (2006, cited in De et al. 2015) stated that
personnel with stronger clarity of purpose and who receive positive feed-
back will be required to improve organizational safety. Similarly, monetary
incentives can be used to boost employees’ intrinsic motivation. The impact
they have is largely determined by the communication and interplay of two
factors: the kind of individual and group monetary incentives as well as the
environment or context in which the task is performed. Sánchez (cited in
De et al. 2015) highlights the importance of empowering internal mar-
keting in business administration and demonstrates that the effort of both
enterprises and academia in the domain of service innovation is revealed as
a prerequisite in terms of competitiveness. Intangible organizational under-
pinnings such as culture and human capital management, which have been
shown to have a key influence on service achievement, should be given
more consideration during the service creation process (De et al. 2015).
Thus, a greater emphasis on internal marketing as a tool that seeks human
capital commitment assists to confirm consistency of corporate strategy and
achievement of new services in the market and demonstrates an upcoming
success factor in the development of new services that should be gaining
importance in the management of organizations that want to remain com-
petitive in their market (De et al. 2015). There are three important models
of internal marketing in the literature (Berry, Gronroos, and the Meta-
model). Other internal marketing models include the Exchange model, the
Diamond Shape Model, and other empirically verified models.
 Models of Internal Marketing 83
Internal Marketing Models
Internal marketing models originated to develop in 1990. There are three
dimensions of the models: 1) antecedents, 2) internal marketing practices and
tools, and 3) internal marketing consequences (Bohnenberger et al. 2018).
In academic as well as commercial circles, internal marketing is gaining
attention as a means of dealing with both employee-oriented marketing
management and marketing-oriented personnel management. The more
positive the employee’s behavior and attitude toward the company’s internal
and external activities and strategy, the better their point-of-sale perfor-
mance. There is a lack of theory-based work in the arena and the assump-
tion that a successful application of an internal marketing notion would be
highly dependent on integrating the experience and knowledge of those
influenced by it (Buber 2000).

Internal Marketing Approach

The central idea of internal marketing is to treat employees as an in-house
target group of the organization to take into account that both the “cus-
tomer” and the “supplier” are in the organization and have been present in
the literature for some time. Internal marketing as the systematic optimiza-
tion of internal procedures using the instruments of personnel management
and marketing to implement marketing as an internal attitude through simul-
taneous customer and employee orientation so that the market-­oriented
corporate goals can be attained more efficiently (Stauss 1995).
Usually, the approach has three features (Bruhn 1999, cited in Buber
2000):

• Internal marketing is linked with systematic planning and decision-

making procedure.
• Customer orientation and employee orientation are attained
simultaneously.
• Internal marketing is a way of thinking, for example, as a way of getting
employees to accept the marketer’s notion of making them sales-minded
and marketing and of assisting them to see the marketing function of
human resource management (Collin and Payne 1991). A wide range of
various internal marketing goals has been recognized from the primary
goal of customer satisfaction to that of employee satisfaction (Buber
2000).

Empirical Studies on Internal Marketing Models

Ghorbani and Mostafavi (2013) inspected the internal marketing service
quality relationship in the framework of an Iranian Insurance company in
Isfahan. The empirical study revealed that internal marketing positively
impacts organizational citizenship behavior, while the latter positively
84 Models of Internal Marketing
influences service quality. Finally, the authors found that internal market-
ing positively and directly impacts service quality. In another related study,
Yusuf, Sukati, and Chin (2014) stressed the impact of internal marketing on
customer orientation, organizational commitment, and customer satisfac-
tion in the banking industry of Malaysia. Findings revealed that internal
marketing positively influences customer orientation and job satisfaction.
The authors advised the enhancement of employee commitment, customer
orientation, and job satisfaction with great stress on internal marketing’s
role. The findings assist those of extant literature that advocates the posi-
tive influence of internal marketing on customer orientation. Added to the
above studies, Gilaninia, Shafiei, and Shadab (2013) considered internal
marketing’s impact on customer orientation among Guilan social security
firms. The findings revealed that internal marketing has a vital impact on
the customer orientation of Gilan’s social security firms, though the study
was not generalized.
Furthermore, the influence of internal marketing on customer orientation in
the Shiraz and Neyriz municipals was inspected by Shahsavani, Dolatabadi, and
Ranjbaran (2014). They found internal marketing to have a positive impact on
customer orientation. In the meantime, Mohammadi, Hashemi, and Moradi
(2012) focused on the influence of internal marketing on customer orientation
in the food and drug distribution firms in Kermanshah province.
Awwad and Agti (2011) studied the influence of internal marketing along
with organizational commitment and organizational citizenship behav-
iors, upon market orientation among Jordanian commercial banks. They
found internal marketing, organizational commitment, and organizational
citizenship behaviors to directly and significantly affect the banks’ market
orientation.

Berry’s Model of Internal Marketing

Internal marketing is the process of satisfying and inspiring internal ­customers
to improve service quality. Organizations sell items to improve service qual-
ity, but internal customers purchase products to promote motivation and
satisfaction (Rafiq and Ahmed 2002).
Berry’s model is important because it treats employees like customers
and employees as a product. The components of marketing activities are
not explained in this approach. There is no clarity in the internal marketing
exchange procedure (Lewis and Richard 2000).

Components of Berry’s Model

1. Employees as a customer: Berry first recognized employees as consum-
ers to improve the organization’s service quality. His idea is that by treat-
ing employees as consumers, they will become more service-oriented.
 Models of Internal Marketing 85
2. Jobs as a product: In the internal market, jobs are products that are
sold to internal customers. By creating jobs as products, employee
involvement, and participation increase. Jobs are items sold to internal
clients in the internal market. Employee interest and participation rise
when occupations are treated as goods.
3. Marketing-like activities: Internal marketing operations take place
through selling occupations as products and employees as internal cus-
tomers. Internal marketing operations are designed to attract and retain
customer-focused staff.
4. Employee satisfaction: Internal marketing fosters service-mindedness
among internal customers, allowing them to be satisfied and making it
simpler to attract and keep them.
5. Service quality: According to Berry, internal marketing improves the
organization’s service quality. External customers can be satisfied and
supported by seeing personnel as customers and jobs as products.

According to the Berry’s model (Figure 6.1), employees are first viewed as
customers, and then trade happens between the organization and employees.
The organization sells job items to internal customers during the exchange
procedure. Employee involvement and participation rise as a result of this
exchange process. This increases employee happiness and fosters a service-
oriented culture among them. The primary idea is that contented employees

Figure 6.1 Berry’s model of internal marketing

Source: Adapted from M. Rafiq and P. K. Ahmed (2002), “Internal marketing tools and concept
for customer,” p. 35
86 Models of Internal Marketing
may be kept for a long time. It contributes to higher perceived service quality,
which increases customer satisfaction and leads to a competitive advantage.

Gronroos’ Model of Internal Marketing

Underlining the need for service-oriented personnel to implement internal
marketing, Gronroos (Figure 6.2) underlined Internal marketing, according
to this approach, increases interactive marketing, which generates customer-
conscious employees, which leads to increased service quality for the firm.
To establish customer-conscious employee management practices, support-
ing recruitment techniques, necessary training, and participatory manage-
ment are required. This gives employees autonomy and stimulates them.
Employees must be well trained and knowledgeable about products and
services to sell them in the external market. This necessitates supportive
managerial practice. And this is feasible with senior management support.
According to Gronroos, creating a participatory workplace requires top
management backing.

Components of Gronroos’ Model

The Gronroos’ model includes pre-launch marketing information, train-
ing, supporting recruitment techniques, participative management, and
employee discretion. Figure 6.2 depicts this.

Figure 6.2 Gronroos’ model of internal marketing

Source: Adapted from M. Rafiq and P. K. Ahmed (2002), “Internal marketing tools and concept
for customer,” p. 37
 Models of Internal Marketing 87
1. Pre-launch information regarding marketing: Provide employees
with information about organizational policies and strategies so that
they understand the significance of their role. Knowledgeable employ-
ees that are knowledgeable about the products and services boost the
perceived level of service.
2. Supportive Recruitment practices: Employees are motivated and
developed as a result of supportive recruitment techniques.
3. Training: Employee training is provided to motivate and satiate
employees. Customer-focused employees are motivated by proper
training.
4. Participative management: Employees are satisfied because of the
participative management culture.
5. Employee Discretion: Employee discretion is improved by complete
knowledge of the organization’s products and services. Employee free-
dom motivates and satisfies employees. Increased employee satisfac-
tion leads to increased customer satisfaction, which leads to increased
profitability.
  The Berry and Gronroos models’ purpose is to improve customer
happiness and service quality, and jobs are considered products in both
models. The main difference between the Berry and Gronroos models
is that Gronroos considers its staff to be customers. Another difference is
that Gronroos focused on interactive marketing, whereas Berry focused
on marketing-related activities. Because both models have limits, an
internal marketing meta-model is required.

The Meta-Model of Internal Marketing

Pervaiz et al. disagree with the concept of “workers as customers.” As a
result, they are dissatisfied with Berry’s model. In the Gronroos model,
there is a lack of a marketing approach. Due to their limitations, both
models require a new model that combines them. That is known as a
“meta-model.” By eliminating employees as customers of Berry’s model
and adding marketing activities, Ahmed proposed a new model. The new
model distinguishes itself by elaborating on the relationship between cus-
tomer happiness and customer loyalty. Employee satisfaction increases
word-of-mouth promotion. Employee happiness is determined by train-
ing, employee discretion, and participative management, according to this
new paradigm (Figure 6.3).
In the new model, a job is similar to a product. And also, this model
depicts to satisfy the need and want of employees. But this model does not
agree with the concept of “employees as a customer.” Internal communica-
tion is also important for building relationships. This model is very complex
than the above two models. It is an improved version of the Berry and
Gronroos model (Rafiq and Ahmed 2000).
88 Models of Internal Marketing

Figure 6.3 The meta-model of internal marketing

Source: Adapted from M. Rafiq and P. K. Ahmed (2002) “Internal marketing tools and concept
for customer,” p. 38

Exchange Model of Internal Marketing

The exchange model is a novel model derived from the concepts of Berry,
Money, and Foreman. Figure 6.4 depicts two processes of this paradigm.

Process of Exchange Model

Two key procedures are included in the exchange model:

Process 1: Employees as customers and the organization as a marketer:

The organization as a marketer sells jobs by motivating employees and
employees buying jobs as customers. Employees buy jobs and pay a
cost in the form of the psyche, time, energy, opportunity, etc.
Example for in Process 1, Mr. Raj gets a job at a private bank, and his
workload causes him to worry. He begins to compare employment
costs with other banks and discovers that job stress is lower in other
banks. It convinces him to transfer banks. Following that, he will con-
sider switching expenses. If his pay in another bank is likewise poor
and he requires a strong wage to support his family, he will not switch
banks. In this case, Bank A is successful in retaining Mr. Raj. How-
ever, this does not imply that the problem has been remedied. Mr. Raj
is experiencing a workload conflict. This indicates that an internal
customer is constantly concerned with the expense of their work.
 Models of Internal Marketing 89

Figure 6.4 Exchange model of internal marketing

Source: adapted from Mishra (2018a) “A new insight into internal marketing exchange model,”
p. 1053

They buy jobs, but they weigh the costs. They will be satisfied only
if they receive more value than they spend. A company must work
continuously to bring value to its work.
According to Collins and Payne (1991), the organization as a customer
purchases labor. They explain that there is an exchange process
between employee and employer in which the employee sells labor
to earn income. According to Money and Foreman, an organization
90 Models of Internal Marketing
is also acting as a customer. By this understanding, an employee as
a marketer sells their services to the organization by utilizing their
skills, talent, knowledge, etc. On the other hand, an organization as
a customer buys services and pays in the form of monetary or non-
monetary benefits to the employees.
Process 2: Employees as a marketer and the organization as a client;
employees selling their services as a marketer by employing their skills,
talent, expertise, and so on; and the organization paying in the form
of monetary and non-monetary benefits as a customer.
Employees behave as customers in this exchange process, evaluating the
cost and value of the task. They do not gain joy from purchasing a job
if the cost exceeds the value.
Example of Process 2: Mr. Sunil works as a manager at ABC Bank. He
controls his team by making an effort and using his talent. His service
is evaluated by the organization through a job evaluation. Mr. Sunil
gets paid less than Ramesh, who is also a manager in the organization.
Mr. Sunil is a better performer than Ramesh. Mr. Sunil knows more
about the job. He occasionally instructs Ramesh. According to ABC
Bank, Mr. Ramesh is paid more since he bargained for it through-
out the employment process. Sunil, the marketer, is now dissatisfied.
He is, however, still selling his services to ABC Bank. All employees
receive perks from the company, and they purchase services.
Only when the organization is satisfied does it want to see improvements
in internal service quality. Mr. Sunil is disappointed in the above sce-
nario because he believes it is an unfair practice in the organization.
Sunil’s morale must be raised to improve the internal system.
As a customer, an organization needs not only to focus on purchasing
services but also on how to maximize satisfaction from this exchange.
That can be done by creating good working culture, a work envi-
ronment, fair policies, etc. in the organization. This is a continuous
process. In the exchange process of marketing, both marketer and cus-
tomer want satisfaction. For example, in the external market also, if
the customer likes the product and wants to purchase it, the marketer
tells them about the price. If the customer is unable to pay the price,
the marketer does not sell it. Nobody can sell any product or service
without getting some profit or benefit. As a marketer, they have to
convince the customer that the product is very valuable and that it
will benefit them in the future. However, the days are gone in which
marketing by expressing the benefit of a product sells it. Nowadays,
customers are smart and they purchase only if they find benefit in it.
If they get satisfied again, they will make purchases. Now the time has
come to delight customers. To strengthen internal marketing, there is
a need to get success in an exchange process that gives satisfaction to
both the marketer and the customer.
Hogg C depicts how the success of an organization is dependent on its
people (Hogg and Carter 1996). Organizations’ worst mistake is not
 Models of Internal Marketing 91
attempting to understand their employees’ needs and desires. Organi-
zations must sometimes pay a high price for a short-term profit.
Organizations gain nothing by meeting their employees’ demands
and desires. They can get a competitive edge by doing so. It neces-
sitates proactive decisions. Therefore, employees should be treated as
external customers to earn the long-term benefits of the organiza-
tion. Information and education of employees are very important to
delivering better service. Thus, the primary functions of internal mar-
keting are to inform and educate employees about the organization’s
products and services, mission, strategies, and consumer expectations.
Internal marketing increases the value of organizational products and
services by selling them in the organization’s market. It is the inter-
nal exchange process of the organization. Before selling organizational
products and services in the external market, internal customers must
understand their importance. It is only conceivable if a company offers
jobs to internal customers. Berry characterized occupations as organi-
zational internal products. Internal marketing not only improves ser-
vice to external clients but also looks after its staff.

Ravneet Kaur Model of Internal Marketing

Kaur (2012) presented a model that demonstrates that the goal of internal
marketing is to increase service quality through employee happiness. It leads
to more income, lower costs, and increased market share. Internal marketing
is the use of internal marketing methods to improve organizational perfor-
mance, obtain a competitive advantage, improve organizational effective-
ness, strengthen internal connections, build brand image, and so on. There
are three stages of internal marketing that describe the distinct perspectives
of scholars on it.

Diamond Shape Model of Internal Marketing

There are three sorts of marketing in service transactions: external mar-
keting, internal marketing, and interactive marketing (Gronroos, cited in
Mishra 2018b). External marketing promises clients benefits and satisfac-
tion through advertising, public relations, exercise, and other means. Inter-
nal marketing is service provider marketing. Internal clients are provided
with equipment, computers, phones, and office space by the organization.
Employees, channel partners, and franchisees are among them. To increase
service quality, a firm must recruit, train, and encourage its employees. The
emphasis is on staff motivation and happiness to increase service quality.
Interacting with clients is what interactive marketing entails. The provider is
critical in shaping the organization’s image. They please external customers
by maintaining promises made to their company.
According to the service triangle model of service marketing, the exter-
nal customer enterprise side is prioritized, followed by the staff side. Staff
92 Models of Internal Marketing
is working to improve service quality for external customers. Internal
marketing must come first before engaging in interactive marketing. Two
sub-processes focus on external customers. Both sub-processes occur con-
currently in the direction of external clients. The first is when the enterprise
starts internal marketing with staff and staff undertaking interactive market-
ing with external customers, and the second is when the enterprise starts
external marketing with external customers. These two sub-processes of this
model are concerned with external customers.
An organization engages in two sorts of marketing: internal marketing
and external marketing. The employees engage in interactive marketing
with external customers. The exchange procedure between an organization
and an external customer is intended to satisfy both parties. The employees
are not rushing toward the outside customers. Enterprises demand interac-
tive marketing professionals do external marketing. As a result, the company
is working in two ways for external consumers.
The New Service Marketing Diamond extended by Mishra (Figure 6.5)
in which Internal marketing makes an impact on interactive marketing
that occurs between staff and customers, but we cannot argue that internal

Figure 6.5 Diamond shape model of internal marketing

Source: Adapted from Mishra (2018b), Diamond shape model Advanced model of service triangle,
p. 2447
 Models of Internal Marketing 93
marketing is only responsible for improving interactive marketing and pro-
viding external customer happiness, as demonstrated by Gronroos et al.
In the model, the enterprise’s goal is to reach out to external clients,
whether through internal or external marketing. The organization’s suc-
cess is dependent on its employees and external clients. External clients rely
on employees and organizations for satisfaction and service. Internal mar-
keting, according to this paradigm, is only for increasing interactive mar-
keting between staff and customers. Employees are considered customers
under the internal marketing idea, and occupations are treated as products.
Thus, there is an interaction between internal customers and workers within
the firm. Every employee serves as an internal customer and supplier. As a
result, there is a need to strengthen interactive marketing in the organiza-
tion between internal customers and employees which can improve internal
customer service (Mishra 2018b).

Two Processes of the Diamond Shape Model

a) Process 1 – The enterprise begins by understanding its employees’ needs
and desires. Thus, internal marketing begins with the organization
between the enterprise and internal customers.
b) Process 2 – In the organization, every internal customer interacts with
other internal people. To keep the promise of the organization, this
interactive marketing within the organization plays a vital role. Thus,
the new diamond model is a more advanced model than the service
triangle model. In this competitive era, there is a need for a diamond
model of service marketing.

The Model Proposed for Internal Marketing

Internal Marketing Model Proposed by Berhenger (2018)

Development
According to Farias (2010), various authors stated by various authors. In most
cases, the human resources department is in charge of this activity. On the other
hand, the marketing department can contribute knowledge and resources of
employee training in terms of client orientation. The development includes
benefits such as employee training for better decision-making, increased abil-
ity for task execution, and customer awareness. Development has a favorable
impact on employees in terms of job security and future preparation.

Employee Recruitment
Kotler emphasized the need to hire people who can effectively serve clients
(Kotler 2000); efficient and effective recruitment and selection strategy is the
94 Models of Internal Marketing
first step toward having willing staff. The development process can help in
the creation of this awareness; nevertheless, if there is no interest on the part
of the employees, a few activities will improve the behavior modification.
According to Bateson (1995), this awareness is even more important when
the organizations belong to the service department, where communication
and interaction with clients are constant and direct. Additionally, it should
be highlighted that well-managed recruitment will have a beneficial impact
on internal customers.

Adaptation to Work
Adaptation to work consists of three actions: motivation and skill adjust-
ment; empowerment; and formal and informal recognition. The writers do
not mention the first item as an internal marketing activity, but the concept
refers to the execution of the “p” as a product (McCarthy’s 4Ps), that is,
the work done by the employees. One of the issues should be the employ-
ees’ adaptation to work. Responsibility, independence, and confidence are
all associated with empowerment. Rafiq and Ahmed (2000), Bansal et al.
(2001), and Bateson (1995) have demonstrated the importance of this com-
ponent, particularly in service firms where staff must make an immediate
decision or make consumers wait for an answer.
According to Rafiq and Ahmed (2000), empowerment, technical assis-
tance, and training let employees operate more freely and are more satisfied
with their jobs in manufacturing businesses where communication with cli-
ents is limited to the marketing department.

Internal Communication
Internal communication is a widely used component of internal marketing.
The human resources department and the marketing department both work
to improve communication. Internal communication is a common aspect of
internal marketing. Both the human resources and marketing departments
try to improve communication. Internal communication is to attain organi-
zational objectives and goals, reduce organizational problems and make
changes, develop organizations’ culture and values, and develop the depart-
ment and the organization as a whole through information dissemination
(Lings and Greenley 2005).

External Communication
External communication refers to organizational communication elements
that occur in the external world, such as participation in community activi-
ties, advertising campaigns, honors obtained, or the debut of new products
or services. Conduit and Mavondo (2001) emphasize the importance of
 Models of Internal Marketing 95
disseminating advertising campaigns within organizations before their expo-
sure to the general public.

Market Research
Market research serves a variety of internal marketing objectives and has
been produced by many writers (Rafiq and Ahmed 1993). The research
model is supported by two specific actions: internal customer segmentation
and staff need information. Customer segmentation is used to understand
the characteristics of customers in organizations (Ferdous, Herington, and
Merrilees 2013) and identify the best way to engage them so that internal
marketing actions made by marketing and human resource departments can
affect them. On the other hand, understanding the demands of employees
enables the human resource department to carry out its duties more suc-
cessfully. The entire process of relationship marketing is necessary to make
customers satisfied and associated with organizations.

Conclusion
Marketing is not a new concept but who are the participants makes the dif-
ference between all types of marketing. We are in the relationship era; thus,
it is necessary to improve all types of marketing. Internal marketing models
assist to understand the practical implications in the organizational system.
Various models represent a relationship between the internal marketing
dimensions. This chapter discussed various models of internal marketing:
Berry, Gronroos, Meta-model, Diamond model, and Exchange model.
Various models are used to empirically test the internal marketing process.
Berry, Gronroos and Rafiq, and Ahmed are the role models of the internal
marketing process. The exchange logic of Berry is extended in exchange
model of internal marketing. In the exchange process of the Exchange model
of internal marketing, the organization as a marketer sells jobs to internal
customers (employees) by motivating them, and employees as a customer
buy jobs and pay it in the form of psychic cost, time cost, etc. Employees as a
marketer sell their service, and organization as a customer pay in the form of
monetary and non-monetary benefits. In the internal marketing exchange
process employees and organizations are treated as a customer and marketers
to improve both internal service quality and customer satisfaction.
The diamond shape model is an extended model of the Gronroos Ser-
vice triangle model which is very vital to improve the service quality of
the organization. The diamond shape model represents internal interactive
marketing of the internal marketing which is a prerequisite of external mar-
keting. There are diverse opinions and suggestions by various authors on
internal marketing models. However, all models are vital and need improve-
ment based on market requirements.
96 Models of Internal Marketing
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7 Internal Marketing, Human
Resource Management,
and Technology

Introduction
Internal marketing is analogous to human resource management and is one
of several approaches to internal marketing. Both, however, are distinct from
one another and are geared toward employees. Iacovone agreed that inter-
nal marketing is oriented toward human resource management and hence
provides a competitive edge (Iacovone n.d.). Human resources have evolved
into the bedrock of business competitiveness and the expansion of internal
marketing competence. Corporate performance has been found to improve
with strategic human resource management and internal marketing.
Performance is improved by strategic human resource management.
Strategic managers must provide clarity regarding corporate development
strategies that all employees can understand and identify, and enterprises
frequently face strategic choices. Strategic managers who can design clear
and specific development strategies on time can significantly boost an
enterprise’s competitiveness. Second, evaluation and engagement with each
employee help them understand their job as well as the broader goals of the
company. A strong marketing ideology, marketing thought, and marketing
talents in the enterprise can improve the enterprise’s development (Yiliang
et al. 2021). There are several definitions of internal marketing, all of which
show a close relationship between the concepts of internal marketing and
human resource management. Human resource management encompasses a
wide range of tools, functions, and aspects. Thus, for effective implementa-
tion, there is a need for clarity in understanding the nature and extent of
internal marketing, as well as its parallels and differences with the notion of
HRM. Both the concepts differ, as internal marketing focuses on applying
marketing activities and tools to manage internal customers. The purpose
of internal marketing is to motivate employees toward customer-oriented
performance where a variety of activities are used internally in an active
and coordinated manner. Internal marketing is to develop an awareness of
their roles and assist them to commit to active participation in the marketing
exchange process (George and Prakash 2019).

DOI: 10.4324/9781003266013-7
 IM, HRM, and Technology 99
Evolution of Human Resource Management
Human resource management is a part of the management discipline
which has followed the pattern of management because of the inter-­
relationships of the problems of both the fields. It is considered for manag-
ing human resources in an organization. Human resource management is
still evolving to become a combination of organizational behavior, industrial
relations, labor legislation, and personnel management. In ancient civiliza-
tion, key purchasers of slaves were wealthy rulers, landlords, tribal chiefs,
and affluent businessmen. They perform according to their buyers and paid
compensation mostly for food, clothing, and shelter. Serfdoms were preva-
lent in the feudal societies of the pre-medieval and early medieval peri-
ods. Serfs were involved by landlords mostly in agricultural operations and
allied actions. The work performed mostly comprised tillage of the soil,
domestic work, cattle-rearing, and other similar activities. Under serfdom,
some degree of relationship developed between serfs and landlords. The
management of serfs was based on the principles of authoritarianism, and
the elements of human treatment were recurrently found in their relation-
ship. With the removal of the feudal system, serfdom also came to end.
Though it is present in some rural areas. The system of indentured labor
originated mostly with the flourishing of mercantilism and the start of the
industrial revolution. The mercantilist would provide attractive encourage-
ment to the artisans and skilled craftsmen for improving the production of
goods in demand. The emergence of modern industrial labor enjoyed a
certain amount of liberty in the relationships with their employers. They
were mostly skilled artisans and craftsmen and experienced apprentices. The
composition of workers changed with the spread of industrialization and the
establishment of factories and other kinds of business and industrial estab-
lishments. The employers were interested in rising their profit rather than
in managing humans. Due to laissez-faire and industrialism, these circum-
stances led to the worsening of the situation of industrial workers. There
were low wages, excessive working hours, hazardous and tiredness, and
physical working conditions. Certain notable developments pertinent to the
management of human resources included a spread of democratic principles
and ideals, growth of socialist ideas, rise of the notion of a welfare state,
improvement of workers’ organizations, changes in the size and composi-
tion of the labor, and efforts of social reformers. This development led to
substantial changes in the attitude of the employers toward workers and the
role of the state regarding labor issues. Some of the developments relating to
human resources in modern include substantial changes in the composition
of the labor force with the entry of a large number of highly skilled and
educated workers with specialization, greatly improved status of all classes of
employees, extensive state intervention in the domain of human resources,
development of a liberal attitude of employers toward employees with key
100 IM, HRM, and Technology
attention on the human side and increasing international deliberations and
exchange in human resource issues.
Human resource management is followed in many circumstances so that
relevant human resource practices are evolved in the current situations.
Human resource management is a part of management discipline which
has followed the pattern of management development because of the inter-­
relationship of the difficulties of both the areas. Human resource manage-
ment is a field of study to utilize human resources. It initiated in the 19th
century. Organized practices relating to the management of people origi-
nally labor force and then managerial personnel also started taking place and
literature describing these practices started emerging. The key characteris-
tics of these eras and the kind of practices related to managing humans are
the industrial revolution era, trade union movement era, social responsibility
era, and scientific management era:

1. Industrial Revolution Era: This era was initiated in 1850 in the

United States and Western Europe. Industrial development entailed
necessarily the development of machinery, the usage of mechanical
energy in the production procedure, and consequencing the emergence
of the idea of a factory with a large number of workforces working
together. Three systems of human resource management were devel-
oped in this era: recruitment of workers, control of workers, and train-
ing for workers.
2. Trade Union Movement Era: After the rise of the factory system,
workers started to organize themselves based on their interests to form
workers’ associations which were known as trade unions. This move-
ment aimed to safeguard the interest of its members and to sort out
their problems which stimulate primarily because of the employment
of child labor, long hours of work, and poor working conditions. Other
aspects of work such as employee benefits, wages, economic problems,
etc. These unions started such weapons as boycotts, walkouts, slow-
downs, etc. for the acceptance of their demands. These actions forced
managers and owners to follow employee grievance handling systems,
expansion of employee benefit programs, disciplinary action, and job
rights through seniority, vacation time, and wage structures.
3. Social Responsibility Era: At the starting of the 20th century, some
factory owners started adopting a more humanistic and paternalistic
approach and tactics toward workers. The paternalistic approach to
labor management is based on the philosophy that labor is similar to
a child and the owner should take care of his or her labor just like the
father. The paternalistic approach offers several facilities to the labor
force like decreased number of work hours, enhanced facilities at the
workplace, model villages for workers, etc. All these practices led to the
development of social welfare features of labor management.
 IM, HRM, and Technology 101
4. Scientific Management Era: Taylor originated the scientific revo-
lution around the start of the 20th century. This era found out the
best way of doing things on time and motion studies. The aim is to
improve workers’ productivity significantly. The principles of scientific
management are replacing the rule of thumb with science; harmony,
not conflict; cooperation, not individualism; and the development of
each person. Scientific management techniques relevant to the manage-
ment of workers are standardization, differential piece wage system, and
simplification of work.
5. Human Relations Era: Around 1920, management researchers
focused on the human factor at work. Hugo Munsterberg’s book, “Psy-
chology and Industrial Efficiency” recommended the usage of psychol-
ogy in the field of personnel testing, attitude measurement, learning,
etc. This period is known as the industrial psychology era. The pro-
ductivity of workers depended on social factors at the workplace, group
formation and group influence, the nature of leadership and supervi-
sion, and communication. Thus, the notion of a social system, group
influence, non-logical behavior, and informal organization entered the
field of management of personnel.
6. Behavioral Science Era: In contrast to human relations which
assumes that happy workers are productive workers, behavioral scientists
have been goal- and efficiency-oriented and reflect an understanding of
human behavior to be the key means to that end.
7. Systems and Contingency Approach Era: Systems and contin-
gency approach has attracted the maximum extreme attention of think-
ers in management in the current era. It is an integrated approach that
reflects the management of human resources in its totality based on
empirical data. The basic notion of the approach is that the analysis of
any object must depend on a method of analysis comprising simulta-
neous variations of mutually dependent variables. This occurs when a
systems approach is implemented in managing human resources.
8. Human Resource Management Era: When the factory system was
implemented in production, a huge number of workers initiated work-
ing together. A need was felt that there should be someone who should
take care of recruiting, looking for, and developing the welfare of these
workers. For this purpose, the industrial relations department came into
existence in most of the big organizations which were focused mostly
on workers. Though, as time passed and the complexity of managing
human resources in big business organizations increased, the scope of
the industrial relations department was extended to cover managerial
personnel and supervisory staff. The industrial relations department
was named the personnel department. With the rising competition for
market share, competition for resources comprising human talents, and
increased knowledge in the field of managing human resources, people
102 IM, HRM, and Technology
were not treated as physiological beings but as socio-psychological
beings as a key source of organizational effectiveness, and big organiza-
tions changed the nomenclature of their department to human resource
department to reflect the contemporary view. American Society for
Personnel Administration changed its name to The Society for Human
Resource Management in 1990.

Modern Human Resource Management

Before 1900, the history of modern human resource management starts
with the efforts of Robert Owen. Owen is known as the founder of
human resource management and published the book “A New View of
Society.” His attitude toward workers was very liberal, cordial, and pater-
nalistic. He removed child labor and offered healthy working conditions.
J.S. Mill, Andrew Yule, and Charles developed human resource manage-
ment as a ­science and supported the notion of wage incentives, profit
sharing, labor welfare, etc. The efficiency and productivity movement
was initiated in 1900 and ended in 1920. Taylor’s scientific management
thought adopted and opposed the idea of trade unionism and workers’
organization. After 1920, the period of welfare and industrial psychology
started and ended in 1930. The opposition to scientific management led to
the need for industrial psychology and the development of new techniques
like interviewing, training, non-financial incentives, and HRM realized as
a profession. The human relations movement was started in 1930 by Elton
Mayo with his companions. It was the great beginning of identification of
the human resource influence on production than other psychological and
moral instincts should be fully identified by the management. It is very sig-
nificant for the development of human resource. From 1950 to the present
is the age of modern developments. It is the period of the citizenship con-
cept of labor where the workers have full right to be consulted in defining
the rules and regulations under which they perform. After 1960, human
resource management began to be realized as a behavioral science. After
1970, the belief in the open social and industrial system became very wide-
spread among business organizations. In modern times, human resource
management is identified as a profession dealing with the ­management of
human resource.

Human Resource Management and Internal Marketing

Human resources may help companies achieve their goals by providing sev-
eral services. It allows the company to hire and retain talented, motivated,
and committed staff. It enhances and develops people’s intrinsic abilities, con-
tributions, potential, and employability by offering chances for learning and
development. It creates an environment in which employees and manage-
ment can maintain productive and pleasant interactions and mutual trust can
be created. It promotes a collaborative and adaptable atmosphere. It assists the
 IM, HRM, and Technology 103
company in balancing and reacting to its stakeholders’ needs (workers, own-
ers, government authorities or trustees, management, consumers, suppliers,
and the general public). It confirms that people are recognized and rewarded
for their performance and accomplishments. It manages a varied workforce,
taking individual and group variances in employment demands, aspirations,
and work styles into account. Employees’ physical and mental well-being
should be improved and maintained. It gives all employees equal possibilities.
Internal marketing raises client orientation awareness (values, norms,
and principles of customer-oriented thinking). Internal marketing boosts
employee motivation and satisfaction, increases engagement and loyalty,
increases staff retention, and fosters a pleasant work environment. Human
resource policies (job satisfaction, motivation, personal and professional
development, job rotation, work conditions, social facilities, etc.) and inter-
nal marketing practices (employee attraction and retention, internal com-
munications, relationships, etc.) are specific activities in internal marketing.
Internal marketing as a process involves the following components: attrac-
tion and recruiting selection, integration, motivation, retention, and loyalty.
Internal marketing procedures incorporate both human resources and mar-
keting activities (George and Prakash 2019). As a process, internal market-
ing includes the components that are attraction and recruitment, selection,
integration, motivation, retention, and loyalty. These processes of internal
marketing include partly human resources and partly marketing activities
(George and Prakash 2019).
Internal branding is a recent internal marketing practice that evolves from
human resource practice. A brand can be a name, a symbol, a term, a sign,
a design, or a combination of these. Employees are accountable to external
stakeholders such as customers for delivering on the brand promise and
experience. Customers’ perceptions of brand value and promises are highly
influenced by how employees deliver on those commitments. This can be
accomplished by linking an organization’s external branding strategy with
its internal branding plan. Through hiring processes, salary, performance
appraisal, internal communication, training and development, and feedback,
they will be able to internalize, hold, and deliver the brand promise and
value to external customers (Alshuaibi 2016).

Technology Reformed Internal Marketing and Human

Resource Management
IT teams have been concerned about instructors’ delayed embrace of tech-
nology. As a result of the pandemic, almost all professors now utilize a learn-
ing management system (LMS), and many also employ video conferencing.
In higher education, the central information technology department is fre-
quently in charge of identifying, procuring, deploying, and managing cor-
porate instructional technologies. Individual colleges and schools at some
universities have their own IT departments that operate independently of
the central IT department.
104 IM, HRM, and Technology
For example, at the University of Cincinnati, Purdue University, and
Ohio State University, central IT provides uniform classroom technology
to the centrally managed classrooms while colleges within these universities
offer different technologies in the classrooms. Universities alert instructors
about new technologies and their advantages through standard communi-
cation channels. When the technology is executed, a launch would com-
prise an announcement in an institutional newsletter, IT e-newsletters to
the whole institutional community, email announcements to college deans
and department heads, mass email announcements to instructors, web-based
new announcements, website changes, and training sessions.
The majority of these announcements are about new technologies.
Instructors are frequently asked to adapt to new pedagogies and technolo-
gies (“Increasing Technology Adoption: An Internal Marketing Plan” n.d.).
Internal communication is becoming more innovative with the utiliza-
tion of images and multimedia information. Because of these interactive
features and channels, companies may now engage with their employees on
a whole new level. Internal communication has improved with the debut of
Facebook Workplace (Spenner n.d.).
A company’s success is determined by its use of technology. It is no
longer possible to discuss health without mentioning technology’s role.
Mendes investigated the influence and role of technologies in a hospital
context (e.g., Hospital de Braga) and in internal relationship management
(internal marketing) (Mendes, Sousa, and Gonçalves 2021). The field of
human resources is ever-changing. It has altered in recent years as a result of
advances in technology. Technological solutions set to hit the market in the
next few years are expected to reduce some of the strain on human resource
experts and workplace professionals who have historically been overworked
for all they do. As a result, processes will be streamlined in the next few
years, and organizations will benefit from increased employee satisfaction.
The industry is being transformed by six primary trends: growing employee
engagement; improving company diversity; rethinking sexual harassment
training; expanding corporate wellness initiatives; harnessing AI technol-
ogy to improve HR processes, and planning for future demands (“Six Ways
Technology Is Changing Human Resources | Post” 2019).
Technology changes the methods of internal as well as external com-
munication. In the internal market, technology changes the way human
resources departments contact employees, store files, and analyze employee
performance. Technology makes employees more efficient. Good inter-
nal and human resource practices maximize the benefits and minimize the
problems (Sherman 2019).

Recruitment Process Through Internet

Connecting with job searchers before the internet and email meant phone
calls, face time, or a letter. However, in the 21st century, it is common for
 IM, HRM, and Technology 105
businesses to list job positions online and require applicants to apply through
an online applicant tracking system (Sherman 2019). Implementing internal
marketing strategies that support human resource activities can help to cre-
ate a well-prepared online system.

Ease of Communication
It is easier to connect in the internal market and build trust through the
use of email, text, and messaging apps. If a manager wishes to share a fresh
schedule with a project team, he or she can do it with a single email (Sher-
man 2019). During the epidemic, technology is a perfect example, allowing
employees to work from home.

Data Analysis of Employee Performance

Personal appraisals and obvious standards were once employed to analyze
employee performance. Technology facilitates the collection and analysis of data
to obtain a comprehensive picture. It aids in answering a variety of questions:
Which tasks do they perform best? Do they meet all the goals? (Sherman 2019).

Internal Marketing Decides How Much Data Should Be Collected

Employees’ privacy may be eroded as a result of human resources’ usage of
data gathering and analysis. If a company has security cameras that moni-
tor employees every time they depart, it may be easier to establish the facts
behind a harassment allegation or someone conducting illegal work in the
workplace. But being constantly monitored can alienate employees as well.
Internal marketing best practices help human resource policies establish how
much data can be collected (Sherman 2019).

Managing Too Much Data

Another issue is that human resource departments struggle to manage
excessive data. As a result, adequate and relevant data should be gathered.
Employees benefit from it as well (Sherman 2019).

Security Practice
The best human resource strategies in the 21st century incorporate digital
data protection. Some security measures, such as a good Firewall, are more
IT-related. HR must have appropriate procedures in place that regulate who
has access to confidential data, both electronic and hard copy, in the work-
place (Sherman 2019).
Employee engagement, competitive compensation, talent retention, and
creating organizational leaders for tomorrow were identified as important
106 IM, HRM, and Technology

Figure 7.1 Social media

Source: https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2016/11/03/18/19/social-media-1795578_1280.jpg

human capital concerns by The Society for Human Resource Management.

These issues have generated creativity in human resource departments all across
the world. In recruiting, social media is used, and it appears that 92 percent of
recruiters use these platforms to identify and validate applicants. The recruit-
ment tools are Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter (Bodi 2017) (Figure 7.1).

Advanced Machine Learning

Machine learning is automated data analysis through algorithms that auto-
matically create analytical models. Using algorithms, machine learning
programs iteratively learn from large sources of data-building patterns and
recognize insights without being explicitly instructed and programmed to
look for answers, only to learn to recognize data sets. It basically permits
machines to not only gather information from corporate environments but
also learn from it.
This technology has the potential to improve the efficiency of early
human analysis, allowing individuals to look at higher-level results and focus
on more complicated analysis as a result.
Currently, machine learning applications in the human resources field
are mostly focused on predictive analysis and talent interactions, particularly
during the recruitment process (Bodi 2017).

The Internet of Things

According to Gartner’s research, Internet of Things systems are frag-
mented, resulting in inefficiencies in data access. Nonetheless, these
 IM, HRM, and Technology 107

Figure 7.2 Use of the internet in business

Source: https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2015/07/17/22/42/startup-849804_1280.jpg

platforms will follow a trend of integration over the next five years, result-
ing in more data being exposed and accessible throughout enterprise con-
texts (Figure 7.2).
Companies will continue to use cloud computing, and HR is ahead of
the curve, spending more time than other industries on adopting cloud
technologies to efficiently boost staff productivity. The availability of infor-
mation will push HR knowledge into middle management levels, freeing up
human resource departments from educating middle-tier leadership. HR’s
tasks will be taken up by line managers, while HR’s focus will move to busi-
ness performance and execution (Bodi 2017).

Virtual and Augmented Reality

Virtual and augmented reality finds its way into the workplace environment.
For example. Microsoft is preparing the launch of the Hololens headsets
which will probably be embraced by human resource professionals in the
not-so-distant future.
Employees can use virtual and augmented reality in tech-assisted cor-
porate training for everything from basic onboarding to skill-building and
on-the-job learning.
108 IM, HRM, and Technology
Furthermore, when digital information is linked to physical reality, this
will become the new normal in industries trying to improve job activities.
Employee onboarding and training in industrial contexts can be modified by
overlaying virtual instructions on top of machines and tools as they interact
with the environment (Bodi 2017).

Autonomous Agents and Things

Robotics continues to advance in terms of task diversity, capacity, and auton-
omy. The autonomous driving car is one of the more publicized instances,
but the crucial aspect that often goes overlooked is the spread beyond con-
trolled conditions and into unregulated spaces. In the short term, this means
that existing workforces will need to be trained and equipped with new
capabilities.

Wearables
More companies will turn to the wearables industry in 2016, and as con-
sumer markets begin to take off, new entrants will look to corporations for
business models. Wearable gadgets with sensors, mostly for health and fitness
purposes, will gain a footing in the enterprise sector.
The business wearables industry is predicted to reach 18 billion dollars
by 2019, having a significant impact on the human resources department.
While measuring workplace wellness using wearables is arguably the most
basic and easiest application, applications might vary. Stress management
and monitoring can become the norm, particularly in circumstances where
retention is impacted. Wearable gadgets, aside from improving health, are
also improving productivity and staff management.
Employee communication and collaboration can also benefit from virtual
reality. Notification sequences can be adjusted depending on an individual’s
focus patterns or scheduled to be sent during idle periods when productivity
is not affected. Bittium, for example, developed a retail use case for smart-
watches in which employees may be reminded of required activities depend-
ing on real-time needs: alert cashiers when to switch shifts; customer-facing
personnel on where assistance is wanted; and so on.

Self-Charging Phones and Wireless Electricity

While self-charging technology will not change the way HR operates in
general, it will have an impact on work patterns and work modes. This
technology has the potential to revolutionize the employment environment,
which is still evolving around the requirement to be linked to electricity.
Anyone who has worked on the design and planning of a new office under-
stands that decisions are made depending on the availability of energy and
electrical wires (Bodi 2017).
 IM, HRM, and Technology 109
Conclusion
Internal marketing is to encourage marketing as an internal way of thinking
through an employee’s lead to achieve the marketing goals of the organi-
zation. In the internal marketing system, employees are internal custom-
ers. They focus on the marketing activities planned by the management of
the organization to attain the business goals. There are similarities between
internal marketing and human resource management, as both are employee-
centric. But internal marketing comprises marketing as well as human
resource management activities. Internal marketing encourages marketing as
an internal way of thinking through an employee’s lead to reach the organi-
zation’s marketing goals. Employees are internal customers in the internal
marketing system. They concentrate on the marketing operations planned
by the organization’s management to achieve commercial objectives. Inter-
nal marketing and human resource management are similar in that they both
focus on employees. Internal marketing, on the other hand, includes both
marketing and human resource management tasks.
Technology is changing speedily and making an impact on the inter-
nal communication of organizations. It also changes the human resource
practices and the methods of internal marketing implementation. The
future of any human resource team is linked to technological develop-
ment and challenges. It provides room for innovators inside and outside
the industry to adapt to new developments to develop and redesign the
workplace and employee experience. According to some authors, the
vital role of internal marketing is to foster effective human resource man-
agement, which implies the subordinate position of internal marketing
about human resource management. Due to increasing competition and
dynamic changes in human resources, they are not sufficient to solve the
employees’ issues. Therefore, internal marketing is necessary for good
human resource practice.

References
Alshuaibi, Ahmad. 2016. “The Role of Human Resource Management Practices in
Enhancing Internal Branding.” Developing Brand Ambassadors: The Role of Brand-Centred
Human Resource Management (August). https://doi.org/10.15405/epsbs.2016.08.85.
Bodi, Vlad. 2017. “How Technology Is Changing Human Resource Management.”
Hppy. October 7. https://gethppy.com/hrtrends/technology-changing-human-
resource-management.
George, Bose, and Pillai Prakash. 2019. “Differentiating the Concept of Internal
­Marketing and Human Resource Management-a Comparative Study on the Existing
Literature.” International Journal of Applied Engineering Research 14 (8): 1917–22. www.
ripublication.com/ijaer19/ijaerv14n8_22.pdf.
Iacovone, Laura. n.d. “Excellences in Internal Marketing Approach: Human Resource
Management as Source of Competitive Advantages.” Accessed October 4, 2020.
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110 IM, HRM, and Technology
Increasing Technology Adoption: An Internal Marketing Plan. n.d. “Er.educause.
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technology-adoption-an-internal-marketing-plan.
Mendes, Eduarda, Bruno Barbosa Sousa, and Márcia Gonçalves. 2021. “The Role of
Technologies in Relationship Management and Internal Marketing: An Approach in
the Health Sector.” Management and Marketing for Improved Competitiveness and Perfor-
mance in the Healthcare Sector. www.igi-global.com/chapter/the-role-of-technologies-
in-relationship-management-and-internal-marketing/285808.
Pixabay.com. 2021. https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2016/11/03/18/19/social-media-
1795578_1280.jpg.
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04_1280.jpg.
Sherman, Fraser. 2019. “How Does Technology Impact HR Practices?” Chron.com.
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html.
Six Ways Technology Is Changing Human Resources | Post. 2019. “Post University.”
September 30. https://post.edu/blog/6-ways-technology-is-changing-the-face-of-
human-resources/.
Spenner, Patrick. n.d. “How Technology Is Reshaping Internal Marketing
­Communications.” Forbes. Accessed June 22, 2022. www.forbes.com/sites/patrick-
spenner/2016/12/14/how-technology-is-reshaping-internal-marketing-­communicat
ions/?sh=759660dc4285.
Yiliang, Yuan, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Shankar Chelliah, Universiti Sains, Malaysia Ai,
and Ping Teoh. 2021. “Strategic Human Resource Management and Internal Market-
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abacademies.org/articles/Strategic-human-resource-management-and-internal-­
marketing-on-enterprise-performance-1939-6104-20-3-766-.pdf.
8 Service Journey of Internal
Marketing

Introduction
Because of the growing expansion of the service sectors, the topics of inter-
nal marketing and service quality have become extremely important for
businesses. Internal marketing has been regarded as a practice that can have
a favorable impact on employees’ constant supply of quality service. Con-
sumer loyalty is defined as a sense of belonging to an employee, a company’s
facilities or goods that would compel him or her to repurchase the resources
he or she put in, and the prospect of recommending this company to oth-
ers (Cheng 2011, cited in Sabah Ibrahim and Yesiltas n.d.). It is critical
to examine staff behavior and attitudes. Attitudinal loyalty is a consumer’s
impression of a single service provider and his or her empathy for a good or
service in comparison to other options.
Various studies all over the world revealed that internal marketing improves
the service quality of the firm. It starts with the service provider and ends
with customer satisfaction. There is a strong association found between
internal marketing and loyalty in Iraqi multinational beverage firms. The
research on links between internal marketing (communication, compensa-
tion, and empowerment) and competitive advantage in Korea discovered
a strong beneficial influence on service innovation and a direct effect on
competitive advantage as organizational coaching (Yeum, Bang, and Wee
2020). It is revealed that internal marketing has a favorable impact on service
innovation. An organization’s competitive advantage is determined by how
it organizes and constructs education, communication, training, reward, and
empowerment, among other things. Therefore, with internal marketing
activities such as having a solid communication system specifically between
leaders and members, empowering members, and providing a proper and
fair incentive system, the organization’s attempt to accept service innova-
tion will be altered. Employee loyalty and satisfaction are enhanced by this
type of internal marketing program. This, in turn, improves organizational
performance and lowers turnover rates. Internal marketing is the marketing-
based management of a company’s human resources. Internal marketing is

DOI: 10.4324/9781003266013-8
112 Service Journey of Internal Marketing
to manage a company’s human resources based on a marketing perspective
(Frye et al. 2019, Kotler, cited in Yeum, Bang, and Wee 2020).
There is a wide range of studies on internal marketing that demonstrate
its critical value. To broaden the reach of internal marketing in the future, it
is vital to comprehend its service path. Internal marketing was first used in
service organizations and, thereafter, in the manufacturing sector. However,
the service journey is changing due to changes in the internal and external
business environments.

Internal Marketing and Service Organizations

Internal marketing is linked to internal communications, marketing within
the business, and boosting service awareness within the organization. There
are numerous instances of internal marketing programs available. Respond-
ents in this study shared their experiences with internal marketing campaigns
such as the launch of an internal program such as a new training program,
the integration of head office business models, a new product, CEO voice-
mails, specific HR initiatives, and the launch of a branding campaign.
Human resource initiatives and product service initiatives dominate the
instances offered. Both projects shared several common goals, including
increased education, communication, and level of awareness. These exam-
ples explain change management approaches since the desired outcome
in all cases was alignment. Employee roles, organizational structure and
culture, and leadership roles are the primary drivers of strategic initiatives.
The function of an employee is a critical variable in influencing global
marketing perceptions. Everyone is responsible for internal marketing, and
everyone has a role to play, implying a philosophical understanding of the
value of internal marketing. There are various challenges in putting an
internal marketing philosophy into action, in addition to the challenges
associated with transferring internal marketing from philosophy to reality
(Snell and White 2009).
The influence of the organization’s structure, leadership, and culture can
be proven to change depending on the target and objective of the cam-
paign. Internal marketing can also aid in the removal of structural barriers
to change implementation. It has been discovered that campaigns lacking
senior-level support have greater difficulties in terms of user acceptance.
The organizational context, which includes the employee’s function, cul-
ture, organizational structure, and leadership, determines internal marketing
performance.
Internal marketing is associated with both human resources and market-
ing. To adopt a broader concept connecting to organization theory, political
science, and sociology, marketing is considered a microeconomic paradigm.
Internal marketing functions are dependent on the firm’s internal market-
ing effectiveness. Internal marketing measurement tools are lacking. Meas-
urement techniques are becoming more complex as human resources and
 Service Journey of Internal Marketing 113
marketing become more integrated. Customer service is becoming increas-
ingly important in business. It is difficult to measure customer service but
providing reward and performance tools for customer focused employ-
ees encourage them to improve customer service. Internal marketing, on
the other hand, serves as a bridge between internal marketing and human
resources. To accurately measure internal marketing, two parameters must
be considered. Management is interested in learning how to use technology
to implement internal marketing.
Internal marketing is not a specialized area that falls under the functional
responsibility of a single department; rather, it represents the convergence
of several previously distinct management technologies, including employee
relations, strategic management, human resource development, qual-
ity management, corporate communications, and macro-marketing (Snell
and White 2009). This point of view emphasizes the complexity of inter-
nal marketing and the necessity for management to acquire new skills and
competencies.
Internal marketing and its dimensions have been a source of contention
for practitioners because they began as “workers as customers” of the corpo-
ration and evolved into a more marketing-like approach (Ahmed, Rafiq, and
Saad 2003). These modifications resulted in diverse authors’ perspectives and
attempts to categorize them in several possible aspects. The firm’s ability to
adjust to dynamic business changes is critical for the successful execution of
internal marketing programs. A flexible organizational structure that is open
to change will allow for the simple adoption of new practices inside the firm.
Better communication and autonomy will be enabled through empowering
employees, rewarding proper behaviors, providing a healthy and satisfying
work environment, and so pushing them to produce quality and establish
a customer-oriented service culture (Kaur and Sharma 2015) (Figure 8.1).

Figure 8.1 Customer service by internal customers

Source: https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2017/07/25/09/39/call-center-2537390_1280.jpg
114 Service Journey of Internal Marketing
According to Al-Dmour, Al-Jweinat, and ELSamen (2012) and Ahmed
and Rafiq (2003) (quoted in Kaur and Sharma 2015), the internal mar-
keting concept is no longer limited to the service sector but now has a
stronghold in the manufacturing sector as well. Understanding and measur-
ing the importance of organizational structure and change in developing
and implementing internal marketing programs across diverse industries and
around the world is critical. There are numerous considerations and aspects
to consider while researching internal marketing. Let us take a look at them.

Internal Marketing as Organizational Coaching

Employees are treated as internal customers in organizational coaching.
According to organizational coaching, internal marketing is a critical com-
ponent of an organization’s competitiveness. Internal marketing as organiza-
tional coaching is thought to have a positive impact on service innovation,
making it a critical factor in increasing competitive advantage. Yeum,
Bang, and Wee (2020) are three examples. In a study of the Oman banking
industry, internal marketing influences on staff’s perceived capacity to give
­high-quality service are investigated.
It is also established that employee-perceived service quality plays a sig-
nificant role in customer satisfaction. Internal price, internal promotion, and
internal performance management are found to influence service quality,
with the latter having a direct relationship with customer satisfaction. Thus,
service quality has a favorable impact on customer satisfaction.

Internal Marketing Works as a Strategy

Internal marketing works as a strategy, but it has only been discovered in
developed Western markets, not in the Middle East. Deregulation of the
banking business, increased competition among banks, adoption of mod-
ern technology, non-financial service providers, and evolving client needs
have all had an impact on the banking industry’s competitive landscape
globally (Gupta and Xia 2018, cited in Bruin, Roberts-Lombard, and de
Meyer-Heydenrych 2021). Banks are becoming more conscious of how
their customers perceive their services, and long-term client relationships
are receiving more attention in academic literature.
Existing marketing literature mentions employees’ ability to create strong
internal relationships through internal marketing strategies to improve ser-
vice quality, allowing the firm to deliver on social exchange contracts and
customer pleasure. Foreman and Money (1995; Bruin, Roberts-Lombard,
and de Meyer-Heydenrych 2021) validated the importance of internal mar-
keting as a strategy for meeting external customer satisfaction expectations
in this regard. This evidence was corroborated by Ahmed and Rafiq (2003;
Bruin, Roberts-Lombard, and de Meyer-Heydenrych 2021), who stated
that by ensuring employee satisfaction as internal customers, the corporation
 Service Journey of Internal Marketing 115
can be better positioned to meet the expectations of external customers.
Though the fundamental ideas of internal marketing have not been actively
applied in the Middle Eastern corporate environment, internal marketing
tactics have been widely adopted in established western market contexts.
However, no previous research has established the relationship between
internal marketing and service quality and customer satisfaction in a Middle
Eastern environment such as Oman (Hasen 2014; Ismail and Sheriff 2016;
Bruin, Roberts-Lombard, and de Meyer-Heydenrych 2021).

Internal Marketing Is to Create Awareness

and Development
Various authors have demonstrated the importance of internal market-
ing in creating awareness and development in the internal market. Cus-
tomers’ perceptions of employees as the brand or service, attitudes,
employee beliefs, and employee behavior can all have a favorable or
negative impact on the organization’s brand and competitive positioning
(Bruin, Roberts-Lombard, and de Meyer-Heydenrych 2021).

Internal Marketing Is an Innovative Phenomenon

Internal marketing is an innovative business phenomenon (Bruin, Roberts-
Lombard, and de Meyer-Heydenrych 2021). According to Harrington,
Ottenbacher, and Fauser (2017), internal marketing components connect
personnel, strategic objectives, and organizational strategy.

Three Groups of Internal Marketing Components

These components form a strong internal relationship in which value is
­created for employees (satisfaction and well-being) to achieve the desired
results for the firm (Ahmed, Rafiq, and Saad 2003 and Harrington,
Ottenbacher, and Fauser 2017; Bruin, Roberts-Lombard, and de Meyer-­
Heydenrych 2021).
Employees spend a significant portion of their lives at work; thus, cre-
ating value for employees may be more relevant than creating value for
external clients (Grace and Lo Iacono 2015). Banking clients in Oman, for
example, co-create value with a variety of banks and other organizations
simultaneously, where one institution can easily be substituted by another
(J. Chang, personal communication, cited in (Bruin, Roberts-Lombard, and
de Meyer-Heydenrych 2021). This means that customers can easily switch
banks if their expectations are not satisfied.
There are three groups of internal marketing components:

• Traditional marketing mix components

• The service mix components
116 Service Journey of Internal Marketing
• The contemporary mix components
• The internal marketing mix components connects employees to the
organization’s strategy and strategic objectives

Though employees are officially linked to one organization, switching

to another is difficult because it is dependent on the available job pros-
pects, the proper package, and termination terms. Employees who receive
good incentives and rewards are more inclined to stay with an organization
(Bruin, Roberts-Lombard and de Meyer-Heydenrych 2021).

Positive Internal Relationships Make an Impact on

Employees’ Work Experience
Positive internal relationships and social dynamics supplied by the organiza-
tion’s internal environment improve workers’ work experiences (Collins,
Hislop, and Cartwright 2016).

Work–Life Balance
Work–life balance and supportive supervisory relationships are two exam-
ples of factors influencing psychological well-being. When all aspects of
an employee’s pleasure and well-being are examined and structured holisti-
cally, they acquire value. The internal marketing mix creates a compelling
internal value proposition through the implementation of each marketing
mix component. When employees perceive the value, they produce value
for customers through higher levels of service quality (Marques et al. 2018).

Modern Mix of Marketing Components

The modern mix of marketing components comprises internal performance
management, internal political power, internal purpose, and internal pro-
curement. These components serve as extra-decision-making variables used
to improve the internal environment and assist in the development and sus-
tainability of internal relationships (Egan 2006; Mutharasu, Natarajan, and
Filipe 2013). Performance management systems are a shortage in terms of
identifying and tracking performance metrics and most banks in Oman are
not providing regular performance feedback to employees (A. Loots, per-
sonal communication cited in de Bruin, Roberts-Lombard, and de Meyer-
Heydenrych 2021).

Internal Performance Management

Service management is required for internal performance management. It is
critical to managing harmony between internal suppliers and internal cus-
tomers in the internal market. Employees are shown that the organization
 Service Journey of Internal Marketing 117
cares about them when they receive regular feedback. An internal goal iden-
tifies the need to align corporate and individual goals.

Corporate Social Responsibility Initiatives

Furthermore, efforts such as corporate social responsibility initiatives make
employees pleased to be a part of their bank, boosting the employee–organi-
zation relationship. Relationships boost service quality and, as a result, cli-
ent pleasure. Internal political power indicates uncontrollable influences in
the organization’s environment that influence the development of internal
relationships and the quality of internal service delivery and poor internal
service quality will have a negative influence on customer satisfaction and
perception of exterior service delivery.
It is critical to hire the right people for the right jobs. If staff is assigned
to improper positions, they will be unable to create strong relationships or
adequately serve their internal or external clients, which will have a detri-
mental impact on service quality and customer satisfaction objectives (Gian-
nakis, Harker, and Baum 2015).

Relationship Marketing Theory and Social Exchange

Theory
Relationship marketing theory and social exchange theory are applied to
this study which is the grounding theory of internal marketing. Relation-
ship marketing theory is to improve mutual value in the process of exchange
between the customer and the employee (Schulz, Martin, and Meyer 2017).
Internal marketing is the procedure for aligning the internal market and
internal practices with customer outcomes and external market objectives,
such as service quality and customer satisfaction. This is attained by main-
taining effective relationships between an organization and its employees
(Tortosa Edo et al. 2015).
Social exchange theory is viewed as exchange networks in which relation-
ships are guided by social exchange principles (Grace, King, and Lo Iacono
2017). Internal marketing contributes to social exchange when employees’
needs have been met and build strong internal relationships and satisfaction.
In exchange, they show positive behavior such as trust and commitment to
the organization (Wu and Lee 2017).
This further improves the service experience, with external customers
positively influencing their perceptions of service quality and finally cus-
tomer satisfaction (Fatima and Razzaque 2014; Proença and Castro 2000).
Several studies (Bell and Bell 1998; Grönroos 1999; Barnes, Fox, and
Morris 2004; Budhwar and Malhotra 2009; Karanges et al. 2014; Namin
and Moghaddam 2014; Boukis et al. 2015; Schulz, Martin, and Meyer 2017)
have ensured that there is the linkage between internal marketing, relation-
ship marketing theory and social exchange theory.
118 Service Journey of Internal Marketing
Job Design
With the better design of job products, including the employees’ jobs and
elements linked to this, retail banks can offer higher levels of service quality,
as employees are located in positions that satisfy their needs, thereby ena-
bling them to work better (Barnes, Fox, and Morris 2004). When elements
such as training and development, role fit, career progression are factored
into job products, retail banks can produce internal satisfaction and quality,
consequently in external service quality (Reynolds-De Bruin 2014).

Career and Development Plans

When employees have been provided with components such as career and
development plans and learning and development, they are more empow-
ered to deliver high-level job performance to customers, thus being more
able to satisfy customer needs and expectations with enhanced levels of
­service quality (Bagga and Srivastava 2014; Oyitso and Olomukoro 2012).
It is clear from the study that internal marketing education is required
in traditional banking in Oman. Presently, internal marketing is not imple-
mented as a strategy that is part of a formal program in the country nor
do its components leverage off one another in value-adding ways. As a
­consequence, the researchers have recognized the following procedures that
traditional bank management in Oman could consider to enhance service
quality levels and customer satisfaction. Previous findings on team versus
individual rewards demonstrated that team-based evaluation and reward
­systems perform much better compared to individual rewards Chan, Li, and
Pierce 2014).

Internal Market-Oriented Culture

The objectives of internal market-oriented culture, particularly regarding
the sharing of knowledge, a balance between individual and team rewards
should be maintained. Individual performance is also enhanced as a signifi-
cance of team performance.

Team Performance
Banks could provide KPIs and visible team metrics to enhance greater team
performance. Rewarding employees for collective behavior and represent-
ing care for employees can improve group-level social capital. This increases
employees’ satisfaction to work together, solve problems and share informa-
tion according to Reynolds-De Bruin (2014). Thus, it is vital for banks to
further examine how the right balance of the team and the individual team
can be attained to enhance overall organizational performance. In addi-
tion, Schlechter, Thompson, and Bussin (2015) specified that non-financial
 Service Journey of Internal Marketing 119
rewards should become an integral part of employees’ job offerings to con-
firm the future recruitment and present retention of talented employees.
Neuroscience has established that acknowledgment has the most influ-
ence on trust when it happens instantly after a goal has been met, when it
comes from peers and when it is public.
Public identification with the monthly or quarterly award ceremonies
not only uses the power of the crowd to celebrate success but also stimulates
others to aim for betterment (Zak 2017).
The identification of top performers in a weekly or monthly meet-
ing becomes significant. A wall or noticeboard used in the office for the
identification of top performance weekly or monthly becomes significant.
A wall or noticeboard could be used in the office in which management
and employees can thank employees for a job well done. The CEO could
send out a personal thank-you card to employees who have gone above and
beyond to assist customers well. Furthermore, by providing family-friendly
practices, such as onsite childcare, companies provide for some of the social
challenges experienced and communicate to employees that they and their
families are cared for.
Induction or orientation is a company-specific program that focuses
on helping new employees to the job to settle into their role speedily and
become productive as soon as possible according to Foot and Hook (2011).
Induction is used to link new employees (hearts and minds) to their organi-
zation. Within the induction program, the aim, vision, and values should be
communicated to employees, and information requirements to be provided
about the organization, their department, dress code, and any other details.
The induction program directly makes an impact on the quality of customer
service, as it has been proved that only well-inducted newcomers are capable
to provide customer service according to Thao (2015). It is also vital that
the employees are oriented into the organization through a formal orienta-
tion program. A buddy system works well when a coworker may be selected
to team up with the novel person to provide the basic information, answer
questions, and take the new employee on a guided tour.
In this manner, employees are formally made known to their coworkers
and instantly engaged in the organization’s culture and customs which assist
facilitate their transition, according to Thao (2015). Also, social platforms
like Facebook for work and Yammer allow the establishment of social com-
munities of practice in which employees across the entire organization can
be connected. Since the branches often feel detached from the rest of the
organization, social platforms provide the means to link people, share suc-
cess stories, be inspiring and share knowledge across the bank according to
L. Atassi (personal communication, 2018). Though it is vital to note that,
before installing these networks, a policy is developed that clearly explains
the purpose of the social network.
Also, analytical tools should be implemented to analyze and monitor
qualitative and quantitative data obtained from activities relating to the
120 Service Journey of Internal Marketing
social network. Directing on appropriate conversations and the enabling of
meaningful collaboration can be established through a feedback system to
confirm that the retail banks’ objectives have been met.
“Advergames” is another medium in which Omani retail banks can
­communicate with employees concerning new products and services. This
is a digital game developed for the brand to convey internal advertising mes-
sages. Advergames safeguard greater social interaction within the organiza-
tion, permitting employees to compete, collaborate, or link through this
online platform (De la Hera Conde-pumpido 2014).
These advertisements produce awareness for employees, thus the message
communication must be clear, as employees require to communicate the
promises made in the advergames to customers. An annual performance
appraisal is not sufficient. A monthly performance feedback session should
be launched between employees and their direct supervisors or managers.
Employees should provide a self-evaluation in terms of what they feel they
are and are not performing well and communicate where they need support.
The direct manager may provide his or her assessment of the employee’s
performance and together they discuss how enhancements can be made
and reinforce the responsibility of the employee in this regard. Managers
may also provide positive recognition and feedback and encourage employ-
ees. Career development plus personal development can be reproduced and
updated and managers can strengthen the significance of the employee’s job
with the broader organizational objectives. When monthly feedback is pro-
vided, employees have an understanding of how they function throughout
the year, which motivates them to maximize their likelihood of earning
positive feedback by providing service delivery excellence and customer sat-
isfaction (Tricomi and DePasque 2016).
Furthermore, as part of making an internal market-orientated culture,
banks must focus on quality management systems grounded on process,
actions, and responsibility for attaining the desired outcomes. This compo-
nent has strong bonds with the mix’s internal process component. With the
application of the process and assignment of responsibility, positive results
such as superior service quality and customer satisfaction can be affected.

Quality Management Systems

Quality management systems such as Total quality management and Lean
management propose that the first step is to comprehend internal and exter-
nal customer needs and requirements, which can be facilitated through
voice of customer sessions. Once the customer’s requirements have been
recognized, they must be interpreted into “critical to quality” measures,
such as turnaround times, carry-overs, and error rates. These measures must
then be shown visually and openly within the workplace and updated daily
for management and employees to see. In this way, nothing is hidden and
all employees are attentive to key performance measures. Also, each team
 Service Journey of Internal Marketing 121
should conduct an everyday production meeting that takes place around
their team’s visual board where the metrics are updated and employees
deliberate what is going well, what is not going well, and how they can
resolve the problem as a team. Therefore, continuous enhancement can be
attained and service quality enhanced on an ongoing basis, resulting in a
more positive customer experience.
Employees’ needs are successfully satisfied when they are provided with
the needed training to improve their skills and overall performance. In addi-
tion, their performance is improved when they are empowered to map their
careers more effectively, when open communication channels are secured
to boost engagement at all levels, when internal relationship building is
enhanced, and when organizational culture is developed successfully. With
this approach, commercial banks will be able to protect enhanced levels of
assurance, responsiveness, reliability, and empathy amongst their employees
consequently in higher levels of customer satisfaction.

Conclusion
The purpose of this study was to determine the inter-relations between
internal marketing and employees’ perceived ability to deliver service qual-
ity and customer satisfaction to traditional retail banking customers. It was
established that traditional banking customer-facing employees are capable
through the internal price, internal promotion, and internal performance
management components. The study offers direction to the management
of traditional banks in Oman on how to apply the internal marketing mix
as a strategy to improve internal service quality, thus delivering on external
customer satisfaction successfully. To enhance service quality, it is suggested
that a stronger focus is on internal promotion through increased internal
communication around the vision and objectives of the bank more focus is
required on reducing the psychological costs of working for the bank influ-
encing internal price and visual performance metrics and regular feedback
is needed to improve internal performance management. When improved
service quality levels are attained, customers experience greater levels of
customer satisfaction. An understanding of the above will help traditional
banks in Oman and potentially traditional banks in other frontier markets
to develop superior service experiences that help employees as internal cus-
tomers and the external customer segments of the bank.
The study is imperfect, considering the internal marketing, customer sat-
isfaction, and service quality were only discovered from a traditional bank-
ing perspective in Oman. Future studies could explore these constructs in
various financial enterprises or service industries within the middle eastern
region and beyond. In addition, the inclusion of new internal marketing
Ps could be focused to explore their impact on service quality or perceived
value and employee turnover intent in a traditional or Islamic banking
environment.
122 Service Journey of Internal Marketing
Internal marketing cannot be treated as a specialist area residing with the
functional responsibility of any one department and it represents the con-
vergence of several previously separate management technologies such as
employee relations, strategic management, human resource development,
quality management, corporate communications, and macro-­ marketing
(Snell and White 2009). This view identifies the complex nature of inter-
nal marketing and the need for management to adopt more skills and
competencies.
Internal marketing is initiated in the service literature and developed in
different phases. The assumption behind the beginning of this concept is to
provide excellent service to external customers it is necessary to motivate
and satisfy internal customers. It is found as a linkage between marketing
and human resource management. Therefore, integrated approach requires
to improve the organizational system. There are various factors and aspects
discussed during the service journey of internal marketing, that is, inter-
nal marketing is to create awareness and development, quality management
system, internal marketing works as a strategy, internal marketing brings
innovation, etc.
The goal of internal marketing is to improve service quality and hence
customer satisfaction. Various studies were performed in the service sector
like the banking industry, hospital, telecom, insurance, tourism, etc. All
proved that it is a beneficial concept and requires a proper measurement tool
of it. It is also revealed that it is not limited to the service sector only but
is also beneficial for the manufacturing industry. However, to implement
IM successfully it is a prerequisite to analyze the organizational system and
structure and focus on internal customers.

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9 Mechanism of Internal
Marketing

Introduction
Motivation is a critical aspect of internal marketing. It is critical to the
internal marketing mechanism. It stimulates the whole process of internal
marketing. Motivation is the first and most important element of inter-
nal marketing. Researchers later discovered that motivation is not only
an important component of internal marketing. Various experts believe
that internal marketing fosters customer orientation in employees. Inter-
nal marketing, in this sense, is the attraction, retention, and motivation of
service-oriented personnel. Since the inception of internal marketing, it has
become critical for all employees, whether frontline or staff. As a result, the
researchers increased their coverage. It is extremely beneficial to implement
change, enhance inter-functional coordination, promote staff retention,
increase internal customer orientation, improve internal service quality, and
implement strategies in the modern day.
Panigyrakis and Theodoridis (2009) investigated whether internal mar-
keting improves service quality, increases market share, fosters customer loy-
alty, and increases customer happiness as non-financial indicators. According
to Mehra et al., one of the characteristics of internal marketing explored
by numerous academics that leads to organizational profitability is training
(Mehra, Joyal, and Rhee 2011).
Training is not a new notion; it is also present in human resource devel-
opment. The logic for incorporating it into the internal marketing context
is to understand employee needs and provide training as a reward for their
achievement. As a result, they profit from training. According to Sheng and
Hsin, internal customer happiness enhances business performance (Zaman
et al. 2012).
Internal marketing and human resource management are related because
both are concerned with employees. Training is a human resource manage-
ment role, but the idea for incorporating it into the internal marketing con-
cept is to understand the employee’s needs and, based on their success, offer
them training as a reward. Following the development of the concept, it was
observed that internal marketing is especially effective for internal engagement

DOI: 10.4324/9781003266013-9
 Mechanism of Internal Marketing 127

Figure 9.1 Employees in the organization

Source: https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2017/01/14/10/56/people-1979261_1280.jpg

between internal customers and internal suppliers. It improves the organiza-

tion’s interaction with its internal customers. Human resource management
is the management of people within a business, whereas internal marketing
gives guidance to meet individual and corporate objectives (Figure 9.1).
According to many authors, internal marketing qualities include reward,
employee motivation, efficient communication, an employee selection sup-
port system, employment growth, reward, and a healthy work environment
(El-Samen and Alshurideh 2012). Several academics agree that the pur-
pose of internal marketing is to motivate and satisfy employees. It influences
external consumer satisfaction, which in turn influences organizational
profitability. The key factors of internal customer satisfaction, according to
Prathibha A and Kristie A, are discount rewards and incentives, empower-
ment, and discount rewards and incentives (Biju 2013). Several studies have
found that internal customer satisfaction has a beneficial impact on external
customer satisfaction. Staff motivation and satisfaction are significant factors
in improving service delivery (Tapan n.d.).

Meaning of Motivation
A badly motivated workforce, according to Jobber (1995, cited in Mishra
2014), will be costly due to high staff turnover, higher costs, low morale,
128 Mechanism of Internal Marketing

Box 9.1. Definition of motivation

According to Rudolph and Kleiner (1989, cited in Mishra 2014),

motivation means “the development of a desire within an employee
to perform a task to his/her greatest ability based on that individuals
own initiative.” Motivation gives stimulus to perform task. It is the
willingness to do work.

Source: Rudolph and Kleiner (1989, cited in Mishra 2014)

increasing reliance on management, absenteeism, sick leave, strikes, and

grievances. Internal marketing is a method of meeting the demands of
employees. Needs are never satisfied. Motivational marketers satisfy the
wants of a person. To satisfy the need, there are various choices in the
market.
You got what you wanted. Motivational marketing is effective in this
manner. For example, if a guy needs a job, he can find one wherever. How-
ever, if he wants to work for a specific company, that is his wish. Marketers
ask what you want rather than what you require. Marketers will be unable
to meet your needs if they attempt to do so (Figure 9.2).
Berry defines internal marketing as the practice of treating staff like cus-
tomers. The reasoning for this is that an organization is a market, and meeting
the requirements of internal customers is essential. The purpose of human

Figure 9.2 Employees doing job

Source: https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2020/07/08/04/12/work-5382501_1280.jpg
 Mechanism of Internal Marketing 129
resource management is to manage people. As a result of ­marketing-like
efforts, internal customers become more content and joyful (Mishra 2014).
Aydinalp investigated the impact of motivation on marketing commu-
nication in five-star hotels. According to research, employee motivation is
influenced by both internal and external influences. It influences marketing
communication. The most difficult challenge for management is determin-
ing what inspires an individual. According to research, employee motivation
is influenced by both internal and external influences. Marketing communi-
cation is influenced by it. The most challenging problem for management is
identifying what motivates a person. When designing motivational criteria,
employees’ requirements should be taken into account. Internal marketing
is the most effective method for detecting employee needs. Internal mar-
keting practices have the potential to motivate employees. Internal market-
ing has been shown to have a significant impact on motivation. Employee
involvement, consultation, information, and awareness are all examples of
internal marketing practices. For this, they used a measurement scale based
on Churchill’s paradigm. Bogdan et al. conducted research on “Employee
motivation as a critical component of internal marketing: Case study: The
use of non-financial motivation through sports activities.” This research was
conducted on Romanian businesses. The goal of this study is to introduce
sports activities into the internal marketing campaign to motivate employees.
A workplace sporting activity offers employees satisfaction, trust, and loy-
alty. Sporting activities improve employees’ health, making them an espe-
cially effective non-monetary motivation in today’s world. Many issues arise
as a result of employees’ working hours:

• Sitting for an extended period of time in a chair

• Difficult and hectic schedule
• Employee disagreements
• Work that is repetitive

Some employees are not psychologically fit owing to personal issues. All of
the above issues can be solved by simply including sports activities into the
internal marketing campaign.

Studies on Employee Satisfaction

Employee satisfaction is an employee’s attitude toward their job, whereas job
satisfaction is an employee’s feelings regarding their job status and position
(Joung et al. 2015). According to numerous academics, it plays an important
role in the adoption of internal marketing.
Schuller and Chalupsky (cited in Mishra 2020) investigated whether
internal marketing benefits both government and private organizations.
In one of the studies, Ghasemi discovered a positive relationship between
internal marketing and the quality of services in private health institutions.
Internal marketing research is also popular in the banking industry, with
130 Mechanism of Internal Marketing
numerous studies being conducted on the critical relationship between
internal marketing and employee and consumer satisfaction (Magatef and
Momani 2016).
Akbari et al. (2019) discovered positive effects of internal marketing on
internal customer citizenship behavior (ICCB) in higher education using
perceived satisfaction and value. They stressed the significance of internal
marketing studies in higher education and recommended universities pri-
oritize research. Internal marketing activities have been promoted as being
related to work methods, external customer knowledge and requirements,
organizational policies and practices, employee quality of life (Conduit,
Matanda, and Mavondo 2014), employee development activities (Ahmed
and Rafiq 2002), employee training (Berry and Persuraman 1991), and cus-
tomer orientation by researchers and organizations (Conduit and Mavondo
2001). Training is one of the most essential aspects of internal marketing
studied by numerous scholars (Mehra, Joyal, and Rhee 2011).
Organizations gain money by boosting customer satisfaction through their
employees’ positive attitudes and behaviors. Similarly, Mendelson B. Morris
et al. integrated internal and external marketing and employed six essential
internal marketing tactics (employment security, attractive rewards, intense
training, information exchange, employee empowerment, and minimal sta-
tus distinctions) (Bansal, Mendelson, and Sharma 2001). Several authors
investigated different aspects of internal marketing. Huang and Rundle-
Thiele highlighted internal communication, relations, learning, and internal
marketing as key performers in internal marketing.
The impact of internal marketing and job satisfaction on quality service
delivery was investigated in the government health sector, and critical out-
comes from both were revealed (Gordon et al. 2019). Internal is also a predic-
tor of outstanding health care delivery and staff satisfaction in Ugandan local
government, according to their research. That is, the first phase is job satisfac-
tion, and the second phase is internal marketing to achieve health care delivery.
Qayum, Musadiq, and Sahaf evaluated the impact of IM on university
staff satisfaction. They looked back at previous empirical work in a ser-
vice organization and recognized the necessity for IM in colleges. They
feel that IM is the most effective way to increase employee happiness in
colleges (Qayum, Musadiq, and Sahaf 2013). An empirical study of IM and
employee job satisfaction was conducted.
Information management promotes employee work satisfaction. Thus, it
is vital to disseminate information in the organization to all staff members
so that they are aware of organizational functioning, work in a better work
environment, and improve the relationship between all staff members.

Role of Internal Marketing on Organizational

Performance
Panihyarakis and Theodorisdis highlighted in 2009 that financial p­ erformance
indicators include return on assets and return on investment. Mehra, Joyal,
 Mechanism of Internal Marketing 131
and Rhee (2011) utilized these two to evaluate retail banking performance.
Due to increasing competition and a dynamic environment, it is not suf-
ficient to measure only financial performance; other non-financial or non-
economic indicators are also important.
Non-economic variables include market share, product development,
and production efficiency, according to Helgesen, Nesset, and Voldsund
(2009). According to much research, internal marketing plays a vital role in
financial and non-financial performance. There is no perfect measurement
instrument in the literature to quantify its impact on financial performance.
However, numerous researchers have found that it improves organizational
performance and the efficiency of organizational employees. This has an
impact on the financial performance of the organization.

Impact of Internal Marketing on Employee Retention

Employee retention is a problem in today’s organizations. Employees’
­expectations are rising as they become more demanding. As a result, they
lose critical employees. Increased staff retention saves organizations money
on replacement costs. According to Martensen et al., organizations do not
achieve their objectives through employee satisfaction and loyalty.
Quality and responsibility are instilled in top management and then
spread across the organization. Various studies, according to Greenberg
(1994), suggest that proper information about policies, goals, and strate-
gies ­communicated to employees has a major impact on employee loyalty.
The right information reaches the right person at the right time, which is
required for plan implementation.
According to Harris (1997), the development and communication of a
company’s vision and direction have a substantial impact on employee loy-
alty and commitment. Plan and strategy implementation is the responsibility
of all managers, including top management. A good leader supports both
initiative and teamwork. According to Selnow GW and Gilbert it is vital for
everyone to participate in the organization’s mission and strategies in order
to produce a successful organization (Martensen and Grønholdt 2006).

Employee Retention Is a Big Concern in Today’s

Businesses
A scarcity of skilled labor, economic growth, and employee turnover are the
primary reasons for focusing on staff retention. According to the American
Management Association in 2001, staff retention has become a key con-
cern for corporations, with varied tactics used by different organizations.
Employee demand is expanding quicker than ever before. They now want
more than just a salary; they want a work culture, work experience, and so
on. Ahmad et al. (2012) investigated the effect of internal marketing (moti-
vation, future growth, training, and internal communication) on employee
retention and found a positive impact (Ahmad, Iqbal, and Sheeraz 2012).
132 Mechanism of Internal Marketing
Role of Internal Marketing in Branding
Branding influences not just client perception but also employee percep-
tion. Brand, according to Jacobs, reflects the link between a business and its
clients, whether internal or external. Internal brand management is another
emerging concept for corporate success.
Internal brand management can be improved through internal marketing.
Internal branding occurs when employees have a comprehensive under-
standing of a product or service that adds value to clients before delivering
it. According to O’Reilly and Pfeffer, the key to success is not attraction and
retention. The ideal strategy is to foster a culture that maximizes employee
utilization. Customers benefit from an employee-oriented service culture.
Internal marketing is concerned with employees and hence fosters
employee orientation. It compels workers or internal customers to partici-
pate in internal brand management (King and Grace 2007).
Internal branding occurs when employees deliver a product or service to
a customer after having a comprehensive understanding of the value cre-
ated for the customer. Employees are aware of both tangible and intangible
characteristics of the products/services offered to clients through brand-
ing. Organizations with an employee-oriented service culture have a good
impact on their consumers. According to O’Reilly III and Pfeffer, attraction
and retention are not the only paths to success. According to them, the best
key to organizational success is to create a culture that fosters the best utiliza-
tion of employees’ talents.
Internal market orientation promotes the growth of staff brand knowl-
edge. As a result, attracting and retaining employees to carry out the brand
promise. According to management literature, economic prosperity is
derived from knowledge assets, intellectual capital, and their useful applica-
tion (King and Grace 2007).

Role of Internal Marketing in Service Delivery

Usta researched private educational institution teachers. They established
a correlation between the internal marketing strategy and the quality of
­service. They also discovered that job satisfaction had a significant mediating
relationship between the two categories, even though organizational com-
mitment does not affect the two elements (Giiven Ahmet 2012). Employees
play a vital role in service delivery. In the empirical study of Rajyalakshmi
and Kameswari (2009), it is found that there is a connection between inter-
nal marketing and employee job satisfaction and motivation.
Working conditions and hours, hygiene and sanitation facilities, support
from superiors, and the attitude of colleagues were found to have the great-
est influence on job satisfaction and motivation in this study, which was
conducted at retail firms. Budhwar et al. (2009) discovered the source of
increased attrition in Indian call centers.
 Mechanism of Internal Marketing 133
Role of Internal Marketing in Cultural Change
Internal marketing is the most effective source of organizational development
and change. In the absence of internal marketing, employees are resistant to
change. Higher management needs to implement strategies, new values, and
objectives in cultural change. According to Boddy and Buchanan (2002),
there are two levels of organizational change:

• Macro-level – it is a form of organizational transformation to rebuild

fundamental assumptions.
• Micro-level – it is about the people’s beliefs, values, and norms in the
organization.

The onion model of cultural development contains various levels of basic

assumptions, values, norms, and artifacts. Basic assumption is the first level
of cultural awareness. The second level is values, which explains to organi-
zational members what is important to them and what they should focus
on. The third level is norms, which show how members of an organization
should behave in a specific situation. It is intertwined with ethical behav-
ior. The highest level is artifacts. Structure, system, process norms, physical
aspects, and observable behavior are all part of it. The previous three tiers
are used to construct artifacts. Cummings and Worley (2001) developed a
six-step process for determining the relationship between internal marketing
orientation and cultural change projects.

• The clarity in strategic vision – The first step is to formulate a clear

vision strategy that consists of necessarily shared values and expected
behavior.
• Involvement of top management – For cultural change, top manager’s
involvement is most important.
• At the highest level model, cultural change should be adopted first in
the organization – Top management needs to communicate values and
norms linked with the new culture. They are the initiator of change.
• Modify the organization for corporate changes – For cultural change
supporting modifications are required in organizational structure,
human resource system, information, management style, communica-
tion, and operation.
• Select members and also terminate retentive persons.
• Members should be according to the new organizational culture. Select
persons who fit with a new culture and give them an induction pro-
gram. Those who find difficulty in adapting changes should be termi-
nated, especially at the senior level.
• Ethical and legal sensitivity should be developed – Promoting employee
integration, equal opportunity, and job security in the organization. The
organization should be clear about ethical and legal issues (Fojtik 2008).
134 Mechanism of Internal Marketing
Role of Internal Marketing to Gain Sustainable Competitive
Advantage
In today’s competitive and dynamic environment, it is necessary to gain a
competitive advantage to survive and prosper. Human resources or intan-
gible assets play an important role in achieving success. Internal marketing
improves the service quality of the organization. By focusing on external as
well as internal customers equally, an organization develops the culture to
gain a sustainable competitive advantage. Customer satisfaction has become
important for organizations, whether internal or external. According to
Christopher, Payne, and Ballantyne (1991), the internal marketing objec-
tive is to increase knowledge of internal as well as external customers that
improves organizational effectiveness. According to Lings (1999), in the
market orientation and strategic management literature, the main focus was
on external factors, but internal factors are equally important to gain suc-
cess in strategy implementation. According to Foreman and Money (1995),
satisfying internal customer needs and improving internal chains of supply
organization results in better customer orientation. According to Soltani
et al. (2008), service quality is the best means to gain customer loyalty and
satisfaction. The skills, attitudes, and behavior of an employee are impor-
tant because they are delivering service. According to Hitt, Ireland, and
Hoskisson (2007), competitive advantage is the most important element in
strategic planning that leads to competitive advantage. According to Cahill
(1995), in the present scenario, human capital is the best means to gain a sus-
tainable competitive advantage. According to Hitt, Ireland, and Hoskisson
(2007), it is not easy to copy the strategies of organizations that are gaining
a competitive advantage. There are two reasons for this. First is the difficulty
in imitating strategies, and second, it may be expensive to imitate. A skilled,
motivated, and adaptable workforce is the key to gaining a long-term com-
petitive advantage (Javadein et al. 2011).
Social marketing can aid consumer behavior. Smith shows an interest in
the role of internal marketing to achieve social objectives. Smith explained
the importance of internal social marketing and how it can reduce the level
of organizational carbon emissions. Smith developed the concept of “inter-
nal social marketing,” which changes employee and managerial behavior to
reduce carbon emissions and gain sustainable working practices. Accord-
ing to Kotler marketing principles and techniques can be used to achieve
behavioral change for the achievement of social goals (Brennan, Binney, and
Hall 2015).

Employee Loyalty Is Linked With Customer Loyalty

Employee retention is linked to customer retention and profitability. As a
result, increasing staff loyalty is essential for increasing consumer loyalty and
organizational profitability. Anne Martensen (2006) developed a model of
 Mechanism of Internal Marketing 135
employee loyalty. According to Gronroos (2000), an effective external rela-
tionship depends on the success of an internal relationship. Therefore first
organization needs to improve its internal relationship. According to Bashaw
and Grant (1994), companies that are doing efforts to achieve committed
and loyal employees will get in success to increase earnings per employee.
Researchers have provided many conceptual frameworks that demonstrate
the relationship between internal and external markets to attain organi-
zational profitability or success. They are as follows: loyalty-based growth
cycle (Reichheld 1996), service profit chain (Heskett, Sasser, and Schles-
inger 1997), improvement loop (Dahlgaard, Kristensen, and Kanji 1998),
employee customer profit chain Brooks (2000), and linkage model (Chris-
topher, Payne, and Ballantyne 2002). The main objective of all of the above
marketing approaches is that before satisfying or providing service to cus-
tomers, it is important to care for employees first. This is the marketing
success mantra (Martensen and Grønholdt 2006).

Internal Marketing and Market Orientation

Various studies suggest that internal marketing promotes market orientation
and, consequently, business performance. A review of the literature reveals
that the internal marketing process promotes market orientation. Through
internal marketing, employees gain awareness about market situations, cli-
ents, and competitors. Nowadays, marketing is more than just focusing on
customers. Relationship marketing is becoming more popular in marketing.
Thus, employees are the most essential stakeholders in the organization, and
the organization performs efficiently through sustaining relationships with
them (Zaman et al. 2012). According to Gounaris (2006), internal marketing
is a very valuable concept, but its use in businesses is limited. Ghoeneim and
Hassan experimentally investigated the influence of internal marketing on
Egyptian banks’ customer loyalty and commercial performance. According
to them, the best technique for external marketing success is internal mar-
keting (Ghoneim and El-Tabie 2014). Zaman et al. (2012) investigated
commercial banks in Pakistan and discovered that internal marketing has a
beneficial impact on banking performance (Zaman et al. 2012).
Haddad Shafiq et al. discovered substantial results when they investigated
the impact of internal marketing factors on the quality of private health
care in Jordan. Internal marketing components included vision, reward,
communications, staff training and development, leadership, and manage-
rial support. Internal marketing, according to studies, serves as a motiva-
tor, and a lack of quality in health care results in a 17–27 percent drop in
income and return on assets (AL-Haddad 2012). According to Martensen
et al., employee loyalty results in customer loyalty and it leads to the profit-
ability of the organization (Martensen and Grønholdt 2006). When peo-
ple consider changes, they see the reaction of outside forces, according to
Senge et al. (2007). The largest mistake is underestimating the organization’s
136 Mechanism of Internal Marketing
internal challenges. Internal marketing value is delivered because of internal
­requirements rather than external marketing requirements.
Internal marketing value is delivered because of internal requirements
rather than external market requirements. The most significant thing is
that, by utilizing social, ethical, and governance considerations, organiza-
tions can gain a competitive advantage. This is the major issue in achieving
sustainability. However, the goal of business is to achieve success or profit.
In this regard, Avery state that businesses that use social, ethical, and govern-
ance issues are left as competitors, but they achieve long-term success and
­outperform competitors (Wong and Avery 2008).

Social, Governance, and Ethical Considerations

Organizations that prioritize social, governance, and ethical aspects,
­according to Wong and Avery 2008, cited in Mishra 2020), prosper in the
long run and gain a competitive advantage. Internal marketing increases
an organization’s market share and has an impact on return on assets and
return on investment by increasing client loyalty, retention, and customer
numbers. Rafiq and Ahmed (2002) discovered employee retention, dispute
resolution, and increased inter-functional coordination as factors saving the
firm money.

Change Management
Change management is important to improve the working system of the
organization and to remain competitive. Then it is not wrong to say that
to gain a competitive advantage, this is widely used by the organization.
­Christopher, Payne, and Ballantyne (1991) defined it to improve cross-­
functional coordination. The third phase concentrated on the implementa-
tion of strategic changes and plans. It is the effort that helps with change
management (Ahmed and Rafiq 2002, cited in Fojtik 2008).

Internal Marketing and Financial Performance

Internal marketing, according to Ramanujamhas a favorable impact on
organizational operational and financial performance. As a result, the results
can be divided into two categories: financial performance indicators and
non-financial performance indicators (Mishra 2020). According to Panigh-
yarakis and Theodorisdis (2009, cited in Mishra 2020), financial indicators
are return on assets and return on investment. Helgesen, Nesset, and Vold-
sund (2009, cited in Mishra 2020) used non-economic metrics to evaluate
performance, such as market share and product development.
Labd and Ryan (2013) investigated the influence of service culture in
improving employee performance and the impact of internal marketing on
employee performance in civil society entities. Staff motivation and satisfac-
tion are important factors in improving service delivery. Internal marketing
 Mechanism of Internal Marketing 137
has a considerable impact on the entire quality of the organization, in addi-
tion to service delivery. According to a review of the literature on internal
marketing, it leads to customer loyalty (Martensen and Grnholdt 2006, cited
in Mishra 2020), employee retention (Ahmad, Iqbal, and Sheeraz 2012),
market orientation (Gronroos; Ahmmed and Rafiq), a positive organiza-
tional culture (Hogg, Carter, and Dunne 1998), and a sustainable competi-
tive advantage (Javadein et al. 2011). It also aids in branding and is critical to
the overall growth and development of the firm.
IM has been shown in numerous studies to increase employee job satis-
faction. Ahmet and his colleagues did a study on government employees.
­Manager–employee communication has a significant impact on staff hap-
piness and motivation. Internal communication was determined to be an
essential aspect in analyzing manager behavior on staff motivation. Ahmed
and Rafiq (2003) found a link between organizational competency and
organizational performance. Dündar, Belma, and Fõrlar (2006) researched
printing press companies and discovered that employees are treated as team
members rather than customers. These businesses understand the value of
internal marketing. İnal, Çiçek, and Akın et al. (2008) employed an IM
technique to examine the organizational attitudes of public sector employ-
ees. They discovered that the staff was dissatisfied.

Conclusion
Internal marketing leads to overall organizational development. Organiza-
tional success relies on how effectively managers motivate their subordinates.
It is not easy to motivate employees because it is difficult to understand
people’s behavior. It is found that employee motivation and satisfaction are
interrelated but it is not necessary that satisfied employees are always moti-
vated. Motivation is a key dimension of internal marketing which leads to
the whole process of it. Thus, internal marketing first focuses on the moti-
vation of employees which leads to job satisfaction. Internal marketing is the
process to understand the relationship between internal suppliers, internal
customers, and the organization. It makes an impact on the financial as well
as the non-financial performance of the organization. It is the exchange
process in the internal market that improves external service quality, man-
ages change, employee retention, employee loyalty, sustainable competitive
advantage, branding, etc. which directly or indirectly makes an impact on
the financial performance of the organization. It also focuses on social gov-
ernance and ethical considerations.

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10 Reorientation of Total
Quality Management

Introduction
The nature of service is intangible. It can be assessed when combined with
other functions, that is, with other tangible productive procedures and
outputs (Services are typically provided concurrently with consumption.
Production begins when the service is requested and concludes when the
demand is met. Employee satisfaction has grown in importance during the
previous two decades. Several studies show a favorable relationship between
employee satisfaction, corporate performance, and consumer satisfaction
(Atiqur, Sarker, and Mehrab 2018).
At the moment, businesses have discovered that it is critical to look
within and examine their internal operations; most importantly, they
have discovered that it is critical to comprehend their human resources
perspective on the organization El-Samen and Alshurideh (2012). Vari-
ous aspects are considered internally which are discussed in the following
paragraphs.

Internal Communication
Internal communications play a major role in the internal market to improve
the coordination of the employees. Box 10.1 shows the definition of inter-
nal communication (El-Samen and Alshurideh 2012).

Box 10.1. Definition of internal communication

Internal Communication (Lovelock and Wright 1999, 248, cited in

El-Samen and Alshurideh 2012).
Internal communication is defined as “all forms of communication
from management to employees in service organization.”

DOI: 10.4324/9781003266013-10
 Reorientation of Total Quality Management 143
Selection
Selection is the activity of human resources. And it plays a key role in the
quality of services. For a definition of selection, see Box 10.2.

Box 10.2. Definition of selection

“Selection is the major and first factor which plays a key role in
the quality services.”

Source: Asif Khan, Mehmood, and Ur-Rehman 2010.

Managers can match the characteristics of the selected employees to the

job description and job requirements because if the management fails in
doing that, the company will suffer from these employees (Robbin et al.,
cited in El-Samen and Alshurideh 2012).

Recruitment
Recruitment criteria should reflect both the human dimensions and the
technical needs of the job; diverse candidates help the organization select
better employees; and diversity also allows the organization to create a
large pool of employees, which allows the organization to think effectively
before selecting one of the candidates; this effectively aids in creating an
effective recruitment process, which helps the organization work effec-
tively (Tuchtfeldt). Employees should be developed and trained to accom-
plish the necessary tasks to conduct their jobs and meet the organization’s
objectives El-Samen and Alshurideh 2012).

Empowerment
Empowerment entails authorizing and enabling employees to act, behave,
think, and make decisions to complete the work more quickly and eas-
ily. Employee empowerment is an important component of employee
development (Kaner; Proctor and Doukakis, cited in El-Samen and
­Alshurideh 2012).

Technology
Technology plays a big role in developing an organization’s performance and
making the internal processes faster. Service delivery is facilitated by providing
support systems such as information systems (El-Samen and Alshurideh 2012).
144 Reorientation of Total Quality Management
Furthermore, Pride stated that the main role of a marketing system is how
to retrieve and save data at the required time using new technologies such as
mobile phones, video conferencing, etc., which assists employees and teams
to interact regionally to break the boundaries between the organization’s
branches to act inter-functionally.

Healthy Working Environment

To create a healthy working environment, organizations should assess
the current situation and try to change the necessary aspects, such as:
prohibiting smoking in internal offices and departments; keeping dan-
gerous materials away from employees; raising awareness about safety
requirements and programs, and keeping the places clean (El-Samen and
­Alshurideh 2012).

Internal Service Quality

Internal service quality is the service quality provided to internal customers.
Let us first understand the meaning of quality (Box 10.3).

Box 10.3. Definition of quality, Jain and Gupta (2004).

“Quality has come to be recognized as a strategic tool for attain-

ing operational efficiency and improved business performance.”

There is a need to improve service quality between internal suppliers and

internal customers in the internal market. To improve the quality of internal
services, the organization’s internal people must improve their coordina-
tion and cooperation. It is also necessary to provide value to the internal
exchange process to improve the quality of internal services.

Internal Service
An internal customer is any member (employee) of the company who
requires services and products from other members of the organization to
do his or her job. As a result, internal service is defined as service delivered
between different organizational departments (Kang, Jame, and Alexandris
2002). Internal marketing is linked to internal service quality perceptions.
As a result, internal consumers who are pleased with the services provided
have greater evaluations of interaction quality.
 Reorientation of Total Quality Management 145
Internal Customer Relationship Management
Top management is more engaged in building customer relationship man-
agement. There are various departments in the internal market: human
resources, finance, business development, IT, medical affairs, and others that
use various other support systems called SAP (system application and prod-
ucts). Conducting regular meetings to explore the internal customer needs
and problems is required to engage them more. Reward systems such as
bonuses and incentives encourage internal customers to establish internal
systems. If we say that customer relationship management means relation-
ships with external customers only, then we are wrong. If we talk about
internal customer relationships in the internal market, then it is an inter-
nal customer relationship that is among internal customers, internal suppli-
ers, and employers (Aburoub Suleiman Abdelmoti Dr., Hersh Muhaamad
Abdullah Dr., and Aladwan Kalil 2011). Top management is more focused
on developing customer relationships. Human resources, finance, business
development, IT, medical affairs, and other departments in the internal mar-
ket use SAP and other support systems (system applications and products).
To involve them more, regular meetings to investigate internal consumer
demands and concerns are essential (El-Samen and Alshurideh 2012). Inter-
nal consumers are encouraged to build internal systems through reward
schemes like bonuses and incentives. If we state that customer relationship
management exclusively refers to ties with external clients, we are mistaken.
When we talk about internal customer relationships in the internal market,
we mean relationships between internal customers, internal suppliers, and
employers.

Top Management Involvement

The involvement of top management indicates that the organization is more
quality-focused. Top management should be active in adopting the concept
of internal marketing and should concentrate their efforts on applying it in
different departments to familiarize their employees with it. There are two
groups of authors: one who considers internal marketing is similar to total
quality management and the other who considers both concepts are differ-
ent. Let’s look at the similarities and differences between them (Figure 10.1).

Similarities Between Internal Marketing and Total

Quality Management
Similarities between internal marketing and total quality management are:

1. Internal marketing and total quality management are quality centric.

2. Both focus on internal customers to improve external service quality.
146 Reorientation of Total Quality Management

Figure 10.1 Quality management

Source: https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2015/06/06/07/37/team-799142_1280.jpg

3. Both focus on service providers.

4. Both focus to achieve organizational goals.

Differentiation Between Internal Marketing and Total

Quality Management
Differentiation between internal marketing and total quality management
(Table.10.1)
According to the authors, to achieve the objective of the organization,
there is a need to provide training, reward, and vision to employees so that
they serve the external customer in a better way; satisfy internal customers
in such a way that they can deliver better service to external customers; and
provide employees with all the things that improve and stimulate their exter-
nal performance. This means providing training, reward, understanding of
the organizational objective, and motivation to employees to improve their
external customer service. IM is the exchange between an organization and
its employee to get success (Mishra 2018). In the concept of total quality
management, there is a focus on external customer service. However, for
providing high-quality service to external customers, there is a need for
 Reorientation of Total Quality Management 147
Table 10.1 Difference between internal marketing and total quality management

S. No. TOTAL QUALITY INTERNAL MARKETING

MANAGEMENT

1. Internal and external customers Internal customer is the top

both are important to improve
the quality of the organization.
2. End-product of the total quality
management is external
customer.
3. Improve the external customer
service
3 It adds value to the products and
services.
4. It enhances inter-functional coor-
dination to improve organiza-
tional system.
5. Improve quality of products and
service to provide external
customer service to make them
satisfied
Source: Adapted from Mishra (2018)
priority.
End-product of internal marketing
process is the internal customer.
Improve the quality of internal
customer service
It adds value to the job products.
It focuses to improve inter-
functional coordination to
change the attitude and behavior
of the organization.
Improve quality of job products to
provide internal customer service
to make them satisfied

satisfaction of both internal and external customers. After analyzing both

the conceptual difference between the IM and total quality management are
given in the following paragraph.
IM is the marketing between an organization and employees. Total qual-
ity management is the operational activity. Thus, it is the process between
internal suppliers and internal customers focusing on external customers. In
the organization activities, for example, job design, employee motivation,
satisfaction, etc. that are focusing on internal customers are not coming
under total quality management (Mishra 2018).
According to Pervaiz and Ahmed, internal customers and internal suppli-
ers are focusing to provide better service to external customers. In addition,
Berry’s concept is that jobs are products and employees are internal custom-
ers (Ahmed and Rafiq 2002; Berry, cited in Mishra 2018). This means that,
first, we need to divide two types of products that are manufactured inside
the organization. They are:

1) Product/service for external customers

2) Job products for internal customers

There are two types of customers, internal and external. Both have their
own need. We cannot apply the same approach to both customers. Improve-
ment in external service quality has been the center of attention since the
adoption of the TQM concept by the organization. For this, they also show
148 Reorientation of Total Quality Management
the importance of internal customers. Various studies were conducted to
improve service quality. According to various researchers, internal market-
ing is the strategy to improve service quality (Mishra 2018).

Conclusion
Today we are in the age of marketing. The first and foremost need of the
organization is the marketing function. For the successful implementation
of TQM, internal marketing originated as a new concept. In TQM it is
already depicted that the focus is on internal and external customers both.
There is a need to satisfy the need of both internal and external customers
and provide product quality and services. Thus, TQM concept clears that
internal customers play a vital role to improve organizational product and
service quality.
Various companies that used it successfully are Ericson Inc. of Lynchburg,
AT and T wireless services, Champion International Corporations paper
and wood pulp products plant operations, Xerox, Motorola, Dupont, Ford,
General motors, etc. The modern look of TQM is to give customer satis-
faction. Internal marketing is the way to improve the exchange process in
the internal market and satisfy internal customers. To improve the quality
and performance of the organization, internal marketing is the best strategy.
Therefore, internal customer service is equally important. Organizations are
doing external marketing for external customers; similarly, they have to do
internal marketing for internal customers. There is a large amount of litera-
ture on internal marketing, but still, there is limited empirical evidence on
its impact on the perception of internal service quality generally. Recruit-
ment, support system, motivation, development, and selection were respec-
tively the strongest predictors affecting perceived internal service quality. So,
close advice is to monitor and develop new motivation system applications
and performance support tools to enhance the internal work environment.
Quality management is the planning, directing, and executing quality
improvement of products and services of the organization. Nevertheless,
it is necessary to improve job products and internal customer service to
improve service quality to external customers and also improvement of the
overall organizational system. Quality management is the operative process
of the organization, whereas internal marketing focus to satisfy the need and
requirements of the customers. Without knowing the need and require-
ments of the internal customers, it is difficult to sell job products to them.
Thus, without proper internal marketing, it is difficult to do operative func-
tions inside the organization. To compete in the market, an organization has
to do various activities in which improvement of the external service qual-
ity is one of them which is most important. But keeping in mind only the
external customer service deteriorates organizational development.
 Reorientation of Total Quality Management 149
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Dr. 2011. “Relationship Between Internal Marketing and Service Quality With Cus-
tomers Satisfaction.” International Journal of Marketing Studies 3 (2): 107–18.
Asif Khan, M., Q. Mehmood, and I. Ur-Rehman. 2010. “Perceived Internal Services
Quality in Human Resources Management and Its Impacts on Employee Job Satisfac-
tion.” 1–7, cited in El-Samen, Amjad Abu, and Muhammad Alshurideh. 2012. “The
Impact of Internal Marketing on Internal Service Quality: A Case Study in a Jorda-
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Atiqur, M. D., Rahman Sarker, and Dewan Mehrab. 2018. “The Relationship between
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Bangladesh.” Journal of the Academy of Business and Retail Management 12 (3): 149–159.
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El-Samen, Amjad Abu, and Muhammad Alshurideh. 2012. “The Impact of Internal
Marketing on Internal Service Quality: A Case Study in a Jordanian Pharmaceu-
tical Company.” International Journal of Business and Management 7 (19). https://doi.
org/10.5539/ijbm.v7n19p84.
Jain S., and G. Gupta. 2004. “Measuring Service Quality: SERVQUAL vs. SERVPERF
Scales.” Vikalpa 29 (2): 25–37.
Kang, G.-D., J. Jame, and O. Alexandris, O. 2002. “Measurement of Internal Service
Quality: Application of the Servqual Battery to Internal Service Quality.” Managing
Service Quality 12 (5): 278–91. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/09604520210442065.
Lovelock, C., and L. Wright. 1999. Principles of Marketing Management. New York:
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Mishra, Teena. 2018. “The Impact of Internal Market Orientation on Service Quality.”
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1280.jpg.
11 Internal Marketing
and Market Orientation

Introduction
Internal marketing is responsible for achieving the market orientation por-
trayed by Gronroos (1981). Market orientation toward external clients is
developed through the marketing process. External customer happiness is
the organization’s main priority. Thus, internal marketing is required to
direct internal customers to external customers. Internal marketing is an
action, and market orientation is the result of that action.
Internal marketing must come first before external market. Therefore,
internal market orientation is essential for the successful implementation of
external market orientation. Customers are vital, whether they are internal
or external. As a result, internal marketing can be considered a prerequisite
for market orientation. In this regard, the concept of internal market ori-
entation has emerged as a bridge between internal marketing and market
orientation. It is critical to undertake internal marketing before undertaking
external marketing. Therefore, internal market orientation is essential for
the successful implementation of external market orientation. Customers,
whether internal or external, are vital.

Internal Market and Market Orientation

With the motivation of employees, customer orientation is also vital. In
the recent origin of internal marketing, it is to improve internal customer
orientation. Internal marketing makes a direct impact on the internal cus-
tomer orientation and indirectly makes an impact on market orientation. It
is found that internal marketing is implemented through employee motiva-
tion. It is also suggested how internal marketing is linked with the market
orientation concept (Kyriazopoulos et al. 2007). Inter-functional coordi-
nation is the coordination of internal activities. It has a positive influence
on market orientation depicted by Eva (Kanovska and Tomaskova 2012).
Thus, various studies proved that internal marketing practice improves mar-
ket orientation.

DOI: 10.4324/9781003266013-11
 Internal Marketing and Market Orientation 151
Future Trends of Market Orientation
Various researchers viewed internal marketing is to create market orientation
and provide a positive relationship between internal marketing and organiza-
tional commitment (cited in Vazifehdoost, Hooshmand, and Dehafarin 2012).
There are two views of research to describe the relationship between com-
mitment and market orientation (cited in Kanovska and Tomaskova 2012):

1) Market orientation is an antecedent to commitment (Kohli and Jawor-

ski 1990).
2) Commitment is the antecedent of market orientation (Sivaramakrishnan
et al. 2008).

Mehdi Abzari discovered that IM influences market orientation, which

in turn influences organizational commitment. This implies that IM has
an impact on organizational commitment following market orientation
(Abzari, Ghorbani, and Alsadat Madani 2011). The researcher investigated
the impact of IM and commitment on bank market orientation. They dis-
covered that IM has a beneficial influence on market orientation. They also
discovered a link between commitment and market orientation. Whereas,
there was no relationship between IM and commitment. It is suggested that
there is a need to improve commitment and market orientation through
IM. According to Kohli and Jaworski, market orientation is an antecedent
to commitment. This means that commitment develops through IM. This
shows that it is an output of internal marketing and an input for external
marketing. Let us understand it with a model of how value-added in exter-
nal marketing through internal marketing (Figure 11.1).
Committed employees eagerly take part in the implementation of a mar-
ket orientation culture. To create a market orientation and culture, internal
marketing is implemented; thus, a commitment of employees is required
for its success. According to this view, commitment acts as input for market
orientation. Internal marketing creates market orientation; thus, commit-
ment is also an input for internal marketing (Sivaramakrishnan et al. 2008).
To clarify the relationship between internal marketing and commitment,
first, we need to understand commitment-based management. Walton
(1985) stressed that commitment-based management means management is
required with commitment. Thus, we can say that even if the organization is
doing marketing, managing marketing with commitment is needed. When
we talk about internal marketing that is for internal customer’s organiza-
tion need to manage internal customers with a commitment. When an
organization is committed to internal customers, then internal custom-
ers are also committed to the organization to achieve the organization’s
goal. Internal marketing is not looking at one parameter of commitment
by employees to provide service to external customers or work with full
152 Internal Marketing and Market Orientation

Figure 11.1 Value addition chain of internal and external marketing

potential. An organization’s commitment is necessary to treat the internal

customers in the same way as external customers. This is the first step of
internal marketing. After this, whether employees are committed or not can
be viewed through the degree of internal customer orientation and internal
service quality. To make the employees knowledgeable, understandable, and
ready to accept the organizational goal, mission, and vision, it is necessary
to make them committed to the organization. They are more committed
to an organization when they are motivated and satisfied. Motivation plays
an important role in the satisfaction of employees. Motivated employees
increase their commitment to employees because they knew that manage-
ment cares for them.

Market Orientation
In 1990, the market orientation concept became an eye-catching con-
cept. Market orientation aims to fulfill customers’ needs by developing
organizational skills, knowledge, etc. It also enhances perceived service
quality and creates awareness of the market (Gounaris, Vassilikopoulou,
and Chatzipanagiotou 2010). According to Narver and Slater, it creates
an organizational culture for improving customer value and thus business
performance. Narver and Slater developed a model in which three related
concepts are present in market orientation: 1) Customer orientation, 2)
Competitor orientation, and 3) Inter-functional coordination (Conduit
and Mavondo 2001).
 Internal Marketing and Market Orientation 153
According to Slater and Narver customer orientation is the central theme
of market orientation (cited in Kaur Sahi et al. 2013) and Chin depicts that
both are the same for organizations (cited in Gafar, Yusuf, and Chin 2014).
It is a well-known fact that customer orientation is to deliver value to the
customer (Amangala and Amangala 2013). Awwad and Agti (2011) defined
customer orientation as an act of readiness to meet the customer’s needs and
wants (cited in Gafar, Yusuf, and Chin 2014). According to various authors,
it is through internal marketing that customer orientation is gained to pro-
vide superior performance (cited in Amangala and Amangala 2013).
Market orientation originated to improve customer satisfaction through
employees. According to Mohr Jackson (cited in Mishra 2018), the pur-
pose to include internal customers in customer orientation is to identify
the needs of external customers. The reason to provide benefits to internal
customers is to increase value for external customers. Thus, to make an
effective customer orientation, internal customers play an important role
(Conduit and Mavondo 2001). This concept does not look different from
the internal marketing concept of Berry. According to Lings et al., for the
success of external exchange between customer and employee, there is a
need for a better relationship between internal customer and internal sup-
plier (cited in Kaur Sahi et al. 2013). Different perspectives of customer
orientation are provided in Table 11.1.
Customer focus is the central point in all of the aforementioned dif-
ferent perspectives (cited in Amangala and Amangala 2013). According to
Saad, Ahmed, and Rafiq (2002), internal marketing is a strategy to achieve
customer-oriented and motivated personnel. This means that market orien-
tation happens to employees. Through internal marketing, market orienta-
tion is created by employees. In this reference, Watson et al. urged when
we talk about a customer-oriented organization, it means its employees are
customer-oriented (cited in Amangala and Amangala 2013).
According to Kohli, market orientation contributed to providing value
to customers and improving performance (cited in Conduit and Mavondo
2001). Lamb, Hair, and McDaniel (2005) gave the reason that to create a
marketing orientation is to implement marketing (cited in Wang, Chen,
and Chen 2012). In internal marketing focus is on internal customers. For

Table 11.1 Different perspectives of customer orientations

Difference perspectives of customer orientation

Author The perspective of customer orientation

Shapiro (1988) Decision-making perspective

Narver and Slater (1994) Culturally based behavioral
Ruekert (1992) Strategy focus
Deshpande, Farley, and Webster (1993) Customer orientation
154 Internal Marketing and Market Orientation
effective internal marketing, there is a need for internal customer orien-
tation. Thus, internal customer orientation is the antecedent of internal
marketing.

Internal Customer Orientation

Lings defined that internal market orientation is to improve the relation-
ship between employee and employer. According to Mavondo, an inter-
nal supplier’s work to satisfy the need of internal customers is denoted as
internal customer orientation. Through the internal market orientation, all
the employees (internal suppliers, internal customers) are improving their
relationship with the employer and also with each other. An organization
has to work for the betterment of its employees. Lings defined that, in the
internal market orientation, value is added to the employee’s job product by
providing benefits like flexible working hours, salaries, and other benefits
for the smooth progress of internal exchange. In this regard, Huseman and
Hatfield (1990) suggested the equity theory of internal exchange in which
employees evaluate their job by comparing its input with what they get out.
Lings defined that internal market orientation is to improve the relationship
between employee and employer.

Dimensions of Internal Market Orientation

Various researchers defined internal market orientation in their way. Some
of the dimensions of researchers are mentioned in Table 11.2.
Dawes studied on banking and insurance sector and found a positive
relationship between the dimension of internal market orientation and
customer orientation. The greatest contributor to customer orientation is
information dissemination. In the banking sector, one more study was done
by Yusuf and his colleague on Nigerian banks to examine the effect of
Internal marketing components (Training and development, Rewards and
communication, internal communication, and Empowerment) on customer
orientation and found a positive effect of it.

Dimensions of Internal Customer Orientation

Amangala (2013) discovered that internal marketing orientation dimensions
(internal communication, reward, empowerment, training, and growth)
have a favorable impact on customer orientation. Internal communication
in the workplace has a significant impact on an employee’s conduct and
attitude. Customer–employee interactions are influenced by the employee’s
behavior and attitude. Mavanodo discovered that market intelligence distri-
bution and management assistance have the biggest impact on the growth
of customer orientation. However, a training program may not be required.
Table 11.2 Dimensions of internal customer orientation
S. No. Authors
1 Ruizalba et al. (2014)
In 2014, measures were used for
internal marketing orientation in
Spanish hotels (Portugal et al. n.d.)
2 Dimensions of internal market
orientation (Lings and Greenley
2001; cited in Kaur Sahi et al.
2013)
3 Lings (2004; cited in Gounaris 2006)
described three main dimensions
of market orientation for internal
market orientation.
Dimensions of Internal Customer Orientation
2) Generation of intelligence through data collection from the company’s internal market
Sub-dimensions are:
a) Identification of value exchange
b) Segmentation
2) Communication of internal market intelligence and its dissemination in the organization
a) Communication
3) Response to internal market intelligence by the company
a) Managers’ concern
b) Implementation of managers’ concern
Training
1) Generating and disseminating intelligence
2) Satisfying the wants and needs of employees
Internal Marketing and Market Orientation 155
3) Designing and implementing appropriate responses to meet those needs and wants
Presented five dimensions of internal market orientation:
1) Formal generation of internal information
2) Informal generation of internal written information
3) Formal face–face generation of internal information
4) Dissemination of information generated by employees
5) Design and implementation of manager’s response
1) Internal market intelligence generation
a) Identify exchange value
b) Study of employee market
c) Segmentation of an internal market
d) Strategies for each market
2) Internal Intelligence Dissemination
a) Communication between managers and employees
b) Communication between employees
3) Response to internal intelligence
a) Job description
b) Remuneration system
c) Training
d) Management concern
156 Internal Marketing and Market Orientation
Employees’ demands and needs are met as a result of internal market ori-
entation, resulting in job satisfaction. In this area, Salem (2013) discovered
a link between internal market orientation and work satisfaction. Inter-
nal marketing orientation entails using marketing strategies to meet the
demands of employees. He employed three components of his study’s inter-
nal marketing orientation: 1) internal marketing research, 2) internal com-
munication, and 3) internal reaction. Employees are motivated and satisfied
when marketing methods are used, according to Rafiq and Ahmed (2000).
Thus, internal marketing began with an emphasis on internal customers.
Khan’s empirical research on internal market orientation in the service
organization He found positive effects of the internal market orientation on
employees’ work-related outcomes. For the study, they took two parameters
for work-related outcomes: organizational commitment and organizational
commitment behavior Joseph (1996). Internal market orientation increases
the efficacy of human resources. Most research on employee satisfaction
finds that job design and the work environment are the most critical factors.
Conduit and Mavondo (2001) presented his methodology that demonstrates
how market orientation leads to customer pleasure.
Internal market orientation, according to some analysts, is the approach
to improving external marketing. Opoku et al. (2014) experimentally
evaluated the relationship between internal market orientation and com-
mercial bank performance in Ghana and discovered a favorable relation-
ship between the two. Internal market orientation, according to the Lings,
evolves to strengthen the interaction between employee and employer. He
measured internal market orientation dimensions in the retail sector using
five dimensions: formal written information generation, formal face-to-
face information generation, informal information generation, information
communication and dissemination, and responding to this internal market
information.
There are three primary elements to producing information in the inter-
nal market:

1) Employees perceive what input they are offered in their employment.

Which way are they working?
And how do they see the overall work they do in their organization?
2) They predict output from their input after evaluating its perception.
What the organization is giving them in exchange?
They are also aware of their productivity.

According to Sheth, marketing depends on market circumstances, so it is

not clear. Construct of internal marketing orientation in developed coun-
tries can be used in developing countries also In this reference, Sheth says
that marketing depends on the market situation; hence, it is not clear that
the same construct can be used in developed and developing countries.
Indian and western cultures are different from each other. Kaur et al. (2013)
 Internal Marketing and Market Orientation 157
studied internal marketing orientation in the Indian context. A reward sys-
tem, according to Carter and Gray (2007), should foster internal market
orientation. As a result, personnel is encouraged to focus on the consumer.
Gounaris observed that job satisfaction is positively correlated with internal
marketing practice. Internal market orientation results in customer satisfac-
tion, staff attitude, compliance, retention, etc. Market orientation has a posi-
tive impact on external customers and the organization.
And internal market orientation has a positive effect on employees and
the organization. It fulfills the job requirements of employees, and manage-
ment considers the need of employees and focuses on their development. It
develops a positive attitude in employees and improves their behavior. Vari-
ous studies reveal that internal market orientation is very helpful in improv-
ing external marketing, but I need to do more research on how to adopt an
internal market orientation in the organization.

Recent Studies on Internal Market Orientation

The significance of internal market orientation is to plan strategy and its
execution. As a result, for any strategic direction to be effective, it must
first and foremost rely on the alignment of its personnel with the mission
and broader corporate objectives, and ultimately, with its business model.
This focus on internal clients is what primarily enables firms to execute
on their value promise and drives human capital management. It has been
empirically studied how IMO improves job satisfaction and staff commit-
ment (Ruizalba and Soares 2016, cited in Mansouri et al. 2021). There is a
correlation between market orientation and entrepreneurial orientation in
the relationship between internal marketing and entrepreneurial orientation
in private sports clubs. The findings indicate that internal marketing has a
beneficial mediation function in the link between entrepreneurial orienta-
tion and internal marketing. This is vital in sports clubs since employees
play a major part in the club’s success. Consumer satisfaction is required
for employee happiness, which is developed through internal marketing
and marketing. As a result, the club fosters an environment that encourages
entrepreneurialism.
Small and medium-sized businesses have more flexibility and can adapt
to rapid environmental changes and react faster than large firms. And, as
such, are often more entrepreneurial. Kao (cited in Mansouri et al. 2021)
defined entrepreneurship as “a process of making changes; doing some-
thing different, thus creating wealth for the individual and adding value to
society.” Adaption is vital in small organizations in this changing business
environment with evolving customer needs. This means that small organiza-
tions, such as sports clubs, have to perform and adapt to these dynamically
changing environments. Succeeding in such a challenging market requires
responding consciously and quickly to both the market and customers. As a
result, the company must have a deep awareness of the competitive landscape
158 Internal Marketing and Market Orientation
in which they operate, and being market-oriented is vital in such volatile
times (Kushala and Dubey cited in Mansouri et al. 2021).
Organizations must be aware of how to compete in these changing con-
texts as innovation advances Zhang et al. (cited in Mansouri et al. 2021).
Internal marketing focuses on marketing to personnel within the organiza-
tion. Internal marketing, according to marketing theories, emphasizes the
importance of employee satisfaction and regards employees’ jobs as inter-
nal goods. The purpose of internal marketing is to develop and motivate
employees. The function of internal marketing is founded on the assumption
that motivated employees adhere to company policies and decision-making.
Employees are better able to act, fulfill their duties, and execute
­improvements when they grasp the organization’s goals. As a result, engaged
employees can promote innovation and organizational change. Internal
marketing emphasizes the value of people, empowering them and fostering
creativity and entrepreneurship within the firm. Internal marketing boosts
employee motivation and contributes to the development of their personal
and social capital. As employee motivation grows, the organization will be
able to better achieve strategy renewal and transformation, alter the business
and invent, all of which are required for an entrepreneurial orientation. As a
result, we may conclude that there is a positive relationship between internal
marketing and entrepreneurial orientation. One of the most well-known
factors in entrepreneurial and managerial studies is entrepreneurial orienta-
tion according to Pittino. According to all definitions of market orienta-
tion, customer satisfaction is the primary pillar of the strategy, and hence all
organizational actions should be market-oriented. As a result, it is critical
for service businesses, especially sports clubs, to be customer-focused. The
sports club must be adaptable to the users’ demands and goals. While clients
are the ultimate aim in the service marketing arena, the firm’s employees are
also critical. Therefore, while market orientation is vital for external cus-
tomers, internal marketing is critical for market orientation since it focuses
on attracting, developing, and motivating the firm’s workers. Employees in
service firms are at the forefront of customer interaction activities and play
an important role in communicating with customers (cited in Mansouri et
al. 2021). It is also considered that organizations with a market orientation
have greater success with internal marketing since market orientation moti-
vates employees to perform better.
An outside-in approach is a mental model that is sympathetic to exter-
nal stakeholders as well as a decision priority. It begins with the leadership
team stepping outside the organization’s current bounds and constraints and
turning to the market for guidance: how and why are the requirements
and behaviors of current and prospective consumers changing? What can
we do to assist them with addressing their challenges and succeeding? The
purpose is to broaden and enrich the strategic dialogue, resulting in a more
diverse collection of opportunities). An outside-in orientation is an antidote
 Internal Marketing and Market Orientation 159
to short-term and transactional product centricity (Shah et al., mentioned
in Day 2020) and the resource-based theory (RBV) of the firm’s inside-out
bias. According to Barney, the essence of the RBV is that limited, unique,
and valuable resources (such as patents, facilities, and trademarks) exist to
be utilized. According to Makadok, management aims to improve and
fully exploit these resources. As a result, an emphasis is placed on internal
efficiency improvements and short-term cost-cutting measures. The RBV
myopically narrows and prematurely anchors the discourse to what exists
today versus what might be feasible in the future as a starting point for
strategic thinking. Starting from the outside-in, services serve as a counter-
weight to decision biases such as overconfidence, excessive optimism, and
confirmation bias, which are informed entirely by data that supports pre-
vailing ideas. An outside approach to developing and implementing strategy
embeds an iterative, learning process that begins from the outside within
the business, as defined by five characteristics: 1) a wide-angle shot captured
with a wide lens, 2) a compassionate outlook that 3) pervades all levels of the
organization; 4) a forward-thinking mindset, and 5) a thirst for knowledge.
The iterative learning process is a dynamic capability composed of the sub-
capabilities necessary to scan, create, learn, and interpret according to Teece
(cited in Day 2020).
Market orientation is a business philosophy that places a premium on
identifying consumer needs and desires and meeting them through products
and services (Udriyah, Tham, and Azam 2019). The most recent researchers
are adamant that firms should pursue market orientation because it enables
firms to achieve long-term competitive advantage (Fakhreddin, Foroudi, and
Ghahroudi 2021; Hernández-Linares, Kellermanns, and López-­Fernández
2021; Alhakimi and Mahmoud 2020; Ho et al. 2018 cited in M Saleh,
Azmin, and Saraih 2021)
Globalization, global rivalry, and changes in customer requirements and
wishes have all increased histrionically over the last decade (cited in M Saleh,
Azmin, and Saraih 2021). Furthermore, the majority of industrial sectors in
developing-country economies are undergoing structural and rapid changes,
resulting in economic opportunities for foreign direct investment (FDI),
unbalanced development, and increased uncertainty as a result of environ-
mental changes (Calza and Goedhuys (2017; Chironga et al. 2011, cited in
M Saleh, Azmin, and Saraih 2021). Surprisingly, these changes have created
both critical challenges and opportunities for businesses to capitalize on their
abilities or proficiency for development. These changes have also affected
the decision-making processes and managerial assumptions of many entre-
preneurial firms, including those made to capitalize on opportunities and
methods for creating and delivering customer value (Wu and Pagell 2011;
Hughes and Morgan 2007, cited in M Saleh, Azmin, and Saraih 2021). To
improve their efficiency and competitiveness on this point, numerous busi-
nesses are empowered to alter their classical business processes and to design
160 Internal Marketing and Market Orientation
and implement the most effective strategies to improve goods and services
to make sure customer satisfaction at a reasonable cost (Goksoy, Ozsoy, and
Vayvay 2012; Teixeira et al. cited in M Saleh, Azmin, and Saraih 2021).
In the contemporary business environment, market orientation has
become a widely discussed topic in the business community and academics.
Since the market environment has become more competitive, developing
and improving one’s internal resources is now an absolute necessity. Despite
the influence these topics have on the performance of microenterprises, a
significant number of market orientation studies haven’t empirically con-
nected them (M Saleh, Azmin, and Saraih 2021).
The concept of market orientation comprises four components: cus-
tomer and competitor orientations, each with a proactive and responsive
dimension. Studies have considered both responsive and proactive customer
orientation. Competitor orientation, however, has been investigated more
narrowly. Research has focused specifically on its responsive dimension, a
firm’s posture of quickly responding to its competitors’ actions and their
offerings; but has largely disregarded proactive competitor orientation, a
firm’s posture toward altering the market’s competitive behavior in its favor.
This study investigates the role of responsive and proactive competitor ori-
entation in influencing innovation and firm performance, as well as the
mediating effects of technology and learning orientation. Utilizing a unique
dataset that combines primary and time-lagged secondary data from 306
firms, we find that both responsive and proactive competitor orientation
are observable drivers of performance in the market, but in notably differ-
ent ways (Schulze, Townsend, and Talay 2022). Proactive competitor ori-
entation drives innovation performance, directly and through technology
orientation. Responsive competitor orientation, instead, enhances firm per-
formance through learning orientation. By providing insights into the pro-
active side of competitor orientation, this study supplements and completes
the so-called “market orientation matrix.” This framework guides leaders
to develop and manage a practical application of, and future research on,
market orientation (Schulze, Townsend, and Talay 2022).
MO refers to the extent to which firms value, enable, and encourage
behavior following the marketing concept. The marketing concept stipu-
lates that for firms to achieve sustained success. Further, MO is consid-
ered to be externally focused, as it is a primary means through which firms
interact with their environment (i.e., customers and competitors) (Schulze,
Townsend, and Talay 2022). Two perspectives of MO can be distinguished;
a behavioral (Kohli and Jaworski 1990, and a cultural perspective (Narver
and Slater 1994, The behavioral perspective describes MO in terms of
organizational active.

Proactive Competitor Orientation

To conceptualize proactive competitor orientation, we build on the founda-
tions of market-driving organizations (Schulze, Townsend, and Talay 2022).
 Internal Marketing and Market Orientation 161
Driving markets entails a firm’s engagement in strategic activities to proac-
tively change the compositions, roles, or behaviors of other market players.
Market-driving firms change how competitors act, and without the focal
firm’s intervention, those players would develop different strategies. The
concept of market-driving is broadly encompassing and refers to all stake-
holders in the market including customers, competitors, suppliers, distribu-
tors, etc.

Technology Orientation
Technology has become ever more pervasive in all aspects of life and has
become integral to almost everything, including retail, personal commu-
nications and media (e.g., social media), and entertainment (e.g., streaming
services). In this paradigm, technological capabilities can inhibit or enable an
organization’s actions in the marketplace. If a firm’s technologies mismatch
with its strategic actions in the environment, opportunities may be lost, or
inefficiencies can increase costs. Technology is recognized as being crucial
to master and deploy if the full potential benefits of MO are to be real-
ized in an era of rapid technological change (Gotteland, Shock, and Sarin
2020). As a result, the extent of technological focus and capacity increas-
ingly determines the innovation strategies being followed, the new prod-
ucts being developed, and the level of organizational performance being
achieved, while engagement in innovation is one of the possible results,
alternative intended or emergent outcomes are possible; examples include
lower prices, comprehensive marketing campaigns, or to merge with or
acquire another company or technology.

Responsive Competitor Orientation

A responsive competitor orientation is defined as a firm’s posture of quickly
responding to its competitors’ actions and their offerings to gain a com-
petitive advantage. This posture is reflected in the beliefs and values and,
and in the understanding that organizational members share about the firm,
and accordingly, responsive competitor-oriented firms use their rivals as a
frame of reference and seek to make their products more favorable over
their competitors’ products. Means to achieve this include taking actions to
re-position products by adding features, being less expensive, or by finding
more effective channels of distribution. Responsive competitor orientation
refers to a firm’s strategic imperative to answer the competition by directly
and intensely responding to their offerings.

Learning Orientation
Likewise, in the attempt to uncover the process through which MO affects
organizational outcomes, research has identified conceptually organizational
learning as a key mediator. Whether driven by customers or competitors, all
162 Internal Marketing and Market Orientation
markets are subject to constant change which creates for firms the need to
continuously engage in organizational learning. To replenish their products
and services to maintain or increase their value to customers, thus, sustain-
ing their competitive advantage, they need to learn so they can adapt.
Based on the initial conceptualization of MO by Narver and Slater (1994,
cited in Schulze, Townsend, and Talay 2022), the MO matrix is a simple
framework that offers several contributions to the literature. First, the matrix
comprehensively reflects the original conceptualization of one of the most
important topics in the marketing literature. Considering extant MO studies
through the lens of the MO matrix reveals that interpretation, considera-
tion, and discussion of MO have been disproportionately concentrated on
reactive orientations. Research has focused on firms’ responsiveness to the
detriment of proactiveness, as illustrated earlier; and, has definitively dedi-
cated more attention to firms’ orientation relative to customers, rather than
to competitors. Our study addresses these issues and helps to mitigate the
imbalance. We provide greater insight into the competitor side of MO by
adding proactive orientation to its responsive counterpart and contribute to
the mitigation of the imbalance between firms’ responsiveness and proac-
tiveness, as well as to that between firms’ orientations toward customers and
competitors. Second, the MO matrix emphasizes that MO is multifaceted
and indicates that MO’s performance effects may be more complex than
initially thought. This offers avenues for future research. The matrix can
provide a framework to study the balance between all four MO components
and to consider whether or not the pursuit of responsive and proactive com-
petitor orientation or all MO components can, or should be, concurrent.
Trade-offs and how firms can determine and manage such trade-offs are
theoretical considerations to be taken up by future research. Alternatively,
the matrix can provide a frame to study complementarity, interaction, bal-
ance, or even substitution effects of the four MO components. Thus, it
can enable future research to expand extant knowledge, for example, on
the optimal balance of responsive and proactive customer orientation or
the complementarity of the responsive customer and responsive competitor
orientation (Grinstein 2008). Overall, our study provides a stronger foun-
dation for the continued theoretical development of MO and allows for
future research to achieve a deeper understanding of how this concept can
be deployed in the marketplace (Schulze, Townsend, and Talay 2022).

Conclusion
Internal market orientation is a novel notion that has been established to assist
with internal marketing. This chapter describes the relationship between
internal marketing, market orientation, and internal market orientation.
Internal marketing is to improve external marketing. Today organization
is focused not only on external customers but also on internal customers.
 Internal Marketing and Market Orientation 163
Internal market orientation not only improves external marketing but
also aids in gaining a competitive advantage through improved internal mar-
keting. In this competitive and dynamic market environment, there is a need
for marketing activities in the internal market as well. Internal marketing
is a combination of human resources and marketing activities. With the
motivation of employees, customer orientation is also necessary to improve
employee performance and increase organizational growth. In the recent
concept of internal marketing, it is to enhance internal customer orienta-
tion and makes a direct and indirect impact on organizational performance.
There are two views of research to explain the relationship between com-
mitment and market orientation; the first is it is an antecedent to commit-
ment, and the second is it is an antecedent of market orientation (Kohli
and Jaworski, Sivaramakrishnan; cited in Kanovska and Tomaskova 2012).
It is proved in various research that internal marketing makes an influence
market orientation. They also identified a link between commitment and
market orientation. Due to globalization, changes in customer preference,
and global rivalry, customer demands are also increasing. Therefore, there
is a need to engage employees to promote innovation and organizational
change. Internal marketing emphasizes the value of people, improving crea-
tivity and entrepreneurship, and empowering employees. It boosts employee
motivation and orientation and leads to the overall development of the
organization. In the recent trend of internal customer orientation, technol-
ogy orientation, competitor orientation, responsive competitor orientation,
and learning orientation are prevailing.

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12 Internal Marketing
and Service Quality

Introduction
Several studies have been conducted to improve service quality, but little
attention has been paid to internal service quality. Today’s organizations
must prioritize internal service excellence (Stanley and Wisner 2001). The
primary purpose for initiating internal service quality is to make employ-
ees happy. Employee products and services must be used to improve inter-
nal service quality. They got more efficient and satisfied as a result of this.
The provision of quality services is one of the major objectives of internal
marketing. Internal marketing’s core concept is to please internal custom-
ers so that external customers can be satisfied. However, current research
has discovered that internal marketing not only satisfies customers but also
enhances total service quality. According to the first group of studies (Gron-
roos 1983, cited in Mishra 2018b), service quality and customer happiness
are the same for the organization. Service quality, according to the second
group (Bitner 1990), is not the same as customer satisfaction. This means
that service excellence cannot be judged solely in terms of client happiness.
Customer satisfaction is the outcome of a specific service transaction while
service quality is the overall evaluation of the customer (Mishra 2018b).

Internal Marketing and Service Quality

Many studies explain the relationship between internal marketing and ser-
vice quality, and many of them take a positivist approach to it (Figure 12.1).
For example, Gebril (2011, cited in Colette, Christian, and Laure 2019)
studies the impact of internal marketing on the level of service quality in
sports clubs. He discovered a good relationship between internal market-
ing and the level of service offered. It is critical to understand the aspects
of employees’ responsibilities, employee training, employee relationships,
employee motivation, and employee–customer interaction.
Sadeghloo and Tirgar (2013, cited in Colette, Christian, and Laure 2019)
studied the relationship between internal marketing and service quality. The

DOI: 10.4324/9781003266013-12
168 Internal Marketing and Service Quality

Figure 12.1 Service quality

Source: https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2016/03/13/10/19/customer-1253483_1280.jpg

population of employees in Golestan Offices of Sport and Youth demon-

strates a good and significant association between internal marketing and
service quality. Based on the findings of this study, we can infer that internal
marketing has a large and favorable impact on service quality, whether from
the perspective of staff or customers. In any case, internal marketing com-
municates its strategy to the client during the service meeting because this is
the first point of contact the customer has with the company (Figure 12.2).
Internal marketing must develop an environment that encourages the
delivery of high-quality services. Internal marketing provides employees
with the tools they need to provide a service that customers perceive favora-
bly. Many authors have sought to explain how internal marketing dimen-
sions led to the enhancement of service quality: Training is the systematic
development of employees’ knowledge, abilities, and attitudes required to
accomplish a specific task or job (Saleem, Shahid, and Naseem 2011, cited
in Colette, Christian, and Laure 2019).
As a result, a well-trained workforce has the advantage of being com-
petent, which is a benefit to the company. Internal marketing ensures that
all employees have the knowledge, skills, tools, and incentive to give high-
quality service. As a result, training programs in service companies improve
service quality (Batt 1999). Investing in staff training yields concrete results
in terms of changing attitudes, and developing skills to increase service
 Internal Marketing and Service Quality 169

Figure 12.2 Customer service

Source: https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2016/09/11/08/32/service-1660848_1280.jpg

quality, employee happiness, and loyalty (DuBrin 1994). Furthermore,

internal marketing is the key to employee competency. Internal marketing
tools for improving service quality extend beyond employee training.
A firm can increase the quality of services it provides to its consumers
by focusing on employee satisfaction. Indeed, fulfilling employees’ demands
boosts their motivation and job satisfaction, which keeps them loyal to the
firm and ensures the quality of the services they deliver to clients (Hosseini
and Rahmani 2012, cited in Colette, Christian, and Laure 2019).

Internal Marketing and Service Quality

Several studies have been conducted to investigate the relationship
between IM (internal marketing) and service quality. Jarrah Samiha et al.
investigated the impact of internal marketing dimensions (vision, commu-
nications, reward, leadership, training and development, and managerial
support) on health care quality. Internal marketing dimensions have been
found to improve health care service quality, and eight dimensions (incen-
tive, b­ alance of family and work, scheduling work hours, coworkers, pro-
fessional opportunities, interaction opportunities, praise and recognition,
work control, and responsibilities) have been found to improve employee
satisfaction (­Jarrah and Haddad 2012). Several studies have shown that
employee satisfaction is critical to achieving external customer satisfaction.
Internal not only increases service providers’ quality but also helps them
satisfy their clients. Internal marketing techniques (service culture, human
resource development, motives, system, and reward) and service qual-
ity (tangibility, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy) were also
170 Internal Marketing and Service Quality
investigated about customer satisfaction (Suleiman Aburoub, M ­ ohammad
Hersh, and Aladwan 2011).
Similarly, Ghorbani discovered that in the insurance industry, organiza-
tional citizenship conduct acts as a mediator between internal marketing and
service excellence. The concept of organizational citizenship behavior was
initially developed Organ citizenship behavior and his colleague (­Bateman
and Organ 1983). It creates a pleasant work environment (both social and
psychological) for organizational effectiveness. Employees are eager to
­collaborate and build creative behaviors with the organization’s citizenship
behavior. Dimensions of Organization citizenship behavior are Altruism,
courtesy, civic virtue, conscientiousness, and sportsmanship revealed by
Organ (1988, cited in Ghorbani and Mostafavi 2013).

Internal Service Quality

Internal service quality, as described by Stauss (1995, cited in Miguel,
Salomi, and Abackerli 2006), is the services supplied by internal suppliers
to internal customers in the internal market from one unit or department
to another.

Approaches with Internal Service Quality

When it comes to internal service quality, there are two approaches. The
first strategy involves the business serving its internal consumers, whereas
the second involves the organization serving internal service providers or
internal suppliers to internal customers (Nazeer, Zahid, and Azeem 2014).
Employee motivation is a crucial aspect in providing better service to
external clients in the initial approach. Similarly, the organization motivates
all internal customers so that they can service their internal consumers well.
They accomplish this through identifying consumer needs, training them,
and ensuring that they are satisfied with their jobs (Suleiman Aburoub,
Mohammad Hersh, and Aladwan 2011).
The exchange logic model clarifies that organizations and employees are
involved in the purchasing and selling idea (Mishra 2018a), with both acting
as marketers and buyers.
As a result, in the second method, firms offer products and services to
their employees. Employees in this context include all internal customers
and internal suppliers who participate in the internal exchange process to
attain the organizational aim. Here is an organization’s endeavor to motivate
all employees for the success of internal marketing. In the internal market,
employees act as internal service providers and internal customers.
There is interactive marketing between internal service providers and
internal customers in the internal market. To separate it from external mar-
keting, this technique can be referred to as internal interactive marketing.
 Internal Marketing and Service Quality 171
Internal interactive marketing is explained in the diamond shape model of
internal marketing, which depicts the link between internal service provid-
ers and internal customers (Mishra 2018a). Time and place are important
factors in providing superior service providers (Mehrparvar, Shahin, and
Shirouyehzad 2012).
Tangible items like physical layout, equipment, and attire are meaningless
to internal customers, even though several of the researchers (e.g., Brooks
et al.) overlooked this. According to Paraskevas, tangible goods (physical
layout, equipment, apparel) are meaningless for internal consumers; there-
fore, some researchers, including Brooks et al, removed these items to meas-
ure internal service quality (Brandon-Jones and Silvestro 2010). However,
equipment, office architecture, and so on all stimulate internal customers
and create a better work atmosphere.
Several organizations also provide office costumes to wear to entice
internal customers. They also provide a pleasant working environment
with attractive structures and office layouts. When someone comes to the
office, the first thing they notice in the office is that it offers them a first
impression and shapes their view of the organization. Organizations use it
to provide work products and other services. To improve internal service
quality, firms must concentrate on improving internal customers’ job goods
and services.

Dimensions of Internal Service Quality

There are various dimensions of service quality (Table 12.1).

Measurement of Internal Service Quality

In comparison to internal service quality, which arose later, there are numer-
ous metrics of service quality. Service quality, according to Zeithmal et al.,
is a factor of market share, return on investment, and cost reduction, and it
is commonly evaluated (Bellaouaied 2011).
Kang and James classified assessing service quality into two groups: the
American perspective and the European perspective. The American view-
point is based on functional qualities, but the European viewpoint is based
on other dimensions other than the process of service delivery (Miguel,
Salomi, and Abackerli 2006).
SERVQUAL scale of Parasuraman Zeithaml, and Berry (1985) is based
on the functional aspect (Miguel, Salomi, and Abackerli 2006). This scale is
developed on the basis of the difference in score between customer expec-
tations of service and their perceptions after receiving it. Ten factors of
service quality found by Parasuraman are reliability, responsiveness, compe-
tence, access, courtesy, communication, credibility, security, understanding/
knowing, the customer, and tangibility. After the scale purification, they
Table 12.1 Dimensions of internal service quality

172
S. No. Author Dimensions of internal service quality

Internal Marketing and Service Quality

1. Gilbert 2000 empirically examined (cited in Jun 1) Personal service
2010) 2 dimensions 2) Technical competence
2. Greemler et al. (1994) gave three internal service 1) Response to service delivery failures
activities (cited in Jun 2010) 2) Providing internal customer needs
3) Prompt service to internal customers
3. Internal service quality dimensions of Hallowell Eight internal service quality Dimensions are:
1996 used by 1) Communication
Nazeer in their study on education institutions 2) Goal alignment
(cited in Nazeer, Zahid, and Azeem 2014) 3) Training
4) Rewards and Recognition
5) Teamwork
6) Management support
7) Policies & Procedures
8) Organizations provide tools to employees.
Azeem’s study also added one new dimension;
according to them, internal service quality is the feeling of employees
service they received or
delivered to their work fellows.
9) The attitude of the coworker
4. Tangible and intangible quality of The tangible quality of internal service
internal service (cited in Wang-Gao) Personal training
Incentive programs
Employee welfare measures
Intangible quality
Organizations’ internal communication channel
Degree of autonomy
5. According to Haskett et al., service-profit chain 1) Design of workplace and content
quality of internal service. 2) Recruitment
3) development
4) reward/
5) recognition
6) tools used by an employee for external customer service
6. Based on internal service quality dimensions of Four dimensions are:
Hsu Shun – Wang, 1) Workplace equipment
Kuo Yi-Jie and Chen Han Hsusan (cited in 2) Employee Remuneration
Wang 2011) empirically studied Tourist 3) Employee training
hotels in Taiwan. 4) Job promotion and teamwork

Internal Marketing and Service Quality

173
174 Internal Marketing and Service Quality
decreased 10 factors to 5 which are Tangibility, Reliability, Responsiveness,
Assurance, and Empathy.
Dimensions vary according to the kind of industry according to Car-
man (cited in Bellaouaied 2011). Due to criticism of the SERVQUAL scale,
Cronin and Taylor prepared the SERVPERF scale to measure the service
quality scale which is “performance based” (cited in Bellaouaied 2011). It is
like the SERVQUAL scale but the difference is that it reflects the only per-
ception of performance (Miguel, Salomi, and Abackerli 2006). SERVPERF
is better than the SERVQUAL scale due to its exactness (Miguel, Salomi,
and Abackerli 2006). There are not sufficient studies based on internal ser-
vice quality in comparison to external service quality. Various researchers
used the SERVQUAL scale to measure internal service quality. Mehrparvar
et al. used the SERVQUAL scale to measure internal service quality to find
the gap between internal customer expectation and their perception in Isfa-
han Steel Mill Co. based on five dimensions, which are:

1) Tangibles: These comprise physical facilities, products, types of equip-

ment, and the appearance of employees.
2) Reliability: This represents the ability to perform accurately.
3) Responsiveness: The ability to respond to provide prompt service.
4) Assurance: It is to build trust and confidence.
5) Empathy: The firm provides attention to its customers (Mehrparvar,
Shahin, and Shirouyehzad 2012).

INTSERVQUAL Scale
Frost and Kumar developed INTSERVQUAL (Internal service q­ uality (Farias
2010). It is grounded on the Persuraman scale. They studied international
airlines by comparing customer contact staffs expectation and assistance of
staff performance. He used the Persuraman scale for internal customers.
Three dimensions of service quality perception given by ­Gronroos are func-
tional, technical, and image. Functional aspects are the process of service,
technical aspects are the outcome of service, and image is how customers
viewed about the company (Miguel, Salomi, and Abackerli 2006). There
are three dimensions of service quality perception according to Gronroos.
In what manner service is provided is the functional aspect, what would be
the outcome of service is the technical aspect, and in what way customer
looked company is the image aspect.
The developments in the field of marketing focused on internal cus-
tomer as they are first customer of the organization (Kotler 2003). This
is a particularity of the internal marketing concept that corresponds to a
business process management approach to external clients. This marketing
term was used for the first time by Berry. Although the current literature
on internal marketing lacks a theoretical basis and is largely “prescriptive
and normative” in nature (Pitt and Foreman 1999), it has still been the
 Internal Marketing and Service Quality 175
subject. To adopt an internal marketing strategy would be to implement a
certain number of principles within the managerial sphere. The implemen-
tation of internal marketing requires knowledge of its various articulations.
Unlike the concept of quality of service, the number of dimensions that is
known and limited according to the measuring instrument used (Servqual
and Servperf), it is still very difficult to exactly define the number of inter-
nal marketing dimensions to use. This could be a hindrance to the imple-
mentation of a real internal marketing policy within the managerial sphere.
Indeed, each author gives several dimensions of internal marketing, which
sometimes has nothing in common with those mentioned in works that fol-
low the same logic. Thus, Foreman and Money (1995, cited in Mehrparvar,
Shahin, and Shirouyehzad 2012) suggest three dimensions, namely, vision,
reward, and development as primary determinants of an organization’s inter-
nal marketing orientation. Hogg, Carter, and Dunne (1998, proposed com-
munication, staff training, customer consciousness, appraisal, and feedback
methods. Broady-Preston and Steel (2002, cited in Mehrparvar, Shahin, and
Shirouyehzad 2012) observed Recruitment, Training, Development, and
Motivation as the most important among internal marketing practices. Lin
identified motivation and empowerment. Ahmed and Rafiq (2003, cited
in Mehrparvar, Shahin, and Shirouyehzad 2012) created a framework of 11
activities, namely, strategic rewards, internal communication, organization
structure, senior leadership, physical environment, staff selection and suc-
cession, inter-functional coordination, incentive system, empowerment and
process changes among these organizational structures.
Liou and Chen (2001, cited in Mehrparvar, Shahin, and Shirouyehzad
2012): The development of the work environment, social protection and
salary, individual spirit, internal communication, participation in decision-
making, and service training. Hu (2003): Work environment, individual
development, internal communication, empathy, management empow-
erment, education, training, and salary. Lin (2006): Financial and non-­
financial rewards (salary increases, a positive organizational culture, training,
and the development of promotional opportunities). Shakouri: job secu-
rity, intensive training, employee empowerment, information sharing, and
incentive to offer (Hu, Lin, Shakouri, cited in Mehrparvar, Shahin, and
Shirouyehzad 2012).
Conduit and Felix (2001): Education, training, management assistance,
internal communication, external communication, and human resources
management. Also, by communicating a clearer vision to their employees
through internal marketing, they come to know what organizations expect
from them and are therefore likely to offer better service to their custom-
ers. In the same way, Reynoso and Moores (1996) state that organizations
by communicating their vision to their employees draw their attention to
the effectiveness of quality service. The physical environment refers to all
that is necessary for the production of the service: the immediate environ-
ment in contact with the customer (or the physical space in which the
176 Internal Marketing and Service Quality
service takes place), the material elements necessary for the provision of
the service, and the equipment of the staff in contact. The visible elements
of the environment can affect customers’ impressions of the quality of ser-
vice. Environmental design and design can significantly influence customer
expectations for service quality (Shostack 1977). The management of the
space, the decor, the working atmosphere, and the working environment
contribute to facilitating the realization of the service, to transform it into a
successful experience for the customers. Because of the above, the contribu-
tion of internal marketing to the provision of quality service is no longer to
be denied. Moreover, the concept of internal marketing is a problem of high
quality (Panigyrakis and Theodoridis 2009). Therefore, each organization
should develop a marketing program for its external markets.
The main goal of this study is to investigate the effect of dimensions
of internal marketing on service quality. Results show that there are three
dimensions we can consider in banking service quality, namely, service train-
ing, performance incentives, and vision. These dimensions have a positive
and significant effect on service quality. The findings of this study provide
helpful guidelines to understand the different key dimensions of internal
marketing, enabling it to offer a quality service to its customers. Looking at
each dimension, service training appeared as the first important place in pre-
dicting overall service quality. Besides, performance incentives appear as the
second most important place. In addition, the vision factor also appeared as
the third important place in predicting overall service quality (Mehrparvar,
Shahin, and Shirouyehzad 2012).

Market Orientation and Service Quality

Employees are referred to as internal customers in internal marketing. Inter-
nal consumers are important in creating customer orientation. Internal cus-
tomers are the target of internal marketing implementation. As a result,
internal marketing fosters internal market focus. Internal marketing, accord-
ing to Gronroos (1990), Mishra (2018a) promotes internal marketing orien-
tation. As a result, internal marketing orientation is the precursor to internal
marketing. Internal market orientation results in customer satisfaction, staff
attitude, compliance, retention, etc. It improves overall organizational per-
formance. To improve the relationship between employee and employer,
developing internal marketing orientation in the internal market is the best
idea proposed by Lings.
Internal marketing orientation, according to Mavondo means that
internal providers endeavor to meet the needs of internal customers. As a
result, internal marketing orientation strengthens the link between inter-
nal customers, internal suppliers, and the employer. Internal market ori-
entation adds value to employees’ positions by giving numerous perks such
as compensation, flexible working hours, and other benefits. In this way,
Huseman and Hatfield’s (1990) equity theory was reinterpreted as internal
 Internal Marketing and Service Quality 177
market orientation. Employees evaluate their jobs by comparing their input,
according to equity theory.
Many authors have established that internal marketing is the process
of developing internal market orientation through organizational perfor-
mance. Salem (2013) discovered a positive relationship between internal
market orientation and employee satisfaction. It has also been discovered
that information dissemination plays the most important function in internal
market orientation. Chin Ai Thoo and his colleagues conducted research on
Nigerian banks to investigate the impact of internal marketing orientation
in the Nigerian banking industry. For the purpose of the study they used
five internal marketing components (Training and development, Rewards,
communication, Internal communication, and Empowerment) and found
a positive impact on customer orientation. They also revealed that Employ-
ees’ behavior and attitude influence customer–employee interaction. Dis-
semination of market intelligence and management support has the greatest
impact on the development of customer orientation revealed by Mavondo.
However, training programs are found not essential for the development of
customer orientation.
According to Rafiq and Ahmed (2000), the goal of using marketing tac-
tics in the internal market is to encourage and satisfy employees. Thus,
internal marketing began with an emphasis on internal customers. Internal
marketing fosters internal marketing orientation and improves service qual-
ity and overall company success. An internal marketing orientation has sev-
eral dimensions, which help to clarify the term. There is a need for clarity
in the concept by relating it with the internal marketing concept.
Internal market orientation is revealed to be the model’s independent
variable. Internal segmentation, exchange value, training, remuneration,
management concern, and communication are the six variables explored for
internal market orientation. Internal market orientation is to improve the
relationship between the employee or internal customers and the employer.
Three main dimensions of the internal customer orientation are described
by Lings which are internal intelligence generation, dissemination, and
responsiveness. Lings (2004) identified exchange value as internal market
intelligence generation. It is the first step in the internal marketing process.
It is necessary to identify exchange value in the internal market for the
smooth functioning of the business. Berry (1984) also defined the exchange
phenomenon in internal marketing. According to Gronroos (1990), internal
marketing is to create customer orientation. To sell any product or service,
there is a need to identify its exchange value. Marketers and buyers are both
the organization and internal customers. A successful exchange process leads
to the achievement of organizational goals. Internal segmentation is a col-
lection of related options. Employees or internal consumers choose their
options for achieving goals in the internal segmentation. It is extremely
beneficial in preventing internal market resistance to change. Segmentation
and communication are the most vital components of internal customer
178 Internal Marketing and Service Quality
orientation activities. Market orientation is similarly created for the external
market, and internal customer orientation is created for the internal market.
Employee attitudes, knowledge, and behaviors are influenced by planned
communication, according to Stauss and Hoffman (2000, cited in Mishra
2018b). At all levels of the company, there are two types of communication:
formal communication and informal communication. Employee needs can
be better understood through communication. There are various hurdles in
the organizational functioning due to lack of communication, for example,
the conflict between employees, lack of knowledge of products and ser-
vices of an organization, poor image of the organization, and weak human
resource management. Employees get a reward when they work well. This
is the responsiveness of market intelligence. Employees sell their service to
the organization and receive a reward. If the reward is not according to their
expectations then they develop a negative attitude. As a result, managers
must be concerned about it. Managers in organizations must grasp the needs
and requirements of their personnel and work following them. Training is
essential for improving employees’ skills and knowledge. Training is neces-
sary to increase performance to serve both internal and external clients.
Before selling products and services in the external market it is necessary
to sell them in the internal market. Thus, by using all the six dimensions of
internal customer orientation, internal marketing is implemented in which
employees and employers work for mutual benefits. Internal marketing is
the mediator variable in the model
In the internal market, relationships between internal customers, internal
suppliers, and the organization are needed to increase the company’s service
capability. Hallowell discovered that job happiness boosts service capabil-
ity. Internal marketing is concerned with how a firm serves its employees.
Internal customers are those who receive products or services from suppliers
within the organizational border to improve the organization’s service qual-
ity, and employee incentive is crucial. Today’s internal market is character-
ized by tension, conflict, and exhaustion, among other things.
Employee satisfaction is required to resolve these issues. Because we live
in the knowledge age, it is critical to empower employees through internal
marketing. The model’s dependent variable is service quality. As a result, it
enhances not only customer service quality but also overall organizational
quality. There is a need to increase service quality through internal market
orientation, with internal marketing serving as a facilitator in various studies.
Internal marketing fosters an internal marketing mindset that has an
impact on the organization’s outward marketing. The key issue raised in
the literature is how to build internal market orientation and which dimen-
sions and determinants are accountable for service quality. To adopt internal
market orientation and determine the influence on service quality, six major
variables (internal segmentation, exchange value, training, remuneration,
managers’ concern, and communication) were evaluated. It has been dis-
covered that with internal market orientation, internal customers, internal
 Internal Marketing and Service Quality 179
suppliers, and the company all work together for mutual benefit and to
achieve organizational goals (Mishra 2018b).

Conclusion
Since the creation of the internal marketing idea, it has been discovered to
be quite effective in improving organizational performance. Internal mar-
keting is implemented as a concept to improve the organization’s service
quality. One of the most critical instruments for satisfying and retaining
consumers is service quality. Several firms are utilizing the internal market-
ing concept to increase service quality, which is one of the most essential
instruments for satisfying and retaining clients. There are, however, numer-
ous techniques for implementing it. It has a good effect on organizational
performance.
It aids in the development of brand image, employee loyalty, employee
commitment, and the employee–employer connection. It has been discov-
ered that developing an internal marketing strategy enhances not only ser-
vice quality but also overall organizational performance. However, the first
and most important result of internal marketing is improved service quality.
Internal and external service quality are the two forms of service quality.
All components of service quality benefit from internal marketing. There
are two kinds of products: tangible items and intangible products. Tangible
products are products manufactured in the organization, as well as tangible
resources utilized in the organization, such as equipment, machinery, tools,
and personnel.
Intangible aspects are job products and services sold by the organiza-
tion. Attitude, perception, and conduct of employees and organizations are
examples of intangible resources used to provide services and products. Two
sorts of organizations profit from internal marketing: product organizations
and service organizations. Internal marketing is a method for achieving
­customer-oriented and motivated employees, which has a favorable impact
on the organization’s service quality. Internal marketing improves service
quality by encouraging and training workers. As a result, employee behavior
has a significant impact on service quality. This necessitates the development
of positivism toward the organization. Employees are highly motivated and
committed to work which has an impact on the organization’s service qual-
ity as a result of client orientation. In this way, employees also serve their
customers in a good manner. This process improves the overall service qual-
ity, internal as well as external service quality.

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13 Internal Marketing
and Commitment

Introduction
Internal marketing is the practice of exchanging information between
employers and internal customers to develop internal relationships and build
long-term relationships to achieve organizational goals. Because commit-
ment is a complex notion, it is viewed differently by different academics
(Shekary et al. 2012). According to Morgan and Hunt (1994), committed
employees assist organizations in two ways: their strong intention to serve
their employees and employee retention (Nawab 2011). Internal marketing
is the practice of exchanging information between employers and internal
customers to develop internal relationships and build long-term relationships
to achieve organizational goals. Because commitment is a complex notion,
it is viewed differently by different academics (Shekary 2012). According to
Morgan and Hunt (1994), committed employees assist organizations in two
ways: their strong intention to serve their employees and employee reten-
tion (Nawab 2011, cited in Komal Khalid 2019). Internal marketing, is the
practice of treating employees as internal customers who get services from
other employees in the same corporation (Al-Haji Abdul and Hani 2010,
cited in Alshura et al. 2016).
Internal marketing (IM) is the practice of exchanging information between
employers and internal customers to develop internal relationships and build
long-term relationships to meet the organization’s goals. Job satisfaction and
organizational commitment are essential to accomplishing internal market-
ing. Employees’ service capabilities and competencies are enhanced through
internal marketing. IM is the process of exchanging information between
employers and internal customers to strengthen internal ties and maintain
long-term partnerships to fulfill the organization’s goals. Employee com-
mitment, according to Gilmore (2000), is commonly employed to improve
the effectiveness of services through internal marketing. This signifies that
internal marketing increases the organization’s service quality. Employee
commitment is required for this. Employee commitment is essential for the
success of internal marketing implementation (Figure 13.1).

DOI: 10.4324/9781003266013-13
184 Internal Marketing and Commitment

Figure 13.1 Employee commitment to achieving organizational goals

Source: https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2019/10/10/04/39/office-4538707_1280.jpg

Internal marketing, according to Shekary et al. (2012), is an effective

method of increasing organizational commitment. Gilmore and Shekary
agreed that internal marketing is critical for commitment. Internal market-
ing enhances personnel talents and competencies to increase service quality.
As a result, commitment is required to compete in the market. However,
the organization’s success is dependent on the employees and the employer.
Both work for mutual advantage, which contributes to the achievement of
organizational goals. Employee performance is tough to quantify, but the
impact on market orientation is clear. Job happiness and employee com-
mitment are inextricably intertwined. Employees who are happy with their
jobs are more likely to stick around for a long period. The commitment and
internal marketing’s ultimate purpose is to establish market orientation. As
a result, understanding the relationship between commitment and internal
marketing is critical. Job satisfaction and organizational commitment are
necessary for the organization to undertake internal marketing.

Organizational Commitment
Organizational commitment is one of the major variables in organizational
citizenship behavior, as stated by (Alshura et al. 2016), as the level of consist-
ency between employees’ own goals and those established by the organization.
An examination of prior literature reveals that there is a regulatory definition
of organizational commitment that differs between researchers and scholars.
 Internal Marketing and Commitment 185
According to Yildirm (cited in Alshura et al. 2016), organizational com-
mitment is a psychological state that affects employees’ desire or lack of
desire to continue as members of the company by forming personal bonds
between them and the organization. Tekin et al. (2014) describe organiza-
tional commitment in the same context as employees’ desire to stay mem-
bers of the organization as well as their obligation to its goals and ideals.

Types of Commitment
Meyer and Allen (cited in Mishra, April 2020) defined three components of
organizational commitment which are, emotional commitment, normative
commitment, and continuous commitment.
Emotional commitment is the attachment of the employee to the organi-
zation, which shows that the organization has a strong bond with the
employees. When employees join any reputed organization or work in a
good company, they are happy with their personal growth and that retains
them in a particular organization. This is normative commitment. And when
employees think that they will lose something after leaving the organization,
this makes them needy for the job. This is a continuous commitment. Emo-
tional commitment is an employee’s attachment to the organization, indi-
cating that the organization has a strong bond with the employees. When
employees join a reputable organization or work in a decent company, they
are satisfied with their personal growth, which keeps them in that organiza-
tion. This is known as “normativity commitment.” When employees believe
they will lose something if they leave the firm, they become more depend-
ent on employment. This is a continuous commitment.
The Meyer and Allens model’s third component is continuity commit-
ment, which requires employees to pay a penalty when they leave the busi-
ness. If the cost is considerable, the likelihood of quitting the organization
decreases. The cost could be a lower wage in another organization, a lack of
job opportunities, the inability to move to a better work environment, and
so on. The first reason is that they want to work for the current organiza-
tion. The second reason is that when employees wish to quit a company,
they have no way of finding another decent job (Jaros, 2017).
Even if government personnel does not wish to continue working, they
are unable to do so since they have no other choice (Figure 13.2).
Internal marketing is a method for increasing employee loyalty and moti-
vation at work. Internal marketing is a best practice for selling corporate val-
ues, goals, mission, and vision. Employees get dedicated to the organization
when they receive the job products they desire and everything they require
to fulfill their duties. Internal marketing encompasses all efforts undertaken
by employees and employers for mutual gain. It is tough to retain competi-
tive people, compete with the external market, develop organizational val-
ues, and boost employee performance in this competitive period.
Normative commitment: The concept of normative commitment is
founded on the assumption that an individual worker embraces ideal values
186 Internal Marketing and Commitment

Figure 13.2 Employees do not want to continue their job

Source: https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2020/10/23/14/55/woman-5679001_1280.jpg

that make him dedicated to the organization to which he belongs and works
hard to achieve his goals. As well as his literary sense, he needs to stay in
the organization (Al-Shawabkeh 2010, cited in Alshura et al. 2016). Hack-
ett, Bycio, and Hausdorf (2017) noted that normative commitment is a
feeling developed among workers that they have a moral duty to abide by
some to stay in the organization, and they reinforced this feeling through
the creation of an effective and supportive organizational environment that
supports employees in achieving organizational and personal goals, allows
them to participate in different activities and organizational processes, and
involves them in the decision-making process and the positive interaction
with their colleagues at work. Meyer and Allen (2008) confirm that norma-
tive commitment is formed in the individual by the understanding that he
has a moral obligation to stay at work and in the organization. It is Increased
by obtaining support from management and coworkers, involving workers
in decision-making processes, and involving workers in policy-making, in
addition to creating organizational goals.
Emotional commitment: It means that emotional commitment stems
from workers’ respect for the adopted objectives and/or organizational val-
ues; managers’ admiration and respect; the extent of their emotional close-
ness to their supervisors and colleagues at work; and their involvement with
the rest of the workers in the organizational vision is based on the need to
continue in the organization. This form of organizational commitment is
 Internal Marketing and Commitment 187
often accepted and preferred by employees (Ayan, Unsar, and Kahraman
2015, cited in Alshura et al. 2016).
Continuous Commitment: According to Balay (2001, referenced in Alshura
et al. 2016), continuous commitment includes employees’ ­perceptions of the
cost of quitting the firm. Those with high degrees of continuous com-
mitment continue to work in order not to lose whatever gains or benefits
they have obtained in the past as a result of the organization’s efforts. They
recognize that their firm may suit their interests while also providing the
organization with incentives and rewards. This type of commitment origi-
nates from employees’ desire to remain in the organization as individuals,
recognizing that they have made a prior personal investment in the business.

Internal Marketing Practices and Commitment

Gilmore (2000) acknowledged that employee commitment through IM is
widely used to improve the effectiveness of the service offered by them.
Shekary et al. (2012) found that IM is an effective means for organiza-
tional commitment. Olorunleke and Akinyele (2011) took five dimen-
sions to study the impact of IM on organization commitment, which are:
1) Motivation, 2) Job satisfaction, 3) Training, 4) Employee comprehension
and differentiation, and 5) Inter-functional coordination and integration,
and discovered that all dimensions are positively related to organizational
commitment.
Shekary et al. (2012) discovered that IM had a favorable impact on corpo-
rate commitment and customer orientation. In Tsai et al.’s study, organiza-
tional commitment acts as a mediator between IM and service quality. This
suggests that IM fosters organizational commitment, which increases service
quality. In an experiment, Nuthathai Thaotrakool experimentally investi-
gated how internal communication fosters trust and commitment among
employees in the hotel business. Researchers investigated the impact of IM
practices (empowerment, rewards, training and development, and com-
munication) on organizational commitment. They discovered that, except
communication, all factors are positively connected to organizational com-
mitment. Internal operations are coordinated by inter-functional coopera-
tion. It has a good impact on Eva’s depicted market orientation.

Some of the Dimensions of Internal Marketing Practice

Empowerment: According to Kreitner and Kinicki (2010, cited in Alshura
et al. 2016), empowerment is a process of giving workers a certain level of
independence and self-regulation to enable them to make decisions, so that
managers in departments share with their subordinates what is available from
senior management and the delegation of employees to make some deci-
sions, in addition to allowing them to provide suggestions, recommenda-
tions, and ideas based on their goals.
188 Internal Marketing and Commitment
Training: Al-Tai and Al-Alaq quoted in Alshura et al. 2016) describe train-
ing as a set of regulatory procedures and processes utilized in an organization
to improve the skills, knowledge, and trends of its personnel to improve
their performance and meet organizational goals. While Abdel Nabi (2010,
cited in Alshura et al. 2016) believes that training is one of the branches of
competent human resource management that identifies and provides the
necessary knowledge and skills for workers, as well as the development of
attitudes to help them perform their jobs better.
Rewards and Incentives: Incentives and rewards are described as any mone-
tary and non-monetary perks provided to employees by businesses to attract
and retain efficient human resources. Compensation is regarded as the single
most essential factor influencing employee motivation, and it continues to
evolve, progress, and increase productivity levels in its pursuit of company
goals. Incentives and rewards are recognized as one of the most essential and
successful human resource techniques used by managers to attain a higher
level of performance among workers and are considered one of the most
basic tools used by organizations to stress the desired behaviors of their per-
sonnel. The effectiveness of the incentives and rewards system is mostly
determined by the workers’ perception of the reward or incentives supplied
to them (Singh, Mohamed, and Darwish 2013, cited in Alshura et al. 2016).
Internal Communication: It is the communication inside the organiza-
tion. Researchers almost combine the importance of communication in
the success of business organizations in their pursuit of goals with all the
effectiveness and efficiency as they are the central dynamic process among
workers, in addition to being the artery that feeds the various sections of the
­business organization because it is based on the exchange of ideas, proposals,
mechanisms of action, policies, and decisions between business organization
­members (Kharchi, cited in Alshura 2016).
Managerial Support: Managerial support is described as employees’ opin-
ions of management’s level of empowerment, promotion, and incentive. It is
a broad notion that refers to employees’ thoughts that management in their
organization values the contributions made by their coworkers and that they
care about them and seek to enhance their functional and personal levels
(Pomirleanu and John Mariadoss 2014).
It is noteworthy (Schilchte, Yssel, and Marbler 2015, cited in Alshura
et al. 2016) in the same context that the lack of managerial support deter-
mines the desire of workers the performance of their duties and makes the
effort to complete the regulatory processes the best, as well as one of the
most important determinants of employee satisfaction in business organi-
zations. It is noted in the same context that a lack of managerial support
influences workers’ desire to perform their duties and makes the effort to
complete regulatory processes the best, as well as one of the most important
determinants of employee satisfaction in business organizations.
Internal marketing tactics have been demonstrated to improve organiza-
tional commitment among Jordanian insurance company personnel (Alshura
 Internal Marketing and Commitment 189
et al. 2016). The researchers advised insurance company management and
decision-making to include the following:

1. Improve training programs practice at the insurance companies.

2. To activate an empowerment system to promote customer service.
3. Enhance engagement force among the employees of the insurance
companies.
4. Adopt regulatory administrative support systems to improve the organi-
zational commitment of the employees.
5. Improve working commitment principles.

In the study, a substantial association was discovered between banks’ (inter-

nal marketing dimensions: work happiness, understanding and differentia-
tion training, inter-functional cohesion and integration, and motivation)
and employees’ commitment. This implies that employees are dedicated
when they are happy in their jobs. It was suggested that the bank maintain
or sustain operations in a clean and adequately decorated workplace since
it makes employees feel content in their positions; listen to employees’ sug-
gestions, and give salaries and fringe benefits to employees. All managers
must recognize the importance of internal marketing characteristics and the
importance of external marketing. As a result, managers must be aware of
and establish how the firm can deliver a long-term internal marketing pro-
gram. Managers should encourage their employees’ interest and participa-
tion in decision-making (Ramos 2015).
Internal communication builds trust and commitment among employ-
ees, as empirically examined in the hotel industry. The researcher studied
IM practices (e.g., empowerment, rewards, training and development, and
communication) to see their impact of them on organizational commit-
ment. Olorunleke K (cited in Mishra 2020) studied the impact of internal
marketing on organizational commitment using five dimensions: motiva-
tion, job satisfaction, training, employee understanding and differentiation,
inter-functional coordination and integration, and discovered that all five
dimensions are positively related to organizational commitment. Like-
wise, Shekary et al. (2012, cited in Mishra 2020) discovered that internal
marketing improves corporate commitment and customer orientation. As
scientifically demonstrated in the hotel business, internal communication
fosters employee trust and loyalty. The researcher investigated the impact
of IM practices (e.g., empowerment, rewards, training and development,
and communication) on organizational commitment. Except for commu-
nication, they discovered that all dimensions were positively connected to
organizational commitment. Organizational commitment acts as a mediator
between internal marketing and service quality. This indicates that inter-
nal marketing fosters organizational commitment, which increases service
quality (Tsai and Wu 2011). Research provided various insights on inter-
nal marketing and organizational commitment. Because of its multifaceted
190 Internal Marketing and Commitment
nature, commitment is linked to internal marketing in a variety of ways
(Mishra 2020).

Relationship Between Internal Marketing

and Commitment
There are various thoughts regarding the relationship between internal
marketing and commitment. Mishra (2020) elaborated on the relationship
between the two and developed a research proposed model (Figure 13.3).
Salient features of this model are:

1. Employee commitment is necessary for the implementation of internal

marketing.
2. Job satisfaction works as an antecedent of employee commitment.
3. Organizational commitment is necessary with employee commitment
for the effective implementation of internal marketing.
4. The process of internal marketing in the model shows that first motiva-
tion and satisfaction of employees are required and then internal cus-
tomer orientation is created and then improve internal service quality.

Jaworski and Kohli’s (1993) studied on inter-functional coordination and

organizational commitment reveals an indirect relationship between the
two, with market orientation acting as a mediator. (Peng and George (2011)
extended that interfunctional coordination involves sharing of information,
sharing of resources and cooperation of all the activities of the organization.
Farzad, Caruana, and Nahavandi (2008) investigated the impact of IM on
organizational commitment in Iranian banks. Inter-functional coordination

Figure 13.3 Research model

Source: Adapted from Mishra (2020)
 Internal Marketing and Commitment 191
was the most essential component of IM that had an impact on organiza-
tional commitment. Farzad, on the other hand, did not work on the three
elements of organizational commitment. The impact on all three is exam-
ined in this study. Studies show job satisfaction works as a mediator between
internal marketing and commitment. Internal customers are satisfied not
only with human resource practice but also with internal service. According
to Locke (1969, cited in Mishra 2020), employees get emotional experience
through job satisfaction. Job satisfaction is defined by Scott cited in Mishra
2020) as an individual assessment of a job.
Employees gain emotional experience through job satisfaction, according
to Locke (1969, cited in Mishra 2020). Job satisfaction, according to Scott
(2002, cited in Mishra 2020), is an individual judgment of a job. Dawes
identified two components of job satisfaction: 1) cognitive and 2) emo-
tional (Komal Khalid 2019). According to Shimizu et al. (2005, referenced
in Mishra 2020), job satisfaction is caused by the job itself.
Researchers investigated the elements influencing organizational com-
mitment in banks in Vietnam City. Banks in Vietnam were having problems
handling loans. To address this issue, researchers focused on ways to persuade
employees to commit (Nguyen, Mai, and Nguyen 2014). Human resource
practices (connection with the management, working environment, career
development, teamwork spirit, and compensation) were expected to favora-
bly affect job satisfaction and organizational commitment in the study.
Job satisfaction serves as a mediator, and their findings reveal that human
resource practice, followed by organizational commitment, has an impact
on job satisfaction.

Internal Marketing and Job Satisfaction

Internal Marketing Is Antecedent of Job Satisfaction

Ala’Eddin Mohammad Khalaf Ahmad studied the effects of IM factors
(selection and appointment, training and development, organizational sup-
port, reward, motivation, and retention policy) on two dependent variables
in Saudi teaching hospitals: job satisfaction and organizational commitment
(Khalaf Ahmad and Al-Borie 2012). Various authors (Ala Eddin, Al Hawary,
Ilipoulous) supported the notion that IM has an impact on job satisfaction in
the study of sports centers (Sokachaee et al. n.d.). It is also acknowledged that
IM has a favorable impact on job satisfaction and organizational dedication in
sports centers. Chiu found that IM has a positive impact on job satisfaction
and job satisfaction leads to organizational commitment (Chiu et al. 2014).

Job Satisfaction Is Antecedent of Internal Marketing

Some investigations stressed the importance of workplace happiness and
organizational commitment and workplace in IM. They discovered that
employee satisfaction and organizational dedication benefited Melli Bank.
192 Internal Marketing and Commitment
Job satisfaction and organizational commitment are both prerequisites for
internal marketing in this context (Soliemani 2016).
Many researchers (Caruana 1997; Jones and George 2003; Waris 2005 cited in
Vazifehdoost et al. 2012) saw internal marketing as a means of fostering market orien-
tation and discovered a link between internal marketing and organizational commitment.
There are two scholars’ perspectives on the relationship between commit-
ment and market orientation: market orientation precedes commitment and
commitment is a prerequisite for market orientation (Sivaramakrishnan and
colleagues 2008, cited in Vazifehdoost et al. 2012).
Mehdi Abzari discovered that IM influences market orientation directly
or indirectly and, as a result, organizational commitment. This suggests that,
following market orientation, IM influences organizational commitment
(Abzari et al. 2011). In Mellat Bank, researchers investigated the impact of
IM and commitment on market orientation. They discovered that IM has
a beneficial influence on market orientation. They also discovered a link
between commitment and market orientation. IM, on the other hand, has
no association with commitment. It is claimed, that through IM, there is a
need to strengthen commitment and market orientation. Market orienta-
tion, according to Kohli and Jaworski, comes before commitment. This
means commitment develops through IM. This demonstrates that it is an
output of internal marketing as well as an input to external marketing.

How Are Internal Marketing and Commitment

Related?
Employees who are committed to the market orientation culture eagerly
participate in its implementation. Internal marketing is used to foster
a market-oriented culture. As a result, staff commitment is necessary for
its success. Commitment, in this view, serves as an input for market ori-
entation. According to Sivaramakrishnan et al. (2008) internal marketing
­generates market orientation; hence, commitment is also an input for inter-
nal marketing.
Internal marketing helps employees enhance their talents and competen-
cies. Jobs are referred to as products in the internal market. Employees are
encouraged to sell job-related products on the internal ­market. Employee
or internal customer satisfaction is critical for internal marketing imple-
mentation. “Motivation and contentment” is the first step in the internal
­marketing process. Organizations achieve success in marketing work items
during this stage.
Following that, the organization develops internal customer orientation
and inter-functional coordination. It fosters positive relationships among
employees within the organization, which increases their commitment to
the organization. Internal communication and inter-functional coordina-
tion of the organization can build the employee’s intention to work and
 Internal Marketing and Commitment 193
their emotional attachment. Employees must be treated as capital assets for
an organization’s long-term success (Mishra 2020).
To comprehend the connection between internal marketing and commit-
ment, you must first understand commitment-based management. Accord-
ing to Walton (cited in Shekary), commitment-based management requires
management to be committed. Organizations are involved in marketing, so
marketing must be managed with devotion. Internal marketing is intended
for internal customers only. Internal clients must be managed with dedica-
tion by an organization. When an organization is committed to its internal
customers, the internal customers are equally committed to assisting the
organization in meeting its objectives.
Internal marketing does not focus solely on employees’ willingness to pro-
vide services to external clients. Internal customers must be treated in the
same manner as external customers, which requires organizational commit-
ment. This is the initial phase of the internal marketing process. Employee
commitment can be determined by their level of internal customer ori-
entation and internal service quality. To make the employees knowledge-
able, understandable, and ready to accept organizational goals, mission, and
vision, it is necessary to make them committed to the organization. They
are more committed to the organization when they are motivated and satis-
fied. Motivation plays an important role in the satisfaction of employees.
Motivated employees increase employee commitment because they know
that management cares (Mishra 2020).

Conclusion
Internal marketing aims to strengthen the bond between the organization
and its personnel. Internal marketing was initially recognized as a way to
encourage and please employees so that they are more devoted to the organ-
ization and service enhancement.
On the other hand, the firm is devoted to delivering employee perks
as well as future growth and development. Employee commitment fos-
ters market orientation, while organizational commitment fosters it. Job
satisfaction, employee commitment, internal marketing, organizational
commitment, and market orientation are the five vital elements of the com-
mitment model. It has been discovered that both employee and organiza-
tional commitment are essential for the execution of internal marketing.
Employee commitment requires job satisfaction, and organizational com-
mitment requires market orientation, which appears to be crucial for the
success of internal marketing implementation. Organizational commitment
and employee commitment both are necessary to achieve long-term goals.
Employee commitment is necessary for effective organizational functioning
and activities and organizational commitment requires motivating, satisfy-
ing, and retaining internal customers and boosting their morale.
194 Internal Marketing and Commitment
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14 Thoughts on Internal
Marketing

Introduction
Several firms have demonstrated that their success is attributable to the
efforts of their internal consumers. It is impossible to win the war if ­internal
customers within the organization are not considered. In this competitive
and dynamic work environment, it is critical to understand internal cus-
tomers’ needs and adhere to optimal internal marketing techniques. To sat-
isfy external consumers, implement strategy, achieve organizational goals,
­manage change, and build coordination between internal customers and
internal suppliers, it is critical to motivate and satisfy internal customers.
Organization is unique in terms of size, type of business, structure, and
internal consumer variety, necessitating diverse internal marketing practices
to achieve its objectives, however, the goal.
Employee engagement and involvement are very significant tools of
human resource practice that are used with market orientation dimensions
to turn them into internal marketing practices. Recruitment is a human
resource practice, but it is followed to recruit market-oriented employees
and consider the needs of the internal market to implement it. Human
resource practice and internal marketing practice cannot be separated. Both
are overlapping concepts, and the way an organization uses this concept
depends on its nature, structure, size, strategy, and goal of it. There are
several factors in using internal marketing practices, such as employee moti-
vation, internal communication, employee engagement, customer orienta-
tion, internal service quality, internal branding, etc.
Several firms are successfully adopting internal marketing concepts to
propel their growth and development. Because of internal marketing prac-
tices, there is a significant shift in dealing with human resources. After an
organization-initiated use of internal marketing, the importance of internal
customers will rise once more. Organizations handle internal customers in
a variety of ways, but the goal is always to create long-term growth and
development. It is difficult to compare internal marketing practices. As a
result, it is vital to comprehend how it is implemented. Let us examine the
internal marketing trends.

DOI: 10.4324/9781003266013-14
198 Thoughts on Internal Marketing
Trends of Internal Marketing
Internal marketing has been researched all around the world, and it is not
limited to a specific industry or company. Because of its broad use, com-
prehending its proper execution technique and practical implications can
be difficult. Various practical studies were conducted in countries such as
Egypt, Pakistan, India, Malaysia, and Uganda, to name a few. Shamma
investigated examples of internal marketing applications from both outside
and in Egypt. Southwest Airlines is one of the most successful airlines in
the United States due to its internal marketing strategies. They used equi-
table remuneration systems, training, empowerment, open communication,
employment security, and career growth in their firm. They also supplied
the best reward system for increased performance via a higher compensation
mechanism (Shamma 2012).
Employee Branding Strategy: Miles and Mangold (2005) described an
employee branding strategy for increasing employee engagement. They
formed friendly relationships with the employees. Similarly, Dell considers
its employees to be “co-owners” and works hard to maintain excellent rela-
tionships with them (Shamma 2012).
Empowering Employees: Ritz-Carlton implements the concept of
empowering employees to serve clients courteously by allocating 200
rupees every day in its budget to invest in customers. Shamma also
looked into local companies including Raya (IT and telecom), Mobinil,
and Eva Pharma, an Egyptian pharmaceutical company. Raya is well-
known for having the lowest personnel turnover rate in the industry
(Shamma 2012).
Effective Internal Marketing Programs: Six essential criteria that encour-
age successful internal marketing strategies were identified in the 2006
Internal marketing best practices study. Graduate students at ­Northwestern
University’s Integrated Marketing Communications Department researched
strategies and tactics for aligning, motivating, and empowering students
at all functions and levels to consistently deliver a company’s “brand
­promise,” thereby assisting businesses to achieve their goals. Six hallmarks
of effective internal marketing activities are senior management participa-
tion, integrated organizational structure, strategic marketing plan, human
resource partnership, employee engagement, and internal brand communi-
cation (“Engagement Strategies Media: Internal Marketing Best Practices”
n.d.). The following companies were studied: Chopotle Mexican Grill,
The Container Store, Hospira, Kelloggs, Oppenheimer, McDonald’s, The
Ritz-Carlton, Union Pacific, Wrigley Jr. Co., a canned and frozen-foods
company, a globally diversified information technology company, a suc-
cessful biotechnology company, a global consultancy, and a fast-growing
investment bank (“Engagement Strategies Media: Internal Marketing Best
Practices” n.d.).
 Thoughts on Internal Marketing 199
Best Internal Marketing Practices

Best Practice 1: Senior Management Participation

Internal marketing is initiated by top management. Senior management
involvement is a requirement for effective internal marketing. According to
a McKinsey research report, 80 percent of executives believe their current
business models are under threat. In addition, it is expected that half of the
S and P 500 will be replaced within the next ten years. It implies that most
firms require transformation and that innovation is a critical capability for
being competitive in these difficult times. Many organizations, particularly
publicly traded corporations, are under pressure to improve short-term per-
formance, such as next quarter’s earnings, which has an impact on manage-
ment priorities. Most executives understand this and rate innovation near
the top of the list of priorities, in which case they should allocate their time
and efforts accordingly (Ideascale 2018).
Over the last two decades, government agencies have been exposed to
New Public Management (NPM) programs aimed at converting them from
bureaucratic to market-oriented and efficient companies while maintaining
public accountability. NPM has no common definition, and its application
varies. It includes elements that strengthen the relationship between politi-
cal direction and policy implementation by aligning budgetary priorities
with the government’s political goals; a focus on financial accountability and
efficiency of individual agencies; and increased autonomy for agencies to set
strategic objectives within clear government policy frameworks; customer
orientation and flexibility in meeting individual and local needs; and the
adoption of privacy policies.
HRM practices and procedures for working with employees include
staff participation, teamwork, performance review, and skill development.
NPM prioritizes engagement and empowerment of all essential stakeholders
(“Top-down Organizational Change Initiatives | Emerald Publishing” n.d.)
(Figure 14.1).
Despite this, top-down reform is frequently implemented in practice.
According to studies, engagement was illusory in what was a top-down
process, and an initial emphasis on employee involvement was later aban-
doned. Furthermore, managers have been found to have an expanding role
in reform procedures. Top-down tactics are increasingly being used to initi-
ate and implement NPM improvements. Senior leaders typically consider,
plan, and direct the implementation of top-down change. Middle manage-
ment is responsible for the precise coordination and internal administration
of change, while non-managerial staff is important in embedding change,
although they have limited input in decision-making. Middle manage-
ment is accountable for the detailed coordination and internal management
of change, while non-managerial employees are significant concerning
200 Thoughts on Internal Marketing

Figure 14.1 Teamwork

Source: https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2018/03/10/12/00/teamwork-3213924_1280.jpg

embedding change, even though they usually have little say in the decision-
making process (“Top-down Organizational Change Initiatives | Emerald
Publishing” n.d.).
Committed senior management and board are not only required for the
day-to-day operation of a firm, the creation of attainable goals, and the devel-
opment of a successful strategy, but they are also required for high engage-
ment, dedication, functional teams, and trust. The basis of a great business
begins at the top. According to the worldwide survey, when employees have
faith in top management and the board, they are nine times more likely to
be engaged and dedicated. When employees have faith in their supervisors,
they have faith that they will be treated with dignity. Employees can put
effort into their work as a result of such trust, and mutual trust between
employer and employees builds (“The Role of Senior Management in
Employee Engagement” n.d.).
Effective internal marketing necessitates face-to-face or direct commu-
nication. The CEO of the container shop feels that the company has a
moral commitment to provide a stimulating and safe work environment
for its employees daily. The Container Store’s chairman and CEO are well-
known for visiting stores and mingling with employees. Hospira holds short
employee meetings hosted by top management at each of its sites, which
frequently center on a quarterly earnings report, bad news, or company
milestone. It allows each place to choose which topics to discuss (“Engage-
ment Strategies Media: Internal Marketing Best Practices” n.d.).
 Thoughts on Internal Marketing 201
The Ritz-Carltons’ long-held notion that employee engagement is linked
to increased client happiness and revenue dates back to the hotel’s very first
president. Visible senior management aids internal marketing leaders because
the organization is called to acquire external talent and get complementary
product lines. Wrigley understands the importance of internal marketing all
too well. Employee involvement and internal communication are viewed
as vital. A canned and frozen food company required vital internal com-
munications support. At this corporation, communication consistency and
efficacy are proven by increasing management buy-in, which results in a
trickle-down impact (“Engagement Strategies Media: Internal Marketing
Best Practices” n.d.).

Best Practice 2: Integrated Organizational Structure

An integrated organizational structure must include a virtual internal mar-
keting team, employee empowerment, and business culture (Figure 14.2).
The majority of the firms interviewed use horizontal integration to achieve
internal marketing, believing that all contacts with all employees should be
included to maximize employee commitment and involvement. Most firms
have a streamlined hierarchical management structure and enable employees
to make critical company decisions to inspire employee dedication.
Kellogg’s marketing, staff communication, and brand management are
examples of internal marketing positions. They work both individually and

Figure 14.2 Business culture

Source: https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2016/01/13/08/08/business-1137367_1280.jpg
202 Thoughts on Internal Marketing
collaboratively to ensure worker buy-in. Staples’ internal communication,
public relations, organizational development, branding, and training teams
interact with HR to accomplish effective internal marketing. Internal mar-
keting is initiated by the container store’s employees. Cross-functional team
meetings are held bi-monthly and bi-weekly at Kellogg’s. These meetings
are intended to match brand priorities in a team environment across the
organization and include employees from all levels. Internal marketing is
implemented at the Ritz-Carlton through a broad-based steering group
comprised of department heads from human resources, product/brand
management, marketing, sales, and others (“Engagement Strategies Media:
Internal Marketing Best Practices” n.d.).
The increasing information technology and many communication meth-
ods have made the 21st-century organization to be more adaptive. For
example, in the 1980s when the internet era started to increase, the idea
of global software teams working together on a solo project was not pos-
sible. But today, it is a fact. The rising information technology dramatically
changed the manner people in an organization communicate with each
other to complete an assigned task. Organizational communication thus
plays a significant role in the success of an organization. There are two types
of organizational communication (Borza cited by (“The Role of Senior
Management in Employee Engagement” n.d.).
Internal communication: Internal communication has been further
classified into two kinds which are Intra-department (communication
among employees within a division) and Inter-department (communica-
tion among employees in two or more divisions). Internal communication
among the employees takes various forms like emails, phone calls, face-to-
face conversations, formal meetings, etc. (“The Role of Senior M ­ anagement
in Employee Engagement” n.d.).

Best Practices 3: Strategic Marketing Approach

The formal approach to the internal marketing function, derived from
employee research, segmenting the internal audience to improve relevancy,
and measuring the efficacy of internal marketing initiatives are all critical
components of the strategic marketing strategy (“Engagement Strategies
Media: Internal Marketing Best Practices” n.d.).
One organization at 3M is in charge of strategic communications plan-
ning and assembling cross-functional teams for specialized internal market-
ing campaigns. 3M’s unified strategic planning resources assist in serving
as a consultant to various “client” groups inside the organization). A fast-­
developing investment bank has monitoring and feedback mechanisms in
place to give an understanding of changing demands and needs (“Engage-
ment Strategies Media: Internal Marketing Best Practices” n.d.).
Employee focus groups are frequently used to perform critical research.
A worldwide varied information-technology business uses a consistent
 Thoughts on Internal Marketing 203
segmentation approach for its internal marketing goals: from the corpora-
tion to all employees; from the business unit to the business unit employ-
ees; and from the regional to the local personnel (“Engagement Strategies
Media: Internal Marketing Best Practices” n.d.).

Measures Effectiveness of IM Programs to Assist Further Investment

of Resources
Before launching any new internal marketing program, a participating
organization undertakes a pre-measurement study to establish a baseline
of employee attitudes and behaviors. Continuous measurement during the
transformation process helps to ensure that attitudes and behaviors change.
Post-measurement studies assist management in determining whether a
change was effective and whether it had an impact on business operations
(“Engagement Strategies Media: Internal Marketing Best Practices” n.d.).
Each department must have its internal clientele and performance met-
rics. According to one manager, “once measured, the service provided may
be used to improve it.” “Ongoing improvement in procedures and outputs
is closely related to customer satisfaction” (“Engagement Strategies Media:
Internal Marketing Best Practices” n.d.).
Union Pacific has an internal agency that focuses completely on the com-
pany’s employee communication needs, consulting across the enterprise, and
assisting with creative planning and design. The communication medium
used by Union Pacific is suited to the demands and availability of each staff
unit. Off-site employees, for example, receive traditional mail, whereas on-
site employees have access to an employee intranet (“Engagement Strategies
Media: Internal Marketing Best Practices” n.d.).

Best Practice 4: Human Resource Partnership

Human resource practices, such as staff retention, feedback, and special
events, are crucial. In comparison to the industry standard of 100 percent,
the container store’s extraordinarily low turnover rate of 14 percent indi-
cates the success of employee retention tactics. Employees are constantly
identified as the most significant asset of the organization. They receive over
241 hours of training in the first year, followed by another 262 hours the
following year, and are eligible for several innovative incentive programs,
such as family-friendly shifts for parents (“Engagement Strategies Media:
Internal Marketing Best Practices” n.d.).
For successful internal marketing, human resources employees must
always seek to participate in innovative communication, training, and feed-
back methods.
Chipotle Mexican restaurant: Chipotle, the imaginative fast-food company,
targets people throughout all departments and business operations, with over
11,000 employees in over 450 locations. Chipotle began offering language
204 Thoughts on Internal Marketing
classes to help employees interact more effectively with one another. To
ensure all key messages were incorporated into a one-day starting session,
a technology company’s internal communications team collaborated with
HR to modify the new employee orientation program (“Engagement Strat-
egies Media: Internal Marketing Best Practices” n.d.).
A tool kit was developed, with follow-up necessary throughout a new
hire’s first 90 days. This was a substantial departure from the previous, more
straightforward recruit orientation procedure, which focused mostly on dis-
tributing identity cards and setting up workstations.
The Ritz-Carlton: The Ritz-Carlton employs 28,000 “ladies and gentle-
men” around the world, with each site allowed to hire its personnel. It
uses variables like self-esteem, ethics, teamwork, and empathy to help pick
successful future “women and gentlemen.” According to the Ritz-Carlton,
“while many Americans see service as subservient, they regard it as an
honor.” Its stimulating 21-day training program starts the retention process,
and 100 hours of training each year follow that keep it continuing.
Wrigley: People polled all 14,800 employees to assess attitudes on indi-
vidual work responsibilities, performance, management, and company goals
and objectives (“Engagement Strategies Media: Internal Marketing Best
Practices” n.d.).

Best Practice 5: Focus on Employee Engagement

Employee engagement is the result of an efficient and collaborative work
environment in which employees feel motivated. Firms use simple, effective
techniques to focus on employee well-being through fundamental work
appreciation approaches.
Hospira: When Hospira separated from Abott Laboratories, it started
“Founders Day” celebrations to mark the new beginning while also express-
ing integrity, Hospira’s most important attribute.
The Ritz-Carlton invites employees to pay up to $2,000 toward resolving
a customer’s problem or complaint (“Engagement Strategies Media: Internal
Marketing Best Practices” n.d.).
Wrigley Jr. Co.: The Wrigley “Breakthrough” program brings together
management and staff to create stretch goals, share new ideas, and plan train-
ing systems and tools (“Engagement Strategies Media: Internal Marketing
Best Practices n.d.).
Wrigley has a gold program (goals outcomes learning development) that
allows employees to actively participate in the ongoing review of their per-
formance concerning corporate goals. When employees develop a greater
understanding of the company’s ideals and goals, they become more invested
(“Engagement Strategies Media: Internal Marketing Best Practices” n.d.)
Cisco: Cisco employees are empowered to make both minor and major
improvements. Everyone on the team is expected to submit ideas. A new
 Thoughts on Internal Marketing 205
budget is created if no worthy project exists. When frontline personnel has a
degree of autonomy during service delivery, they are empowered (“Engage-
ment Strategies Media: Internal Marketing Best Practices” n.d.).
Let’s see Box 14.1 for a case study of employee engagement in Harrods.

Box 14.1. Case study: Increasing Employee

Engagement Through Human Resource
Management (Harrods)

Harrods is a well-known brand all over the world. Its Knightbridge

shop includes around 330 separate departments and 1 million square
feet of selling space. Its brand values inculcate its global respect and
repute. Brand values represent what a company stands for. The values
of Harrods include British, luxury, service, sensation, and innovation.
Harrods has been in business for more than 160 years. It engages 4,000
employees with an extra 3,500 agency and concession employees. The
employee survey is now an essential component of Harrod’s human
resource management program. The findings were used to create
strategic change strategies aimed at increasing employee engagement
and trust. Altering company structure, changing leadership, improv-
ing communications, and living brand values were the four essential
components.
There have already been four employee surveys, and each has
resulted in a higher response from employees and an improvement
in the metrics of employee engagement as a result of the activities
undertaken by the HRM team. Significantly, according to the most
recent study, 91 percent of employees are happy to work for Harrods,
and employee turnover has decreased.

Source: (“Case Study: Increasing Employee Engagement through the HRM

(Harrods)” 2014)

Best Practice 6: Internal Brand Communication

After learning that a technology and delivery company’s promise and deliv-
ery to its external consumers and workers were misunderstood, the graphic
brand developed employee communication tools and training opportuni-
ties for personnel to learn about the brand promise, such as luncheons and
meetings. This project was painstakingly coordinated with external market-
ing and sales functions. Internal marketing ROI, for example, is still a work
in progress even among best-practice organizations, but several are on the
right track.
206 Thoughts on Internal Marketing
Organizations are using various strategies to retain top talent and capitalize on
the technological revolution in staff communications, such as connecting com-
munications with bottom-line consequences and involving top management
in the importance of organization-wide internal marketing efforts (“Engage-
ment Strategies Media: Internal Marketing Best Practices” n.d.).
Internal marketers must work harder to provide concrete performance
metrics and methodologies that indicate how a campaign contributes to
the attainment of company goals. Hard metrics include communication
audits, objective assessments of employee behavior, and the influence of
communication on company performance. Metrics show whether atti-
tudes and actions around internal marketing performance have shifted.
More work in this area is required to envision a corporate marketplace
in which internal marketing matches external marketing (“Engagement
Strategies Media: Internal Marketing Best Practices” n.d.). Internal brand-
ing bridges the gap between promise keepers and promise makers (market-
ers and employees).
Despite differences in the scope and cost of internal branding initiatives,
all organizations agreed on the fundamental principle that internal branding
should recognize and include employees to continuously promote brand
activities (“Engagement Strategies Media: Internal Marketing Best Prac-
tices” n.d.).
Kellogg’s encourages brand ambassador team meetings in which employ-
ees engage in open communication with the leadership team and share their
thoughts on the brand’s financial success, as well as present innovations and
enhancement ideas. Though Kellogg’s brand runs autonomously, Kellogg’s
internal marketing success is due to cross-functional teams that bridge the
gap between silos to provide a continuous flow of communication (“Engage-
ment Strategies Media: Internal Marketing Best Practices” n.d.).
Oppenheimer: Internal communications materials at Oppenheimer Funds
exemplify the company’s long-standing brand promise of security and coop-
eration. The internet, speeches, and memos, according to Oppenheimer
fund management, are low-cost communication channels that can success-
fully strengthen a consistent brand message (“Engagement Strategies Media:
Internal Marketing Best Practices” n.d.).
Wrigley Jr. Co: Internal communications at a canned and frozen company
appear and feel the same as the company’s outward communications. By
employing the same visual signals in all communications, employee messag-
ing promotes the corporation’s consistent vision and voice.
The Forum for People Performance Management and Measurement,
which organized and designed the study, is a research center inside North-
western University’s Medill Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC)
graduate school. The Forum’s primary goal is to create and disseminate
information about communication, motivation, and management so that
organizations may effectively plan, implement, and manage people-based
projects both inside and outside the organization (“Engagement Strategies
Media: Internal Marketing Best Practices,” n.d.).
 Thoughts on Internal Marketing 207
Internal Communication as Internal Marketing Practices
As internal communication activities (Table 14.1), they executed Raya
Kickoff Meeting, Raya Achievers Club Trip, Raya Newsletter, intranet
communication, Chairman’s Breakfast, Raya Library, corporate bulletin,
and internal cafeteria (Shamma 2012).
Egypt’s largest mobile service provider, Mobinil, began operations in
1998. Human resources and internal communication departments were
in charge of employee relations. Employees can make complaints regard-
ing unethical behaviors to improve internal communication. Eva Pharma
is a pharmaceutical company established in Egypt that uses several internal
marketing methods (communication of company values via business cards,
websites, and meeting arrangements, as well as training programs for all
employees to better their future). These have a huge impact on employee
engagement and business loyalty (Shamma 2012).

Case Studies on Internal Marketing Practices

in Various Sectors
Internal marketing began as a service organization, but it is now extremely
beneficial to product organizations. In today’s competitive economy, inter-
nal marketing is critical. Internal marketing bridges the gap between mar-
keting and human resource management. To satisfy the needs of an external

Table 14.1 Internal communication practices.

Internal Communications practices in Purpose

Raya IT service to telecommunication,
retail, and customer support service in
Egypt (Shamma 2012)

Raya Kickoff meeting Strategies plan for future

Raya Achievers Club Trip High achievers are selected to go on a trip to
motivate and boost their performance.
Raya newsletter All news published. Personal news published
like weddings, birthdays, etc. to improve
relations.
Intranet Communication Internal share of information such as internal
reports, events, and employee benefits to
developing trust.
Chairman’s Breakfast Chairman’s discussion with employees to be
associated with the organization.
Raya Library Publications on IT, Trade, and business and
keep employees aware.
Internal Cafeteria This provides a healthy meal for employees
at a low rate. It provides benefits to the
employees.
Source: Cited in www.enterpriseengagement.org/articles/content/8288825/internal-marketing-
best-practices/
208 Thoughts on Internal Marketing
client in a service business, internal consumers must first be satisfied. A third
party is interacting with the internal customer.
A satisfied internal customer engages positively with their customer
throughout a service transaction. Much of the study focused on “service
encounters,” or the time when a client contacts an employee for assistance.
When a customer interacts with a company, product, people, facili-
ties, or communications, it represents a “moment of truth,” according to
C. ­Bhattacharjee, because it changes the customer’s perception and image
of the firm. A satisfied internal customer engages positively with their cus-
tomer throughout a service transaction (Bhattacharya 2009). This is referred
to as interactive marketing for outside customers. Quality service began in
the 1990s. Internal marketing is a tool for providing better customer service
(Cronin, Brady, and Hult 2000). According to Bansal (2001), to obtain a
sustainable competitive advantage, businesses must recruit and retain cus-
tomers. This emphasized the importance of internal customers in acquiring
and retaining customers. The firm’s image is reflected in the quality of its
services Bansal, Mendelson, and Sharma 2001).
Because the service industry understands the importance of its employees,
it implements internal marketing methods. Numerous studies have been
undertaken by internal marketing researchers in service firms such as banks,
tourism services, hotels, and hospitals. They discovered that internal mar-
keting can have a significant impact on interactive marketing. Organization
gets benefits from the service of talented employees and retains them for a
long time. It inspires and motivates employees to provide customer service
(Ibraheem et al. 2013).
The banking industry is facing challenges such as rapidly changing
markets, new technologies, economic uncertainties, competition, and
demanding customers. There is fierce competition in the financial sector.
The banking sector is one example of a service organization that needs to
improve service quality. Banks play a vital role in the economic development
of every nation. Due to privatization, globalization, and liberalization, there
is a radical change in this sector (Kameswari and Rajyalakshmi 2012).
As a result, human resources are critical in any organization. To improve
the quality of service, the motivation and satisfaction of internal customers
are essential. Therefore, there is a need to create a marketing environment
for internal customers (Kaur 2012).
Due to increased rivalry in banks, there are issues with retaining and
motivating personnel. Some academics investigated the impact of internal
marketing on staff retention and discovered that it has a beneficial impact.
Many researchers also sought to determine the impact of internal market-
ing on employee job happiness, and the results demonstrated that internal
marketing leads to employee contentment.
The main intention here is to make employees feel that management
considers the employees and their needs. For the growth of the banking
sector, it is necessary to understand the importance of internal marketing.
 Thoughts on Internal Marketing 209
Lings and Greenly (2005) advocated for improved service and consumer
satisfaction. Internal marketing is required to promote and motivate person-
nel. It raises the organization’s service quality. This suggests that to increase
an organization’s service quality, staff motivation is critical. Because we live
in the knowledge era, it is also vital to empower employees through internal
marketing. Internal marketing is a marketing tactic to attract and retain the
finest employees to improve organizational performance (Cha Ha and Jaafar
2007). They proposed 12 internal marketing constructs: inter-functional
coordination and integration, customer orientation, marketing approach,
job satisfaction, empowerment, employee motivation, quality of service,
employee development, organization vision, reward, internal communica-
tion, and senior leadership (Kameswari and Rajyalakshmi 2012).
According to one Jordan Bank survey, training and development had
the greatest impact on employee job satisfaction (Ibraheem et al. 2013)
Through empowerment, training, leadership, and work satisfaction motiva-
tion, exemplified IM practice. According to the survey, employee motiva-
tion requires the whole focus and attention required to make them reliable
and durable assets. Employees must be trained to grow and enhance their
abilities to be more productive. They discovered that the most essential ele-
ment for employee job satisfaction is training. The shortcoming of this study
is that they used only four dimensions of job satisfaction and select only one
banking sector (Ibraheem et al. 2013). Kameshwari et al. use six factors for
IM: work content, training, work environment, superior support, team-
mates, and recognition. A. Vijaya Kameswari et al. also notice that IM is
appropriate for all sorts of companies (Kameswari and Rajyalakshmi 2012).
The influence of internal marketing on staff retention in the banking sec-
tor was investigated, and it was discovered to be beneficial (Ahmad, Iqbal,
and ­Sheeraz 2012). They discovered that internal communication, training,
and motivation have a favorable impact on staff retention (Ahmad, Iqbal, and
Sheeraz 2012). In an empirical study of 116 banking customer advisors and
3 clients of each (348 clients), Myriam discovered that customer orientation
had a mediating relationship between internal marketing and service qual-
ity perception (Bellaouaied, Gam, and Myriam 2012). G. Mavridoglou and
colleagues investigated the case of Greek banks. Their findings suggested
that Greek banks are heavily utilizing the IM idea. According to Marshall
et al. (1998), information management is all about how a corporation serves
its employees; internal customers are individuals who obtain products or
services from suppliers within the organizational boundary. Every business
has a chain of interconnected business units. G. Mavridoglou and colleagues
looked into the Greek bank matter (Bouranta and Mavridoglou 2003). Their
findings indicate that Greek banks make extensive use of the IM concept.
Marshall, Baker, and Finn (1998, referenced in Bouranta 2003) defines IM
as the way a company serves its employees. Individuals who receive goods
or services from vendors within the corporation are referred to as internal
customers. Every company has a network of interconnected business units.
210 Thoughts on Internal Marketing
According to Quester and Kelly (1999, cited in Bouranta 2003), imple-
menting IM requires a team of people, including a marketing manager,
account manager, managing director, and human resource manager. The
human resource manager is heavily involved in the IM planning process.
As a result, in the case of the Greek bank, human resources were involved
(Bouranta 2003). A study on Egyptian commercial banks discovered that IM
had a major impact on bank performance (Ghoneim and El-Tabie 2014).

Future of Internal Marketing Practice

Internal marketing practices include internal communication, internal
branding, internal market strengthening, an integrated internal organiza-
tional system, internal customer empowerment and engagement, employee
commitment, internal customer satisfaction, and customer orientation,
among other things. Regardless of the sort of internal marketing technique
employed, the end goal is to improve organizational performance and devel-
opment by enhancing internal customer motivation and satisfaction.
Here are some recent cases that have been explored.

1. Internal Communications Practices

Making coworkers into vloggers, NatWest personal banking employs around
28,000 people who serve over 17 million customers. When their internal
television program watch needed to be updated, the communication team
didn’t just make a quick change – they went back to the drawing board.
What was the result? Bee Vloggers is an intriguing new staff vlogger chan-
nel! They arranged auditions to identify Natwest’s seven Bee Vloggers and
turned these employees into mini-celebrities, with help from them here at
McCann Synergy. Working weekly 2-minute vlogs about everything from
product updates to community news, Bee Vloggers won an award at Engage
Employee for their innovative, engaging approach, which was a big hit with
coworkers. In actuality, it has motivated departments throughout the rest of
the organization to start their vlogs! Why do they like it so much? NatWest
has created a new channel that is genuinely by colleagues for colleagues
by using YouTube’s bite-sized material as a unique means of connecting
employees. They are not the only ones who believe it has been handing
out internal communication awards all year (“Best Internal Communication
Case Studies of 2021” 2022).
In 2021, Nestle realized that remote working was harming employ-
ees’ health and mental well-being. Nestle did everything to incorporate
employee well-being into their people strategy. They spend money on
innovative tools and services to give individuals more headspace and time,
focusing on four areas: physical health, nutrition, mental health, and work-
place setting. Friday afternoons, as well as back-to-back sessions, were to be
avoided. Accepting the slogan “Taking care of your body is taking care of
your business,” leaders were ready to model the new behaviors as suggestions
 Thoughts on Internal Marketing 211
and resources were circulated throughout the corporation (“Best Internal
Communication Case Studies of 2021” 2022).
This emphasis also included a variety of hands-on activities that employees
could do from home, such as expert chefs teaching employees how to cook
a nutritious dinner in 30 minutes. It possesses the power of three distinct
elements: clear guidance, tools, and inspiration. This is an excellent example
of work nicely done. To re-energize the nation’s sense of purpose in devel-
oping society, the team went large, including company-wide collaboration.
Over five weeks, the award-winning BIG discussion strategy solicited ideas
from over 18,000 employees through Talkback events, unprecedented lis-
tening exercises, and online surveys. Every employee can impact the fate of
the country. It represents the gold dust that employees have.
A new marketing strategy and campaign centered on the novel concept
of “Nationally Building Society.” By not only listening to employee sugges-
tions but also acting on them, a purpose-fit strategy can be developed (“Best
Internal Communication Case Studies of 2021” 2022).
Mondi, a global leader in paper solutions and packaging, select a global
town hall event to initiate their new sustainability plan, MAP 2030. Mondi
push for a more sustainable future. Aldi’s internal communication team
intended to involve and motivate frontline employees with a pleasant expe-
rience. Aldi found that to significantly impact employee engagement levels,
it is needed to provide staff with some fun during a stressful time of year
(“Best Internal Communication Case Studies of 2021” 2022).

2. Internal Branding Practice

Internal campaign and branding of BASF, Pfizer, and Asia Pacific Brewery
case study are:

BASF Plan: BASF was initiating an internal campaign known as ONE

BASF. The goal was to reinforce its internal brand across the main
office in the region. The research was undertaken to comprehend
BASF values and the objectives of the initiative. The knowledge con-
tributed to the crafting of the ONE BASF brand strategy Map.
BASF Outcome: BASF emerged as a company newly equipped with
thorough knowledge and clarity on its objectives and greater path.
BASF’s leaders grew in knowledge and were able to communicate the
internal brand essence to their subordinates and employees, therefore
building upon a growing internal brand culture (“Branded Cultures –
Internal Brand Management – Internal Branding” n.d.).

Pfizer
Pfizer Plan: The mission was to build and craft a strong internal brand
for the following brand Viagra and overactive bladder (OAB), Jerome and
his team formulated the Live the Brands and Brand Champion strategy
212 Thoughts on Internal Marketing
workshops to attain the goals. The marketing team performed on its under-
standing and gained intuitive insights into their division and parent brands.
Through workshops, they were able to internalize Pfizer’s values and prod-
uct brand across key touchpoints to retain the brand personality alive.
Pfizer outcome: Teams in both OAB and Viagra divisions gained a solid
and reinforced understanding of their brand and were equipped with the
knowledge tools to become effective brand champions for Pfizer. By becom-
ing stronger champions, Pfizer was able to set brand game and wow the mar-
ket across all levels, and experience tremendous, increased success (“Branded
Cultures – Internal Brand Management – Internal Branding” n.d.).

Asia Pacific Brewery

Asia Pacific Brewery Plan: Jerome and his team were asked to assist the
employees to show the APB brand in general and distinguish the corporate
brand from individual brands. By devising the brand champion workshop
to develop and grow a capable team of brand champions, they were able to
empower team members with thorough brand knowledge and also equip
them with the capacity to engage and influence peers to view the brands in
the right manner. An internal communication strategy is used to guarantee
the longevity of the brand alignment.
Asia Pacific Outcome: APB was able to better juggle strong brand per-
sonalities and balance them with its own. They make efforts to create brand
values. Its employees are now more knowledgeable and confident, able to
project various brand personalities as required as well as align their behaviors
with the company’s overarching brand values (“Employee Engagement Best
Practices and Case Studies” n.d.).
Employee involvement is critical in the workplace. According to one
study, employee involvement reduced turnover by 14.9 percent and boosted
productivity by 69 percent in the workplace. One of the largest Baird,
Kurtz, Dobson (BKD), US accounting and advisory firm uses the Quantum
Workplace platform to increase employee ongoing coaching and to foster
an inclusive feedback culture that encourages frequent and meaningful dia-
logue. Internal communication is critical in establishing mutual understand-
ing and cooperation among employees. According to a Harris Poll poll,
more than 70 percent of employees were engaged when their firm pro-
vided clear internal communication on important information (“Branded
­Cultures – Internal Brand Management – Internal Branding” n.d.).

Best Practice: Employees’ Ideas

The program should be built around the ideas of the employees. This can be
accomplished by implementing staff suggestion initiatives and replacing the
existing suggestion box. Employee suggestion programs (ESP), like customer
feedback programs, invite employees to express their concerns and contrib-
ute solutions. Many businesses provide ESPs, but many of them do not use
 Thoughts on Internal Marketing 213
technology to ensure that they are as successful as possible. A wooden sug-
gestion box on the wall is a nice start, but proposals are not always verified
regularly, which causes resentment and confusion. Using a digital solution
helps improve accountability and the process of listening to employee feed-
back (“Employee Engagement Best Practices and Case Studies” n.d.).

Best Practice 8: Internal Communication

The corporation should confirm that effective internal communication is a
component of its employee engagement strategy. Internal communication is
critical in establishing mutual understanding and cooperation among employ-
ees. According to a Harris Poll poll, more than 70 percent of employees were
engaged when their firm provided clear internal communication (Kurter n.d.).
Let’s see Box 14.2 for a case study of Microsoft and Box 14.3 for Molson
Coors Beverage Company.

Box 14.2. Case study: Microsoft

Microsoft, a multinational technology firm that offers computer hard-

ware, software, and related services, is an example of a company that has
effectively built an employee engagement program for its employees.
Microsoft has made significant investments in corporate communica-
tion and the enhancement of employee experience across the board.
For example, Microsoft collaborated with Central to increase the pro-
ductivity, engagement, and accountability of their contact center ser-
vice employees. Microsoft used Centrical in its call centers because of
its ability to boost engagement through enhanced gamification while
merging learning and performance metrics into a single platform.
The platform would inherently reward call center agents while also
assigning them individual goals. Centrical provides agents with a visual
reminder of how every action they take matters and moves them closer
to their goals. Microsoft would provide points and badges to employees
who demonstrate positive habits such as timeliness. Soon after this pro-
gram was adopted, 78 percent of Microsoft’s call center agents reported
feeling more empowered and prepared to do a better job, while absen-
teeism decreased by 12 percent overall. Microsoft’s products (e.g.,
Microsoft 365) have been used to boost communication and employee
engagement. The programs have resulted in more interconnected and
personalized employee experiences. They have also enabled Micro-
soft employees to innovate, create, and collaborate seamlessly among
the teams that they belong to and work with. Eighty-five percent of
Microsoft employees say that they are proud to be part of the company.

Source: (“Employee Engagement Best Practices and Case Studies” n.d.)

214 Thoughts on Internal Marketing

Box 14.3. Case study: Molson Coors beverage

company

Molson Coors is a brewing firm that brews and sells beer. Molson
Coors is an example of a corporation that has effectively implemented
an employee engagement plan. Their employee engagement activi-
ties resulted in engaged employees who were five times less likely to
have a safety issue and seven times less likely to have a lost-time safety
event than non-engaged employees. Engagement had also enhanced
sales performance at Molson Coors. And as a consequence of the
­initiatives, the company had saved over $1.7 million in just one year.

Source: (‘Employee Engagement Best practices and case studies’ n.d.)

Conclusion
There are various case studies on internal marketing, which are based on
internal communication, employee engagement, employee empowerment,
internal relationships, rewards, incentives, motivation, and satisfaction of
employees; developing a culture of customer orientation; and improving
service quality. Various well-known organizations are successful due to the
implementation of internal marketing. Some organizations have adopted it as a
process, while others use a specific dimension to develop their internal market.
Internal marketing case studies include internal communication; employee
engagement; employee empowerment; internal relationships; rewards;
incentives; motivation; and employee satisfaction; building a customer-
oriented culture; and enhancing service quality. Internal marketing has
helped several well-known firms achieve success. Some firms implemented
it as a method, while others focused on a certain facet to create their inter-
nal market. However, there are numerous challenges to the company’s per-
formance, but without the efforts of internal consumers, the organization
cannot succeed. Thus, the success of a firm is dependent on internal cus-
tomers and the correct implementation of internal marketing and human
resource policies. In this competitive environment, relying solely on human
resource methods is insufficient. Thus, internal marketing strengthens
human resources while directing organizational development and progress.

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Author’s Short Biography

Dr. Teena Mishra has 11 years of work experience. She worked as a

lecturer, assistant professor, and manager in various organizations. She
recently collaborated with ITM Vocational University Vadodara, Gujrat
for online management programs and worked with PSS Central Institute
of Vocational Studies, Bhopal. She also worked with various other insti-
tutes. Dr. Teena received her Ph.D. from Barkatullah University in Bho-
pal. She has completed PG in human resource management, PGJMC,
and B.A. (advertising and sales promotion) courses. She has participated
in various training programs and other academic profiles. She engaged
in various extracurricular activities at the institute. She has experience in
various fields like teaching, promotional activities, administration, crea-
tive writing, and research fields. She has taught courses at the under-
graduate and postgraduate levels. She taught various subjects like human
resource management, organizational behavior, marketing management,
and retail management. Her areas of research interest include sustainable
development and the environment; sustainable practices; organizational
behavior; internal marketing; the educational system; marketing practices
and strategy; and human resource practices.
  She has presented various research papers at national and international
conferences. She has had her work published in some international peer-
reviewed journals, including the International Journal of Business and
Commerce Management, the International Journal of Creative Research
Thoughts, the Unnyan Journal, Springer publication, the International
Journal of Trends in Scientific Research and Development, and the Kavv
International Journal of Economics, Commerce, and Business, among
others. Recently, she has also presented her contribution in other fields,
and published book titled ‘Designing Efficient Utilization of Energy Sys-
tems: From Green Perspectives’ Nova publisher 2022 and Lockdown,
notion press 2022.
Index

Note: Page numbers in italics indicate a figure and page numbers in bold indicate a
table on the corresponding page.
awareness created by internal
Abzari, M. 151, 192 marketing 115
adaptation to work 94 Awwad, M. S. 84, 153
advanced machine learning 106
advergames 120 Ballantyne, D. 24, 134, 136
Agti, D. A. M. 84, 153 Bang, W. 114
Ahmad, A. M. K. 191 Bansal, H. S. 37, 39, 94
Ahmad, N. 131 BASF 211
Ahmed, P. K. 3, 29 – 30, 81, 94, 147, Bashaw, R. E. 135
153; on employee motivation 156; Bateson, J. E. C. 6, 94
on inter-functional coordination behavioral science era 101
and communication 6 – 7, 73; on Belma, P. 137
internal marketing mix 65; meta-model Berry, L. L. 5, 6, 65, 73, 128, 153, 171,
of internal marketing 87; 177; model of internal marketing
on organizational performance 84 – 86, 85
136, 137 best practices in internal marketing:
aims of internal marketing 8 – 9 employees’ ideas 212–213; focus on
Akbari, M. 130 employee engagement 204–205;
Akinyele, S. 187 human resource partnership 203–204;
Akın, M. 137 integrated organizational structure 201,
Almerana, A. J. 6 201–202; internal brand communication
Alshurideh, M. 142 205–207; internal communication
Amangala, T. A. 154 213–214; pre-measurement studies
Amazon 51 203; senior management participation
American Express 77 199–201, 200; strategic marketing
American Marketing Association 4 – 5 approach 202–203
AOSTC pattern 67 – 68 Bezos, J. 51
Arbeit, S. P. 21 – 22 Boddy, D. 133
ARM case study 75 branding: future of internal practices on
Arora, N. 58 211 – 213; internal communication on
Ashrafi, D. M. 36 205 – 207; role of internal marketing in
Asia Pacific Brewery 212 132, 198
Atassi, L. 119 brand voice: implementing 57; meaning
augmented reality 107 – 108 of 57 – 60
authoritarianism 99 Buchanan, D. A. 133
autonomous agents and things 108 Budhwar, P. S. 132
Avis Car Rental Group 76 – 77 Bussin, M. 118 – 119

Cahill, D. J. 134
career and development plans 118
Carter, L. 157
Carter, S. 82
Caruana, A. 190
case studies, internal marketing 49 – 52;
employee empowerment 53 – 55, 55,
56; internal marketing implementation
74 – 77, 77; internal service quality
52 – 53; in various sectors 207 – 210
change management 10, 24, 136
Chin, T. A. 84
Chiu, W. 191
Christopher, M. 24, 134, 136
Çiçek, R. 137
Collins, B. 14, 25
commitment: commitment-based
management 151 – 152; continuous
185, 187; emotional 185, 186 – 187;
internal marketing practices
and 187 – 190; introduction to
183 – 184, 184; normative 185 – 186;
organizational 184 – 185; relationship
between internal marketing and 190,
190 – 193; types of 185 – 187, 186
competitor orientation: proactive 160;
responsive 161
components of internal marketing
115 – 116
concept of internal marketing 7 – 8
Conduit, J. 94 – 95, 156, 175
conflict, organizational 10
consumers on the Internet 59
continuous commitment 185, 187
cooperatives/cooperativism 40, 65
core competency 56
corporate social responsibility 117
COVID-19 pandemic 60
cultural change, role of internal marketing
in 133
Cummings, T. G. 133
customer orientation 10, 24, 65 – 66,
73, 152 – 154, 153; internal marketing
154 – 157, 155
customer service 169
data analysis of employee performance
105, 119 – 120
data collection 105
development created by internal
marketing 115
diamond shape model of internal
marketing 91 – 93, 92
Index 219
dimensions of internal marketing:
conclusion on 41 – 42; introduction to
33 – 34, 34; related to human resources
38; specific 36 – 37; studies on 35 – 36,
38 – 41
direct marketing 59
Dolatabadi, H. R. 84
Donnelly, J. H. 6
Dündar, İ. 137
Dunne, A. 82
ease of communication 105
El-Samen, A. A. 142
emotional commitment 185, 186 – 187
employee empowerment case study
53 – 55, 55, 56
employee engagement: case studies on
49 – 51; focus on 204 – 205
employees: career and development plans
for 118; commitment of 151 – 152;
creating healthy working environments
for 144; customer-oriented 10, 24,
65 – 66, 73; empowerment of 143,
187, 198; engagement of 49 – 51,
204 – 205; impact of internal marketing
on retention of 131; internal
market-oriented culture and 118;
job design and 118; job satisfaction
of (see job satisfaction); loyalty of
134 – 135; motivation of 22, 22 – 24,
23, 126; privacy of 105; quality
management systems and 120 – 121;
recruitment of 38, 104 – 105, 143;
rewards and incentives for 15, 66,
118 – 119, 188; team performance and
118 – 120; training and development of
38, 41, 126 – 127, 168 – 169, 188; treated
as customers 9, 16; work-life balance of
41, 116; See also internal customers
employee suggestion programs (ESP)
212 – 213
empowerment, employee 143, 187, 198
engagement, employee 49 – 51, 204 – 205
exchange model of internal marketing
88 – 91, 89
external communication 94 – 95
external service quality 21 – 22
Facebook 106, 119
Farias, S. A. de 93
Farzad, A. 190
financial measures for checking internal
marketing success 73
220 Index
financial performance and internal human resource management era
marketing 136 – 137 101 – 102
Flipo, J. P. 35 human resource management stage 15
Foot, M. 119 human resource partnership 203 – 204
Forlar, G. 137 Hunt, S. D. 183
Forman, S. 134 Huseman, R. C. 154
Fors, M. F. 66
4Ps of Marketing mix 26 – 30 implementation, internal marketing
future of internal marketing practices 64 – 65, 78; case studies on 74 – 77, 77;
210 – 213 internal marketing scale and 69 – 72,
70 – 71; introduction to 63 – 64; Jaiswal
George, B. 17 on 67 – 74, 69, 70 – 71, 72; meaning
Ghorbani, H. 83, 170 of internal marketing process and
Gilaninia, S. 84 64; obstacles in 72, 72 – 74; phases of
Gilmore, A. 183, 187 65 – 67; process of internal marketing
globalization, marketplace 59, 159 and 68 – 69, 69; Strunje’s framework of
goals of internal marketing 10 66 – 67
Gounaris, S. 72, 135, 157 İnal, E. 137
Grant, E. S. 135 Industrial Revolution 100
Gray, D. 157 innovation 60, 115
Greenberg, J. 131 inside-out approach 56
Griffiths, G. 59 integrated organizational structure 201,
Gronroos, C. 24, 56, 73, 135, 150, 176, 201 – 202
177; model of internal marketing 86, interactive marketing 59, 170 – 171
86 – 87 inter-functional conflict 73
Gummesson, E. 13 – 14 inter-functional coordination 10, 24, 189
internal communication 40, 94, 142,
Hair, J. F. 153 188 – 190; best practices 213 – 214;
Harrell, G. D. 66 branding 205 – 207; future of
Harris, J. 131 210 – 211; as internal marketing
Hashemi, R. 84 practices 207, 207
Hatfield, J. D. 154 internal customer citizenship behavior
HDFC Bank 53 – 55, 55 (ICCB) 130
healthy working environment 144 internal customer orientation 154;
Helgesen, O. 131, 136 dimensions of 154 – 157, 155
Hitt, M. A. 134 internal customer relationship
Hogg, G. 82 management 145
Hook, C. 119 internal customers 10 – 11, 16;
Hoskisson, R. E. 134 categorization of 11 – 13, 12
Howard, A. 59 internal customer service 11, 21 – 22;
Hu, M. L. 175 focus on work products 16 – 17
human relations era 101 internal marketing: aims of 8 – 9; as
human resource management: dimensions ambiguous concept 72 – 73; benefits
of internal marketing related to 38; of 47, 197; best practices in 199 – 207,
evolution of 2, 99 – 102; modern 200, 201, 207; case studies on 49 – 52;
102; relationship building in 16, 26; commitment and (See commitment);
relationship to internal marketing 98, components of 115 – 116; concept of
102 – 103; selection activity in 143 – 145; 7 – 8; corporate social responsibility
similarities with internal marketing initiatives and 117; creating awareness
13 – 14, 25; stages in process of 14 – 15; and development 115; defined 3 – 5,
as synonym for internal marketing 4, 64, 81 – 82; development stages
3; technology reformed internal in 21; differentiation from total
marketing and 103 – 108, 106, 107 quality management 146 – 148, 147;

different viewpoints on who takes
responsibility for 73 – 74; elements of
4, 4; evolution of 2, 5 – 7; examples of
effective 198; financial performance
and 136 – 137; future of 210 – 213; goals
of 10; impact of 3; implementation
of (See implementation, internal
marketing); as in-house marketing
approach 33; as innovative
phenomenon 115; inter-functional
conflict and resistance to change and
73; internal communication and 207,
207; internal market-oriented culture
118; internal performance management
and 116 – 117; introduction to 1 – 3;
job satisfaction and 191 – 192; and job
satisfaction during the COVID-19
pandemic 60; lack of financial
measures to check success of 73;
market orientation and 176 – 179;
mechanism of (see mechanism of
internal marketing); models of
(See models of internal marketing);
objectives of 9, 9 – 10, 17; obstacles in
72, 72 – 74; organizational change and
2 – 3; as organizational coaching 114;
organizational performance and 98,
116 – 117, 130 – 131; positive internal
relationships and 116; principles of
26 – 30, 27, 28; process of 68 – 69,
69; relationship marketing theory
and social exchange theory and
117; relationship to human resource
management 98, 102 – 103; role in
branding 132, 198; role in cultural
change 133; service organizations
and 112 – 114, 113; service quality
and 9 – 10, 111 – 112, 167 – 170;
significance of 48 – 49; similarities with
human resource management 13 – 14,
25; similarities with total quality
management 145 – 146, 146; as strategy
114 – 115; sustainability and 55 – 56,
134; team performance 118 – 120;
technology reformed 103 – 108, 106,
107; thoughts of 21 – 26, 22, 23; trends
of 198; See also marketing
internal marketing mix 26 – 30
internal marketing scale 69 – 72, 70 – 71
internal market orientation 154; recent
studies on 157 – 160
internal market-oriented culture 118
internal segmentation 40
Index 221
internal service quality 25, 144, 168;
approaches with 170 – 171; dimensions
of 172 – 173; Hotel Soaltee Crowne
Plaza (SCP) case study 52 – 53;
introduction to 167
Internet, the: consumers on 59; ease of
communication through 105; Internet
of Things 106 – 107, 107; recruitment
process through 104 – 105; social media
and 106, 106, 119
INTSERVQUAL scale 174 – 179
Ireland, R. D. 134
Jaiswal, K. S. 67 – 74, 69, 70 – 71, 72
Jarrah, S. 169
Jaworski, B. J. 151, 190
job design 118
job satisfaction 66; commitment and 184;
during the COVID-19 pandemic 60;
internal marketing and commitment
and 191 – 192; internal marketing
resolving issues with 178; positive
internal relationships and 116; studies
on 129 – 130
Joseph, W. B. 156
Joyal, A. D. 130 – 131
Kameswari, A. V. 132
Kaur, R. 91, 156 – 157
Keller, S. B. 14, 16 – 17
Khan 156
KILOMERO Sugar Company Limited
(KSCL) 49 – 51
Kim, C. 58
Kohli, A. K. 151, 153, 190
Kotler, P. 7, 26, 93 – 94
Kwon, K. 58
Labd, A. I. 136
labor welfare stage 14
Lamb, C. W. 153
Lean management 120
learning orientation 161 – 162
Levionnois, M. 6
Lin, W. C. 175
Lings, I. N. 134, 153, 154, 177
Lings and greenly 209
LinkedIn 106
loyalty, employee 134 – 135
machine learning 106
management concern dimension 41
managerial support 188
222 Index
Mangold, W. G. 198
marketing: changes and adaptations in 59;
integration and direct and interactive
59; Internet 59; motivational 128;
personalized 58 – 59; social 134; See also
internal marketing
marketing mix 26 – 30, 116
market orientation 135 – 137, 162 – 163;
concepts present in 152 – 154, 153,
160; dimensions of internal 154; future
trends of 151 – 152, 152; internal
customer orientation 154 – 157, 155;
introduction to 150; learning 161 – 162;
proactive competitor orientation
160 – 161; recent studies on internal
157 – 160; responsive competitor
orientation 161; service quality and
176 – 179; technology orientation 161
market research 95
Martensen, A. 134 – 135
Mavondo, F. T. 94 – 95, 154, 156,
175, 176
Mayo, E. 102
McDaniel, C. 153
mechanism of internal marketing:
employee retention and 131;
introduction to 126 – 130, 127, 128;
market orientation and 135 – 137; role
in branding 132; role in organizational
performance 130 – 131; role in service
delivery 132 – 135
Mehra, S. 130 – 131
messaging apps 105
meta-model of internal marketing
87, 88
Microsoft 213
Miles, S. J. 198
Mill, J. S. 102
Mishra, T. 176, 190
models of internal marketing: adaptation
to work and 94; Berhenger’s proposed
93 – 94; Berry’s 84 – 86, 85; diamond
shape 91 – 93, 92; dimensions to 83;
empirical studies on 83 – 93; exchange
88 – 91, 89; external communication
and 94 – 95; features of 83; Gronroos’
86, 86 – 87; introduction to 81 – 82;
Kaur’s 91; market research and 95;
meta-model 87, 88
Mohammadi, R. 84
Molson Coors 214
Money, A. 134
Moores, B. 175
Moradi, A. 84
Morgan, R. M. 183
Morris, M. B. 130
Mostafavi, M. 83
motivation 22, 22 – 24, 23, 126, 152, 170;
definition of 128; meaning of 127 – 129
Munsterberg, H. 101
Nahavandi, N. 190
Narver, J. C. 152 – 153, 162
Nesset, E. 131, 136
Netflix 51
New Public Management (NPM) 199
New Service Marketing Diamond 92,
92 – 93
normative commitment 185 – 186
objectives of internal marketing 9, 9 – 10
obstacles in internal marketing 72, 72 – 74
Olorunleke, K. 187
Opoku, E. 156
organizational and administrative
support 38
organizational change 2 – 3, 133
organizational coaching, internal
marketing as 114
organizational commitment 184 – 185
organizational performance 98, 116 – 117,
130 – 131
organizational structure, integrated 201,
201 – 202
outside-in approach 158 – 159
Owen, R. 102
Ozretić Došen, Đ. 14
Paliaga, M. 14, 69
Panigyrakis, G. 63, 130
Parasuraman, A. 6, 171
participants in marketing mix 30
Payne, A. 14, 24, 25, 134, 136
performance: financial 136 – 137;
organizational 98, 116 – 117, 130 – 131;
quality management systems and
120 – 121; team 118 – 120
personalized marketing 58 – 59
personnel management stage 15
Pfizer 211 – 212
physical evidence 30
Piva, E. 60
place/distribution in marketing mix 29
Prebežac, D. 14
pre-measurement studies 203
price in internal marketing mix 29

principles of internal marketing 26 – 30,
27, 28
privacy, employee 105
proactive competitor orientation 160
process in marketing mix 30
product in internal marketing mix 26 – 29
promotion in marketing mix 29 – 30
Qayum, M. 130
quality management systems 120 – 121
Quintanilla, P. I. 7
Rafiq, M. 3, 29, 81, 94, 147, 153;
on employee motivation 156; on
inter-functional coordination and
communication 6 – 7, 73; on internal
marketing mix 65; on organizational
performance 136, 137
Rajyalakshmi, N. 132
Ranjbaran, B. 84
recruitment 38, 143; using the Internet
104 – 105
REI 51
relationship marketing theory 117
Rentocchini, F. 60
resistance to change 73
resource-based theory (RBV) 159
responsibility for internal marketing
73 – 74
responsive competitor orientation 161
retention, employee: as big concern 131;
impact of internal marketing on 131
rewards and incentives 15, 38, 66,
118 – 119, 188
Reynolds-De Bruin, L. 118
Reynoso, J. 175
Rhee, M. 130 – 131
robotics 108
Roca, P. X. 6
Romeo, D. M. 6
Rossi-Lamastra, C. 60
Ryan, O. A. R. 136
Saad, N. 153
Sabir, I. 36
Sahaf, M. A. 130
Salem, O. M. K. 156, 177
Sarker, M. D. 36
Sasser, W. E. 21 – 22
satisfaction as thought of internal
marketing 22, 22 – 24, 23
Schlechter, A. 118 – 119
scientific management era 101, 102
Index 223
security practices and technology
105 – 106
selection 143 – 145
self-charging phones 108
Senge, P. 135
senior management participation
199 – 201, 200
serfdoms 99
service delivery, role of internal marketing
in 132 – 135
service organizations and internal
marketing 112 – 114, 113
service quality 9 – 10, 111 – 112, 168;
external 21 – 22; internal (See internal
service quality); market orientation and
176 – 179
SERVPERF scale 174
SERVQUAL scale 171, 174
Shadab, R. 84
Shafiei, B. 84
Shahsavani, M. 84
Shamma, H. 64
Shekary, G. A. 184, 187
Slater, S. F. 152 – 153, 162
social exchange theory 117
social marketing 134
social media 106, 106, 119
social responsibility era 100
Society for Human Resource
Management 106
Soheila, Z. 1
Soltani, E. 56, 134
Southwest Airlines 75
staff retention 38
Stauss, B. 25, 170
strategic marketing approach 202 – 203
strategy, internal marketing as 114 – 115
Strunje, Ž. 14, 66 – 67, 69
Sukati, I. 84
sustainability and internal marketing
55 – 56, 134
systems and contingency approach era 101
Taylor, F. 101, 102
team performance 118 – 120
technology 143 – 144; reformed internal
marketing 103 – 108, 106, 107;
self-charging phones and wireless
electricity 108; social media 106, 106,
119; wearables 108
technology orientation 161
Tekin, O. 185
text messaging 105
224 Index
Thao, L. P. 119 UNISON 76
Theodoridis, P. 63, 130
Thompson, K. 6 validation research 56
Thompson, N. C. 118 – 119 value exchange 40
thoughts of internal marketing: customer Vesanen, J. 58
orientation 24; inter-functional virtual reality
coordination and implement strategy 107 – 108
24; internal customer and external Voldsund, T.
service quality 21 – 22; internal 131, 136
marketing as link between marketing
and human resources 25 – 26; internal Wachovia Bank 74 – 75
service quality 25; motivation and Walton, R. E. 151
satisfaction 22, 22 – 24, 23; relationship wearables 108
building 26; as similar to human Wee, K. 114
resource management 25 wireless electricity 108
top management 145 Wood, M. B. 5
total quality management 120, 148; work-life balance
differentiation between internal 41, 116
marketing and 146 – 148, 147; Worley, C. G. 133
similarities between internal marketing
and 145 – 146, 146 Yammer 119
trade union movement era 100 Yeum, M. 114
training and development 38, 41, Yule, A. 102
126 – 127, 168 – 169, 188 Yusuf, G. O. 84, 154
trust 59
Twitter 106 Zaman, K. 135