Effects of internal marketing on strategic orientations in the banking sector

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this study was to assess whether internal marketing tends to influence the perception of bank employees regarding the strategic orientations of banks toward the market, brand and value. The authors also aimed to determine whether employees' organizational commitment mediates the relationship between internal marketing and the three strategic orientations and whether they influence bank employees' perception of obtaining a competitive advantage.Design/methodology/approachThe authors conducted a survey with 832 bank employees using an online questionnaire. The authors performed data analysis by modeling structural equations with data estimation using the PLS-SEM.FindingsThe results showed that internal marketing positively influences bank employees' perception of banks' strategic marketing orientations and through that their perception of a competitive advantage. The authors also note that organizational commitment can partially mediate the relationship between internal marketing and the strategic orientations tested in this study.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings indicate that banks' investment in employee valuation tends to generate positive results in relation to their adherence to marketing strategies, with the potential to result in a competitive advantage.Originality/valueThe results demonstrate the strength of internal marketing in the strategic orientations of banks, indicating that having employees who are committed to their bank contributes to the delivery of a high-quality service focused on the external customers, generating a competitive advantage.

Service beyond the status quo: the ripple effect of corporate social responsibility and internal marketing on employee's customer-oriented behavior

“…More importantly, there is still limited literature about the impact of both CSR and IM on employees' job outcomes (e.g. De Bruin et al, 2021;Mazzarolo et al, 2021;Zhao et al, 2022). This is a notable gap because we do not know whether the bank's CSR and IM foster service employees' COBSB.…”

Strategic orientations and business success

“…The significance of these strategic orientations and related issues is further illustrated in a study conducted by Mazzarolo et al (2021) within the banking sector in Brazil. It was deemed important for banks to understand what their employees might identify as effective ways to differentiate and attain competitive advantage.…”

How to Measure the Happy-Productive Worker Thesis

“…Today, talent retention is one of the most critical issues in human resources management. The lack of human resources that want to stay in organisations is strangling managers, who are beginning to realise that their strategy must involve innovative solutions and discarding classical management forms [1,2]. The organisational management mind-set is now shifting from an external to an internal perspective, that is, to view their employees as their internal customers [2,3].…”

“…Research following these trends has proven that employees with good levels of well-being are employees who have better performance levels. Happy workers provide superior quality services, adding value, promoting competitiveness and innovation, improving motivation and organisational learning, enhancing employees' commitment to their organisations and improving their attitudes and behaviours [2,3,[6][7][8][9][10][11][12]. In this line of thought, the thesis of the happy-productive worker (HPW) arises based on the belief that a happy worker is more productive.…”