Practices of Internal Marketing in Small and Medium Industry

Munir, Zarina Abd; Othman, Akmal Aini; Shukur, Shamsul Azren Mohd; Ithnin, Rahimah; Rusdi, Syezreen Dalina

doi:10.7763/ijssh.2015.v5.480

“…Definitions of internal marketing started with Berry et al (1976) who defined "employees as internal customer and jobs as products". The most recent definition of internal marketing was put forward by Munir et al (2015). Since internal marketing was first defined, there has been a great deal of debate about the construct.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

A holistic management tool for measuring internal marketing activities

Huang

¹

,

Rundle‐Thiele

²

2015

Journal of Services Marketing

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Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to synthesise internal marketing measures in two service settings across both Western and Eastern backgrounds. Well established views of internal marketing have emerged with more than 200 papers on the topic. To date, no clear accepted measure for the concept has emerged. The developed scale provides a new way of thinking drawing together a diverse range of measures to deliver a practical measure offering marketing managers a diagnostic tool to measure the degree that internal marketing has been applied (or not) inside their organisation. Design/methodology/approach – Conceptual and operational definitions of internal marketing were analysed to generate an item pool for testing. Generated items were then tested in one higher education organisation (n = 205) and in the tourism and hospitality industry with Australian and Taiwanese employees (n = 458) using both English and Traditional Chinese survey versions. The data were analysed with SPSS 19.0 and AMOS 19.0. Reliability analysis was first undertaken to assess the hypothesised internal marketing factor structure followed by confirmatory factor analysis. Findings – A 16-item, three-factor structure was obtained for internal marketing. This research suggests that internal marketing practice is a three-dimensional concept ideally consisting of internal market research, training and communication activities. The findings suggest that further research may be warranted to further expand academic definitions of internal marketing to encompass the varied activities undertaken by practising internal marketers. Originality/value – This study provides a new measure of internal marketing practice for use in future that captures the majority of the activities undertaken by internal marketing practitioners.

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“…There is reason to believe that there will be an increase in Internal Marketing during an organisational restructure as communications during restructures are touted as advantageous to management and organisations (Greenhalgh, 1983, Howard & Frink, 1996. Furthermore, increased employee satisfaction can be attributed to the implementation of Internal Marketing (Munir, Othman, Skukur, Ithnin, & Rusdi, 2015), allowing for the opportunity of HR and Marketing Managers to work together to communicate a seamless marketing plan for the internal and external customers (Collins & Payne, 1991). As employee satisfaction has been found to positively influence Customer Satisfaction (Jung & Yoon, 2013;Koys, 2001;Nagel & Cilliers, 1990;Schneider & Bowen, 1985;Wangenhiem, Evanschitzky, & Wunderlich, 2007) the execution of this research may further exemplify the importance of the internal customer within an organisation.…”

Section: Research Objectivesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Marketing has the ability to increase employee satisfaction (Munir, Othman, Skukur, Ithnin, & Rusdi, 2015) and a well-organized internal communication programme (Collins & Payne, 1991) is suggested to lead to increased employee satisfaction. Therefore, in testing for Hypothesis 2, a positive relationship between Internal Marketing and employee satisfaction, during an organisational restructure, is expected.…”

Section: Hypothesismentioning

confidence: 99%

The Underestimated Value of Internal Marketing: Impact on Employee Satisfaction and Customer Satisfaction through Organisational Restructure

Micek¹

0

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<p>Internal Marketing, a long-debated concept amongst academics and practitioners, is suggested to be a competitive advantage to organisations that utilise its practices. Often dismissed as merely selling the marketing of a product or service to employees within an organisation, Internal Marketing encompasses a combination of the key elements of communication, training, and feedback in order to create motivated, customer-orientated employees. Through employees and managers working together towards a well communicated organisational cause of Internal Marketing, internal procedures can evolve to better service and satisfy customers. Organisational restructures are an ongoing concern as technological advances, value-adding business process, and globalisation change the way that businesses run and operate. In order to save on costs of operations, employment, and office rental space, downsizing an organisation may initially present itself as a cost-saving practice. Often unconsidered are the front-line customer-facing employees and customers of an organisation. Employees may feel distraught and concerned about losing their job, or having to find a new job, which may affect customer service, and subsequently customers may face the brunt of the domino effect, either intentionally or unintentionally, due to employees’ emotional disconnection from the organisation. This research is an exploratory study into Internal Marketing, specifically around an organisational restructure, to better understand its impact on employees and customers through different stages of a restructure. Through the use of online surveys, participants were asked to recall an organisational restructure they were involved in within the last five years. They were asked to report their perceptions of Internal Marketing, their own satisfaction with their job at the time, and their perceptions of Customer Satisfaction throughout different stages of the organisational restructure. The analysis found that Internal Marketing does have a significant positive relationship with Employee Satisfaction both during and after an organisational restructure. Although no significant relationship was found between Employee Satisfaction and Customer Satisfaction at any stage of the restructure, there is a trend within the data suggesting that the relationship may be stronger before and after an organisational restructure. Benefits and contribution of this research for academics include development of a conceptual model, as well as the benefits and effects of Internal Marketing, and extending the existing literature. For practitioners, benefits include insights into better understanding of the role of Internal Marketing. Specifically, the differences in perception of the practice between employees and managers, and why it is important to understand and address Employee Satisfaction and Customer Satisfaction during an organisational restructure.</p>

show abstract

“…There is reason to believe that there will be an increase in Internal Marketing during an organisational restructure as communications during restructures are touted as advantageous to management and organisations (Greenhalgh, 1983, Howard & Frink, 1996. Furthermore, increased employee satisfaction can be attributed to the implementation of Internal Marketing (Munir, Othman, Skukur, Ithnin, & Rusdi, 2015), allowing for the opportunity of HR and Marketing Managers to work together to communicate a seamless marketing plan for the internal and external customers (Collins & Payne, 1991). As employee satisfaction has been found to positively influence Customer Satisfaction (Jung & Yoon, 2013;Koys, 2001;Nagel & Cilliers, 1990;Schneider & Bowen, 1985;Wangenhiem, Evanschitzky, & Wunderlich, 2007) the execution of this research may further exemplify the importance of the internal customer within an organisation.…”

Section: Research Objectivesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Marketing has the ability to increase employee satisfaction (Munir, Othman, Skukur, Ithnin, & Rusdi, 2015) and a well-organized internal communication programme (Collins & Payne, 1991) is suggested to lead to increased employee satisfaction. Therefore, in testing for Hypothesis 2, a positive relationship between Internal Marketing and employee satisfaction, during an organisational restructure, is expected.…”

Section: Hypothesismentioning

confidence: 99%

The Underestimated Value of Internal Marketing: Impact on Employee Satisfaction and Customer Satisfaction through Organisational Restructure

Micek¹

1

0

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

<p>Internal Marketing, a long-debated concept amongst academics and practitioners, is suggested to be a competitive advantage to organisations that utilise its practices. Often dismissed as merely selling the marketing of a product or service to employees within an organisation, Internal Marketing encompasses a combination of the key elements of communication, training, and feedback in order to create motivated, customer-orientated employees. Through employees and managers working together towards a well communicated organisational cause of Internal Marketing, internal procedures can evolve to better service and satisfy customers. Organisational restructures are an ongoing concern as technological advances, value-adding business process, and globalisation change the way that businesses run and operate. In order to save on costs of operations, employment, and office rental space, downsizing an organisation may initially present itself as a cost-saving practice. Often unconsidered are the front-line customer-facing employees and customers of an organisation. Employees may feel distraught and concerned about losing their job, or having to find a new job, which may affect customer service, and subsequently customers may face the brunt of the domino effect, either intentionally or unintentionally, due to employees’ emotional disconnection from the organisation. This research is an exploratory study into Internal Marketing, specifically around an organisational restructure, to better understand its impact on employees and customers through different stages of a restructure. Through the use of online surveys, participants were asked to recall an organisational restructure they were involved in within the last five years. They were asked to report their perceptions of Internal Marketing, their own satisfaction with their job at the time, and their perceptions of Customer Satisfaction throughout different stages of the organisational restructure. The analysis found that Internal Marketing does have a significant positive relationship with Employee Satisfaction both during and after an organisational restructure. Although no significant relationship was found between Employee Satisfaction and Customer Satisfaction at any stage of the restructure, there is a trend within the data suggesting that the relationship may be stronger before and after an organisational restructure. Benefits and contribution of this research for academics include development of a conceptual model, as well as the benefits and effects of Internal Marketing, and extending the existing literature. For practitioners, benefits include insights into better understanding of the role of Internal Marketing. Specifically, the differences in perception of the practice between employees and managers, and why it is important to understand and address Employee Satisfaction and Customer Satisfaction during an organisational restructure.</p>

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Practices of Internal Marketing in Small and Medium Industry

Cited by 8 publications

References 5 publications

A holistic management tool for measuring internal marketing activities

A holistic management tool for measuring internal marketing activities

The Underestimated Value of Internal Marketing: Impact on Employee Satisfaction and Customer Satisfaction through Organisational Restructure

The Underestimated Value of Internal Marketing: Impact on Employee Satisfaction and Customer Satisfaction through Organisational Restructure

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