Internal Marketing (IM) Report
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Transcript of Internal Marketing (IM) Report
BM399 Investigative StudyS0606546
What role does ‘Internal Marketing’ have to play in an Organisation Adopting The Marketing Concept?
What is Internal Marketing (IM)?
Organisations nowadays are operating within an increasingly competitive and
complex market, so awareness, or ‘market sensing’ Day, R (1992, pg213) cited by
Varey is important. Dennis (1995 pg3), is cited by Chuan as seeing the need for
companies in the modern era to adopt a more ‘strategic holistic marketing approach’,
but as Kotler, P, (2006, pg17) states, ‘development and design as part of broad
integrated approaches must be used before any implementation can take place’. The
general consensus could therefore be that internal marketing (IM) needs to look at a
general holistic approach to be able to assess ‘key or core capabilities and
performances’ of internal (micro) stakeholders (employees) before any external
(macro) marketing can take place. Internal marketing could therefore be viewed as the
overlap between marketing management and human resource management, Berry &
Parasuraman (1992, pg3) was cited by Kale as "attracting, developing, motivating,
and retaining qualified employees through job products that satisfy their needs";
while Chuan cites Tansuhaj et al. (1988 pg3) explaining that IM involves
‘recruitment, retention, incentives, training and communication’. Bearing this in
mind, Kale cited Hales & Mecrate-Butcher’s, (1994 pg3) as stating an approach that
Internal marketing’s role is seen to be more 'customer-focused as well as employee
focused’, meaning there is an importance of putting IM practice into the best use to
give best competitive advantage. The holistic approach to internal marketing is
applicable and applied within appendix a.
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Are Employees as Internal Customers the Key to Success?
An argument of IM’s importance could be that a competitive advantage can only be
possible with better recruitment and training than competitors, along with motivated
internal stakeholders who are able to provide a service or product to the best of their
ability. There are some that think that if the employees at a company like the product
or service that their company provides then the customers will also love it. An internal
use of the marketing mix has been observed by Keller citing Rafiq & Ahmed (1993,
pg4) viewing price as the cost that an employee pays for any particular knowledge
gained, promotion as the knowledge or skills of the employee, process as the
mechanisms that drive the employee and place as the local environment. This model
constructed by Pervaiz looks at three basic levels with this internal marketing mix
with the positioning stage (action) at the third level, the second level at (path)
segmentation stage and the first level as the product (direction) stage. This is most
probably the most definitive model in terms of constructing an argument for justifying
internal marketing as it follows a clear and concise channel of information sets
flowing through just three levels. A conflicting view however observed by Keller,
citing Foreman & Money (1995, pg4) suggesting utilising only three factors instead
that are unique to representing internal marketing efforts, which are to ‘develop
employees, reward employees, and provide employees with a corporate vision’. This
conflicts as it does not view the marketing process side but is more HR and ‘employee
focused’. The situation with IM is such that it is something, which an employee has to
adapt to because of its strategic or holistic approach. The argument made by Foreman
& Money tends to provoke a more thorough view of the employee perspective,
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whereas Rafiq & Ahmed see the system from a more managerial perspective. The
current relationship between marketing and human resources is reflected from the
statement, citing Mercer (1992, 217) by Varey stating ‘the marketers role is a change
agent, involving continuous training’; which is evident in any market, with
unpredictability and changes involved. The linkage is made from identifying
competition and adapting employee capabilities through internal training to thwart the
risk of market competition. The importance of these employees is seen by Keller,
citing Berry (1981, pg2) who suggests that believing the task of IM is viewing ‘jobs
as products and employees as customers’ reflects the need for employees to remain
motivated; whether through incentive schemes or this continuous training. Another
view of the strengths of IM could be one taken by Varey, R (2002, pg 213), stating
that ‘in service environments, happy customers cannot be possible with unhappy
employees’. This seems an obvious statement, but measuring employee satisfaction
can often vary, being a tough assignment, especially in an organisation with unstable
operations and poor culture. A wheel of HR success relating culture in service
marketing can be seen in appendix b. This wheel is applicable and useful for
organisations that wish to improve HR practice for an improved marketing
performance. There are arguments by Mudie, P (1980,pg2) who cites Arndt stating
that through “technology of influence”, marketing has been conceptualised as a “one-
way control process, in which sellers act and buyers react”. This suggests that IM’s
approach of the metaphor of ‘customer as king’ is mainly internal, not looking enough
at what the external customers really want, whereas Mudie (2000, pg2) also cites
Ballantyne stating that “no agreed internal conceptual framework seems to exist’’.
Bearing these points in mind, IM therefore might be viewed as being in its infancy
stage, with room to develop further, and (as seen by some) there is a need for more
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academic substantiation to argue that IM has a place within an organisation. A point
constructing this argument could be one made by Mudie citing Rafiq & Ahmed (1993,
pg9) stating that ‘compelling arguments remain over the legitimacy of the employee
as a customer’. To aim at dispelling any disagreement over the legitimacy over the
employee’s knowledge as a customer, Rafiq & Ahmed (1993, pg10) suggest
employees must have authenticity, identity, a view on aesthetics, emotions, be trust
worthy, give power to the customer, be trustful and predict the external customers
every move. With these views in mind, there is more of a case for internal marketing
to be taken seriously within organisations.
Internal Marketing’s link with Total Quality Management and Relationship
Management
Through every stage of IM development there always needs to be a broad approach to
the level of quality from the employee’s promise of quality to the quality level of the
provided product or service to the consumer. IM according to Barnes, R et al (who
cites Zeithaml & Bitner, pg3) hinges on the assumption that employee and customer
satisfaction is linked so to live up to the expectation of linking internal quality with
service quality TQM has to be of the highest level and, as Barnes, R et al, (1990,pg3)
cites Reicheld & Sasser quoting TQM ‘betters the chance of customer retention’.
Quality management can derive from the level of service quality provided, and the
level of understanding that the internal system has in terms of relationship
management with the target market trends. Companies can never afford to lose touch
with research and development as it enables an insight and knowledge into external
behaviours, trends and preferences. With a high level of quality management within
an organisation, there is a higher chance of retaining customers.
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An example of good customer retention could be at a hotel for example where a
customer walks into the foyer for the first time and gathers first impressions through
décor, how smartly dressed the staff are, and the level of the employees autonomy,
initiative and communication levels. Intangible features are also as important
therefore as the tangible features, with TQM as seen by Morris et al. (1999, pg2)
(cited by Barnes, R et al) as ‘congruent with relationship marketing’ and meeting
customer demands not just through product feature, but also through interacting and
communicating (relating) to the customer proficiently. This is a casing point that
when training staff internally in marketing, staff have to be made aware of
relationship and quality management and to be able to deliver a service or product to
the customer at their highest level to maximise profit potential for the organisation
and viewing retention as an ‘added value’ process. An important factor to remember
however is relating to the employees as customers within the IM function, meaning
that it would become increasingly difficult for employees to carry out TQM and
relationship management without any real rewards or incentives for their efforts. The
conception of IM viewing the employees as internal customers and marketing as
internal before it can be promised externally can often be dangerous, especially in
companies with a large level of change, adaptation or instability. The approach taken
by Gronroos (1994, pg3) cited by Barnes, R et al views companies as having to be
certain when training staff in TQM and relationship management that the employees
have the necessary skills, abilities, tools and motivation in order to deliver
successfully. External satisfaction is not seen as being attainable before these factors
within IM become highlighted and implemented. A business model implementing
illustrating the linkage is shown in appendix c.
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Culture
Culture is something, which is often seen as imperative to the success of operations, a
view that is shared by Schein (1985, pg3) whom Chuan & Wen-Jung cites viewing
culture as ‘the system of meaning in an organisation’. It is very much the image that
the company portrays to the customer or external environment as a purchase is made,
meaning it is the means to productivity within IM; which is a view shared by Sinkula
et al (1994, pg7), (cited by Ballantyne, D) however, Pervaiz, A et al (2003, pg6)
argues that IM must first examine the ‘relationship of employees to themselves, to
other people, to the organisation and the world they live in’. Once organisations have
the ability for realising and expanding upon employee capabilities, knowledge and
motivation then other internal factors will benefit according to Pervaiz, A (2003, pg6),
who suggests that IM is not just employee focused, it can also benefit a collectivist
approach, enabling more corporate identity and more of a ‘collective mind’ within an
organisation. An argument can also be made that internal marketing is not a sole
feature of a holistic approach (as seen in appendix a), as there are other factors, which
contribute to an improved corporate picture. If senior management appreciate IM’s
role then culture will gradually follow suit, with more investment in this function, in
turn, leading to higher individual creativity and organisational success. Evidence to
substantiate this point could be taken from Chuan, L & Wen-Jung, C citing Gronroos
(1990, pg4) suggesting that ‘internal marketing can change employees attitude and
behaviours’ because of the wider range of initiative which IM enables compared to
conventional marketing, which often rushes the external delivery of a product or
service. This factor of having a good internal atmosphere is taken by Gronroos (2000,
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pg2), who argues strongly that ‘without well-functioning internal relationships,
external relationships cannot develop successfully’. This point subsequently makes
the point that IM is not only in place to create harmonisation and a better culture just
within just the marketing department, but on a broader organisational scale. Culture is
seen as deriving from both internal and external factors, so in an organisation
suffering from a high level of competition or, as Willmott, (1993, pg5) states (cited by
Kelemen, M et al), ‘emotional aspects of an organisation’ such as poor morale, a
higher level of IM implementation could benefit relations. The problem could also
come from an argument made by Bowel & Schneider cited by Varey, R (pg222) that
management ‘often have problems of motivating employees and customers’, which
could mean that for companies struggling with culture or productivity the IM process
could have the answer to improvements. With a view to globalisation and the broader
market where some companies operate, culture needs to be handled with great
knowledge and understanding with a view that many other countries societies behave
differently. In Europe with the formation of the European Union, trade barriers have
been lifted and there is freedom of movement between countries and markets,
enabling growth markets to expand to different countries. The view is that with a
large global firm, culture becomes more complicated the larger the company because
of the more varied external responses, which makes it even more of an imperative for
IM departments to train employees appropriately, with attributes enabling regional,
cultural awareness on top of knowledge.
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Internal Marketing at Manchester United
Internal Marketing is already proving to be working within Manchester United
football club according to Precision Marketing (2005, pg1) with the football club
aiming to increase internal retention and loyalty. The campaign has launched a
campaign looking at the ‘core’ missions and values of the organisation by using a
‘sticker book’ highlighting these values throughout the entire organisation with an
aim to increase internal awareness of the companies stature, position, other
departments and situation (both past and present). Its overall aim is to close the divide
within different operations or departments of its organisation by using the slogan
‘whatever your level, we’re one big team’. Statements such as these could be
examples for other companies to follow to bridge gaps between departments. Having
such an informal or simplistic internal system implemented through use of a ‘sticker
book’ would give employees ‘vital insider knowledge’ on the company which can
only be an advantage to all features of IM, mainly culture, employee productivity and
relationship management between management to employee. One conflicting view
could be however that, could a whole perspective on internal culture within an
organisation be expressed within just a ‘sticker book’, or would more formal meetings
or increased direct interaction through employees and management benefit
productivity even further. The overall view on Manchester United’s implementation
of the ‘sticker book’ would be that it is a unique idea, using what would typically be
given to external customers to it’s internal stakeholders (creating increased employee
feelings, or sense of belonging), however this can only be seen as the starting point
towards a more thorough IM awareness scheme for its employees.
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Internal Branding & Advertising
The process of brand management and development never halts, with Papasolomou, I
(2006, pg4) stating that branding is particularly important as ‘people choose the
brands in the same way they choose friends’; and with competition always pushing
boundaries and working on being innovative with new ideas, there is therefore a big
emphasis on building reputation and trust. There are arguments that huge sporting
organisational entities such as Manchester United football club are owned entirely by
the Glazer family, but, as Reed, D (2006, pg 1) argues ‘it is the fans that own the club
as they are the customers who own the brand’. This is true of most companies, who
have to view the metaphor ‘customer as king’ as pertinent to benefiting relationship
management. It is important also according to Harris & de Chernatony (2001, pg3),
(cited by Berthon, P et.al) to consider how ‘employees values and behaviours can be
aligned with a brand’s desired values’, so organisations have to assess employees
through induction and training and development programmes, the company’s mission
statement, and how the brand should be delivered to the customer. With an emphasis
on external customer value always at the forefront of internal marketing, the internal
customers i.e. employees have to create a process of constructive ideas, activities and
performances before a service or product can be externally marketed. A typical model
to relate the value process of an organisation could be Michael Porter’s Generic Value
Chain (appendix d). The model is applicable internally because of its view of ‘market
sensing’ R&D, defining target markets, customer relationship management while also
touching on time management. It can also be related to an internal supply chain, and
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transformed toward a company supply chain involving deliverers and distributors in
the process. Advertising often impacts employees whose views are often left out of
the equation whereas Berry (1981, pg2) is cited by Berthon, P et al suggesting there
should be more of a consultation with internal customers before any model for
example AIDA, attention interest desire and action (which is a typical prediction
model relating to external customers) can be constructed. Along with AIDA is
DAGMAR (defining advertising goals for a measured advertising results). Employees
are known to enjoy the ‘insider’s role’ stated within Berthon, P (1998, pg3) and
usually want information before marketing communications deliver the advertisement
to the external customer. Integration is mentioned as playing a ‘key role’ in holistic
marketing as well as IM so making use of integrating departmental views before
decisions are made could benefit a final verdict before action is taken. Even if general
‘relationship marketing’ (also part of a holistic approach) touches on the delivery to
the external customer, it can still relate internally in terms of the channels used within
an organisation. A breakdown or smoother flow of communication channels is often
necessary, so that the emphasis on teamwork, and an improved bonding culture can be
developed further. The overriding consensus from an IM perspective is to sell the
brand to the employee before the external customer. There are limitations to branding
and advertising internally, especially with IM being a fairly new concept within the
business World, with also a lack of frameworks to substantiate a thorough argument
on it place in business. Berthon, P et al cites Biel (1999, pg19) suggesting that other
limitations viewed by are having cultural differences within the organisation, limiting
brand development and progression.
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Internal Marketing Communication
Communications is very much an integral part of IM and synonymous in every way
with marketing by delivering the message to the end user about a product or service. It
can also be seen as removing ‘control and command’ barriers put in place (to a certain
extent) by senior management with an aim to becoming more democratic in terms of
increasing the concept of ‘increased knowledge’ of the employees. Increasing the
knowledge of employees in IM is seen as pertinent to organisational success, as it
creates a greater awareness, expression of opinion while viewing the organisation
according to Ackoff, (1998, pg226) cited by Varey, R as more of a ‘social system’.
Employees, as stated previously could be the ‘key’ to success to an improved
communication, however this depends on factors such as, for example incentives,
either monetary or non-monetary or whether training or motivation is proficient.
Often, employee motivation can be difficult to measure; so corporate managers have
to be aware of theories such as Herzberg, F (1983), which commonly suggests that
hygiene factors are factors such as working conditions, policy, salary but true
motivators are really achievement, recognition and personal growth. This is important
as a factor for matching rewards stated for employees to communicate better. The
ultimate factor to whether communications can be improved is the management’s
responsibility of making sure employees are motivated to succeed, communicating the
best possible message about what the company has to offer. Organising a marketing
organisation can often prove a tough task for companies, and this generally takes a lot
of time to plan and implement. In some marketing organisations, as suggested by
Kotler, P (2006, pg699) a Marketing Vice-President has to deal with conflicts
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between many functional departments below, which IM aims to dispel. Corporate
entities should look more often at quelling disagreements by using some form of IM
to adjoin any departments wherever possible, leading to increased harmonisation and
improved communication with a flatter structure to work from.
Internal Marketing’s Role within the Wider Organisation
Many companies in the modern era are seeing the need for a shift towards market
orientated integration of departments within an organisation as opposed to a mainly
sales and product driven one. For this to be possible there would have to be a changed
attitude towards putting external customers first, who should be at the forefront of
organisational thinking through emphasising the need for the internal workforce to
become stakeholders, so a better level of service quality can be delivered. With all
departments seeing the value to an IM approach there might be more progress made
with satisfying the external customers needs. This differentiates IM from standardised
marketing, which doesn’t spend as much time focusing within the organisation and
viewing the employees as internal customers. This could be a constructive argument
for other departments and senior management to take notice of the importance of IM’s
constructive capabilities within the organisation. Evidence of disharmony with
standard marketing as input by Piercy, N citing Webster (1997, pg 15) as the
‘relationship between sales and marketing functions that has persisted as one of the
major sources of organisational conflict”, however Piercy, N also cites Rouzies et al.
(2005, pg16) stating ‘sales and marketing integration remains a high priority on the
management agenda’. Process leaders have already been identified as part of IM and
beneficial to decreasing barriers to communication breakdowns through departmental
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decisions, so the wider organisation could view IM as a function rather than as just a
decision-making department. Any integration of the marketing and sale would surely
improve an overall culture in an organisation, moving away from any current or
potential organisational conflict over decisions. Benefits have been seen at companies
that employ a flatter, Japanese style organisational structure, as opportunity for
conflict is reduced with less channels or departments to go through in the decision
making process. Merging these into cross-functional partnering departments would
take time, but might reduce conflict. In many organisations according to Lane &
Piercy (2004, pg21) there has been more of an emphasis on an increased “strategic
customer management” by senior management and other departments. Linking in
with culture, IM is seen by Kotler (1991, pg1) and cited by Barnes, R et al as making
employees more motivated and committed to the organisational cause through a
higher level of involvement. So his argument is based around the fact that
‘management satisfying the needs of the internal customers will in turn- lead to the
external customers being well-served’. These employees therefore (internal
customers) who are efficient with their jobs and contribute to the corporate progress
of a firm are seen by Christopher et al (1991, pg1) (cited by Barnes, R et al) as being
‘vital resources’. Internal marketing has an important role to play in general corporate
management according to Varey, R (2002, pg215) who suggests it is usually viewed
as a short-lived campaign to boost attention to customers and states ‘it should act as a
positive service attitude within the corporate organisation as a whole’. Where this
point looks at IM as a positive feature to general organisational reward, there are
many that think that IM is confusing in its practical implementation.
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Problems and Arguments against the Internal Marketing Concept
There are many that argue that IM is an adaptation of conceptual marketing, without
having been fully developed first. Internal Marketing is only seen to be working in
organisations with a flourishing TQM policy, with Varey, R & Lewis, B citing Rafiq
& Ahmed (1993, pg2, 3) explaining that there is often more willingness to absorb a
concept with an already established good culture within an organisation. Within many
other organisations however the same theorists suggest that high cost factors of
having satisfied employees and sometimes the true lack of extent to the knowledge of
internal customers can also substantiate an argument away from IM. There are
arguments by Gronroos (1985, pg3) cited by Pervaiz, A & Rafiq, M that the term
‘employee as customer’ can be incorrect, posing a threat to what the external
customer really wants. He views that the internal marketing function should use more
of a basis of conceptual marketing approaches and techniques internally instead of
complicating the process. He also states ‘employee commitment’ and ‘customer
orientation’ should be the true meanings of marketing, with the commitment
stemming from basic culture and customer orientation external rather than internal.
Although Rafiq & Ahmed have put IM to question, they reinforce however that IM, if
used correctly can be advantageous as a departmental ploy to gaining more corporate
support, reducing resistance to ideas through viewing marketing as more holistic or all
encompassing. The overall view from most theorists is that there should therefore be a
move away from the term ‘employee as customer’ to save confusion on the desired
goal of what the external customer really wants, and to use IM as a function without
complication.
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Service as a Determinant of External Success
Hwang, I cites Greene et.al (1994, pg1) as making the argument that IM is the key
factor in core competency and competitive advantage because of its direct dealings
and emphasis put on customer service and creating customer loyalty. This view is
echoed and shared by Doyle (1994, pg2) cited by Lings, I who suggests that ‘service
level is the determinant in creating a long running market share and profitability’. It
can be suggested then, that service is a necessity in creating external attention, and as
Lovelock (1992, p2) states, services deal with ‘processes rather than things, with
performances more than physical objects’, expressing a faith that the service system
needs three management functions to work well together, being the ‘marketing,
operations and HR functions’. Internal Marketing is seen as the integral part of
modern day services according to many theorists because of its internal and external
dealings. Internal Marketing factors and relationships are highlighted by Benoy, J
citing Heskett’s (1994, pg6) use of the service profit chain, explaining the value of
services produced by employees (shown in appendix e). The service profit chain,
linking different functions together in the process from internal to external has a
linkage to internal marketing as IM aims to be aware and take action within the three
main functions of marketing, operations and HR to aid a better overall corporate
productivity.
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Summary of Internal Marketing
Senior Management or Corporate decision-making can often overlook the role of
marketing. Marketing is suggested however by Kotler, P, (2006 pg 20) as being
pervasive and more of a function than department. Internal marketing is an extension
of standard marketing and looks at keeping the internal stakeholders more satisfied
and motivated to provide external customer satisfaction; as Varey, R cites Gronroos
(1990, pg 221) stating ‘internal marketing as unifying inter-functional departments
and activities within an organisations framework are all aiming at a common
objective’. This objective is the to increase competitive advantage by taking an extra
step to improve core- competencies by focusing from the ‘employee as customer’
perspective. A company would be much more likely to adopt a marketing approach
with the holistic view expanding upon internal marketing as there is more of a
construction process towards an external customer delivery. To substantiate the
argument, there are many factors, which encompass holistic marketing, with one
being IM (appendix a). A company also has to view the difference between a sales
team and a marketing team and analyse whether a shift towards IM will resolve any
dispute between these separate marketing departments through integrating to improve
communication and culture. This point is emphasised within the report, relating to
process leaders and the role that they play in the team building of the employees. The
key to IM working or not is whether an organisation is willing to develop its culture,
and whether there is a willingness for management to focus on employee T&D.
Employees were stated by Berthon, P, citing Gilly & Wolfinbarger (1998, pg3) as
enjoying the ‘insiders role’ earlier in the report, which expresses the need of aiming
towards providing necessary satisfiers for employees to become more pro-active and
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productive within the IM function. With this Internal Marketing function not only
focusing on direct marketing, but also on employee relations, its link with HR to
creating a better marketing comprehension is something seen as an argument towards
a corporate inclusion of IM. Often with standard marketing there can often be
mistakes made with taking more of a macro approach, trying to best please the target
market without taking into account internal factors delivering the service. This can
often be overlooking the current organisational climate in terms of culture and
employee’s T&D in terms of their overall product or service knowledge and other
missing dynamics of employee capabilities. The emphasis therefore is for
management to relate to models such as in appendix b or by looking at other
motivational theories such as Herzberg’s. Employees and service are therefore seen as
the ‘focal point’ to internal marketing, with employee’s performances being the
determining factor on the level of service that they relate to the external customer.
Although everything points towards internal marketing as being the next big business
initiative, there are many arguments, which are corroborative with suggestions that
IM is confusing and lacks fundamental frameworks for success. The lack of
frameworks (as from Mudie, P) citing Ballantyne (2000, pg2) highlight that IM is
only in its infancy stage as a business development, with a total focus on increasing
employee’s knowledge becoming a high financial risk. Arguments are also from
Pervaiz, A & Rafiq, M, citing Gronroos (1985, pg3) as suggesting if R&D in other
marketing departments isn’t at a peak, employees are often assuming or predicting
what the external customer wants without having the true facts. This effects
advertising, emphasises a lack of relationship management, internal communication,
while putting a company brand/image at risk. There are also arguments that IM
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doesn’t focus or operate on the basic marketing principles of having the external
customer as the target market and the employee as being committed. This argument is
directed predominately towards the confusion of the metaphor ‘employee as
customer’, whereas companies should view the metaphor of external ‘customer as
king’ with more relevance. With a summary of both the benefits and disadvantages to
having IM as a role in the marketing concept an assessment can be drawn on which
argument has the most substance for or against adoption by corporate managers.
Recommendations
With modern day organisations operating more strategically, looking towards a more
holistic approach, there could be a willingness to approach IM, especially in
organisations struggling with culture, breakdowns of communications, branding or
advertising, or output of products and services. In organisations with an already
flourishing culture, relationship and TQM management there is less of a need for IM
as employee’s satisfaction is already producing a good output of services or products.
This doesn’t mean to say that IM can still play a valuable role, and there still might be
consideration for adaptation of Porters Generic Value Chain (appendix d) internally,
to integrate sales and marketing departments while integrating these with HR (of
which issues IM covers implicitly). This would probably not be advised however as it
is unique to its current purpose, so Appendix e sums up the strongest case towards the
process of internal marketing as it passes through the service profit chain. If IM was
still to be looked at with the term ‘employee as customer’, this model can then be
transformed to benefit this claim on an internal basis. The main argument however is
that this term causes confusion, and with proper TQM first and foremost within a
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company, there is more of a chance that internal marketing can develop efficiently,
especially when a company doesn’t lose sight of its main objective (providing the
external customer with the product or service desired). This point is one substantiated
earlier in the report by Hales & Mecrate-Butcher, (1994 pg3) stating that
organisations need to stay 'customer-focused as well as employee focused’. For any
company struggling to improve these factors, as well as their general service ethic,
relations should be drawn between IM and HR to benefit employee performance in
the delivery to external customers. The overall benefit of IM is of its holistic strategic
approach, which is the shift that corporate organisations are moving towards
(especially in crowded competitive markets), so gaining every perspective and angle
of marketing could only benefit, but maybe to some financial cost depending on an
organisations financial situation.
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