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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Business

Internal Marketing (IM) Report