A. The Concept of Internal Marketing
The notion of the Internal Marketing appeared in 1970’s; it has been founded to solve the problems that occur due to the lack of delivering services in a high quality (Panigyrakis, 2009), so the companies should work hard to improve a method which improves the delivery of services, Drake (2005) concluded that the company should make its employees love its brand which will convince the customer to love it as well. Furthermore, Vasconcelos (2007) argued that the external marketing strategies will be improved firstly by improving the internal marketing strategy such as developing the internal relationships between the internal customers (the employees), also by satisfying the need for the internal customers and services providers to make them satisfied and motivated (Tsai & Tang, 2008). Berry (1984) described IM as "viewing employees as internal customers, viewing jobs as internal products, and then endeavoring to offer internal products that satisfy the needs and wants of these internal customers while addressing the objectives of the organization". Also, IM has been seen as "service firms' effort to provide all members of the organization with a clear understanding of the corporate mission and objectives and with the training, motivation, and evaluation to achieve the desired objectives. Some scholars have seen the IM as a process. For example, Ballantyne et al. (1995) mentioned that" IM is considered to be the process of creating market conditions within the organization to ensure that internal customers' wants and needs are met". Furthermore, some scholars have focused on the organizations'' employees and see them as core stone or assets that should be motivated to execute properly the business when discussing the IM discipline. George and Gronroos (1989) defined IM as" Internal market of employees is best motivated for service-mindedness and customer-oriented behaviors by an active, marketing-like approach, where marketing-like activities are used internally'. Also, Kotler & Amstrong (1991) defined IM as" the building of customer orientation among employees by training and motivating both customers-contact and support staff to work as a team". So the company should think how to sell the internal products to the internal customers to fulfill the company objectives and deliver services in a high quality. Accordingly, recognition has appeared to highlight the importance of the IM and its relationship with improving the service delivery and how it affects the external marketing strategy, and also how to keep the internal workforces satisfied and motivated. Roberts Lombard pointed that “The successful application of the principles of internal marketing on the internal market of the business is a prerequisite for effective external marketing” (Herington et al. 2006 cited Lombard, 2010 p.371). Based on above explanation, this study adapts the main IM dimensions that has been developed and employed in the previous literature as will be explained in the next section.
B.Dimention of Internal Marketing
1. Motivation and Reward System
Companies that seek competitive advantage through employees must be able to manage the behavior and results of all employees. One of the most difficult challenges is how to get managers to distinguish between good, average, and poor performers (Noe, Hollenbeck, Gerhart, & Wright, 2006). Benefiting from employees’ knowledge requires a management style that focuses on developing and empowering employees to held accountable for products and services; in return, they share the rewards and losses of the results. Pay plan are typically used to energize, direct, or control employee behavior. Most employees compare their own pay with that of others, especially those in the same job. (Noe, Hollenbeck, Gerhart, & Wright, 2006). Many organizations today recognize that motivating employees also requires a level of respect between management and workers. This respect can be seen as involving employees in decisions that affect them, listening to employees, and implementing their suggestions where appropriate. (Decenzo & Robbins, 2005, page 43). Tansey & McGrath, (2004) addressed the manner in which management can use internal marketing to motivate employee to provide the best possible service to customers. The study focused on using the internal marketing as a mechanism for ensuring the motivation of service employees. The implementation of an internal marketing program ensures that motivation is at the forefront of managements’ priorities. Papasolomou (2006) have indicated that there is no doubt that the motivation is an important factor which improves the performance of the employees; many companies set a systematic reward system to motivate its employees to improve their service quality and delivery. Every person is unique and has a motivational key which makes this person work harder and give more. Motivation may come from financial and non-financial elements. Financial and non-financial motivation must be developed to employees according to their job levels, such as paying them bonuses and commissions, or educational development of job trainings and courses (Roberts-Lombard, 2010). The most important issue is how to communicate the motivation programs within the organization. An effective way to create trust and commitment between the employees and their managements is building team sessions. Managements must arrange regular meetings with the employees to listen to their needs, enquiries, complains and recommendations, to address the needs of each employee on an individual basis (Roberts-Lombard, 2010).
2. Effective Communication
Internal communication is defined as “all forms of communication from management to employees in service organization” (Lovelock, 1999, p.248). Organizations must give a serious consideration to improve the level of communication with employees to communicate its vision and missions and provide effective strategies to transfer knowledge and information, by using different methods such as team work discussion sessions and internal newsletters (Roberts-Lombard, 2010). An effective internal communication is very important tool for the internal marketing, it helps the management to ensure service delivery with high satisfactory level and build employee trust, respect and loyalty (Lovelock, 1999, p.248).
3. Effective Employee’s Selection
Selection is described by Khan et al. (2010) as a systematic process of choosing the right candidates with the right qualifications to handle the requirements of a job vacancy or future job openings. Khan et al. (2010, p.4) argued that “Selection is the major and first factor which plays a key role in the quality services”. Hence it is how 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 with these employees (DeCenzo/Robbins, 10th edition). On the other hand, if the management selection depends on relating the characteristics to the required job skills, ability, descriptions and needs it will help the employees and organization to work effectively (Burke & Wilcox, 1969).
4. Effective Recruitment
Recruitment is defined by Tuchtfeldt (1998, p.2) as "practice of soliciting and actively seeking applicants to fill recently vacated or newly created positions using a variety of methods”. Recruitment criteria should reflect both the human dimensions and technical requirements of the job, many candidates help the organization to choose better employees and the diversity also enable creating a wide pool of employees that will allow the organization to think effectively before choosing one from the candidates, this will effectively help in creating an effective process of recruitment which helps the organization to work better and effective (Tuchtfeldt, 2007).
5. Effective Development
Employees should be developed and trained to know the required tasks to do their job well which work with the organizations objectives to get the job well done (Piercy, 1991).Also empowerment
is an effective part of employee development (Proctor & Doukakis, 2003),
empowerment means authorizing and enabling employees to act, behave, think and
make their decision to get the job faster and easy to make (Kaner et al.,
2007). This depends on enablement of the employees and giving them the
resources they need to use their own discretion confidently and effectively to
take new responsibility (Lovelock, 1999). This support getting the job faster
in the organization and creates experience in different levels in the
organization (Gronroos, 1981). Furthermore, employees choose various career
paths, according to Michael Driver & Brousseau (1980) not everyone is
suited to navigating careers oriented toward power and wealth, they also
identified four different paths that people’s careers generally take and these
are: first, Linear career path: employee rise in an organization until they reach
the pinnacle of hierarchy. Second, steady state experts: these employees are
motivated to achieve a high level of expertise in a particular area. Third,
spirals: employees that are motivated by learning and personal growth. Finally,
transistorizes: these are motivated by variety and novelty. Companies must
undertake strategies that ensure their employees concepts and how they view
their career path can be achieved by considering the kinds of strategies that,
if successful, logically could be expected to create organizational conditions
supportive of each career concept” (Driver & Brousseau, 1997).
6. Effective Support System
Technology plays
a big role in developing organization’s performance and making the internal
processes faster; Pugh et al. (2002) argued that providing support systems such
as information system facilitate the service delivery. Furthermore, Pride
(2000) said that the main role of a marketing system is how to retrieve and
save data at the required time, using new technologies such as the internet,
VOIP, Mobile phones and video conferences help the employees and teams to
interact regionally and to break the boundaries between the organization
branches to act inter-functionally, inter-functionality means how the
organization is effective in transforming strategies, knowledge, information,
and abilities within the organization without barriers and how to integrate
them together to accomplish the organization strategies and objectives (McAfee,
1992). This will help the organizations to work more efficiently and
effectively.
7. Healthy Work Environment
It is not easy
to create a healthy working environment, organizations should evaluate the
current situation of the healthy environment and try to change the required
aspects to have a healthy environment such as: stop smoking in the internal
offices and departments, keep the dangerous materials away from the employees,
create awareness about the safety requirements and programs and keep the places
clean (DeCenzo/Robbins, 10th edition)
Referensi: EL Samen Amjad Abu,
Alshurideh Muhammad. 2012. The Impact of
Internal Marketing on Internal Service Quality: A Case Study in a Jordanian
Pharmaceutical Company. International Journal of Business and Management;
Vol. 7, No. 19; 2012 ISSN 1833-3850 E-ISSN 1833-8119 Published by Canadian
Center of Science and Education
