Internal-market orientation and its measurement

The 1970s introduced internal marketing (IM) as a solution for the companies that sought to offer superior customer service. After 30 years though, IM practice remains limited, probably because their majority lack the proper underlying philosophy. An "internal-market orientation" (IMO), the equivalent to market orientation that is known to precede the effective implementation of marketing strategies. Such an internal-market orientation, if developed, may increase the effectiveness of market-oriented company's response to (external) market conditions because it allows the company's management to better align (external) market objectives with internal capabilities. However, before this symmetry is achievable, companies need to be able to assess their orientation towards their internal (employee) market and take, where necessary, corrective actions. This article, while discussing the notion and the importance of IMO, reports the results of a study aimed to develop and empirically validate an instrument for assessing the company's degree of IMO adoption. (c) 2005 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.