Internal market orientation and its influence on the satisfaction of contact personnel

Abstract

Purpose: To verify the dimensions, reliability and validity of Internal Market Orientation (I.M.O.) as a scale of measurement of internal marketing, and using it to measure the effect of internal marketing on the satisfaction of contact personnel. Design/ Methodology/ Approach: interviews were carried out with all the cashiers of the 16 branches of a small, local credit institution. Findings: The results show the validity and reliability of the I.M.O. construct, formed by four of the five dimensions of the original scale. They also corroborate the causal relationships among the four dimensions, as well as the significant influence of the informal dimension of I.M.O. on the satisfaction of contact personnel. Research limitations/ Implications: the main limitation of this study is that it analyses a single financial entity, with the characteristics and behaviours that the latter has in its relationship with its employees. Practical implications: To achieve their organizational objectives, firms must adopt an orientation towards the employee, or internal marketing, on an equal plane to the traditional consideration of the external market. Also, the measurability of this internal orientation on the basis of the I.M.O. scale makes available a valuable tool of planning and control in its implementation. Originality/ value of the paper: this article verifies the validity and reliability of the Internal Market Orientation construct (I.M.O.), and its influence on the satisfaction of contact personnel, in a different business sector and with a different research subject from those analysed hitherto by the literature. It also demonstrates the sequential type of relationship among the dimensions that form Internal Market Orientation.