Three Dimensions Of Internal Marketing Theory

Intra-organizational relationships are generally considered an important source for competitive advantage and value creation (Jones and George, 1998; Wagner and Hollenbeck, 1998). Internal Marketing Theory emphasizes the role of a firm 's internal network for gaining competitive advantage (Cooper and Cronin, 2000). Internal marketing has been defined as the strategy of communication development and derived from a network of relationships (Ballantyne, 2003). Internal Marketing Theory has become a useful theoretical lens for examining employee-supplier relationships. Bouranta and Mavridoglou (2003) have investigated how internal marketing might contribute to mutual benefits for both parties within employee-supplier relationships. Other studies have examined the effects of internal marketing on different performance measures (Yu and Barnes, 2010). Foreman and Money (1995) proposed three dimensions of internal marketing: the visionary, developmental and rewardable dimensions.

Most studies expected and investigated the positive effects of internal marketing. An exception is the study of Mishra (2010) who studied internal marketing as a tool in employee-supplier relationships. He concluded that harnessing the power of employees could lead to an increase in performance for both parties. Most prior research has examined the

Ahmed and Rafig, 2003). Most empirical studies on internal marketing however, are carried out from the employee 's perspective. Few studies were set up to investigate internal marketing from a suppliers’ perspective. Lings (2000) explored the role of internal marketing in supply chain management. His study presents a model of service quality which is based on both internal and external customer and supplier groups in supply chain partners. The limited number of studies from the supplier perspective warrants further