Appraising the Implementation of Internal Marketing in a Sample of Egyptian Five-star Hotels

Abstract

Internal marketing has been discussed in management and academic literature. Yet, it remains poorly operationalized. This article tends to develop a clear understanding of the concept based on the academic literature, develop an instrument to measure it, and finally assess the empirical evidence of its impact on performance. The current conceptualization of internal marketing is explored in a survey among frontline employees of five-star hotels in Egypt. The classic four dimensions of internal marketing concept will be examined and assessed. These dimensions include the establishment of a service culture, the development of a marketing approach to human resource management, the dissemination of marketing information to employees and the implementation of a reward and recognition system. Thus, it can be established that employees can be a foundation of competitive advantage if the principles of internal marketing are implemented as the quality of service and customer satisfaction are influenced considerably by the values and actions of hotel employees. Moreover, hospitality managers could benefit from these findings by adapting strategies which engage and retain effective, devoted, and satisfied employees on one hand, and implementing internal marketing principles, on the other hand. The more allocation of resources towards internal marketing implementation, the higher the probability of the organization’s success will be.