ABSTRACT
The literature on internal marketing (IM) is considerable and growing rapidly (see for example, Ahmed and Rafiq, 1995; Barnes, 1989; Berry, 1981; Collins and Payne, 1991; Flipo, 1986; George, 1977, 1990; Grönroos, 1981, 1985; MacStravic, 1985; Piercy and Morgan, 1991; Piercy, 1995; Rafiq and Ahmed, 1993, Sargent and Saadia, 1998; and Varey, 1995), yet there is little systematic work on how IM actually works in practice. One of the major reasons for this is the fact that as yet there is no agreed definition of IM. However, an examination of the literature shows that, essentially, there are two models of how IM works: one based on the work of Berry’s concept of ‘employees as customers’ (Berry, 1981); and the other based on Grönroos’s idea of ‘customer mindedness’ and interactive marketing (Grönroos, 1981).
