In the past years the competition in the restaurant trade in Umeå is increasing. There is more choice for the customers and thereby the restaurants have to work harder to attract customers. One way is to Market themselves differently. In this research we are studying one way of diversifying Service Marketing, namely through people. Especially in the restaurant sector the frontline employee is an essential part of the service. We argue that by improving the Internal Marketing a business can ensure, through Human Resource Management, to have a service-minded and customer-oriented workforce, motivated to deliver Service Quality. Further, by strengthening the Internal Branding the workforce will work in unity with the internal and external brand, being more willing and committed to deliver high quality services. We aim to find that through having well trained frontline employees the customer will know a difference and have a better experience when visiting the restaurant. Three restaurants in the Umeå market have been chosen for our study. To collect data from these restaurants we have conducted semi-structured qualitative interviews. The contributions of this study were that training, and especially learning by doing and experience, is crucial in learning ones job according to the respondents. Also that having a good balance between having standard procedures and employee empowerment could improve the Service Quality through reliability in the service delivery. Last but not least, a concept of Reciprocal Commitment was developed showing the importance of a business investing in the employee, training being part of that investment, to get the employee to invest his/her time and commitment in the business. Through this study we have developed a model showing the influence and benefits of training in the selected restaurants. We have realised that training is not the only way, but plays an important role in Marketing through people.

Šis baigiamasis magistro darbas skirtas pateikti projektinius sprendimus, vidinio marketingo komplekso pritaikymui nekilnojamojo turto organizacijoje. Ištirti vidinio marketingo poreikį, nustatyti jo įgyvendinimo galimybes bei įvertinti galimą reikšmingumą darbuotojų pasitenkinimui, paslaugų teikimui ir visos organizacijos tikslams nekilnojamojo turto organizacijoje. Pirmojoje darbo dalyje analizuojami teoriniai vidinio marketingo organizacijose klausimai, supažindinama su vidinio marketingo kompleksu. Remiantis moksline literatūra bei paslaugų rinkos specifika, nurodomi vidinio marketingo poreikio nustatymo metodai, strateginė reikšmė, bei jo komplekso pritaikymo galimi rezultatai paslaugas teikiančioms organizacijoms. Antroje dalyje pagal vidinio marketingo komplekso logiką tiriama minėtos organizacijos dabartinė situacija, identifikuojamas jo poreikis ir taisytini momentai. Trečioji darbo dalis skirta įvardinti tiriamos nekilnojamojo turto organizacijos problemines sritis ir pateiktiami projektiniai sprendimai, bei veiksmų planas atitinkantis vidinio marketingo kompleksą. / This diploma paper is dedicated to present suggestiones for internal marketing use in real estate organisation and the study of the need, possibilities of adoption and potential meaning of internal marketing and its impact on job satisfaction of the employees, quality of service and organizational goals in the Real Estate organisation. In the first part of this diploma paper the main theoretic aspects of the internal marketing and its complex, which is the leading root of the work, are analysed. Methods of finding the internal marketing need, strategic value, and possible results after application of the internal marketing complex in organisations are given according to science literature and specific market character. The second part is dedicated to analysis of the present situation of the unit according to internal marketing complex. Critical areas and suggestions also the plan how to adopt internal marketing and to improve the present situation are given in the third part of this paper.

Syftet med vår undersökning var att undersöka hur väl fastighetsmäklarföretag lyckats skapa en medvetenhet, acceptans och engagemang för företagets varumärke hos sina anställda. Vi har i studien även studerat organisationskulturens roll i byggandet av ’corporate identity’. Vår undersökning har skett genom en kvalitativ metod och med halvstrukturerade intervjuer. Vi har intervjuat tolv aktiva fastighetsmäklare som tillhör olika organisationer inom mäklarbranschen. Detta gjordes för att samla in data om mäklarnas uppfattning och upplevelser kring varumärket och andra faktorer som påverkar deras syn på sitt företags varumärke. Från det insamlade materialet hittade vi nyckelord som sedan användes för att identifiera mönster och likheter mellan respondenternas svar. Samtliga respondenter beskrev att deras företag arbetade internt med företagets varumärke. Dock varierade metoderna och resultatet för att skapa engagemang och medvetenhet för varumärket och dess önskade värden hos de anställda och inom organisationskulturen. Vissa företag har lyckats bättre med detta och i de organisationer fann vi bidragande faktorer som förstärkte de anställdas engagemang för varumärket. I dessa organisationer fanns introduktionsutbildning för nyanställda, de hade kontinuerlig säljträning och de uppmuntrade de anställda att ge feedback till organisationen. Detta skapade ett engagemang för företagets varumärke och dess önskade värden. Vi fann också indicier till samband mellan den interna marknadsföringen och de anställdas uppfattning om sina kollegor. De organisationer som hade en mer aktiv intern marknadsföring ansågs också arbetskamraterna i större utsträckning vara viktigare. Vi tror att vår studie kan öka förståelsen för hur företag i praktiken kan arbeta med intern marknadsföring som en metod för att få de anställda engagerade till företagets varumärke. Vi anser att än mer forskning om förhållandet mellan intern marknadsföring och organisationskultur kan hjälpa företag att effektivisera sitt interna arbete. / The purpose of this paper was to examine in what extent companies in the real estate business managed to create awareness, acceptance and commitment to the brand with their employees. This study also looked at the role of organizational culture in building corporate identity. This thesis is based on a qualitative study where data have been collected through semi-structured interviews. We have interviewed twelve active working real estate agents from different firms within the business. To gather information, about the real estate agents’ perceptions and experiences about the brand and other factors that influence their view of the brand, we used semi-structured interviews. We found keywords from our data that we used to identify patterns and similarities between the respondents. We found that the companies that our respondents worked for managed to internalize their brand in their employees. However, the methods and results varied between the firms, in their achievement of commitment and awareness of the brand, and it ́s desired values, in the organizational culture. Some of the firms have come further in their work to strengthen their employees commitment to the brand and we found factors that were similar for those firms. These organizations had introduction training for their new employees, sales training on a regular basis and encouraged their employees to give feedback to the organization. This created commitment to the company and it ́s brand. There were also connections between the internal marketing and the way the employees perceive their colleges. In organizations with a more active internal marketing were colleagues more important. Our study shows that companies who work actively with internal marketing and internalizing their brand within the organization can achieve employees that are committed to the brand. We believe our study can help to raise the understanding how companies can, in practice, apply internal marketing as a method to get committed employees. We think that more research in the field between organizational culture and internal marketing can help companies to improve their internal work.

Magister Commercii - MCom (Business and Finance) / This master's thesis report is a record of my action research study conducted at a traditional bank in South Africa. The report follows a narrative writing style. It contains my personal learnings and reflections. In it I record my practices aimed at promoting Islamic banking products of a traditional bank. In undertaking this action research, I employed interventions whereby I improved my own learning and behaviour through practice. This action research took place within the customer facing division of a national traditional bank in the Western Cape. While conducting my situational analysis, I found that front-line employees lacked knowledge and awareness about Islamic banking products, which negatively impacted their attitude and willingness to promote the Islamic banking offering. As the action research progressed, another concern was identified, namely, the lack of awareness of Islamic banking by customers. In order to guide activities that are directed at improving the behaviour of front-line employees and customers, I drew insights from the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) by Icek Ajzen (1991) for my theoretical framework. Observations, interviews and interview schedules were used to collect data and continuously analysed using content analysis and univariate analysis for the respective data types. Evidence was generated by measuring the data against a standard of judgments as required for an action research project. This resulted in the identification of key factors that influence front-line employees' willingness to promote the Islamic banking products. These factors were their attitudes and perceived behavioural control. It was further identified that the lack of awareness by customers had a negative impact on their attitudes towards using the Islamic banking offering. Both issues were addressed, by following the cyclical approach of action research. In order to influence front-line employees' behaviour, with the support of the necessary stakeholders, I implemented internal marketing programmes such as training and development. To increase the level of customer awareness, I implemented activities directed at external customers such as brochures and poster displays within branches. The study finds that through my ethical and political practices, front-line employees were motivated and stakeholders actively participated in planning and executing interventions designed to improve the performance of Islamic banking sales. The practices implemented by myself, as an Islamic banking product champion, were identified as a key influence in the promotion of Islamic banking. I also identified that senior management and middle management influenced front-line employees' acceptance and implementation of internal marketing practices.

M.Comm. / The primary objective of the study is to determine the influence of service quality on the perceived relationship between internal marketing and the brand image of the South African staffing brands and staffing subsidiaries of the Kelly Group. The study will further seek to determine how the different elements of internal marketing influence the brand image of employees and clients of selected staffing agencies in South Africa. The elements of internal marketing mix, namely product, price, promotion, distribution, people, processes and physical evidence will be separately observed in terms of their influence on the brand image dimensions, namely brand consistency, brand trust, brand satisfaction and brand commitment. The influence of the dimensions of service quality, namely reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy on the dimensions of brand image and the influence of service quality on the elements of internal marketing, will be explored in order to determine the influence of service quality on the relationship between internal marketing and brand image. A framework to manage internal marketing, service quality and brand image in an integrated manner was determined. The conclusion and findings of the study were found to support the objectives of the study, and the results of the statistical analysis were found to accept the hypotheses of the study. Various recommendations for staffing agencies were given, based on the findings of the statistical analysis. These recommendations included the need for staffing agencies to monitor service quality gaps and confirmed that the internal product was highly influential to service quality, and therefore staffing agencies need to provide a competitive internal product to employees. Internal distribution was found to be highly influential towards the responsiveness, assurance and empathy of a service, and therefore staffing agencies need to focus on creating higher levels of internal service quality and teamwork within their organisations. Physical evidence and tangibles were found to be influential regarding the assurance and empathy of service quality and the importance of a modern, open-plan staffing environment and a professional employee dress code were identified. Internal promotion was found to be influential to the responsiveness of a staffing agency’s service, and therefore the need to segment employees to determine how much and how frequently information needs to be communicated to each group of employees was mentioned. The importance of staffing agencies considering the use of new media such as social networking websites, intranets and wikis was identified as most staffing agency employees work at the clients’ premises.

This dissertation examines the antecedents and consequences of a fairly new construct in academic literature termed brand citizenship behavior. Constructs explored in the proposed model include brand identity, brand communication, internal marketing, brand pride, brand commitment, intention to stay and job satisfaction. A sample of 241 associates was surveyed at a large retail organization and key demographic variables were captured. Results indicate a causal relationship between internal marketing and brand citizenship behavior as well brand pride. While a causal link between brand citizenship behavior and brand commitment was not supported overall, permutations indicate causality among part time associates. Brand pride was found to mediate the relationship between brand citizenship behavior and brand commitment.

Background Employee turnover is increasing and in order for companies to retain their workforce, internal marketing (IM) needs to be applied. With internal communication (IC) being seen as the key to implementing employee oriented strategies and activities to motivate employees and coordinate cross-functional efforts within IM, internal social media (ISM), as known for fostering communication among employees, needs to be investigated regarding its influence on employee engagement. Purpose The purpose of this study was to investigate the psychological conditions of employee engagement on ISM and their relationship to employee engagement on ISM, moderated by the managerial communication styles assertive, aggressive and passive. Method An explanatory sequential mixed methods design has been applied, combining the advantages of both quantitative and qualitative data collection. Starting with 86 self-completion questionnaires, the findings, obtained by the application of a factor analysis in conjunction with multiple regression analysis, have been deepened with 5 semi-structured interviews with the help of a thematic analysis. Results and Conclusions The psychological conditions of employee engagement on ISM are indeed positively related to employee engagement on ISM. Furthermore, the assertive managerial communication style has shown to have a moderating effect on the relationship between the psychological conditions of employee engagement on ISM and employee engagement on ISM. Even though the moderating effect has been negative, the assertive communication style has been found to have a positive effect on employee engagement on ISM itself.

Many factors can influence service quality, however the main determinant of customers’ perceptions of service quality is often their interaction with service staff (Zeithaml & Bitner, 2009:351), resulting in the importance of employees in service delivery. Internal marketing (IM) acknowledges this, and is similar to other marketing activities within an organisation, which focuses on staff in order to enhance external performance (Papasolomou & Vrontis, 2006:179). The aim of the present study has been to investigate the elements of IM as predictors of employee satisfaction and to determine the relative importance of various IM attributes and with this in mind the primary and secondary objectives driving this study were: • to confirm the IM scale as used in the study by Jou et al. (2008:73) in a South African context; • to determine how well the identified IM elements predict employee satisfaction by: • determining if any of the identified IM elements are predictors of employee satisfaction; • assessing the relative contribution to employee satisfaction of each of the IM elements found to be predictors; and • investigating whether certain biographical factors, such as gender, tenure and level of customer interaction, also explain employee satisfaction A literature study of IM theory pointed to a number of broad definitions of the concept, identifying IM as either a tool, an internal process or as a process supporting external activities. IM can also be a working mix of elements aimed at motivating employees (Papasolomou & Vrontis, 2006:178) toward inter-departmental co-ordination in order to achieve a more customer-orientated approach to service marketing. This working mix of elements is known as the IM mix, being elements under the control of management that can be implemented in order to illicit desired responses from employees (Ahmed & Rafiq, 2002: 27). The IM mix elements put forward are varied and numerous, and there is much debate as to which of the elements constitute an IM mix. Against the background of these disparate IM mix elements, it was necessary to reconfirm those elements pertinent to an IM programme in a South African context. It was found that job quality and reward together with empathy and consideration are significant predictors of IM and should therefore form the cornerstone of any IM programme. / Dissertation (MCom)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / hj2013 / Marketing Management / unrestricted

This thesis is a qualitative research that provides an understanding of store managers perception of internal marketing on the Swedish retail market. It also describes how the store managers use internal marketing to guide their frontline employees to deliver high quality service. This research aims to highlight the importance of service deliverance in the retail sector. Due to the changes that are taking place within retail where globalization, digitalisation and automation are changing customers' views on trade, it is becoming increasingly important to differentiate themselves. More and more physical stores are finding it difficult to survive and many are forced to shut down.  This study therefore wants to highlight the use of internal marketing to be able to deliver high quality service at the encounter between the frontline employees and the customer in physical stores. Therefore, the study will give answers to the following questions: (1) How do store managers on the Swedish retail market perceive internal marketing? (2) How are internal marketing used in physical stores to work with service quality deliverance? To answer these two questions a meticulous examination of previous studies on the concepts internal marketing, employee satisfaction and service quality was made. A conceptual framework for the study was set to classify and analyse the findings of the study. The empirical findings consis data collected through semi-structured interviews with six store managers of three different retail stores on the Swedish market.   It was concluded that the store managers perception of internal marketing is unclear but that they all believe it is important. Nevertheless, it can be seen that internal marketing is important and that the store managers work daily with activities to guide the frontline employees to deliver high quality service. However, these activities are not expressed as internal marketing among the companies and store managers. It was also concluded that the service quality delivered by the frontline employees was significant to the success of the stores in the store manager's point of view.

Evolving communication technology, the increased volume of information needed by businesses, and the intensified competitive environment have made internal company communication more critical to business success. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore strategies used by managers and leaders of 3 law firms in the Commonwealth of Virginia for assessing the effectiveness of their organization's internal communication channels. The participating firms were recognized by their peers as being exceptionally well-managed. Data from interviews and company documents were analyzed through the conceptual lens of the channel expansion theory and the use of software coding to identify patterns and themes. Three important themes emerged: informal assessment strategies, indirect assessment strategies, and efficient versus timely assessments. The first theme suggested the effectiveness of an informal assessment strategy, depending on the size and complexity of the organization. The second theme reflected the effectiveness of an indirect assessment for organizations that lack the resources to support a more direct and specific assessment process. The third theme reflected the participants' perceptions of informal and indirect assessments may be more efficient, the feedback from the assessments are often less timely. Managers may consider these themes in formulating communication policies. The findings of this case study may have implications for positive social and economic change. Small professional service firms, such as legal firms, provide important services to individuals, families, and businesses in their community.