The Practice of Internal Marketing Concept A Comparative Study Through The Use of Four Definitions

Internal marketing has become a popular issue in marketing in the 21^st century, however, most organization who admit to practicing it rather pay lip service and do not commit to it entirely. This has become a problem instead of a solution to most organizations who profess to practice it. Using  Sincic′. &   and Poloski (2009)  categorization of four definitions of internal marketing into scopes and their dominant perspectives from other authors Varey (2001), Ballantyne (2003), Gronroos (1990), Sasser and Arbeit (1976) Kotler (2003), Shekary et al (2012).

These scopes of definitions are analyzed and discussed. By comparing two Polytechnics (Accra Polytechnic and Cape Coast Polytechnics) on the basis of how practical these definitions have been applied in the respective schools. According to Sincic′ and Poloski (2009), Internal marketing has been defined as “  A – Internal marketing as human resources management, B – Internal marketing as applying marketing techniques in an internal environment at an organization, C- Internal marketing as a precondition for satisfaction of external customers: D – Internal marketing as a source for competitive advantages”

Purpose: using the four definitions, this paper aims to figure out how internal marketing is practiced in practical terms and whether all components embodied in the definitions are applied in order to achieve organizational objectives.

Methodology: a comparative study employing both primary (questionnaires for Registrars, lecturers and Administrative staff,) and secondary sources (website of both schools) of data.

Conclusion: The core conclusion from this comparative study is that there are huge barriers to the implementation of internal marketing in its entirety within the schools studied. There is a lack of formal and complete approach to implementation. Again, the mandate (Polytechnic act 2007) given to these is also a contributory factor as it has boundaries within which they operate.