Internal marketing in the hospitality industry : a case study of two five star hotels

Abstract

The study aim is to carefully examine the existence of internal marketing practices in two five star hotels and how these practices are affecting the front liner's motivation to work in their respective companies. Internal marketing focuses on attracting and retaining service-minded team members by training, motivating and communicating with them using a marketing-like approach. In the service industry, the front line employees play an important role in delivering a consistent quality of service and building a positive relationship with the external customer. It was the recognition of this important role that led to internal marketing programs. Successful companies are aware that they must first sell the job to the internal customer (the employee), before selling their services to the external customer. Some authors have gone as far as claiming that the wants and needs of the employees should always come first to those of the customers. Despite the years spent researching on internal marketing issues and concepts, several organisations still find it challenging to successfully implement it. Some argue that the concept of internal marketing was coined ahead of its time. Marketing and Human Resources departments are generally always found in five stars hotels in Malta. From the hotels studied, it was discovered that the cohesion of these departments towards implementing internal marketing practices, seemed to be at times overlooked. Results also show that the lack of attention to detail may hinder its success and may lead to an undesirable culture, favouring McGregor's (1964) theory X. Alternatively, the employees' views were found to be very optimistic when certain internal marketing practices were successfully implemented.