Marketing orientation, internal marketing and discretionary: An exploration of the relationships

Abstract

This paper details research exploring relationships between marketing orientation, internal marketing and discretionary effort. We propose that in order for firms to undertake successful marketing activities in dynamic business environments, employees must be willing to offer the required effort to adapt quickly and effortlessly to external environmental change. Further, we propose that internal marketing will assist in encouraging discretionary effort and this will be fostered by a marketing orientation within the context of the organisation's culture. A self-complete questionnaire was used to collect data from 213 respondents. Results support the proposed relationships amongst the variables of marketing orientation, internal marketing and discretionary effort. An important implication for management is that customer culture and internal marketing are valuable (and inter-related) antecedents to a firm's competitive advantage.