Marketing Strategy and Competitive Positioning pdf ebook

Internal market orientation 
Some attention has been given to internal market orientation as the foundation for success, 
in the same way that external market orientation has been linked to the effectiveness of 
external marketing strategies. The logic is that internal market orientation increases the 
effectiveness of a market-orientated company to external market conditions, because it 
allows management to better align external market objectives with internal capabilities. 
However, this symmetry relies on assessment of internal market orientation as a precursor 
to action ( Gounaris, 2006 ). Lings and Greenley (2005) propose that assessing internal market 
orientation should encompass directly parallel measures to those associated with external 
market orientation, thus internal market orientation involves the generation and dissemi-
nation of intelligence pertaining to the wants and needs of employees, and the design and 
implementation of appropriate responses to meet those wants and needs.
Internal market strategy 
In broad terms, this is what is needed to gain the successful implementation of an external 
market strategy. It is here that we need to confront the real implications of our external 
market strategy for the internal customer – the decision makers, managers, operatives and 
others without whose support, cooperation and commitment the external strategy will fail. 
This is the most critical question in the whole internal marketing exercise. It may be worth 

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CHAPTER 16 STRATEGY IMPLEMENTATION AND INTERNAL MARKETING
consulting the people directly concerned – doing internal market research. It is certainly 
worth incorporating some diversity of opinion. As we learn more, we can come back and 
redraft and rethink our conclusions here. It is here that we should take a view of what it is 
likely to cost us to achieve these things and the deadline for achieving them to implement 
the external marketing strategy on time.