Investing in People: Internal Marketing and Corporate Culture

The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of internal marketing in influencing corporate culture. The need for organisations to focus on human resources towards developing a marketing orientation is well recognised. The tactics for achieving this objective, however, have yet to be proven. This paper reports on the use of the Investors In People (IIP) initiative as a framework for internal marketing in changing the prevailing culture of an organisation. Within this initiative enlightened employers must communicate the business aims, values and performance of their organisations, in order to encourage employees to participate actively in the success of the business. Using the example of a medium sized, family owned company operating in a declining market sector, this research reports the results of a longitudinal study designed to elicit employee attitudes towards, and understanding of, change in the organisation. The results suggest that although there is a broad understanding amongst employees of the corporate objectives of the organisation, there is resistance to the credibility of cultural change.