INTRODUCTION

1.1      Background of the Study

The shift toward recognizing the importance of human capital in the industrial age has led companies to change their paradigms about employees’ management. Successful companies no longer see employees as resources whose primary function is to provide goods and services. Instead employees are seen as critical to the capability of organizations.

Internal marketing is treating both employees and customers with equal importance through proactive programs in order to achieve organizational objectives. According to Payne (1993), the key aims of internal marketing are the development of internal and external customer awareness and the removal of functional barriers to achieving organizational effectiveness. Lack of commitment from employees can be harmful to an organization, resulting in poorer performance arising from inferior services offerings and higher costs. The introduction of internal marketing will mean that employees will input maximum rather than minimum effort thereby better satisfying the needs and wants of external customers.

Internal marketing could be the answer to gaining employees commitment, succeeding where traditional internal communications programs have failed (Hoqq, 1996). According to Kotler et al., (2009:64), internal marketing is the tasks of hiring, training, and motivating able employees who want to serve customers well. Internal marketing (IM.) is a pre-requisite for effective external marketing and over its relatively short history has developed along three streams of thinking. The early approaches were suggested by (Berry, 1981). Berry approaches I.M. from a traditional marketing view, focusing primarily on 4Ps. He posited that employee could be considered as internal customer and the job could be seen as the firm’s products. He developed traditional marketing models and approaches that were based on the idea of making the workers job attractive and desirable

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in the belief that employee satisfaction would, inturn, build more customer loyalty. Consequently, attraction of the best personnel, their retention and motivation becomes of critical importance. According to Gronroos, (1994:13), the internal market of employee is best motivated for service mindedness and customer-oriented performance by an active, marketing like and coordinated way.

In today’s world of accelerated life cycles, the instant diffusion of information, and rapid globalization, it is possible for every company to enter the market and competition between companies has intensified. Consequently, the products and services are delivered according to customer needs and wants. The role of marketing management in organization is to identify and measure the needs and wants of customers whereas customer-orientation is the foundation of successful marketing. Marketing is a term usually reserved for the process of marketing a product, service, or idea to the final customer outside the firm but marketing also takes place within an organization. In this instance, the market is not only the ultimate consumer but also individual within the organization. These internal customers are potentially as important as the external customers. According to Christopher (2011:326), effective internal communications can help to ensure efficient and satisfactory service delivery, achieve productive and harmonious working relationships, build employee trust, respect, and loyalty.

For this purpose, by using advanced systems and tools and also improving employee’s awareness, there is a possibility of closer relationship with employees which enhances their commitment to the organization. It’s on this note that the researcher examined the effect of internal marketing on organizational commitment of selected commercial banks in the South-South Geopolitical Zone in Nigeria.

1.2      Statement of the Problem

Commercial banks’ existence in Nigeria has provided a process for customers that are operating with them to deposit their cash for safe

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and easy transfer of cash from one individual to another. But much has not been done in the improvement of employees’ commitment toward the services that are rendered by banks in Nigeria. The creation of these commercial banks have not really done enough due to poor management relationship with employees and these have affected organizational commitment of employees working with these banks in Nigeria.

The employees’ motivation towards organizational commitment has been affected by the inability of managers in the Nigerian banking industry to provide good employee welfare. The result of this is the fact that employees can no longer put in their best in the delivery of efficient services to external customers in these banks. This action has affected the level at which internal marketing activities are being carried out among these banks in the South-South Geo-political Zone of Nigeria. It has also affected the way employees go about projecting the banks image to the public. The provision of adequate employees’ welfare will go a long way in improving services delivery to external customers by employees of these banks in the South-South Geo-political Zone of Nigeria.

Adequate training services should be embarked upon by management of commercial banks in the South-South Geo-political Zone of Nigeria. The lack of good training skills has affected internal marketing activities among these commercial banks in the zone of Nigeria and has slowed employees’ commitment in the discharge of efficient services to their customers. The absence of adequate training tools in these banks is the result where employees can no longer implement properly the concept of internal marketing activities effectively to external customers of these banks in the South-South Geopolitical Zone of Nigeria.

Poor job satisfaction in these Nigerian banks in the South-South Geopolitical Zone of Nigeria is the result of the lack of employee’s commitment to organizational activities in these banks in the zone of

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Nigeria. The backdrop is the result where commercial banks in this zone are not able to engage in proper internal marketing activities that can quicken organizational activities easily with internal company employees by sending an e-mail to the entire company or specific people or departments within these banks. This email can also include attachment or other marketing materials that employees can use to convey information to customers to launch external marketing campaigns about the banks operation. It has also, reduced employees productivity in these commercial banks in the South-South Geo-political Zone of Nigeria.

The absence of good understanding has affected organizational commitment of employees of these commercial banks in the South-South Geo-political Zone of Nigeria. The resultant effect is that it has reduced employees’ productivity in the discharge of efficient services to external customers. This poor understanding is the result where managers of these commercial banks cannot hold proper meetings that will communicate efficient internal marketing activities to employees. Modern technology allows face-to-face meetings via live video conferencing, so it does not matter where attendees are. The meetings can also be in the banks’ conference rooms or off-site at a larger facility. During meetings, managers announce to employees of these commercial banks details behind new internal marketing campaigns. This means of communication provide more personal approach to internal marketing activities than emails or other written communications.

Inter-functional-coordination system of operation has not been efficiently maintained by commercial banks managers in the South-South Geo-political Zone of Nigeria and these has affected employees commitment towards organizational activities in the discharge of qualitative services to external customers of these banks operations in the South-South Geopolitical Zone of Nigeria. The importance of co-operation among all departments’ functions of these commercial

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banks in the South-South Geopolitical Zone is very necessary for the growth and success of these banks operation in the zone of Nigeria. No department functions of these commercial banks can operate in isolation, and the success of the entire department’s functions requires that every department function of these banks need the other to operate effectively. The backdrop of this inter-functional-coordination system in the banking industry in Nigeria is the result of these commercial banks not keeping to the structure and strategy that are expected to guide the operations of these banks in Nigeria. As a result, this has affected the mission and goal of these commercial banks of Nigeria. It has also affected internal marketing programs of these commercial banks in the South-South Geo-political Zone of Nigeria because it has made it impossible for the right information regarding banking policies not to be communicated efficiently to employees and the extent to which these information will be binding on each individual employees of these commercial banks is not known.

1.3      Objectives of the Study

The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of internal marketing on organizational commitment of selected commercial banks in the South-South Geopolitical Zone of Nigeria. Specifically, the objectives of this study are;

1)   To investigate the extent to which the lack of good employee’s motivation affect organizational commitment of commercial banks in the South-South Geopolitical Zone of Nigeria.

2)   To examine how inadequate training of employees affect organizational commitment of Nigerian banking industry in the South-South Geo-political Zone of Nigeria.

3)   To find out the effect of poor job satisfaction of employees on organizational commitment of banks in the South-South Geopolitical Zone of Nigeria.

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