Internal marketing and organisational performance of SMEs in the EDV industrial sector

Focusing on the industrial sector, this research aims to identify conditions for the implementation of internal marketing concepts among employees and its impact on the organisational performance. Only one study was found simultaneously integrating the two constructs. It concerned the cork processing industry alone, yet considered expanding the efforts – namely, using qualitative exploratory research in the form of 10 in-depth interviews based on a script of generally open questions – to the entire industry in the Portuguese region between rivers Douro and Vouga. The unit of analysis was constructed considering distinct features as well as activity criteria and the geographic location, thus ensuring the necessary heterogeneity. The results inform about the awareness of the internal marketing conceptualisation. The research found that all analysed enterprises had more or less structured model frames and worked with the conceptualisation of the guidance for the internal market, a strategic concern, and in some instances, this concept was an organisational desideratum in the sector. In addition to the lapse of the research according to a qualitative paradigm of exploratory nature, the main limitation is the need for objective sustainably of the results obtained through future quantitative studies to promote an integrated triangulation of their outcomes. The research allowed identifying the companies that use organisational models conducive to the individual well-being of employees and facilitating the desired orientation to the market.