‘Internal Marketing’ As an Approach to Human Resource Management: A New Perspective Or A Metaphor Too Far?

Colin Hales, who is a Lecturer in Management Studies at the University of Surrey, reviews the different meanings of the term ‘internal marketing’ and develops a critique of its application to the management of human resources. He argues that, while the concept has certain merits, it also has significant limitations. As a re‐statement of normative HRM, it merely re‐labels a questionable concept, while as a concept in its own right, it is ambiguous and highly rhetorical. As a metaphor, it seriously distorts the process of HRM and, as a broad approach and set of techniques, it is essentially manipulative, spuriously ‘scientific’ and riven with contradictions.