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This paper aims to examine the level of internal market orientation (IMO) in Indian banking as seen from the perspective of internal customers and suppliers, particularly with regard to the three components of market orientation: intelligence generation, intelligence dissemination, and responsiveness.

The study is based on primary research conducted with data gathered from 611 internal customers and 37 internal suppliers of an Indian private sector bank.

The results indicate that all the three components of market orientation mentioned above determine the IMO level. Furthermore, the continuous emphasis on IMO by internal suppliers results in organizational commitment and job satisfaction among internal customers.

The study is limited to the three main dimensions of IMO: intelligence generation, intelligence dissemination, and responsiveness.

In order to ensure increased satisfaction of internal customers, internal suppliers have to give due cognizance to the three aspects of IMO as these influence the internal customers' commitment, loyalty and hence their retention.

The research findings should prove to be of immense help to bankers, academicians and policymakers. Bankers will be benefited to the extent of ensuring zero internal customer defection through the implementation of effective intelligence generation, intelligence dissemination and responsiveness to internal market needs. Policymakers can devote their energies and resources towards identifying the constraints that lead to lower internal customer satisfaction and accordingly formulate policies aimed at maximizing their satisfaction level, thereby enhancing both market and financial performance of an organization.

This paper seeks to further the understanding of the domain of the IMO construct in a developing country, as suggested by Lings and Greenley. It seeks to build on their proposed construct and provide empirical evidence of its impact in the context of the Indian banking industry.

The behavioral dimensions of the construct are confirmed in a manner consistent with established market orientation (external) construct. The paper validates scale pertaining to the wants and needs of bank employees for effective intelligence generation and dissemination as well as for effective response implementation.

The authors find a positive significant relationship between internal market orientation and staff attitude and perceived customer satisfaction. Further, the impact of staff attitude on employee job satisfaction is also significant.

Internal market orientation, with the passage of time, may not be as prevalent and exhaustive as it is now because the nature of the marketing environment is extremely dynamic. So, there is a need to make changes as time evolves so that this scale remains focused with a high level of reliability and validity.

To generate internal market intelligence, bank management should not only rely on internal customer surveys, but also the intelligence obtained through a variety of formal and informal means, such as meetings and discussion with internal customers; analysis of sales reports and worldwide customer databases; and formal market research, such as employees ' attitude surveys and sales response in a test market.

The present research would be of value to managers across the world for identifying key requirements of internal customers, which need to be evaluated consistently from time to time, for different strategic actions.