Abstract
M.Comm. (Business Management)
Marketing as field of study has developed as a vibrant and evolutionary
management function over a number of decades. In the 1950's the
primary focus was on consumer goods. In the ensuing three decades
industrial marketing, societal orientation and the marketing of services
respectively, came to the fore.
It is anticipated that relationship marketing will increasingly capture the
attention of marketers in the 1990's. Relationship marketing addresses
internal markets in the organisation, such as the personnel and jobs,
suppliers, influencer markets, referral markets and customer markets.
The focus in relationship marketing shifts from transaction marketing,
as practised in the past, to long term relationships developing between
the markets mentioned above (Christopher, 1991:9).The student holds the opinion that both relationship marketing and
internal marketing have immense application potential in business on
corporate and small business level. These concepts however, are still in
the infancy stage with a low level of awareness amongst businessmen and
entrepreneurs alike.