Marketing Subunits and Business Performance

While marketing continues to gain prominence as an orientation within the firm, questions remain about the role of the marketing function. The study investigates (1) whether the existence of a powerful marketing department is beneficial to financial performance, (2) whether a powerful marketing department explains any additional variance in financial performance above and beyond that explained by a market orientation, and (3) whether specific environmental factors affect the marketing power-performance relationship. The study confirms that a powerful marketing subunit has beneficial effects on performance above and beyond the adoption of a market orientation, and that this effect is stronger in highly competitive markets, turbulent markets, and markets exhibiting strong potential.