Analysis Is Understanding Marketing Department’s Influence Within the Firm by Peter C. Verhoef and Peter S.H. Leeflang

2055 Words9 Pages
Marketing is defined as a social and managerial process by which individuals and groups obtain what they need and want through creating and exchanging products and value with others (Kotler et al 2008). Marketing’s role within firms has received a lot of attention in the academic literature and popular press. The general conclusion has been that in many companies, the marketing function has been in steep decline (Verhoef and Leeflang 2008). This essay is going to take a journal article I believe makes significant contribution to my understanding of marketing, summarise the key points of the article, explain my rationale for selecting the paper and demonstrate the contribution of the paper to marketing theory and/or practice. The article I will be analysing is Understanding Marketing Department’s Influence within the Firm by Peter C. Verhoef and Peter S.H. Leeflang published in the Journal of Marketing: Vol. 73, No. 2, pp. 14-37 in 2008. Summary of the Article As many critically important aspects of marketing are addressed by other functions in the organization, the reduction in the influence of the marketing department is a topic of arising debate. This study investigates this diminished influence and evaluates its determinants and consequences. The authors use a large-scale Internet-based survey of several hundred marketing, finance, and general managers of Dutch firms. Descriptive results tend to support the growing concerns about a reduction in the influence of marketing in firms. The marketing department is thought to be moderately influential. The department is chiefly responsible for segmentation and positioning, customer satisfaction measurement and improvement, advertising, and relationship and loyalty programs. Decisions about pricing and distribution are not the main responsibility of the marketing department, and its authority on non-marketing

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