Marketing's accountability and internal legitimacy: Implications for firm performance

Consensus exists in the academic and business communities regarding the growing challenges in the status of the marketing department within the organization. Practitioners and academics suggest that the department does not get enough acknowledgements from the upper echelon due to its lack of accountability and internal legitimacy, despite its pivotal role in influencing the company's strategic direction. Marketing's lack of accountability not only leads to a weakening of the department's influence within the organization, but also threatens the department's legitimacy within the organization. Drawing on institutional and legitimacy theories, the authors develop a conceptual model that delineates how and when a lack of accountability and internal legitimacy of the marketing department can hinder the willingness of other functional areas to collaborate and share knowledge with the department, leading to lower firm performance. The article discusses implications for enhancing marketing's status and reputation in the firm.