Structural marketing: using organizational structure to achieve marketing objectives

Abstract

Academics and business practitioners increasingly recognize the importance of organizational structure in marketing. Yet research examining the effects of different organizational structure design elements on marketing outcomes remains fragmented and scarce. Accordingly, this article seeks to synthesize and extend understanding of how firms use their organizational structural elements to achieve marketing objectives, and to offer a new perspective of structural marketing. In support of this research goal, a cross-disciplinary review of organizational structure, its types, and its characteristics, in combination with theories relevant to the field of marketing, informs an assessment of empirical findings from marketing literature. This synthesis introduces the concept of structural marketing; the article offers both theoretical tenets and testable propositions in support of an initial framework for using organizational structure design elements as strategic marketing variables. Illustrative business cases reinforce these tenets, conceptual arguments, and managerial insights.