Developing a Marketing Organisation

Summary If companies are to realise the value of their customers, changes in organisational structure are essential. The trend in US and British business, unsympathetically referred to as ‘delayering’, is towards leaner and flatter organisations. In their rush to cut costs, however, many companies have neglected the potential of their people. And in their attack on middle management in particular, many companies have neglected the role of this level in communicating across the company and in orchestrating the efforts of different functions. Companies must organise around their customers. Marketing must take the lead in developing company resources and customer focus. In an article, ‘Marketing — A Mid-Life Crisis’, Professor Malcolm McDonald urges: ‘With marketing largely an attitude of mind vested solely in the department bearing the same name, the critical issue is how to introduce and sustain customer focus across a company.’1 Marketing should develop its remit to give internal communication to staff equal weight with external communication to customers. This is an action plan for a reorganisation of the marketing function, the integration of marketing with other business functions, and the development of customer focus throughout a company.