Conditions of departmental power: A strategic contingency exploration of marketing's customer-connecting role/ Corina Marx

A marketing department's power is substantially driven by the resources and capabilities the department provides to the firm. Customer connection is critical to success, yet it has seen equivocal results as a source of power. This study explores contextual circumstances and their influence on the functioning of power sources like customer connection. Combining resource dependence theory and strategic contingency theory, we argue that, while marketing power depends on power sources, the strength of this relationship is affected by context factors. Following a framework from Yan and Gray (2001), we test six context variables that affect the availability of alternatives and the strategic importance of customer connection. An analysis of 257 German firms reveals that selection & training and environmental dynamism positively affect customer connection, and market orientation and asset specificity negatively affect customer connection. Differentiation strategy and political skill show no effect.