Marketing Jobs and Management Controls: Toward a Framework

The authors consider the relationships among two characteristics associated with senior marketing positions (procedural knowledge and performance documentation), four types of management controls, and three job-related minipathologies (job tension, dysfunctional behaviors, and information asymmetries between superiors and subordinates). Selected management control theory suggests that the characteristics of a given marketing position should predict managers’ reliance on specific types of management controls. In turn, these controls should directly predict the extent of job-related minipathologies. In contrast, contingency theories of control suggest that task characteristics moderate the direct effects of controls on these negative outcomes. In effect, they argue that whether outcomes are positive or negative depends on the extent to which controls “fit” a given marketing position. To test these ideas, a national survey of senior marketing personnel was conducted. Three sets of findings emerged. First, the two task characteristics studied generally predict the type of controls-in-use. Second, certain controls-in-use have a modest effect on specific minipathologies. Third, the moderating effect of task characteristics is not confirmed. Implications for marketing practice and directions for future research in marketing are proposed.