FUNCTIONAL, MULTIFUNCTIONAL, AND CROSS-FUNCTIONAL: CONSIDERATIONS FOR MARKETING MANAGEMENT

Whether intentional or not, marketing literature has not been explicit about terminology characterizing initiatives between functions within a company. As will be discussed, the intermingling of these terms poses knowledge creation and knowledge management implications for marketing management. A continuum of interfunctional initiatives, anchored on one end by functional initiatives, cross-functional initiatives on the other end, and multifunctional initiatives as a middle ground, is proposed to underlie a common lexicon for use in future marketing management research.