Chief marketing officers: A study of their presence in firms' top management teams

Not all firms choose to have a chief marketing officer (CMO) in their top management teams (TMTs). This research investigates factors associated with this choice and whether CMO presence/absence in the face of these factors affects firm performance. Findings based on a multi-industry sample of 167 firms over a five-year period (2000-2004) show that innovation, differentiation, branding strategy, diversification, TMT functional experience in marketing, and the chief executive officer being an outsider are associated with the likelihood of CMO presence in the TMT. Furthermore, the authors find that CMO presence in the TMT has neither a positive nor a negative impact on firm performance. The authors discuss the implications of these findings for theory and practice.