Relationship Building Between Marketing and IT: The Impact of Information Governance and Collaboration: An Abstract
Abstract
Marketers are increasingly using data and information to drive decision making and as a result becoming more engaging in information management activities. To address the increasing role of information and technology in marketing strategy, the focus of this research is twofold. First, the study investigates the impact of information governance on the quality of information available: How are firms managing information (strategy, structure, process) to provide high quality information? The second research question is: How do relational (e.g., collaboration) elements impact the role of information use on information quality and firm performance? Through the lens of strategy, structure, process (SSP) theory this research utilizes a survey of 298 marketing and Information Technology (IT) managers to evaluate the impact of information governance and marketing IT collaboration on information quality and firm performance. The research results show that all three components of information governance, structure, strategy and process, positively impact information quality which has a positive effect on business results. When specifically exploring the relationship between marketing and IT, we find that differences in functional power and difference in knowledge of marketing and IT at the executive level can negatively affect collaboration between the two functions. This is critical because marketing/IT collaboration enhances the effects of information processes on information quality. For managers, this research demonstrates the importance of having a well-defined information governance strategy that promotes individual decision making and a focus on cross-function information sharing to improve information quality. Managers can then use accessible, integrated, high quality data to improve overall business results. Additionally, managers should improve collaboration between the marketing and IT functions, which enhances information quality, by reducing power differences between the departments and enhancing knowledge of both marketing and IT by executives.