Correlates of decision making autonomy in marketing units: A study of Canadian advanced technology manufacturing companies

The appropriate structure and design of marketing units is important in achieving a company’s long term strategic goals. This research addresses this issue by examining the design of marketing decision making structures (level of decision making decentralization) in a sample of 30 advanced technology manufacturing companies located in Canada. Respondents were asked to report for each of seven marketing decisions whether authority to make those decisions was with the senior marketing manager, above, or below the senior marketing manager. The results show that while marketing decision making is to a considerable degree a general management responsibility, autonomy of marketing managers is related to market, product, and overall organizational characteristics of the companies studied. Key words: decision making autonomy, marketing manager, advanced technology, marketing success.