An Exploratory Study of Cross-Functional Education in the Undergraduate Marketing Curriculum

Abstract

In response to calls from both business practitioners and educators, this research explores the extent to which undergraduate marketing education is delivered with a cross-functional perspective. Given that marketing is often recognized as a boundary-spanning role within companies, marketing department chairs were asked to report on cross-functional teaching and learning activities within their departments and schools. While it appears that cross-functional teaching and learning does take place in the marketing classroom, it does not appear to be widespread among marketing departments within undergraduate business programs in the United States, and what is done tends to be accomplished within traditional pedagogical formats. These exploratory results point to several considerations for the implementation of crossfunctional teaching and learning initiatives, as well as provide provocative material for stimulating marketing faculty discussions on the topic.