The good standing of the Marketing Department is in danger, according to a corporate compliance survey conducted by spend management firm Marrakech, which found that marketing departments are among the least disciplined, financially speaking.
As a result of the survey, Marrakech advises marketers to begin improving relations with their finance colleagues - and start following purchase ordering procedures properly - if their budgets are to remain at workable levels.
The on-demand spend management firm commissioned the poll of 100 financial directors of blue-chip organisations to assess departmental understanding of procedures, and to find the worst compliance culprits. The survey assessed departments across the board using a number of criteria from discipline during the purchasing process to the use of non-approved suppliers.
League table
Marketing came last in the departmental league table, while Finance is (not surprisingly) at the very top. Second in the league table came Administration, followed by New Business and Information Technology.
Marketing teams were accused of being the worst culprits for using non-approved suppliers and submitting irrelevant requests. But Marrakech believes that marketing, as an area of significant discretionary spend, is the department which could benefit most from streamlining the procurement process.
Financial jitters?
Finance departments are understandably nervous about marketing spend, and often criticise marketing's ability to present a tangible ROI. Indeed, Marketing is often the only corporate department whose function is to speculate on new strategies and ideas, and may not always be able to guarantee a return on investment.
John Bantleman, CEO for Marrakech, said: "In the complex world of compliance and procurement where Finance's reputation is on the line, it's vital to build good relationships between departments and establish a good system for managing investment, however big or small."
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