UVA Darden Professor Honored for Most Impactful Marketing Paper

24 April 2023

University of Virginia Darden School of Business Professor Kimberly Whitler has been honored for her contribution to the field of marketing with one of the industry’s highest honors.

Ryan Krause

Ryan Krause of Texas Christian University

Whitler, alongside coauthors Ryan Krause of Texas Christian University and Donald R. Lehman of Columbia University, is the recipient of the 2023 Sheth Foundation/Journal of Marketing Award. The award is given annually to a Journal of Marketing article that has made a long-term contribution to the field of marketing.

Donald Lehman headshot

Donald Lehman of Columbia University

Whitler and her coauthors received the award for their article “When and How Board Members With Marketing Experience Facilitate Firm Growth,” originally published in 2018. The article examined whether executive-level marketing expertise on a board helped to drive firm growth.

"The lack of marketing representation on boards impairs firms’ ability to tackle demand-side problems."
Kim Whitler (Darden), Ryan Krause (TCU) and Donald R. Lehman (Columbia)

The researchers determined such expertise did indeed lead to growth, quantifying the increase in annual revenue when a marketer sat on a board.

One reason? Most directors who comprise boards come from the supply-side of business. In contrast, marketers — including salespeople — are demand-focused. This unique and complementary expertise can help steer strategy and resource decisions toward long-term consumer-centered value creation and superior growth outcomes.

Despite these findings, less than three percent of board members have marketing expertise. The authors suggest that “the lack of marketing representation on boards impairs firms’ ability to tackle demand-side problems, even though boards and CEOs consider growth generation among their most challenging priorities (e.g., Gartner 2018; Groysberg and Bell 2012). This contradiction suggests that boards fail to see a connection between their lack of marketing experience and their inability to address marketing-related growth challenges. Our research is the first to suggest and demonstrate such a connection.”

Enumerating the paper’s unique appeal and impact, the award committee said the paper revealed a little-understood phenomenon and paved the way for ongoing scholarship. Additionally, while the paper is “academically rigorous,” it also offers clearly actionable insights for practitioners and offers “real potential to change the behavior of multiple marketing stakeholders.”

The authors will be honored at the Summer AMA Academic Conference.

Read a synopsis of the article on Darden Ideas to Action.

About the University of Virginia Darden School of Business

The University of Virginia Darden School of Business prepares responsible global leaders through unparalleled transformational learning experiences. Darden’s graduate degree programs (MBA, MSBA and Ph.D.) and Executive Education & Lifelong Learning programs offered by the Darden School Foundation set the stage for a lifetime of career advancement and impact. Darden’s top-ranked faculty, renowned for teaching excellence, inspires and shapes modern business leadership worldwide through research, thought leadership and business publishing. Darden has Grounds in Charlottesville, Virginia, and the Washington, D.C., area and a global community that includes 18,000 alumni in 90 countries. Darden was established in 1955 at the University of Virginia, a top public university founded by Thomas Jefferson in 1819 in Charlottesville, Virginia.

 

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