To boost internal growth, savvy finance executives are partnering with marketing colleagues to drive more consistently profitable results

Cover story reprinted with permission from Financial Executive, October 2005.

The domain of chief financial officers, long confined to budgets and balance sheets, today extends far into the inner workings of corporations. Yet in most companies, the CFO’s reach still ends abruptly at marketing’s door.

But this is not the case everywhere. In a small number of companies, an unusual level of collaboration between finance and marketing is helping to generate outsized returns. What’s more, the earnings at industry leaders like Best Buy Co. Inc., Genentech Inc., Barclays PLC and Roche Holding AG — all stock market stars in recent years — have come largely from the best source of new revenue: organic growth. While friction can exist between the functions, the rewards of getting finance and marketing to collaborate are well worth the pain because the product of a healthy marriage — alignment on where and how to pursue profitable organic growth — is both rare and potent.