'Companies with a CMO perform 15% better, on average, than companies without one.' is the result of a research on 155 publicly traded U.S. firms across a broad range of industries.
Hence, the results show that certain circumstances have to apply to enable a CMO unfold his/her full potential:
Sales growth: only companies with robust sales treasure customer-oriented strategies
Firm size: within smaller management teams CMOs gain more influence
CEO tenure: suggestion is that the shorter the CEO is on board the bigger the CMO's power
While the first two reason seem pretty comprehensible to me the third makes me wonder: what does this tell about the sustainability of the CMO's contribution to the company's success? Is this so easily disposible once the CEO has established himself?
Read the full article on HBR.org: Do-cmos-really-add-value