Marketers' ability to influence organizational performance is optimized when all areas of the organization are focused on
creating appropriate value propositions for selected customers. Marketing plays a key role in generating and disseminating information central to customer value creation and facilitating a shared interpretation across the functional areas
of the organization. The DSI framework presented in this paper emphasizes the strategic importance of utilizing a shared understanding of customer value to guide organizational resource investment towards value creating initiatives The need to adopt a cross-functional perspective in marketing was underscored by Srivastava et al. (1999), however, a shortage of such research in marketing journals continues. The DSI framework represents a pathway for marketing researchers to explore the connections between cross-functional integration and knowledge management that are necessary for the implementation and execution of this strategic approach to customer value creation.