Factors Contributing to Marketing‘s Limited Role in Product Development in Many High-Tech Firms

John P. Workman1, Jr.1
1Marketing Dept., Kenan-Flagler Business School, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Tóm tắt

While case-based research, books by insiders, and anecdotalevidence suggests marketing often has a marginal role in productdevelopment in many successful high-tech firms, there has beenlittle systematic comparison across high-tech firms which identifiesfactors leading to this limited role. This paper draws on tapedand transcribed interviews with marketing and/or R and Dmanagers in thirty-four high tech firms and argues that threefactors contribute to marketing‘s limited role in many high-techfirms: (1) the need for technical expertise to understand businessopportunities, (2) the development of technology-oriented organizationalcultures, and (3) the way in which marketing is defined in manyhigh-tech firms. The paper then assesses key contributions thatpeople in marketing and product management can play and developspropositions concerning antecedents and consequences of the degreeof marketing‘s role in product development decisions.

Từ khóa


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