The effects non-coercive influence tactic use in marketing manager/sales manager working relationships during NPD

This paper examines the effects of five non-coercive influence tactics (rational persuasion, consultation, collaboration, ingratiation, and inspirational appeals) on interpersonal conflict and perceived relationship effectiveness. The context of this research is working relationships between Marketing Managers and Sales Managers during NPD projects. The results suggest that the most useful influence tactic for managers during NPD is rational persuasion. This is consistent with the view that NPD projects are information processing sub-systems within the firm, aimed at reducing uncertainty. In addition, not all of the influence tactics have positive outcomes, as two of these tactics (ingratiation and inspirational appeals) appear to increase rather than reduce conflict

The effects of power, influence, and interdependence on the effectiveness of marketing manager/sales manager working relationships

This paper examines three contextual drivers of relationship effectiveness between Marketing Managers and Sales Managers. Specifically, how the power of the Sales unit, the manifest influence of the Sales Manager, and the level of interdependence between these managers influences conflict, and the perceived effectiveness of that relationship. Our results show that the greater the Sales unit power, the greater the conflict between these managers, and the lower the relationship effectiveness. In addition, where a Sales Manager has high influence, this is associated with greater effectiveness in Marketing/Sales relationships, but not with lower conflict. In contrast, the level of interdependence between these managers does not affect either conflict, or the perceived effectiveness of this important working relationship

The causal ordering of key cross-functional relationship dimensions: a replication study using the marketing/R&D relationship.

How do working relationships between functional managers develop, and how are they maintained? Does interpersonal trust drive communication, or is communication the building block of interpersonal trust? Massey and Dawes (2002) examined the causal ordering of three key behavioural constructs - communication behaviours, interpersonal trust, and interpersonal conflict in cross-functional relationships between Marketing Managers and Sales Managers. By using three competing models they found evidence that CFRs are built on a foundation of effective communication, specifically, bidirectional communication. This current paper is a replication of their study in the context of the Marketing/R&D relationship during 184 Australian new product development projects. It contributes to the literature, by corroborating the causal ordering suggested by Massey and Dawes (2002). These findings have significant implications for the selection of strategies by senior management to better integrate the Marketing and R&D functions

The effects of organisational structure, interpersonal trust and communication during new product development projects

This study examines the antecedents of effective working relationships between Marketing and R&D managers during NPD projects. Adopting both a structural and individual-level perspective, we examine the impact on relationship effectiveness of formalisation, centralisation, communication frequency and bidirectionality, and interpersonal trust between Marketing Managers and R&D Managers during NPD product development projects. Our hypothesised model is tested using a sample of 184 product development projects conducted in Australia, and our findings reveal two dimensions of interpersonal trust (cognition- and affect-based trust) are potent factors driving effectiveness during product development projects. We also reveal differential effects of the two communication behaviours, and demonstrate that unlike bidirectional communication, communication frequency does not increase relationship effectiveness. Similarly, whilst formalisation can help improve relationship effectiveness on product development projects, centralisation does not have any positive effect

A study of personal beliefs of advertising and attitudes towards advertisements: Pollay and Mittal (1993) revisited

This study involves a survey of university students and focuses on the personal beliefs and uses of advertising identified in Pollay and Mittals (1993) seminal paper, i.e., Product Information, Social Role/Image, and Hedonic/Pleasure. Our results suggest that respondents attitudes towards advertisements is most strongly driven by the Hedonic/Pleasure factor of advertising, followed by its Product Information role, but is unaffected by the Social Role/Image function of advertising. Our structural equation modelling results suggest that there has been an increase in the importance of the Hedonic/Pleasure role of advertising since Pollay and Mittals (1993) original study. In addition, the measurement diagnostics for these three constructs from our modelling suggest that there may be a need to revisit these items, and to develop and validate new and better measures of them

An empirical test of the information processing and socio-political perspectives in new product development projects

New product development research draws on a range of different theories, though no overarching theory explaining NPD success has emerged. Atuahene-Gima and Evangelista (2000) however identified an underlying dichotomy in existing theories: economically rational approaches, and socio-political approaches. In this paper we test a model which reflects this dichotomy, and using data from 184 NPD projects, we provide empirical evidence that that this multi-lens theoretical approach has great potential to better understand factors driving NPD outcomes