Do New Product Development Managers in Large or High-Market-Share Firms Perceive Marketing-R&D Interface Principles Differently?

In the quest for successful innovation, the importance of the R&Dlmarketing interface is virtually unquestioned. For many organizations, however, effective integration of technical and marketing functions is difficult, if not impossible. Despite seemingly widespread understanding of fundamental new product principles, some companies still manage to gain a larger share of the market than their competitors. This raises the question of whether managers in more successful companies have special insights into R&D'/'marketing interface principles that give them an edge over their competitors. To gain a better understanding of managers' perceptions of new product principles defined in the academic literature, Ted Haggblom, Roger J. Calantone, and C. Anthony Di Benedetto conducted a survey of 687 nonacademic members of the Product Development and Management Association. The basis for the survey was a set of 78 product management principles compiled from a search of more than 500 books and articles from various disciplines. From this survey, 14 of the 78 principles were selected as relevant to the study reported in this article. The principles discussed in this article involve such issues as resistance to change, short-term orientation, communication and trust between marketing and technical people, the effect of centralized decision-making on innovation, the importance of open communication flows, senior management's role in the R&D I marketing interface, and the necessity of a product champion. The primary quesstion addressed in this study is whether managers from successful companies perceive these principles differently from managers of less successful firms. The study provides partial support for the proposition that managers' perceptions of these new product principles depend on their company's success. In other words, the survey results suggest that managers in companies with higher market shares tend to agree more strongly with these principles than their counterparts in less successful firms. The study also explores the relationship between firm size and agreement with these principles of new product success. Specifically, the study assesses whether the perceptions of managers from smaller, more entrepreneurial companies differ from those of managers in larger companies. Although managers from small and large firms may view these principles from different perspectives, there were no statistically significant differences in the perceptions of managers from small and large firms.     

重新发现IT外包

IT业务外包已成为越来越普遍的现象,然而,企业从外包中获得好处的愿望能否成真?企业的商务环境是否发生了彻底变化?BCG专家经过研究认为,如果你对上述任一问题的答案是肯定的,那现在就到了你对上一次IT外包举措进行批判性审视的时候了。     

A SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGER SELECTION METHODOLOGY: EMPIRICAL TEST AND SUGGESTED APPLICATION

With the expanding global economy, no managerial position requires a broader set of skills than that of the supply chain manager. Understanding the complexities of filling this vital managerial position, recent conceptual research has called for the development of a tool designed to identify the top candidates for supply chain positions. This research presents a full test of a three hurdle methodology for supply chain manager selection. Empirical results reported here suggest that managers must possess superior general mental aptitude, need for achievement, and adaptability for firms to maximize performance.     

Recent perspectives on unconscious processing: Still no marketing applications

The history of subliminal research consists of cycles during which investigators report a subliminal finding, others fail to replicate it, but, nevertheless, the finding is publicized and achieves some degree of acceptance among lay audiences. Such cycles have been permitted by (a) inadequately standardized empirical criteria for subliminal effects and (b) lack of consensus on theories of unconscious processes. Recent advances in methods have yielded some replicable subliminal effects and new models of unconscious processes have abandoned some of the controversial motivational assumptions of past perspectives. Nevertheless, cautious interpretation of this recent work maintains the wisdom of a skeptical appraisal of the potential for productive marketing applications.