The nature of NPD and role flexibility of R&D/marketing in a fast growing high-tech setting

This study investigated the mutual learning process between marketing and R&D in the context of the information and communications technology industry. The relationship between product newness and role flexibility of R&D/marketing was examined via correlation analysis and multiple regression against a stratified sample of 171 new products. The results showed that different aspects of product newness are associated in a different way to role flexibility of R&D/marketing. Management should therefore be aware of such differences when planning their product development portfolio so that effective integration between R&D and marketing can be achieved.