Linking R&D and Marketing for Innovation: A Literature Review

There is no doubt that innovation takes creativity and vision. But is this sufficient for commercial success? Can the vision of a handful of technologists be clear enough to produce products that will appeal to millions? In most cases this is a difficult proposition. And as products become more sophisticated, greater demands are put on those involved in product development. The technical skills required to produce most products today requires a high degree of specialization. This can leave R&D personnel disconnected from customers. The solution is to create a stronger link between R&D and marketing. There are, however, numerous barriers to creating this strong link. These can include, but are not limited to, organizational difficulties and cultural differences. In the case of new product development this can be detrimental, limiting the innovativeness of the company. Therefore, it is proposed that the innovativeness as well as the commercial success of products depends on the strength of the linkage between R&D and marketing. This paper explores the existing literature to validate this statement, explain the difficulties with integrating R&D and marketing, and presents methods for improving the relationship