How the Japanese Manage the R&D–Marketing Interface

OVERVIEW:A survey of 274 Japanese R&D managers suggests that the perceived success of Japanese new product programs is related to the achieved level of R&D–marketing integration in Japanese firms. Moreover, the achieved level of integration appears to reflect the quality of R&D–marketing relations, the organizational structure of Japanese firms, and the attitudes and actions of Japanese senior management. These findings are consistent with the conclusions of similar studies of U.S. companies. The authors, however, find one important difference between U.S. and Japanese companies. In Japanese firms, the method of organizing new product activity appears to have little influence on the achieved level of R&D–marketing integration. We suspect that, in Japan, methods of organizing new product activity do not matter because corporate culture accomplishes what U.S. firms try to accomplish through organization. In the successful Japanese company, a common commitment to the long-run success of the firm binds R&D and marketing employees together. Interfunctional cooperation is based on this shared commitment, and is reinforced through participative decision-making, job rotation, and the use of joint reward systems.