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Examines some of the interpersonal barriers faced by product managers in obtaining interface support. Suggests an influence matrix exists in project management, consisting of four basic types of influence: reward power; punishment power; expert power; and referent power. Looks at each type of influence and analyses the problems encountered in acquiring and using each influence type. Takes a new look at the content of product managers and analyses the nature of their relationships with other executives, and says that apparent lack of influence in these relationships is shown to be over‐exaggerated. Sums up that the study has tried to delineate these interpersonal barriers as well as to indicate how they can be surmounted by product manager in gaining the support of their interfaces.

There is a tendency to view collections of readings with an air of “here we go again.” This is not so with this book. As a discipline marketing must accommodate change and must reconsider its activities with respect to changing philosophies and management approaches. The systems approach to marketing thinking presents a new and alternative method with which to analyse the marketing activity.

Despite the noticeable gains in agricultural productivity in the last decade, people are still dying from starvation and malnutrition. While part of the problem is inadequate food supplies at the national level, nutrition problems relate to physical and economic access to food. The key to improving access to food for the rural and urban poor consumers in developing countries lies in reforming the food distribution or marketing system. The objective of this paper is to define food marketing system parameters, delineate the imperatives of marketing system reform, and recommend actionable managerial strategies for their reform.

A product is more likely to be successfully developed and marketed when the “upfront or fuzzy front‐end (FFE)” activities are understood and carefully managed. A framework is developed to illuminate several factors affecting FFE performance. Using this framework, several strategic issues involved in managing the FFE are identified and managerial recommendations are advanced.

Evidence suggests that product managers' need to communicate across organizational and environmental boundaries under conditions of uncertainty can give rise to powerful role pressures of conflict and ambiguity. These pressures are generally associated with negative or dysfunctional personal outcomes such as job‐related tension, dissatisfaction, and poorer performance. Moreover, in situations where role conflict is particularly high, experienced product managers are susceptible to “burnout.” Some practical approaches to overcoming these difficulties are discussed.

The primary objective of this research is to test a model examining interpersonal trust between marketing managers and R&D managers during new product development projects.

In this study interpersonal trust as a bi‐dimensional construct with cognitive and affective components is conceptualised. The authors' integrative structural model specifies Weber's structural/bureaucratic dimensions – formalisation and centralisation to predict three communication dimensions, communication frequency, quality, and bi‐directionality. In turn these communication dimensions are used to predict cognition‐based trust, and affect‐based trust. In addition, the paper models the direct effects of the three communication dimensions on a dependent variable – perceived relationship effectiveness. The hypothesised model consists of 16 hypotheses, seven of which relate to the two focal interpersonal trust constructs. The measures were tested and a structural model estimated by using PLS. Data were provided by 184 R&D managers in Australia, reporting on their working relationship with a counterpart marketing manager during a recent product development project.

The hypothesized model has high explanatory power and it was found that both trust dimensions strongly influenced the effectiveness of marketing/R&D relationships during new product development, with cognition‐based trust having the strongest impact. The results also reveal which forms of communication help to build interpersonal trust. The most powerful effect was from communication quality to cognition‐based trust. The next strongest effects were from bi‐directional communication, which was a strong predictor of affect‐based trust, and a somewhat weaker predictor of cognition‐based trust. Interestingly, the direct effects of our three communication behaviours on relationship effectiveness were modest, suggesting that their relationship building effects are largely indirect. Last, it is revealed that bureaucratic means of control on product development projects have mixed effects. As expected, centralisation reduces cross‐functional communication. In contrast, formalisation has a positive effect during product development, as it stimulates both the frequency and bi‐directionality of communication between marketing managers and R&D managers on these projects.

This is the first study to treat interpersonal trust as the focal construct in marketing/R&D relationships during new product development. Moreover, it is the only study of marketing/R&D relationships to conceptualise, measure, and model two underlying dimensions of interpersonal trust (cognition‐based trust, and affect‐based trust). Our study also integrates aspects of Weber's theory of bureaucracy, with interaction theory, and demonstrates the strong links between these theoretical frameworks.

Organizational development and change may be initiated from two different starting points. A diagnostic approach begins with an examination of problems to assess and correct dysfunction. In contrast, the Appreciative Inquiry approach begins by identifying an organization’s strengths as resources for change. An experimental study was conducted to compare the processes and outcomes that arise during the first phase of each approach. Results show that both approaches lead to different but favorable and complementary outcomes. Both participant gender and the gender construction of the dyads in which individuals participated moderate these effects in unexpected ways. The implications for understanding the processes by which both methods work, and the potential for combining them, are discussed

This paper examines adoption of really‐new products (RNPs) from a consumer perspective. The unique characteristics of RNPs which differentiate them from other innovative products are examined in relation to the role which these characteristics play in creating barriers to adoption of RNPs. These characteristics in turn affect different stages of the adoption process. Surrogate buyers, acting as agents used by adopters to provide guidance, direction, and/or advice related to marketplace activities, can significantly impact consumer adoption and commercial success of RNPs by minimizing or overcoming barriers related to the stages of the adoption process and characteristics of RNPs.