Reflecting practice: The case of marketing and new product development

Abstract

Recently there has been debate about whether or not academic research and theories in management are ‘relevant’. The discussion has been extended to marketing and we explore whether or not there is a disconnection between marketing practice and the methodologies, theories and concepts put forward by marketing academics. The possible explanations for the divide between ‘theory’ and ‘practice’ in marketing are assessed. We then focus on new product development and consider the practical implications of the considerable corps of research aimed at identifying the influences affecting new product success. We continue by discussing the traditional representation of new product development. This assumes a staged process that can be managed, but which ignores in particular the impact of uncertainty. We conclude by suggesting that marketing needs to reappraise its model of the new product development process.

Citation

Littler, D. (2006), "Reflecting practice: The case of marketing and new product development", EuroMed Journal of Business, Vol. 1 No. 1, pp. 5-19. https://doi.org/10.1108/14502190610750063