Anyone who's ever read a Dilbert comic strip knows that engineers and marketers mix like oil and water. That's a shame because incorporating key marketing information into research and development is essential to optimizing a company's product mix to address customer needs. Fortunately, according to a study published in April, there are reliable ways senior managers can get the two groups working together.The study's authors collected data from 718 respondents at 256 high-technology organizations (with manufacturing, R&D and finance managers represented in equal numbers). The data reveal that internal competition for funding is a key factor in reducing R&D's use of marketing information.Rivalry between the two functions, the researchers point out, has long been common in technological organizations because engineers accustomed to having a lot of clout fear sharing their power with marketers — and often mistrust the quality of the marketing information they receive. The study looked at the effects of four common management strategies designed to reduce the rivalry:Foment opportunities for engineering and marketing employees to meet socially across departmental boundaries (for example, sponsor beer bashes and Nerf battles).Co-locate the R&D and marketing departments (make engineers and marketers sit next to one another).C
