MARKETINGS LIMITED ROLE IN NEW PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT IN ONE COMPUTER-SYSTEMS FIRM

The marketing literature has traditionally assumed that people in mark eting and sales play a central role in product development activities. Though recent work has recognized that marketing may be less central in high-tech firms, there has been little empirical examination of the role marketing does play in these situations. This article, based on nine months of participant observation in a computer systems firm, fir st provides an overview of the product development process and then de scribes impediments that prevent marketing groups from exerting greate r control over product development decisions. The author then turns to ways in which marketing groups work within these constraints, exertin g their influence through informal networks, coalition building to cha mpion specific projects in engineering, and going to the external mark et to ''complete the product'' for their respective market segments. H e concludes by assessing the implications for research in high-tech fi rms and considering managerial implications.