Conflict between Engineers and Marketers: The Engineer’s Perspective

It is widely acknowledged that an effective interface between the engineering and marketing functions of an organization is vital for the successful development of engineering products. However, researchers have identified the existence of high levels of conflict between engineers and marketers, which may be hampering an effective interface. This study aims to consider the issue of conflict between engineers and marketers from the perspective of the engineers at all levels within an organization. This study has found that, although in many cases the level of conflict is encouragingly low, there are a number of key issues that management needs to address to improve the relationship thereby minimizing conflict. The physical location of the two functions is an important consideration as integration is significantly increased in instances where marketing and engineering departments are physically colocated. Marketing training of engineers has a positive influence on the relationship, but careful management is needed to prevent this marketing knowledge that engineers are acquiring from becoming a new cause of conflict.