Professional Biculturalism Enculturation Training: a New Perspective on Managing the R&d and Marketing Interface

Literature on technology and innovation management has identified the research and development (R&D) and marketing (RDM) interface as a critical organizational complexity that when managed well can affect company success in innovation. Cross-functional teams and collaboration mechanisms, such as boundary spanners, have been identified as solutions to the problems in communication between the two groups. However, these methods have not been as effective as desired and questions still exist as to how boundary spanners are created for success at this crucial interface. This chapter takes a different theoretical perspective: that of creating professional biculturalism in order to effectively manage the RDM interface and thereby enhance creativity and productivity in the innovation process. The culture pertaining to R&D personnel or technologists, meaning engineers and “hard” scientists, can be referred to as the T-culture. The culture pertaining to marketing or social “soft” scientists (meaning business, sociology, psychology, etc.) can be referred to as the S-culture. Each of these cultures has its own practitioners; languages; modes of analysis; mores; and standards of validation. This chapter specifies propositions regarding the importance of professional biculturalism in bridging the disconnect between the T and S cultures. A professional bicultural is a person who possesses insider knowledge of both cultures. This chapter also enunciates the effectiveness of professional biculturalism enculturation training. This chapter has implications for managers of not only the RDM interface, but also other areas of the company where disparate professional cultures intersect and present a barrier to effective innovation. Innovation and product development require a high degree of integrated problem solving across different scientific, technical and functional domains. When individuals are professionally bicultural, it affords the RDM interface a critical component of integrality. Managers should look to developing a training program to inculcate professional biculturalism in their employees.