Personal characteristics, trust, conflict, and effectiveness in marketing/sales working relationships

Abstract

Purpose − The primary objective of this research is to test a model examining interpersonal trust between marketing managers and R&D managers during new product development projects. In this study we conceptualise interpersonal trust as a bidimensional construct with cognitive and affective components. Our integrative structural model specifies Weber's (1924) structural/bureaucratic dimensions − formalisation and centralisation to predict three communication dimensions, communication frequency, quality, and bidirectionality. In turn these communication dimensions are used to predict cognition-based trust, and affect-based trust. In addition, we model the direct effects of our three communication dimensions on our dependent variable − perceived relationship effectiveness.Design/methodology/approach − Our hypothesised model consists of sixteen hypotheses, seven of which relate to our two focal interpersonal trust constructs. Our measures were tested and our structural model estimated by using PLS. Data was provided by 184 R&D managers in Australia, reporting on their working relationship with a counterpart marketing manager during a recent product development project.Findings − Our hypothesized model has high explanatory power and we found that both trust dimensions strongly influenced the effectiveness of marketing/R&D relationships during new product development, with cognition-based trust having the strongest impact. Our results also reveal which forms of communication help to build interpersonal trust. The most powerful effect was from communication quality to cognition-based trust. The next strongest effects were from bidirectional communication, which was a strong predictor of affect-based trust, and a somewhat weaker predictor of cognition-based trust. Interestingly, the direct effects of our three communication behaviours on relationship effectiveness were modest, suggesting that their relationship building effects are largely indirect. Last, we reveal that bureaucratic means of control on product development projects have mixed effects. As expected, centralisation reduces cross-functional communication. In contrast, formalisation has a positive effect during product development, as it stimulates both the frequency and bidirectionality of communication between marketing managers and R&D managers on these projects.Originality/value − This is the first study to treat interpersonal trust as the focal construct in marketing/R&D relationships during new product development. Moreover, it is the only study of marketing/R&D relationships to conceptualise, measure, and model two underlying dimensions of interpersonal trust (cognitionbased trust, and affect-based trust). Our study also integrates aspects of Weber's (1924) theory of bureaucracy, with interaction theory, and demonstrates the strong links between these theoretical frameworks. KeywordsInterpersonal trust; cross-functional relationships, marketing/R&D relationships, new product development Paper type Research paper 3 IntroductionSince Ruekert and...

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