The Role of Trust in the Marketing and R&D Interface during the NPD Process: A General Framework

A gap exists in our understanding of the role that "trust" plays within organisations that

produce new products. Recent organisational research suggests that trust plays a more

significant role in modern organisational structures than previously thought. Trust

encourages efficient information sharing, it limits defensive behaviours, encourages

citizenship behaviours, it leads to co-operation and teamwork, and encourages collaboration.

The NPD literature has traditionally focused on "integration methods" which promote

information sharing and interaction amongst participants. Trust has been viewed as a "by

product" of these approaches. A framework is proposed which highlights the important role

that management play in creating an environment conducive to the development of

interpersonal and organisational trust. We argue that the traditional "integrating

echanisms" used by management for bringin together functional specialists should be used

with a greater focus on building high levels of trust throughout the organisation which

ultimately leads to greater collaborative behaviour amongst participants.