The marketing literature has traditionally assumed that people in marketing 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, first provides an overview of the product development process and then describes impediments that prevent marketing groups from exerting greater control over product development decisions. The author then turns to ways in which marketing groups work within these constraints, exerting their influence through informal networks, coalition building to champion specific projects in engineering, and going to the external market to “complete the product” for their respective market segments. He concludes by assessing the implications for research in high-tech firms and considering managerial implications.
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