Interaction of marketing, R&D and critical innovation: Case study of Korean and Japanese firms

Recently, global companies have focused on innovation to gain global competitive advantage. Despite their interest in critical aspects of innovation from a variety of perspectives, such firms have not adequately explored interaction mechanisms that impact innovative outcomes from a product life-cycle perspective. This paper discusses how interactive mechanisms of marketing and R&D along the product development cycle result in innovative outcomes. In particular, we analyse customer relationship management (CRM) as an interaction mechanism of marketing and R&D. This paper provides a research model that defines such interaction mechanisms with the help of a case study of Korean and Japanese firms that allows for an examination of innovation outcomes.