marketing in innovation should not ignore the complex interaction dynamics
between these two functions.
Second, the present study extends the findings from existing studies
about the role of sales in generating new product ideas or adopting new
products for an effective launch (Atuahene-Gima, 1997; Hultink &
Atuahene-Gima, 2000). It demonstrates the existence of sales–marketing
encroachment and shows the contribution of sales–marketing encroachment
to innovation success. Firms that encourage their sales
departments to carry out strategic activities that traditionally belong
to marketing's domain benefit from improved interaction with customers
and, as a result, end up with more successful and novel products
in the marketplace. In addition, sales–marketing encroachment may
serve to improve communications and coordination between the two
functions, which also contributes to more effective launch of new
products.
Third, the findings from this study identify several key drivers of
sales–marketing encroachment. They show that a broad range of
factors—interfunctional trust, rivalry between sales and marketing and
the actionability of the information provided by sales—all significantly
influence sales–marketing encroachment. While these antecedents
were already identified in the sales–marketing interface literature,
these findings show that they also impact the phenomenon of sales–
marketing encroachment.
Fourth, the findings show that the role of sales–marketing encroachment
and its effects on innovation are independent of the firm's business
context, that is, whether the firm operates on B2B or B2C
markets. This suggests that sales–marketing encroachment is a universal
phenomenon occurring across industrie