NORMS THAT DISTINGUISH BETWEEN MARKETING AND MANUFACTURING

We report an exploratory study on the norms that distinguish marketing departments from manufacturing departments across organizations. A questionnaire was sent to the marketing managers and manufacturing managers of 125 companies located in Virginia (250 managers total). After two mailing waves, 77% and 68% of marketing managers and manufacturing managers had responded, respectively. The findings of logistic regression analyses indicate certain norms where the two departments have common differences. Most notably, perceptions of dependencies between marketing and manufacturing appear as a significant set of distinguishing norms. We believe that these norm differences should be recognized because they may act as an impediment to the successeful implementation of a market orientation.