Complementary or Conflicting? Exploring the Interactions Between Technological, Marketing, and Operational Capabilities in Radical Technological Innovation

Abstract

Academic Summary

This article examines how interactions among technological, marketing, and operational capabilities influence radical technological innovation (RTI). While existing research underscores the individual influence of these capabilities, there are theoretical tensions regarding how their interactions shape RTI. We theorize that strong marketing capabilities can diminish the positive impact of technological capabilities on RTI, as they may divert technological efforts away from RTI-focused initiatives. Conversely, we propose that operational capabilities amplify the effect of technological capabilities on RTI by enabling more flexible operations and fostering inter-functional collaboration. Additionally, we argue that operational capabilities alleviate the negative influence of marketing capabilities by integrating marketing more closely with other functions. To test these propositions, we analyze a unique dataset spanning 1522 firm-year observations from 126 US manufacturing firms (2004–2016), utilizing a sophisticated patent-based measure to operationalize RTI. Our results indicate that strong marketing capabilities effectively neutralize the positive effect of technological capabilities on RTI. Moreover, strong operational capabilities reduce the negative effect of marketing capabilities by roughly half. We contribute toward resolving theoretical debates on the complementarity versus conflict between technological, marketing, and operational capabilities in shaping RTI.

Managerial Summary

This study explores how the interactions between three key organizational capabilities—marketing, technological, and operational—impact RTI. Our findings reveal that strong marketing capabilities often conflict with technological capabilities, neutralizing their positive effect on RTI. To address this, we recommend that firms take proactive steps to enhance complementarity between marketing and technology functions. Specifically, firms can assign technical teams to lead RTI projects, align marketing incentives with RTI objectives, and empower marketing teams to identify customer challenges that current technologies cannot solve. Additionally, we find that operational capabilities can mitigate the negative influence of marketing on RTI by better integrating marketing with other functions. Our results show that strong operational capabilities can reduce this negative impact by approximately 50%. Therefore, we advise firms to strengthen their operational capabilities to counteract the adverse effects of marketing and to better integrate their marketing functions with operational processes to promote RTI.