Effect of cross-functional integration between operations and marketing on negative critical incidents

Abstract

Negative critical incidents (NCIs) stemming from dissatisfaction with product or services bring the relationship between the firm and its customer into focus. It should be in the benefit of the firm to manage the number of NCIs. We investigate specific triggers of NCIs and study the role of marketing–operations interface in minimising their frequency. The discussion presented in the article is based on theoretical analysis and exploratory empirical research. It was found that firms that are part of industry where new products/services are introduced more frequently are expected to experience more frequent NCIs. A strong intra-organisational interface between marketing and operations functions has a moderating effect on this adverse relationship. One counter-intuitive insight obtained was that the complexity of processes delivering product/service may not be a cause of NCIs, but the reverse can be true in some cases. The sample investigated had representation from service and manufacturing sectors as well as important industries within them. The results, however, could be specific to India. The moderating role of cross-functional integration between marketing and operations in reducing NCIs is also investigated for the first time.

Keywords:

• critical incidents
• consumer satisfaction
• innovation
• operations–marketing interface
• cross-functional integration

Acknowledgements

The authors are thankful to the reviewers. Their suggestions have led to substantial improvement of the article.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

Amit Kumar Bardhan http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2643-9989

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the University of Delhi with a grant to the first author.