Marketing as an applied science: Lessons from other business disciplines

Abstract

Purpose: This paper is concerned with investigating what the marketing field can learn with regard to the academic/practitioner divide from other management disciplines. Design: 68 interviews of academics, practitioners and experts/consultants involved in academic/practitioner engagement across the marketing, accountancy, strategic management and organisation studies disciplines. Findings: The most interesting aspects relate to two areas: a) exclusive (as exemplified in accountancy) versus inclusive (as exemplified in strategic management) engagement and b) the practices associated with participative research (as exemplified in organisation studies). Research limitations/implications: The research was limited to academics, practitioners and experts/consultants operating from the UK. However, the findings on the challenges of engagement are consistent with those reported in the extant literature. Practical implications: The first implication relates to defining what we mean when we talk about “practice”. The literature is often vague with regard to this. Does it relate to functional professionals or a far wider group of non-specialists? A useful starting point might be to conduct an audit to clarify where aspects of marketing theory are relevant. The second implication relates to what needs to be done to create successful participatory research. Some conditions required for success are outlined. However, the issue of motivation also needs to be addressed. Value: The paper explores a knowledge gap in relation to the practice of engagement. It identifies why it is important to debate the nature of the practitioner community and provides some guidelines for effective engagement. Classification: Research paper