Psychological distance between R&D and marketing managers matters during NPD

R&D Managers and Marketing Managers need to work together effectively during innovation projects, and the purpose of this current study is to investigate the effects of psychological distance between these managers on functional and dysfunctional conflict during NPD projects. These two forms of conflict in turn, are used to predict the success of the NPD project. Our results demonstrate that higher psychological distance between R&D and Marketing Managers has detrimental effects on these projects, in two ways: first, by increasing dysfunctional conflict, between the two managers, and second, by decreasing functional conflict. Moreover, our results suggest that a focus on managing only the dysfunctional form of conflict within NPD teams is suboptimal. Our results show that stronger positive effects can be gained on NPD project success by increasing functional conflict within NPD teams