Divtvany achieved through the design of the relationship between marketing and sales organization

sales and marketing relationship has been specified as one of the challenging issues of organizations in the marketing literature. We proposed a novel conceptual framework for designing the relationship between sales and marketing and explaining its strategic consequences by borrowing theories from strategy and organization theories. In the strategy literature, organizational ambidexterity, which refers to combining attention toward exploration and exploitation, is a driving force for organizational survival and growth. This paper suggests that designing sales and marketing relationship is an effective mechanism for realizing organizational ambidexterity. Sales departments reinforce exploitation and marketing departments reinforce exploration in organizations. In addition, based on the organizational theory literature, designing appropriate cross-functional relationships require accepting structural differences in one side and applying integration mechanisms in the other side. Structural differentiation between sales and marketing improves each department’s capability and thus results in enhancing exploration and exploitation. Yet, to realize organizational ambidexterity there should be integration mechanisms and mutual support of each other’s activities.