An exploratory investigation into influence tactics used by a new product development project manager.

The strategic importance of NPD and the important role that marketers play in managing that process in Fast Moving Consumer Good (FMCG) organisations provides the impetus for this research paper. This exploratory in-depth case study examined the use of influence tactics used by a marketer managing a NPD project. The full range of soft influence tactics was used by the Project Manager, producing very similar findings on the widespread use of soft influence tactics reported in the existing literature. However, it would appear that the marketer managing the NPD process did not use the full range of hard influence tactics. A possible explanation for this is the corporate culture and wider Australian business culture within which the case study organisation operates in. The paper also identifies a range of future research directions stemming from this exploratory project.