A bridge over troubled water?

Much of the discussion about the relationship between marketing academe and practice assumes that there is a wide, and indeed sometimes widening, gap between these two domains which is itself fraught with problems. In marketing, as in the wider field of management, this leads to prescriptions based on building more links and bridges and hence requirements for academe to move closer to practice. This paper argues that in a number of ways this is both a flawed diagnosis and also an ineffective prescription. A flawed diagnosis because the domains of academe and practice are themselves actually heterogeneous and overlapping. An ineffective prescription because institutional structures and incentives, including the existence of a substantial range of intermediaries, reflect legitimate and differing demands on each domain. In particular marketing academe needs to be at least as concerned about its links both with the wider academic community and intermediary organizations.