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•A high CI diversity presented divergences among salespeople about the market understandings.•CI diversity also reduces the positive effects of CI on efficiency.•CI increases ...salespersons' efficiency.•A higher consensus about how salespeople read the market is beneficial to the firm.
Although previous studies support the main effect of a salesperson’s competitive intelligence (CI) on job-related outcomes, little, if any, attention has been given to the mechanisms that moderate this relationship. Drawing on social capital theory, the authors propose that CI diversity (i.e., disparity) diminishes salesperson CI's main effect on efficiency and performance. On the other hand, managers’ tenure in the store amplifies such a relationship. The authors tested the theoretical model using multilevel data collected from managers and salespeople representing 74 wholesales and 175 vendors. The study results demonstrated that the CI-performance link was weakened when there were high CI diversity. The reason is that a high CI diversity presented divergences among salespeople about the market understandings. Whereas, when there are high levels of managers’ tenure, there is an amplified influence of CI on performance. The logic is a communication and dissemination of intelligence to the sales team.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Purpose
This study aims to investigate the differences between inside and outside business-to-business salespeople. Although prior research has highlighted a need to compare these two distinct sales ...positions, limited research examines the two. Specifically, this study investigates differences between inside and outside salespeople for the following constructs: positivity, intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, emotional exhaustion, job satisfaction and turnover intentions.
Design/methodology/approach
A Qualtrics panel of 210 business-to-business salespeople from a variety of US industries was used, with 43.8% classifying themselves as inside. Multi-group analysis using partial least squares structural equations modeling (PLS-SEM) was conducted where job type serves as the moderator for the entire model.
Findings
Results indicated four of six significant differences based on position. Specifically, positivity had a significant impact on emotional exhaustion for outside salespeople only. For extrinsic motivation, inside salespeople exhibited a stronger impact on emotional exhaustion. Furthermore, the impact of emotional exhaustion on turnover intentions was stronger for outside salespeople. The impact of job satisfaction on turnover intentions was stronger for inside salespeople. These results are supported by social exchange theory and distraction conflict theory.
Practical implications
This research highlights that sales managers and organizations need to consider different policies based on position type to increase job satisfaction and reduce turnover intentions. Practical guidelines for effectively managing the two positions are provided.
Originality/value
The value of this paper is that it indicates that there are indeed significant differences between these two types of sales positions, and thus, future research should not combine them into a single sample.
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•Retail salesperson brand identification drives brand sales performance.•Consumer marketing and supplier reps build retail salesperson brand identification.•Reward programs stimulate ...brand extra-role behaviors among retail salespeople.•Customer orientation reduces salespeople’s tendency to push their favored brands.
The organizational frontline in retail represents the frontline for an entire supply chain. This channel structure distances the branded supplier from the end consumer and makes the supplier dependent on a retail frontline salesperson that (1) it does not control and (2) also represents competing brands. This study reveals mechanisms that the supplier may use to influence retail frontline salespeople. We demonstrate the importance of consumer marketing programs and supplier representatives in building brand identification between the manufacturer’s brand and the retail frontline employee that translates into increased brand sales, while also revealing the role of rewards programs in stimulating brand-specific extra-role behaviors. Interestingly, retail frontline customer orientation, built by the retailer, diminishes the effect of brand extra-role behaviors toward the focal brand on the focal brand’s sales, providing an informal control mechanism for retailers to protect its objectives. The results of this study have powerful ramifications for both retailers and suppliers in achieving both their mutual, and sometimes differing, objectives related to the retail frontline.
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CEKLJ, GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
This research is among the first to examine salespeople's acceptance of AI (artificial intelligence) and we investigate the drivers of their AI acceptance from the perspective of the managers. In ...this study, we propose and empirically demonstrate that perceived ease of use, self-efficacy, perceived management support, and digitalization are positively related to salespeople's acceptance of AI. Moreover, we show that digitalization mediates the relationship between salespeople's prospecting/adaptive selling capabilities and their AI acceptance. The results suggest that in order to incentivize AI acceptance, managers need to build adequate digital infrastructure, cultivate organizational support to encourage AI adoption and usage, provide professional training to educate salespeople on the proper usage of AI, and reduce salespeople's perceived risk of AI usage. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed subsequently.
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BFBNIB, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
The COVID-19 pandemic is bringing about immediate, wide-ranging, and severe challenges for many B2B sales forces. Such challenges call attention to the importance of frameworks that can be applied to ...aid sales managers in understanding the impact of and responses to COVID-19. Leavitt's model of organizational change, and socio-technical systems theory, point to the importance of considering four inter-related social (i.e., human and structure) and technical (i.e., task and technology) variables when examining organizational change, and recognizing that change to one variable can be predicated upon and/or bring about change to other variables. We tailor Leavitt's model to the B2B sales context and recognize the potential for exogenous shocks such as COVID-19 to impact each variable. In doing so, we conduct a review of practitioner-oriented articles, interviews with key informants working for B2B organizations, and a webinar with sales professionals. These efforts lead to a rich discussion and set of considerations that can help B2B sales forces better understand and respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and other crises.
•The COVID-19 pandemic is leading to substantive change within many B2B sales forces.•To understand and implement sales force change, managers should consider human, task, structure, and technology variables.•Change to one variable can be predicated upon and/or bring about change to other variables.•Change to these variables brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic is discussed.•The COVID-19 pandemic creates rippling change throughout time, creates opportunities, and has an unclear bottom.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
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