Brian N. Rutherford

Increasing Job Performance and Decreasing Salesperson Propensity to Leave: An Examination of an Asian Sales Force

Given the rapid expansion of the geographic territory that today’s firms compete in, firms without a strong understanding of the markets/countries where they conduct business will experience higher levels of employee turnover and lower levels of employee performance. When high levels of employee turnover and low levels of employee performance exist, firm profitability will be reduced and the potential for failure within the given markets will increase. Considering the level of firm interest in conducting business in Asian markets, we examine methods to reduce employee propensity to leave and increase job performance using a sample of 213 Korean salespeople. Results from the study indicate that (1) only organizational commitment was found to directly increase performance and decrease propensity to leave, (2) perceived organizational support was found to increase performance, and (3) emotional exhaustion was found to directly increase employee propensity to leave. Given the findings of this study, firms are provided with insights into managing turnover and increasing performance, which can aid firms in being potentially more successful within the Asian marketplace.

How organizational and employee‐customer identification, and customer orientation affect job engagement

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of organizational and employee‐customer identification on job engagement. The paper also aims to explore the role of customer orientation in the model as a consequence of identification, in addition to an antecedent of engagement.Design/methodology/approach – This study utilizes an online survey administered to Cooperative Extension employees in frontline service roles. Amos 18.0 was employed to examine the proposed structural model.Findings – This study examines and finds that employee‐customer identification is an important contributing factor for customer orientation and job engagement among frontline employees in service industries. The findings also reveal that customer orientation acts as an intervening effect necessary in linking organizational identification and employee‐customer identification to job engagement.Research limitations/implications – The studys results advance understanding and consequently reveal the importance of employe...

Single Source Supply Versus Multiple Source Supply: A Study into the Relationship Between Satisfaction and Propensity to Stay Within a Service Setting

The relationship between buyer satisfaction and the propensity of a buyer to stay in a relationship may be more complex than earlier research suggests. Building on prior research, two facets of satisfaction are examined. Our findings suggest that satisfaction with the firm and satisfaction with the salesperson each play an essential role in a firm’s decision to stay in a business-to-business relationship. In addition, our results indicate that both the number of suppliers and a buyer’s perception of available alternatives moderate the relationship between satisfaction with the salesperson and a buyer’s propensity to stay in the relationship.

Increasing Job Performance and Reducing Turnover: An Examination of Female Chinese Salespeople

The study examined a sales management model in a collectivist culture—China. Specifically, this research examined the relationships among emotional exhaustion, perceived organizational support, job satisfaction, organizational commitment, job performance, and turnover intentions among Chinese female salespeople. Using a sample of 292 retail salespeople, the proposed model was tested with structural equation modeling. Of the 12 linkages tested, 8 were significant. Differences emerged with regard to emotional exhaustion, perceived organizational support, organizational commitment, and turnover intentions, thus providing managerial implications for global marketers to reduce turnover and increase job performance among female Chinese salespeople.

Developing our understanding of patronizing frontline employees

Purpose – In an overwhelming portion of the US service economy, the multifaceted responsibilities that frontline employees play as patrons have been overlooked within the academic literature. The notion of employees as customers is a common business practice that garners sizeable benefits to both the firm and its employees; unfortunately, research on this topic is still in its infancy. The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of internal marketing and job satisfaction on employee patronage, and the role of patronage on employee engagement in a Cooperative Extension Service System.Design/methodology/approach – An online survey administered to Cooperative Extension employees in frontline service roles was used to test the proposed structural model. Structural equation modeling carried out using the Amos 18.0 software program was employed to analyze the proposed hypotheses.Findings – It was found that internal marketing is composed of five dimensions, as tested using a second‐order hierarchical str...

Indsales Model: A Facet-Level Job Satisfaction Model among Salespeople

While a debate exists with regard to the measurement of job satisfaction as a global or multifaceted construct, research has yet to understand how the facets of job satisfaction behave in a developmental process. Using the INDSALES satisfaction scale, this research theoretically develops and empirically tests a multifaceted job satisfaction model using a sample of 226 business-to-business sales representatives. The results demonstrate the linkages among different elements of satisfaction and illustrate the interdependencies inherent to job satisfaction facets. Drawing from expectancy theory and the established relationships among satisfaction facets, sales organizations should focus their efforts on increasing salesperson satisfaction with policy and support and properly aligning salesperson expectations.

Measuring Salesperson Burnout: A Reduced Maslach Burnout Inventory for Sales Researchers

Given the negative effect that burnout has on the sales force, such as increased turnover intentions and decreased performance, measurement improvements on this multidimensional construct can have implications regarding how to manage the drivers and outcomes of burnout. However, little is known about the impact of the multiple burnout dimensions in sales contexts because researchers typically opt to collect data using the emotional exhaustion subscale instead of the complete Maslach burnout inventory, which also includes personal accomplishment and depersonalization facets. Using business-to-business and retail salespeople, this study reduces the 22-item burnout scale to 10 items in order to facilitate salesperson burnout research.

Buyer-Seller Relationships Within a Multisource Context: Understanding Customer Defection and Available Alternatives

The purpose of this study is to develop and test a customer defection model describing an organizational buyer’s propensity to stop purchasing from a supplier within a multisource buyer–seller relationship. A total of 168 employees who worked in purchasing using multiple suppliers in procurement were used for this study. Findings provide strategies for the salesperson to utilize in order to reduce the customer’s perception of available alternatives (e.g., increase trust in the salesperson) and defection (e.g., increase customer satisfaction and commitment). Findings also show that the relationship between satisfaction and commitment is fully mediated by trust within a multisource relationship.

Factors That Influence the Job Market Decision The Role of Faculty as a Knowledge Broker

This study examines the perceptions of students, recruiters, and faculty regarding the importance of various workplace attributes to students who are entering the job market. Furthermore, this study discusses the important role that faculty can play as a knowledge broker with both students and recruiters. Looking at students’ Top 10 attributes, we found there is a significant difference between students and faculty perceptions for (1) job satisfaction, (2) company culture, (3) company’s employee treatment, (4) training program, (5) company growth potential, and (6) company financial stability. In each case, the faculty underestimated the importance of these attributes to the students. Regarding (1) fit with goals and (2) current organization employees are satisfied/loyalty, both faculty and recruiters significantly underestimated the attributes’ importance to the students. Results indicate recruiters are more accurate with respect to what students look for in a job than are faculty. This study also begins some initial exploratory work on developing factors for the items used within this study. Specifically, the three samples were combined and exploratory factor analysis was conducted, resulting in a five-factor solution. Furthermore, this study provides faculty with a better understanding of what student job applicants are looking for in a job and also gives suggestions for helping the faculty become better able to serve as knowledge brokers between recruiters and students.

Understanding Effects of Salesperson Locus of Control

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of external locus of control on different job characteristic variables – i.e. role conflict, role ambiguity and emotional exhaustion, in addition to the outcome variable, job satisfaction – in a business-to-business sales setting. Design/methodology/approach – Data from B2B salespeople were used to test the proposed model using structural equation modeling. Findings – The results indicate that a more external locus of control will be: positively related to role stress factors; indirectly and positively related to emotional exhaustion; and negatively related to job satisfaction. Originality/value – This study provides a managerially actionable foundation for influencing locus of control to increase a salespersons satisfaction with his/her position.