Ronald Jelinek

A Longitudal Examination of Individual, Organizational, and Contextual Factors on Sales Technology Adoption and Job Performance

This longitudinal research examines the impact of individual differences, organizational factors, and contextual influences on intention to adopt and adoption of sales force automation (SFA) technology, and the corresponding effect of adoption on sales performance. Data were collected prior to the introduction of SFA and six months later from 156 salespeople at a major manufacturing firm. In addition to demonstrating that training, customer pressure, and peer use play important roles in SFA adoption, this research is the first to indicate that ones goal orientation also affects adoption behaviors. Beyond examining factors that drive technology adoption, the longitudinal methodology employed in this study provides unique evidence that the adoption of sales technology tools enhances job performance.

The Enemy within: Examining Salesperson Deviance and its Determinants

Until now, sales researchers have not done any empirical work in the area of deviant workplace behavior. This is surprising, given that recent survey data suggest deviant salesperson behavior is running rampant out in the field: 60 percent of sales managers have caught their reps cheating on expense reports, 47 percent suspect their reps have lied on sales calls, and 36 percent believe salesperson behavior has gotten worse in recent years. In an effort to understand workplace deviance in a professional selling context, this paper empirically examines the effect of various organizational/management factors on three types of deviance—organizational, interpersonal, and frontline. Using survey data collected from 160 business-to-business salespeople from multiple companies and multiple industries, we demonstrate that bureaucracy, future orientation, two forms of organizational justice, management role modeling, and intrafirm competition impact the various forms of salesperson deviance as well as citizenship and salesperson service behavior. The research concludes with a consideration of managerial implications and areas for future research.

Beyond commitment: entrenchment in the buyer–seller exchange

A specific empirical finding in the buyer–seller literature – initially discovered by Moorman, Zaltman, and Deshpande and subsequently replicated by Grayson and Ambler – still suffers from incomplete explanation. In business-to-business marketing, why do some long-term buyers appear to trust their providers a great deal but not use the service provided? This research endeavours to more fully explain this ‘dark side’ of relationship selling by integrating work on the economic theory of entrenchment with Dwyer, Schurr, and Ohs seminal buyer–seller framework. The result is a modified conceptual model of the buyer–seller exchange in which potential seller entrenchment follows Dwyer et al.s courting and commitment stages. Motivated by Dwyer et al.s urging to examine their model using a negotiation lens, this research then borrows two contrasting orientations from the negotiation literature and offers propositions regarding how buyers and sellers interact at each stage of the exchange. In addition to enriching understanding of how buyers and sellers negotiate in the courting and commitment stages, this research is the first to offer insight into how both sides might negotiate when faced with seller entrenchment.

INTEGRATING SFA TECHNOLOGY INTO THE SALES CURRICULUM: HELPING STUDENTS UNDERSTAND WHAT, WHY, AND WHEN

While sales force automation (SFA) and customer relationship management are important concepts in business-to-business selling, many instructors struggle to effectively integrate these topics into their curriculum. The research described in this article offers a role play and two coordinating sets of slides that aim to help students better understand what SFA is, why it is important, and when it should be used. A comparison of responses to pre- and post-test measures provides some support for improvement in students’ perceived knowledge. In addition, student performance on a separate panel of multiple-choice and short-answer questions begins to show promise regarding actual student learning.

Discouraging Deviance: The Role of Sales Manager Empowerment

While the management literature has examined the nature and scope of various deviant workplace behaviors over the course of the past decade, marketing scholars- and more specifically, sales researchers- have only recently begun to consider the subject. This is surprising given the boundary-spanning nature of professional selling and the fact that business-to-business salespeople are the face of their organizations; their behavior (or misbehavior) can seriously affect the ability of their organization to build relationships with customers. Because workplace deviance has been defined as voluntary employee behavior that violates significant organizational norms and, in so doing, threatens the organization and/or its members, deviant sales behaviors can be organizational, interpersonal and frontline in nature. Building from our previously published work in the area, this research examines the effect of several individual salesperson factors (person-organization fit, trait competitiveness and hours worked) on these three forms of deviant salesperson behavior. Using survey data collected from 160 business-to-business salespeople from multiple companies and multiple industries, we empirically test these main effects and examine whether two forms of manager empowerment moderate several of the direct linkages. Findings show that the extent to which managers both express confidence in the ability of the salesperson to perform and the level to which they explain the meaningfulness of the salesperson’s work to the salesperson offset several specific direct effects. Our research concludes with an analysis of our findings, a discussion of their managerial implications and suggestions for future scholarly inquiry.