Vincent Onyemah

Role Ambiguity, Role Conflict, and Performance: Empirical Evidence of an Inverted‑U Relationship

The traditional view of the relationship between role stressors (role ambiguity and role confict) and performance is contrasted with a perspective that has received relatively little attention. Some sales force scholars have suggested that the relationship between role stressors and job outcomes might mirror the inverted-U relationship between actual felt stress and performance (e.g., Yerkes–Dodson’s law, activation theory). The empirical evidence they reported is inconclusive: the hypothesis with respect to performance is not supported. Nevertheless, many sales force management textbooks maintain that an inverted-U relationship exists. Based on a survey of 1,290 salespeople, the present research demonstrates that an inverted-U relationship, similar to that posited by Yerkes–Dodson’s law, is indeed plausible. Furthermore, this relationship appears to be moderated by organizational tenure and proactive tendencies.

Sales Force Turnover and Retention: A Research Agenda

Identifying, acquiring, and retaining top sales talent remains a priority in many sales organizations because salesperson turnover remains such an intractable management problem. This paper seeks to encourage and enrich continued research on sales turnover by introducing recent methodological and theoretical advances in psychological, economic, and organizational theory. First, we suggest an examination of sales turnover guided by social network theory. Second, we propose the simultaneous consideration of the interplay between variables within a comprehensive, integrated multilevel framework. Third, in keeping with the shift in research designs initiated in management, our model includes the concept of “shocks”—jarring events that could drive turnover decisions. Finally, we propose to examine sales turnover within an international context. The conceptual framework we present outlines how sales organizations might effectively address sales force turnover and, as a consequence, improve productivity. We conclude by suggesting some specific research questions intended to provide direction for researchers interested in identifying and investigating underresearched linkages.

Inconsistencies among the Constitutive Elements of a Sales Force Control System: Test of a Configuration Theory–Based Performance Prediction

This paper adopts a configuration theory perspective to investigate how inconsistencies among the perceived elements of a sales force control system influence salesperson performance. Analysis based on a sample of 1,290 salespeople suggests that these inconsistencies hurt salesperson performance. Furthermore, this relationship is moderated by professional maturity, a combined index of age, selling experience, and organizational tenure. Implications for management and future research are offered.

A Social Learning Perspective on Sales Technology Usage: Preliminary Evidence from an Emerging Economy

Drawing on social learning theory, we examine how the perceived technological savvy of a salesperson’s manager, coworkers, and competitors affects sales technology usage behavior. Data were drawn from a major retail bank in Nigeria, Africa. Analyses of data from relationship managers confirm predictions that while perceived coworker savvy directly influences technology usage, the influence of managers’ and competitors’ perceived savvy is mediated. Perceived manager savvy influences usage by increasing feelings of monitoring and the level of perceived coworker savvy. Similarly, perceived competitor savvy influences usage by increasing perceived manager and coworker savvy. We also confirm that usage of sales technology has a positive influence on salesperson performance.

Ethnic Differences in Nigerian Consumer Attitudes Toward Foreign and Domestic Products

Abstract This paper uses conjoint analysis to investigate ethnic differences in the importance of a products country-of-manufacture relative to other attributes in the Nigerian consumer choice. It was found that the country-of-manufacture was more important to Yoruba than Hausa respondents, price was more important to Ibo than Yoruba respondents, and reliability was more important to Hausa than Ibo respondents. Additional analyses indicated that prestige was important to Yoruba respondents in the preference for foreign cars while it was important to Ibo and Hausa respondents in the choice of foreign TV sets. Implications for foreign marketers, domestic governments and domestic manufacturers are discussed.

Salesperson resistance to change: an empirical investigation of antecedents and outcomes

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate why salespeople resist change and the impact of resistance to change on customer responsiveness and performance outcomes.Design/methodology/approach – Survey responses derived from 233 salespeople from three large financial institutions in Mexico are used to test relationships involving salespersons’ resistance to change.Findings – Salespeople are more likely to resist change if they believe that change increases their workload. They are less likely to resist change when they have higher levels of job autonomy and self‐efficacy. Resistance to change has a negative impact on customer responsiveness and salespersons performance.Research limitations/implications – This study makes an important contribution to the literature by identifying factors that explain salespersons resistance to change. Study findings rely on salesperson survey responses collected in one country and industry. Future research is needed to assess the generalizability of findings an...

Open air markets: uniquenesses about African marketing channels

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to offer a state of the art description of open air markets (OAM), a little-known phenomenon that is indispensable in Africa’s consumer packaged goods industry. Design/methodology/approach – A qualitative methodology comprising in-depth semi-structured interviews and direct observation was employed. Findings – Analysis of data from Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy and most populous country, reveals that channel members have roles that are different from that of their Western counterparts. For example, distributors often do not distribute and principals are expected to actively sell on behalf of their distributors to empty the latter’s warehouse. Also, while many end-users in developing countries expect credit sales and opportunity to bargain, extant literature does not include these demands in the formal list of service output demands. Another major finding is the surprising order underlying OAM. It is the bedrock of commercial activities: for most consumer packaged...

JBBM at 21: Variety of Theories, Methods, and Countries While Giving Further Voice to Emerging Markets Within Africa

ABSTRACT Purpose: The articles published in the Journal of Business-to-Business Marketing (JBBM) are reviewed for three themes: the varieties of theories used and tested, the methodologies of choice, and most pertinent to this article, the countries from which the data were obtained in the empirical studies. Methodology/approach: Literature review of the JBBM issues, all inclusive. Findings: The JBBM has had papers involving surveys 74%; case studies 11%; interviews 6%, experiments 4%, and networks 3%. There is a tremendous breadth of country representation, more than most other marketing journals. Research implications: The authors encourage more frequent investigations into emerging markets, using African countries as exemplars. Practical implications: To begin to understand marketing phenomena in the variety of African countries, the authors encourage researchers to establish partnerships, with African scholars and global multinationals whose marketing managers may have interest in understanding these markets and who may have data to share. Contribution of the paper: Although a seemingly infinite number of marketing questions still exist even in well-developed markets, and scholars have begun to recognize opportunities in developing markets, future research will prove useful into emerging and nascent markets.

Impact of religiosity and culture on salesperson job satisfaction and performance

This research is a multinational study of the effect of religiosity on salespeople’s attitudes about their jobs, even after controlling for cross-cultural differences and the particular management practices in their sales organizations. We theorize moderator effects between religiosity and the salespeople’s traits and attitudes, as well as interactive effects between organizational factors and the cultures in which the firms are embedded. We test the effects of these joint culture and religiosity influences on multiple facets of job satisfaction and find support for our hypotheses. We also demonstrate financial consequences for both individual salespeople and their sales organizations. We test these effects in a survey of salespeople working in 38 countries operating in diverse industries.

A Configuration-Theory Assessment of How Incongruity in Sales Force Control Systems Drives Salesperson Performance

This study draws on configuration theory conceptualizations and methodologies to propose a new construct —incongruity in a sales force management control system—and develop and test an index of it. Analysis of archival and survey data from 2532 salespeople in 38 companies on 5 continents reveals that the lack of co-alignment (incongruity) of the constitutive elements of sales force control systems is associated with inferior performance on objective, customer-generated performance measures. Using the Varying Parameter Methodology, results indicate that a salespersons tenure in the organization moderates this relationship. Two mechanisms (misdirection of effort and de-motivation) are shown to underlie, in complementary fashion, the negative impact of incongruity on customer-generated individual performance. Multiple implications for management and for future research are presented.