William B. Locander

Effects of Ethical Climate and Supervisory Trust on Salesperson’S Job Attitudes and Intentions to Quit

This study builds on previous research to investigate the integrated effects of ethical climate and supervisory trust on salesperson’s job attitudes and intentions to quit. Responses from 344 salespeople who work for a global pharmaceutical company were used to examine the relationships among ethical climate, trust in supervisor, job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and turnover intention. Results indicate that ethical climate is a significant predictor of trust in supervisor, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment. Also, results show that trust in supervisor is an antecedent of job satisfaction and turnover intention. Implications for academicians and practitioners are discussed.

Getting the Job Done: The Moderating Role of Initiative on the Relationship Between Intrinsic Motivation and Adaptive Selling

This study explores why salespeople with equal intrinsic motivation may achieve different levels of performance. Utilizing action control theory, the paper explores the moderating effect of the initiative dimension of action-state orientation on the salesperson’s intrinsic motivation and adaptive selling relationship. An empirical study is presented that included 223 Ecuadorian salespeople and objective performance measures. Findings indicate that salesperson’s initiative strengthens the relationship between intrinsic motivation and adaptive selling. In addition, results show that adaptive selling is a significant antecedent of objective salesperson’s performance. Finally, results reveal that initiative has a significant direct effect on objective performance.

New Directions in Sales Leadership Research

The changing environment facing sales organizations is characterized by the dimensions of complexity, collaboration, and accountability. Responding effectively to this dynamic environment requires a focus on specific leadership activities by senior sales leaders, field sales managers, and salespeople. A sales leadership framework is presented and used to identify and discuss specific leadership challenges and important research questions at different sales organization levels. Several new directions for sales leadership research are proposed to improve sales leadership thought and practice.

Activity-Based Costing: Accounting for a Market Orientation

Abstract Market- and customer-oriented activities represent a major resource investment for a firm. Activity-based costing (ABC) provides an enhanced means for marketers to assess the cost-versus-benefits of such activities. This article describes the usefulness of ABC to marketers at various levels of decision making: unit level, product level, channel level, and segment/customer level. Examples are provided to illustrate the potential for improved marketing decision making when ABC is utilized versus traditional accounting systems.

Workplace isolation, salesperson commitment, and job performance

Workplace isolation has been recognized as a critical issue facing salespeople in field offices. Studies have recognized that field salespeople are physically and psychologically isolated, but there is little empirical research on the effects of perceived isolation on important job outcomes. One important issue that has yet to be considered is the effect of workplace isolation on trust in supervisors and coworkers. The current study uses a sample of pharmaceutical salespeople to replicate previous results pertaining to workplace isolation effects and to test an integrated model of workplace isolation, salesperson satisfaction, trust, organizational commitment, and overall job performance. The results reveal that perceptions of workplace isolation negatively affect trust in supervisors and coworkers and that the relationship between trust (in supervisors and coworkers) and organizational commitment is mediated by satisfaction with supervisors and coworkers. Further, the findings confirm previous research that indicates that organizational commitment is positively related to salesperson job performance.

A Meta-Analytic Comparison of Managerial Ratings and Self-Evaluations

The purpose of this study was to examine the equivalence of self-reports and managerial ratings of salesperson job performance. A meta-analysis showed that the two measures exhibited low convergent validity (mean corrected correlation = 0.19), which indicated that they are not interchangeable. The predictive validity of self-reports and managerial ratings was compared. Managerial ratings had a corrected mean correlation of 0.44 with objective performance, whereas the corrected mean correlation between self-reports and objective measures was 0.34. Further meta-analytic investigations showed that the divergence between self-reports and managerial ratings was attributable to the performance effect. A discussion of the findings and avenues for further research are also provided.

Starting to Solve the Method Puzzle in Salesperson Self-Report Evaluations

The performance effect is used to explain the significant differences between salespersons’ self-evaluation and supervisors’ ratings of job performance. It is shown that bottom performers overestimate, whereas top salespeople underestimate their performance. Also, results indicate that bottom performers are significantly more inaccurate than top salespeople in their job performance estimation. Finally, results indicate that the relationship between inaccuracy of self-evaluation and job performance is curvilinear. Managerial implications are provided as well as directions for future research and limitations.

Developing a Leadership-Rich Culture: The Missing Link to Creating a Market-Focused Organization

Much has been written about the need for organizations to be more market-focused. Authors have addressed a myriad of constructs which promote the realization of the marketing concept. This article examines leadership and its development in the context of creating a market-focused organization. It links the areas of leadership development, leadership skills, and internal customer culture to the strategy development process. The emphasis in a leadership-rich culture is on the relationships between leaders, followers, and customers. This idea parallels existing thought in the relationship marketing literature touting the benefits of relationships in buyer-seller partnerships and network structures. In addition, this article offers a leadership deployment process to create a market-focused organization from top to bottom.

Experiencing and Measuring the Unteachable: Achieving AACSB Learning Assurance Requirements in Business Ethics

The AACSB requires continuous improvement of business school outcomes through a comprehensive Assurance of Learning program. Measuring ethical decision making poses an interesting challenge for schools making it central to their mission. The authors provide an innovative and effective approach to assessing ethical decision making and closing the loop for continual improvement. Using a web-based simulation, results from 2 cohorts suggest that improvements based on shortcomings of one cohort can impact decision-making behaviors of subsequent cohorts.

Evaluating and motivating salesman with the BARS method

Abstract A new method of personnel evaluation and control, Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scales (BARS), is designed to express sales jobs in terms of actual behaviors desired by managers. The scales help bridge the communications gap between the sales manager and his sales force. A five stage development procedure is presented whereby managers develop the dimensions, standards and behaviors of importance in evaluating personnel. BARS is a method for evaluating and motivating salesmen, which impacts on employee orientation, training and development, performance appraisal and review, and promotion decisions.