Dual Control of Salesforce in Partially Integrated Channels

A manufacturer using a partially integrated channel (PIC) dispatches its own salesforce to the retailers that it sells through. The manufacturer salesforce in a PIC is simultaneously subject to controls by the manufacturer and the retailer, which we call dual control. Despite its increasing prevalence, how dual control influences salesforce performance remains understudied. We develop a discriminating alignment framework through two steps to answer this question. The first step examines the influence of a controller on the efficacy of a control mechanism. The efficacy of a control mechanism varies with the party that exerts control. The second step expands this logic to dual control. The performance effect of dual control is equivocal: It may have a positive, negative, or no influence on salesforce performance depending on discriminating alignment. To improve salesforce performance, a manufacturer’s control and a retailer’s control must compensate for each other’s weaknesses. Empirical tests based on matched dyadic data of dual control of salesforce by apparel manufacturers and retailers support our predictions with considerable theoretical and managerial implications.     

Work Ethic,Locus of Control and Salesforce Task Performance

Abstract

This study explores the relationship between work ethic, locus of control and salesforce task performance. Using data from Uganda retail firms, this study finds that work ethic was a significant positive predictor of salesforce task performance. Further, there was a significant relationship between the different behavioural families of work-related activity work withdrawal behaviours, organizational retaliation behaviours and salesforce task performance. Results from regression analysis indicate that organizational retaliation behaviours and work withdrawal behaviours are important factors for explaining declining performance of salespeople in Uganda retail firms. Managers aiming to improve salesforce task performance should recruit individuals with a strong work ethic. Additionally, retail managers need to reduce work withdrawal and organizational retaliation behaviours so as to increase salesforce task performance.     

Investigating a three-way interaction of manufacturer control,retail control and dependence on salesforce performance. Does the role of frontline employees matters ?

Dependence and retailer control on manufacturer's salesforce imply several challenges in retail channels. This research addresses how they affect the relationship between manufacturer control and salesforce performance due to the high level of salesforce investment. We conduct a moderated-moderation analysis.We investigate the moderating roles of retailer control and dependence on the relationship between manufacturer control and salesforce performance. To take into account the importance of the store frontline employee, we next studied the influence of his perception of the salesforce on the sales control systems in retailing. First, our results show that salesforce performance is influenced directly by manufacturer process control and, retail control and dependence moderate this relationship in two-way and three-way interactions. The salesforce subject to process control by manufacturer improves his performance under strong retailer outcome control while the manufacturer is in a low relative dependence. Second, employee perception of the salespeople mediates the link between manufacturer process and retailer outcome controls. We test our model in two studies and theoretically integrate retailer control, dependence, and employee perception of the salesforce, in the sales control literature. In the end, we provide practical implications to further improve salesforce performance and employee perception of the salespeople and future research suggestions.     

Improving salesforce performance: A meta‐analytic investigation of the effectiveness and utility of personnel selection procedures and training interventions

Research on the effectiveness in improving salesforce performance through personnel selection procedures and training interventions was examined by meta‐analytic techniques applied with 157 predictor‐criterion effect sizes involving selection procedures and 12 effect sizes involving training interventions. Significant effect sizes, on average, were obtained for (a) composite‐domain assessment against both subjective (ratings) and objective (sales performance) criteria, (b) single‐domain assessment against both criterion types, and (c) training interventions with respect to both criterion types combined. Significant variability was found among individual effect sizes within all categories of aggregation. Of the six specific categories of single‐domain assessment considered, five yielded significant validity for each of the two criterion types. Follow‐up utility analyses revealed improvements in sales productivity of from 14.8% to 34.1% for selection procedures and of 23.1% for training. Associated dollar‐based utility estimates indicated particularly substantial dollar gains for organizations employing composite‐domain selection with rigorous selection ratios, and lesser, but still substantial, gains from single‐domain selection with rigorous selection ratios, and from training interventions. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Recruitment of Seemingly Overeducated Personnel: Insider–Outsider Effects on Fair Employee Selection Practices

Fair employment policies constrain employee selection: specifically, applicants’ professional experience can be a substitute for formal education. However, reflecting firm-specific job requirements, this substitution rule applies less strictly to applicants from outside the firm. Further, setting low educational job requirements decreases the risk of disparate impact charges. Using data from a large US public employer, we show that successful outsider candidates exhibit higher levels of formal education than insiders. Also, this gap in educational attainments between outsiders and insiders widens with lower advertised degree requirements. More generally, we find strong insider–outsider effects on hiring decisions.     

To Bette Understand Chinese Economy： CPI or PPI？

Puzzles in Chinese economy
Theoretically, CPI is the consumer price index and a measure of the level of inflation, reflecting the price change that consumers paid for goods and services. PPI is the producer price index, reflecting the price level of production. PPI is generally referred to the price indices of industrial products in China. Under normal circumstances, PPI is a leading indicator of CPI and has an important part in transmission of CPI; the current trend of the PPI will decide the general direction of CPI.     

Comparing financial and social costs for top‐down versus fixed‐band selection: A practical application with bus drivers

A number of solutions have been proposed to the diversity‐validity dilemma arising from the use of cognitive ability tests in employment selection. Cognitive ability tests predict training and job performance but also produce adverse impact against minority groups. Although banding reduces adverse impact, it has been criticized for also reducing the utility of the selection process. We assessed the social and financial impact of a fixed band approach with top‐down hiring across several hiring scenarios with a pool of bus driver applicants. Overall, the fixed band approach reduced adverse impact without substantially reducing the cost effectiveness of the hiring process. We discuss the implications of these two approaches in the context of the diversity‐validity dilemma. Copyright © 2016 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

When marketing and innovation interact: The case of born-global firms

Previous research on born-global firms (BGs) has emphasized their strong dependency on establishing a competitive positioning from the early days of their existence. While many researchers emphasized BGs’ innovativeness as a driver of their competitiveness, the capabilities underlying BGs’ innovativeness are still under-researched, specifically, marketing, and innovation-related capabilities. Based on a preliminary stage of in-depth interviews with senior managers, we identified three capabilities, market intelligence generation, marketing adaptability, and team cohesion, that underscore the interaction between innovation and marketing. We then performed a SEM analysis based on data collected from 127 BGs. Our findings indicate that marketing intelligence and team cohesion directly and positively impact BGs’ innovativeness. Marketing adaptability was found to be moderated by environmental conditions—economic development and technological development. When economic development is high, salesforce adaptability enhances BGs’ innovativeness, while product adaptability or communication adaptability decreases BGs’ innovativeness. When technological development is high, product adaptability enhances BGs’ innovativeness, while salesforce adaptability decreases BGs’ innovativeness.     

Application of Telemarketing in University Foodservices

Abstract

One of the downsides of university foodservice operations is that non-mandated students are less likely to participate in the meal plan program. This paper discusses the development and use of telemarketing as a means of increasing student participation in non-mandated meal plans. Three goals were established for the telemarketing program: Increase revenues; define student participation factors; and generate goodwill. An analysis of revenues and costs attributed to the program showed that telemarketing was an effective means of increasing sales and generating profits.     

High school students' knowledge of telemarketing fraud tactics in the U.S.A.

Telemarketing fraud is a rapidly increasing problem with widespread economic implications for consumers and society. Given the extent of the problem, government agencies and consumer organizations are involved in educational efforts aimed at reducing telemarketing fraud. But does education make a difference? The effects of an educational experience on the knowledge of high school students with regard to telemarketing fraud tactics were explored in a controlled setting, in this study. Analyses of pre- and post-test results for treatment and control groups revealed an increased knowledge of telemarketing fraud tactics from a lesson on legitimate and fraudulent telemarketing practices. Even after controlling for age, gender and rural/urban residence a significant difference in average test scores continued to exist.     

不完全汇率传递下的货币政策工具规则分析

本文尝试构建一个开放条件下的总供给-总需求模型,通过名义进口价格刚性在模型中引入汇率传递因素。模型对各种货币政策工具规则下社会福利损失函数进行比较,考察在不同的汇率传递程度下的各种货币政策工具规则。研究结果显示,社会福利水平随着汇率传递程度下降而提高;货币政策工具规则对消费者物价指数(CPI)上涨作出反应一定程度上优于对国内制造商品价格上涨作出反应,制定的货币政策工具规则应该以CPI为目标,以使社会福利损失最小。     

Proposition for an improved version of the consumer entitlement inventory

This note proposes an improved version of the Consumer Entitlement Inventory (CEI) developed by Boyd and Helms ( 2005 ). Two studies, conducted in two different cultural settings—France (n = 203) and the United States (n = 181)—raised some issues with the original version of the CEI. The underlying theoretical reasons for these results are discussed and an analysis of the CEI's content validity is performed. An improved version of the CEI, enriched with items that more closely capture the consumer entitlement construct, is proposed. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Formalization,Role Stress,Organizational Commitment,and Propensity-to-Leave

Abstract

This study of Korean industrial salespeople (N = 140) examines the relationships among organizational formalization, role stress, organizational commitment, and propensity to leave. Although most of the theoretical and empirical research in this area was done in the United States, this study examines whether the same concepts could be applied to a culturally different salesforce. The results of the structural modeling analysis suggest that overall the model of job variables and propensity to leave developed in the U.S. could be applied to a Korean salesforce. However, some culture-related differences do exist in the nature of specific relationships.     

Critical sales events and salesforce attitudes

A new family of explanatory variables — critical sales events (CSEs) — is described. The impact of CSEs and past performance on the satisfaction and loyalty of industrial sales reps is explored. Controlling for sales experience and gender, performance, and two types of recent events (loss of a major customer and success at making a big sale) were generally significantly linked to salesforce satisfaction (with pay, advancement, the work itself corporate performance, and the sales manager) and to loyalty (affective organizational commitment and intentions to stay). The results suggest the value of understanding the effect of critical sales events for both sales management theory and practice.     

Do bonus payments help enhance salesforce retention?

Our primary aim in this research is to examine if the existence of a bonus component in the sales compensation structure can enhance salesforce retention. We also study the impact of total sales compensation, relative to industry norms, on salesforce retention. We find that bonus payments do enhance salesforce retention among firms whose total compensation is above industry average but not among firms whose total compensation is below industry average. Further, we also examine the role of sales training, non-financial motivational tools, and length of the selling cycle on salesforce retention.The authors thank Mr. Chris Heide of the Dartnell Corporation for providing the data analyzed in this paper.     

Salesperson’s accent as a globalization issue

This study provides a test for the ability of Tajfel’s theory to explain how the relationship between salesperson accents and country affect consumer purchase intentions. The theory predicts that the most influential salesperson will be the person who speaks with the standard accent for a particular country. Consistent with Tajfel’s theory, this study concluded that for an American audience, the most influential salesperson would be an individual who represents the standard for the United States—an American‐English‐accented salesperson. However, the results of a Mexican study in four Mexican cities indicated that both a Mexican‐Spanish‐ and an American‐English‐Spanish‐accented salesperson had a similar impact on consumer purchase intentions. The implications for a multinational firm’s salesforce management strategy are discussed. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

HIRING STANDARDS AND LABOUR MARKET CLEARING

Consider a labour market with heterogeneous workers. When recruiting workers, firms set a hiring standard and make a wage offer. A more demanding hiring standard necessitates a better wage offer in order to attract enough qualified applicants. As a result, an efficiency wage effect is obtained. An equilibrium emerges which does not clear the labour market. The wage level depends on structural characteristics of labour supply, such as heterogeneity and mobility of the workers, but—in contrast to other efficiency‐wage models—not on the level of unemployment and is, thus, compatible with increasing unemployment as observed, e.g. in Germany.     

The Learning Transfer System Inventory (LTSI) translated into French: internal structure and predictive validity

The Learning Transfer System Inventory (LTSI, Holton et al., 2000 ) considers 16 factors likely to influence the transfer of training to the workplace. The purpose of this study is to translate the Learning Transfer System Inventory into French and to examine (1) the internal structure of the translated instrument; and (2) its predictive validity. The Learning Transfer System Inventory was administered to 328 participants from six companies during the week following the end of a training program. The transfer questionnaire was filled in by 106 of those participants 1–3 months later. The results showed that a principal component analysis reveals a factor structure very similar to the original structure: the 16 original factors are replicated. Second, seven factors display statistically significant correlations with transfer: learner readiness, motivation to transfer, transfer design, opportunity to use, transfer‐performance expectations, performance‐outcomes expectations and performance self‐efficacy. Comparisons with four similar previous studies allow us to draw directions for future research on the instrument.     

A meta‐analysis of the indirect impact of foreign direct investment in old and new EU member states: Understanding productivity spillovers

In this paper, we summarise, combine and explain recent findings from firm‐level empirical literature focusing on the indirect impact of foreign direct investment (FDI ) on economic performance, measured as productivity, in the Enlarged Europe. We have reviewed 52 quantitative studies, released between 2000 and 2015 and codified 1,133 estimates. We run a regression of regressions which measures the strength of the FDI –productivity relationship. Taking advantage of large number of high‐quality studies on FDI and its role in explaining the growth in firms’ productivity in Europe, we adopt recent meta‐regression analysis methods—funnel asymmetry and precision estimate tests and precision‐effect estimate with standard errors —to explain the heterogeneous impact of FDI . This paper assesses the country‐specific impact of FDI on firms’ performance, after taking publication selection bias, econometric modelling and the individual studies’ characteristics fully into account. Our results show that on average FDI has a positive indirect impact on productivity. The impact is especially significant in selected European countries, and we interpret this as a sign of better absorptive capacities in those countries.