Perceptions of sales force automation: Differences between sales force and management

Differences between management and salespeople in their perceptions of a new technology can affect the acceptance and implementation of that technology. For sales force automation (SFA) systems, the differences in the perceptions held by management and salespeople toward the SFA can affect the successful adoption and implementation of the system by the organization. This paper reports the results of an investigation that focused on the differences in perceptions held by the United States Army's recruiting force and its higher level management toward the Army's newly adopted SFA system, the Army Recruiting Information Support System (ARISS). The results of the study indicate that significant differences exist between the perceptions held by the recruiting force and higher level management toward ARISS, the SFA system. The results offer important insights into managing SFA system deployment and gauging user expectations.     

Salesperson's innovation resistance and job satisfaction in intra-organizational diffusion of sales force automation technologies: The case of South Korea

One of the rapidly growing areas in industrial marketing is the application of sales force automation (SFA) technologies to help improve the efficiency of the sales force task. What is often overlooked is that there are some potential negative effects related to SFA technologies that arise when these innovations are forcefully adopted on the individual salesperson. This study empirically examines the psychological and social antecedents of salespeople's resistance toward SFA technologies in South Korea. Unlike previous studies that only looked at adoption, this studies adds to the literature on SFA technologies by looking at resistance toward innovation in the post-adoption or intra-organizational diffusion stage. This study looks at the direct and indirect relationships between innovation resistance and some key constructs such as job satisfaction, job performance, self-efficacy, group-efficacy, innovativeness, and peer usage. This study represents also one of the very few empirical studies conducted on sales force behavior in South Korea and as such may offer some insights on sales force management in collectivist cultures.     

Sales force reactions to corporate social responsibility: Attributions, outcomes, and the mediating role of organizational trust

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is gaining momentum among researchers and practitioners. In spite of this extensive interest, systematic research regarding the effects of CSR on other stakeholder groups, besides consumers, remains sparse. Based on a field study in a global Fortune 500 consumer packaged goods company, we examine sales force attitudinal and behavioral outcomes of company's partnership with a United Nations (UN) philanthropic organization. Specifically, we seek to examine whether sales force perceptions of CSR motives influence their evaluation of CSR actions. Findings indicate that egoistic-driven motives negatively influence salesperson trust in the company, whereas stakeholder- and values-driven motives positively influence salesperson trust; however, strategic-driven attributions do not have an influence on salesperson trust. The results further reveal the mediating role of trust in the relationship between sales force attributions and outcomes including loyalty intentions and positive word-of-mouth.     

The performance effect of organizational learning and market orientation

In recent decades an important set of articles on management has focused upon the marketing concept and the related construct of market orientation. The next challenge is to understand how this organizational orientation can be achieved and maintained. Using data from 451 companies and through structural equation models, this study considers that organizational learning represents the capacity of a company to move from a given situation to another desired situation of market orientation and performance. The results suggest that the influence of market orientation on performance is only significant when it is mediated by organizational learning. The results also indicate that organizational learning has a positive effect on performance.     

Sales force technology usage—reasons, barriers, and support: An exploratory investigation

Increasingly, salespeople are being asked to adopt and use a variety of technologies to increase their selling productivity and efficiency, including sales force automation and customer relationship management technologies. However, little research has investigated what happens once sales force automation (SFA) technology is adopted. This paper explores the reasons why salespeople use SFA technologies, the perceived barriers to SFA usage and how management can increase the usage of SFA technology. First, a qualitative study was performed to gain insight about salespeople's automation technology usage and the reasons why some salespeople fully use or do not utilize technology. After the initial study, 130 salespeople were surveyed. More productivity/efficiency was the main reason why salespeople use technology, the lack of management and technical support proved to be the main barrier to usage, and training proved most effective in increasing usage of SFA technology. Sales managers are provided with implications of the findings.     

Salesperson competitive intelligence and performance: The role of product knowledge and sales force automation usage

This research models and tests the relationship between a salesperson's product knowledge, competitive intelligence behaviors (SCIB), and performance. Moreover, the research examines how a salesperson's use of a sales force automation (SFA) system influences the knowledge–SCIB–performance relationship. Our model and empirical evidence suggest that a salesperson's product knowledge influences performance indirectly through SCIB, and that this indirect influence is moderated by salesperson SFA use. Results show that the indirect positive influence of salesperson product knowledge on salesperson performance through SCIB is attenuated as SFA use increases, and enhanced when SFA use decreases. Theoretical and managerial implications are presented, followed by a discussion of limitations and future research.     

The ABC's of ACB: Unveiling a clear and present danger in the sales force

While anti-citizenship behavior (ACB) is under-researched across all academic domains, sales and marketing researchers have not done any work in the area. This oversight is significant given recent survey data that suggests sales representatives are misbehaving at an alarming rate; 60% of sales managers have caught their reps cheating on expense reports (an example of ACB) and 36% believe such behavior has gotten worse over the past several years. Directed towards the goal of understanding salesperson ACB, this research provides the first conceptual model of ACB in the sales force. The model contends that characteristics of the organization (justice and intra-firm competition) and contextual factors (fit and job stress) directly affect the performance of ACB while individual level factors (locus of control, self-monitoring and introversion) moderate the performance of these behaviors. In addition, this research explains the intra- and inter-organizational consequences of salesperson ACB and suggests several ways by which managers can address this issue.     

Organizational variables, sales force perceptions of readiness for change, learning, and performance among boundary-spanning teams: A conceptual framework and propositions for research

Sales organizations are continuously developing new ideas and approaches to be more competitive. One of the approaches taken by most successful organizations is the move from individuals to boundary-spanning, cross-functional teams. Sales teams are being employed to counter efforts by buying organizations to form buying centers. It is proffered in this paper that organizations that are ready for change are conducive to enhancement of sales team learning. Organization readiness for change is a condition impacted by a variety of organizational antecedent variables such as culture and climate. This paper proposes that sales team learning is impacted by team members' perceptions of the organization's readiness for change. In addition, we also posit the moderating influence of two environmental variables: turbulence and competitive intensity on the relationship between readiness for change and sales team learning. Sales team learning is then proposed to be related to a variety of sales outcomes. In this paper, we present a conceptual framework for understanding the contexts in which team learning occurs and the impact of team learning on team effectiveness. Throughout the paper, we present research propositions that provide opportunities for future examinations of team learning.     

Enhancing organizational sensemaking: An examination of the interactive effects of sales capabilities and marketing dashboards

Current marketing research highlights the direct effects of marketing resources on firm performance. Few studies, however, examine how such resources interact with one another and contribute to the strategic actions, such as sensemaking. In this study, we investigate how sales capabilities and performance monitoring via marketing dashboards influence a firm's sensemaking. The results from our study suggest that sales capability and the use of marketing dashboards not only contribute directly, but also have an interactive effect, highlighting the importance of integrating both sales and marketing operations. Further, we find evidence that sensemaking influences cost control and enhances customer relationship performance, suggesting that sensemaking has the potential to simultaneously impact both cost efficiency and growth.     

Impact of sales force automation on technology-related stress, effort, and technology usage among salespeople

This study unveils factors affecting sales force automation (SFA) technology usage by salespeople. It differs from previous research by: (1) proposing a model that examines the consequences of task complexity on role perceptions and technology usage, and (2) understanding the negative repercussions of SFA technology on the user. The proposed model was tested using data from 150 salespeople employed by a national organization. The results suggest that integration of SFA technology induces adverse role perceptions in salespeople. However, controlling for extraneous variables, effort is significantly related to salespeople's usage of technology. Key managerial implications for theory and practice are discussed.     

Sales force automation systems: An analysis of factors underpinning the sophistication of deployed systems in the UK financial services industry

This study investigates organizational and strategic context variables that are linked to the sophistication of sales force automation systems in UK financial services firms. We find that increasing sophistication in SFA deployment, evaluated as a count of the number of types of results of sales campaigns that are measured, is driven directly by the information orientation of the host firm. We also find that the “sophistication” of deployed systems is, in fact, limited — the information held on the systems cannot underpin the strategic goals of the sales/marketing managers. We theorise that adoption of SFA systems is driven by managerial imperatives and that these have resulted in sales force resistance — shown by the paucity of information held on adopted SFA systems.     

Market orientation and organizational performance: A comparison of industrial versus consumer companies in mainland China using market orientation scale (MARKOR)

Although not conclusive, past empirical marketing strategy studies conducted in the United States and western European countries suggested a strong positive relationship between market orientation and a company's performance. The objective of this study is to investigate the reliability and validity of the market orientation construct in a very different socioeconomic, cultural, and business environment of Asia. Specifically, using the Kohli and Jaworski [J. Mark. 54 (1990) 1] MARKOR scale, this study investigates the market orientations of Chinese business managers who operate in a select number of industrial and consumer goods industries in urban China. Previous research has predicted a positive relationship between market orientation and performance, on the assumption that market orientation provides a firm with a better understanding of its environment and customers, which ultimately leads to enhanced customer satisfaction. Study results indicated that there were statistically significant differences between market-oriented and non-market-oriented Chinese managers in terms of their responses to market orientation scale statements. As well, a higher level of market orientation of Chinese companies operating in the Beijing area was discovered. This is rather encouraging because there is a large body of marketing literature that supports the argument that higher levels of market orientation would lead to better organizational performance. The managerial and public policy implications of the study are also discussed.     

Person–organization fit, OCB and performance appraisal: Evidence from matched supervisor–salesperson data set in a Spanish context

Despite the extensive work carried out by sales researchers regarding the influence of organizational citizenship behaviors (OCB) on significant individual and organizational outcomes, it is still of interest to address new research questions and support previous results with samples from different organizational settings and other countries. Researchers have also identified the need to thoroughly investigate relationships between different antecedents of extra-role behaviors.In this study, we intend to test a two-part model. The first part of the model assumes that a salesperson's OCB is determined by Person–Organization fit and that this relationship is mediated by the salesperson's job satisfaction and organizational commitment. The second part examines the impact that such behavior may have on the supervisor's rating of the salesperson's performance.Data collected from 122 salesperson–supervisor dyads from 35 firms confirmed that Person–Organization fit has a positive effect on OCB due to the effect it has on the salesperson's job satisfaction. The results also verified the positive effect of OCB on the supervisor's evaluation of the sales agent's performance, both directly and indirectly, through the impact OCB had on the supervisor's fondness of the salesperson. Certain implications of this study, as well as directions for future research, are also addressed.     

Market orientation and new-to-the-world products: Exploring the moderating effects of innovativeness, competitive strength, and environmental forces

Recently, there has been a keen research interest in exploring the relationship between market orientation and new product development. The empirical results, however, are mixed, and this means that we do not fully understand these linkages. Furthermore, research concerning the antecedents of new-to-the-world products has focused on the study of a single product. However, it is of obvious interest for organizations to understand what drives a firm's overall performance in the exercise of developing very innovative products. In this empirical study, the authors take a component-wise approach to investigate the effects of market orientation in new-to-the-world product innovation, and examine how other variables interplay with market orientation to affect product development. Firstly, the findings show that both customer and competitor orientations, together with interfunctional coordination, are important drivers of a firm's new-to-the-world product innovation. Secondly, the results indicate that the components of market orientation are differentially moderated by a firm's innovativeness, competitive strength, and also by environmental forces.