Sales managers and sales force feedback: Information left in the pipeline

In a study of sales force feedback at management levels, salesmen from two large corporations “planted” competitive new-product information with their sales managers. The object was to monitor the responses of the managers to reports from the field. Only about half of the 35 managers sampled passed the information on to higher levels. The importance of sales force feedback seems to have been lost on these managers, even though the use of such information had been stressed in their management training programs. The study indicates a need to provide motivation to use sales force feedback as a link in management information systems.     

Expert systems: The integrative sales management tool of the future

Personal computer technology has provided a major opportunity to develop revolutionary approaches to the solution of business problems. While applications of artificial intelligence and expert systems are rapidly emerging, few have been developed in the sales management area. Specifically, this paper proposes the creation of an expert system to enhance sales management activities and their coordination with the entire marketing function within an organization.     

Do citizenship behaviors matter more for managers than for salespeople?

This research was designed to investigate the effects of organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) and objective sales productivity on sales managers’ evaluations of their sales personnel’s performance and to examine whether the impact of OCBs on performance evaluations is greater at higher levels of the sales organization hierarchy. Two samples were obtained from the same organization: a sample of 987 multiline insurance agents and a sample of 161 agency managers. Objective measures of sales productivity were obtained for both samples along with evaluations of three dimensions of OCBs and an assessment of overall performance. The results indicate that managers’ evaluations are determined at least as much by OCBs as they are by objective measures of performance. After partialing out common method variance, the results also indicate that OCBs account for a greater proportion of a sales manager’s evaluation than of a sales representative’s evaluation. The implications of these findings are discussed. Scott B. MacKenzie (Ph.D., UCLA, 1983) is a professor of marketing and the Edgar G. Williams Faculty Fellow at the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University. His research on advertising effectiveness, organizational citizenship behavior, and leadership issues can be found in theJournal of marketing Research, Journal of Marketing, Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Applied Psychology, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Personnel Psychology, Journal of Management, andThe Leadership Quarterly. Currently, he serves on the editorial boards of theJournal of Marketing Research, Journal of Marketing, Journal of Consumer Research, andJournal of Consumer Psychology. Philip M. Podsakoff (D.B.A., Indiana University, 1980) is the John F. Mee Professor of Organizational Behavior and Human Resources at the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University. He is the author or coauthor of more than 60 articles and/or scholarly book chapters that have appeared in such journals as theJournal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research, Academy of Management Journal, Psychological Bulletin, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Journal of Applied Psychology, The Leadership Quarterly, Organizational Dynamics, Research in Organizational Behavior, Journal of International Business Studies, andJournal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology. He serves on the Board of Editors of theJournal of Applied Psychology, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, andThe Leadership Quarterly. Julie Beth Paine is a doctoral student in management at the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University. Her research interests include competence in performance, performance evaluation processes, and reward systems.     

The interactive effects of sales control systems on salesperson performance: a job demands–resources perspective

Sales control systems represent an important managerial tool in directing the sales force for desired organizational objectives. However, the majority of prior sales control research has focused only on the main effects of sales control systems without explicitly considering their interactive effects and associated intervening mechanisms. Drawing on job demands–resources theory, the authors theorize differential interactive effects of outcome control, activity control, and capability control on job engagement (i.e., adaptive selling behavior and selling effort) and job stress (i.e., role ambiguity and role conflict), which subsequently affect salesperson performance. Empirical results using a sample of industrial salespeople find that (1) outcome control and capability control have positive interactive effects on adaptive selling behavior and selling effort while suppressing role conflict, (2) activity control and capability control have a negative interactive effect on role ambiguity, and (3) outcome control and activity control have a positive interactive effect on selling effort but negative interactive effects on adaptive selling behavior and role clarity. These results indicate that sales control researchers can benefit from considering the complex interactive effects of various control styles as well as the intervening processes, which provide a more refined understanding of this important managerial tool.     

改进我国企业人员推销管理

目前 ,我国不少企业在对推销人员管理上较为粗放 ,存在选拔不严 ,培训不力 ,监管落后 ,激励不当 ,支持不够的问题 ,严重影响企业销售工作。应加强对推销人员的选拔、培训、监管、激励和支持 ,使推销人员管理科学化。     

电子商务模式下国际货物买卖合同的订立及规范

通过进行新的电子商务立法，或者对CISG等规范传统国际货物买卖的法律规范进行扩张性解释，可以在一定程度上回应电子商务的冲击；但是，在国际货物买卖合同的订立中仍有一些未决的问题甚至法律空白，诸如身份认证、电子签名等。     

Salesmen's reward systems: A comparative approach

This study compared the reward systems of two national sales organizations to determine the effects that different reward policies and differences of the salesmen's behavioral characteristics had on their performance and satisfaction. The study found that the sales firm should provide the means for individual need gratification via a reward system based on performance. This “system” can be used by the sales manager in employee selection, morale building, and improving and maintaining performance.     

外部集聚经济、外资溢出效应与制造业企业效率

企业生产效率不仅决定于企业特性,企业的外部环境也至关重要。本文研究外部集聚经济和外资溢出效应对企业生产效率的影响。本文采用各省市区销售收入前五十名的大型工业企业中的制造业企业数据,研究发现,在控制了包括企业人均资产、企业规模以及企业性质和产业特定因素之后,企业所属产业在空间上越集中、所在城市人口密度越高以及外资企业产值比重越高,企业的生产效率也越高,说明地方化经济、城市化经济以及外资企业的溢出效应可能提升企业的生产效率。外部经济对企业效率的影响也可以一定程度上解释企业的空间迁移行为,因为企业倾向于迁移到外部环境有利的地方。     

我国网络销售代理的发展现状、存在的问题及对策分析

目前,网络销售代理正处于起步发展阶段,传统经销商和网络销售代理商的竞争正激烈上演,网络销售代理与传统销售代理的整合营销正逐步运用,在这个发展阶段中,促进我国网络销售代理发展的法律法规也正逐步完善。与此同时,网络销售代理在发展的过程中存在选择产品供应商不当,产品网络销售代理策略不合理,物流配送服务未能快速及时有效地进行,缺乏专业的网络销售代理人才和客户关系管理不当等问题。为此,应该选择合适的产品供应商,制定合理的产品网络销售代理策略,提高物流配送服务的效率,加强网络销售代理人才的培养和建立良好的客户关系管理系统,以便网络销售代理商能够更加顺利地拓展业务。     

Emerging issues in sales forecasting and decision support systems

There are two distinct groups of emerging issues in the area of sales forecasting and decision support systems: methodological issues and implementational issues. This paper discusses each of them. The discussion of implementational issues includes some results of a survey of forecasting practice. The paper serves as a preface to the special section on sales forecasting and decision support systems and introduces the papers included in the special section.     

A note on estimating expenditure elasticities in metropolitan areas

Several attempts have been made to explain the causes of variations in retail sales between geographic areas. The factors manipulated in such studies have included the explanatory variables, the size of the geographic unit under analysis, and the type of measure employed. The present study presents a method that reduces the likelihood of biased elasticity estimates and therefore facilitates the explanation of the causes of retial sales variation. The authors wish to acknowledge the suggestions and helpful comments provided by Dr. Herbert L. Lyon throughout the preparation of this project.     

When and how does sales team conflict affect sales team performance?

Drawing on information processing theory, this study integrates the conflict and learning literatures to examine an under-examined area in sales research: When do sales team task and relationship conflicts influence sales team performance, and what is the underlying process by which this occurs? Although there is burgeoning interest in sales research at the team level, very few empirical studies have shed light on sales team dynamics such as conflict and how they impact sales team performance. This study attempts to address this gap by developing a mediated moderation model and finds that (a) task and relationship conflicts have negative impacts on sales team performance, (b) team information exchange and information interpretation/implementation mediate the negative relationship between task and relationship conflicts and sales team performance, and (c) task and relationship conflicts stifle sales team performance when the team makes little use of a collaborative conflict handling style because this interactive combination (task/relationship conflict–low collaborative conflict handling style) hinders team information exchange and interpretation/implementation. Implications for conflict management in sales teams are discussed.     

Perceptions of the sales job: How students compare with industrial salespeople

Past research on student's attitudes toward personal selling have generally concluded that students have misconceptions about sales. An interesting issue, but one that has not yet been explored, is whether students' perceptions of selling are different from salespeople's perceptions. This paper reports the results of a study that examined the differences between salespeople's and students' perceptions of a sales job. In addition, several managerial implications for developing sales recruiting messages are discussed. The author wishes to gratefully acknowledge an anonymous reviewer for his/her helpful suggestions on an earlier draft of this article and the Sales and Marketing Executives Club of Dallas for its personal support of this project.     

政府补贴下考虑企业环保努力的闭环供应链决策分析

在消费者具有环保意识的背景下，分析有无政府补贴时制造商环保努力对各节点企业价格、需求、利润等决策的影响，并进一步探讨补贴在各类最优策略中的作用。研究表明：环保努力能提高两类产品销售价格、扩大新产品需求，但对再制造品需求无影响；存在最优环保努力水平，使无政府补贴下制造商及系统整体利润最大；一定范围内补贴能遏制环保努力导致的再制造品销售价格上升，但对新产品价格无影响，且对零售商来说高补贴未必能带来高收益；消费者环保意识和制造商环保努力可以通过政府补贴影响产品需求和企业收益。     

The impact of sales management changes on new product success

Although the role of the sales force and sales management mix can be significant in influencing successful new product launch, the impact of specific sales management programs and tactics has not been examined in detail. This study explores whether firms that introduce new products were more successful in achieving their objectives when the new product introduction was accompanied by associated changes in sales management mix variables. Firms that were more successful in achieving their new product objectives accompanied their new product launches with significantly more changes in sales force quotas than did firms whose achievement of new product objectives was less successful. However, no significant differences in the number of changes in sales force structure, training, or sales support were found between firms with more successful versus less successful new products. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. She began her career as a chemist and has held research, sales, product management, and marketing management positions prior to entering academia. The major focus of her research is on the process of developing and marketing new products. Her articles have appeared in theJournal of Product Innovation Management, Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, andIndustrial Marketing Management. He has written numerous books and articles in professional journals and is the former editor ofJournal of Personal Selling & Sales Management. He serves on the editorial review boards of theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Marketing, Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, andJournal of Business & Industrial Marketing and has been a consultant to many business and government organizations.     

政府补贴下考虑企业环保努力的闭环供应链决策分析

在消费者具有环保意识的背景下，分析有无政府补贴时制造商环保努力对各节点企业价格、需求、利润等决策的影响，并进一步探讨补贴在各类最优策略中的作用。研究表明：环保努力能提高两类产品销售价格、扩大新产品需求，但对再制造品需求无影响；存在最优环保努力水平，使无政府补贴下制造商及系统整体利润最大；一定范围内补贴能遏制环保努力导致的再制造品销售价格上升，但对新产品价格无影响，且对零售商来说高补贴未必能带来高收益；消费者环保意识和制造商环保努力可以通过政府补贴影响产品需求和企业收益。     

Social values and salesperson performance: An empirical examination

Although social values have been used increasingly in consumer research, their utility in sales management research has received little attention. Using a national sample of industrial salespeople, the authors evaluate several hypotheses, developed from social adaptation theory and a theoretical framework of values domain, regarding the incremental ability of the List of Values (LOV) to predict salesperson performance beyond adaptive selling (ADAPTS) and customer orientation (SOCO). The LOV shows promise as a tool by which salesperson performance can be predicted. Managerial implications are discussed, and suggestions for future research are presented. He received his Ph.D. in 1989 from the University of Oregon. His experience includes five years in sales and sales management with Xerox and Digital Equipment Corporation. His research interests include sales force management and marketing strategy. He has published in theReview of Marketing, Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, Journal of Business Forecasting, Journal of Marketing Education, and other journals. He received his Ph.D. in 1989 from the University of Oregon. His current research interests include issues in cross-cultural marketing strategy, global and domestic sales force management, and research methodology. His research has been published in theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, Journal of Marketing Education, and other journals.     

The sales manager as a Role model: Effects on trust, job satisfaction, and performance of salespeople

This study develops a conceptual framework that relates role-modeling behavior of sales managers to a set of key outcome variables and assesses the validity of the framework using a cross-sectional sample of salespeople and sales managers drawn from a variety of business-to-business sales organizations. Findings indicate that salespeople’s perceptions of their managers’ role-modeling behavior relate positively to trust in the sales manager and relate indirectly, through trust, to both job satisfaction and overall performance of salespeople. The study provides empirical validity for practitioner suggestions that sales managers should lead by example, and thus should provide a model of the behavior managers desire their salespeople to enact. His primary research interest is in the application of leadership theory to sales management. His work has been published inPersonnel Psychology andJournal of Business-to-Business Marketing.     

It’s a matter of congruence: How interpersonal identification between sales managers and salespersons shapes sales success

In recent years, marketing research and practice have recognized the importance of managing frontline employees’ identification. However, investigations so far have focused on identification at the collective level of the self, such as organizational identification, thereby largely neglecting important interpersonal identification processes at the relational level. Using a large-scale dataset comprising information from sales managers and salespeople as well as company data on customer satisfaction and sales performance, the authors make a first attempt to address this neglect by exploring important phenomena of interpersonal identification in the sales manager–salesperson dyad. Results show that initial increases in the level of identification congruence between sales managers and their respective salespeople yield positive incremental effects on sales performance and customer satisfaction. Findings also show that interpersonal over-identification and identification incongruence are negatively related to both outcomes. Results demonstrate how sales managers could mitigate these negative effects.     

Point-of-purchase displays, product organization, and brand purchase likelihoods

Can point-of-purchase (POP) displays cause a decrease in sales of the featured brand? In an actual test-market promotion, the use of special POP displays led to a decrease in sales of featured wines from a specific U.S. region. Moreover, sales of regularly shelved wines from competitive regions actually increased. The results of a laboratory experiment supported the explanation that the POP displays essentially reorganized the wines into region categories within the stores, making it easier for consumers to compare alternatives by region. As a result, sales of wines from preferred regions increased and sales of wines from disliked regions decreased relative to when the wines were displayed by variety categories on regular shelf space. Further evidence indicated that reorganizing products by levels of a given attribute influences purchase likelihoods mainly when the attribute is otherwise low rather than high in salience and when brands have normally high rather than low purchase likelihoods.