Sales force obsolescence: Perceptions from sales and marketing executives of individual, organizational, and environmental factors

The trade and academic literature is replete with observations that many sales organizations are in the midst of a redefinition of the strategic role of their sales forces. With today's market forces, change is overdue in many sales organizations. Consequently, the issue of whether the sales force is becoming obsolete has come to the forefront in recent years. As business environments change rapidly, the relevance of the modern sales force comes into question. Data were gathered from 245 midlevel sales and marketing executives on perceived sales force obsolescence. Our findings suggest that obsolescence is a phenomenon for sales organizations to address. The main findings of our study are (1) obsolescence is a phenomenon that affects sales professionals' feelings toward the job (job satisfaction) and outcomes (performance); (2) a firm's market orientation is very important in lowering perceived obsolescence; (3) a learning orientation is important in detecting symptoms of obsolescence; (4) age and education are related to perceptions of obsolescence depending on the type of industry in which the sales force competes: high- or low-tech; and (5) organizational changes can also have a bearing on the sales force's perceptions of obsolescence.     

Self-managing selling teams and team performance: The complementary roles of empowerment and control

This work is the first to examine systematically the influence of empowerment and control on the degree to which selling teams engage in desired self-managing behaviors. Further, this work is the first to propose the construct of desired self-managing behaviors in a selling team context, and empirically examine its influence on selling team performance. Our investigation indicates that control of team self-management provides a complementary positive influence to that of empowerment on the degree to which selling teams exhibit desired self-managing behaviors. In addition, we find a positive relationship between the degree to which teams exhibit desired self-managing behaviors and selling team performance; moreover, this relationship explains, to a large degree, selling team performance. These findings are consistent with our thesis that control of teamwork facilitates performance on the selling team level, just as control of selling skills facilitates performance on the individual sales rep level.     

From annual ritual to daily routine: continuous performance management and its consequences for employment security

Management control in the workplace ultimately rests on the power to dismiss employees who are deemed to be underperforming. This article examines a more recent trend away from annual appraisal and towards continual monitoring and review. Based on a study of specialist proprietary performance management (PM) software packages and interviews with the consultants who market them, the contention is that these developments are driven by the need to control dismissal. In the case of the UK, we argue that the adoption of PM systems needs to be understood as a means of ‘retiring’ older workers who might otherwise remain in employment. The systems studied here draw on a range of data, allowing managers considerable discretion in how this evidence is used. Specifically, by dispensing with explicit ranking methods, these systems suggest a new employer confidence in the use of subjective evidence.     

制造业内部控制对真实盈余管理的影响研究——兼不同产权性质下的比较

以2013年沪深A股1 315家制造业公司为研究对象,利用其2011-2013年的数据,采用迪博内部控制指数量化衡量内部控制质量,检验内部控制对真实盈余管理的影响。研究发现,高质量的内部控制能够降低上市公司的销售性操控、生产成本操控和酌量性费用操控水平,从而降低上市公司的真实盈余管理程度。进一步研究发现,无论是国有控股公司还是非国有控股公司,内部控制都能有效抑制真实盈余管理,且在国有控股公司中其抑制作用更强。     

‘The ground beneath my feet’: projects,project management and the intensified control of R&D engineers

This paper examines the erosion of autonomy among research and development (R&D) engineers in a global information technology company and the ways in which they responded. Over a 14‐year period, we examine the changing regime of control as knowledge workers in this firm are increasingly subjected to increased project and portfolio management interventions. Drawing on extended interviews, we consider the propensity of such knowledge workers to challenge, subvert or else acquiesce to these enhanced control mechanisms. The idea of the project, we argue, plays a critical role in affording meaning and security and informing their responses.     

Management control systems and their effects on strategy formation at middle‐management levels: evidence from a U.K. organization

The relationship between management control systems (MCS) and the strategy process is a largely unexplored area of strategic management. This paper reports the findings of an in‐depth, longitudinal case study of a major British‐based organization operating within the increasingly globalized telecommunications industry. Informed by Simons' ( 1991 , 1994 , 1995 ) theoretical model of the strategy process–MCS relationship, the study examines the nature and extent of this relationship at middle‐ and lower‐management levels. Of particular interest were the effects that the design and use of three groups of MCS have on the development of new ideas and initiatives. Findings suggest that beliefs systems influence managers' initiation or ‘triggering’ decisions, the use of administrative controls affects the location of strategic initiatives and may lead to the polarization of roles, and simultaneous emphasis on a range of key performance indicators can create a bias towards one set of measures and against another. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.