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 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.     

The effects of private equity and venture capital on sales and employment growth in small and medium-sized businesses

We study the effects private equity (PE) and venture capital (VC) financing have on small and mid-sized single entity business establishments from 1995 to 2009. We focus on single entity establishments to cleanly examine the impact of PE and VC financing on establishments’ organic growth. This study reveals that PE and VC financing have positive impacts on single entity business establishments’ net sales and employment growth. The impact of PE financing on establishments’ growth is slower and smaller than VC financing. However, we find that the benefit of PE financing lasts longer than VC financing. We also find that ethnic minority, female, and foreign business owners are less likely to receive PE and VC financing. Finally, we find evidence that although establishments with government contracts are more likely to receive PE and VC financing, those contracts fail to produce marginal post-funding growth and employment benefits.     

Service,emotional labor,and mindfulness

From the seclusion of monastic life to the noise of Silicon Valley, the ancient practice of mindfulness has ‘come out of the cloister.’ As an antidote to mindless cognition and behavior, the practice of mindfulness—with its principle of grounding attention in the present moment—has been shown to have powerful and positive effects at both the individual and the collective level and in fields as wide-ranging as medicine, schooling, prison programs, law and negotiation, business, and even the army. This installment of Marketing & Technology introduces mindfulness to managers and explores its potential for enhancing the service encounter. We begin by reviewing the two main conceptualizations of mindfulness: the cognitive and the contemplative. We then explore the service encounter from the perspective of emotional labor and show how mindfulness can change surface acting into deep acting, thereby significantly improving the service encounter for both the consumer and provider. We also explore the other benefits of mindfulness and their application to the service encounter: adaptability, flexibility, and creativity. We conclude by sharing resources for managers interested in implementing mindfulness training.     

Comparing perceived insecurity among customers and retail staff during service encounters

The study compares perceived insecurity by customers and retail staff during service encounters. The topic is important, because retailers invest millions of dollars in security. The framework of the study divides perceived insecurity into financial, physical, psychosocial and time-related insecurity. A total of 39 consumers participated in seven focus group discussions, and 34 retail staff members responded semi-structured interviews. The study confirms that from both customer and staff perspectives a high quality service encounter has an influence on perceived insecurity, and it diminishes disturbance and criminal activity. However, there are differences between customer and staff perspectives in many areas.     

A quantile regression analysis of tourism market growth effect on the hotel industry

This study used the quantile regression method to investigate how inbound tourism market growth proxied by the growth rate of total foreign tourist arrivals (GTA) affects the growth rate of sales (GS) and financial performance of hotel firms in Taiwan. The ordinary least squares estimation results of panel regression test revealed that GTA significantly affects GS, but has no significant effect on financial performance (proxied by hotel equity return). However, quantile regression tests revealed new and interesting results. GTA has a significant effect on GS at the different quantiles of GS. In comparison, although hotel equity return was not significantly related to GTA at the median and high quantiles, the effect of GTA on hotel equity return was statistically significant at the low quantiles. These results suggest that the effect of GTA on hotel equity return is asymmetric and state-dependent, conditional on the distributions of hotel equity return. The study further identified that GTA has a significant influence only on equity returns of hotels with a small size.     

Switching intention model development: Role of service performances,customer satisfaction,and switching barriers in the hotel industry

The intricate relationships among core service and service encounter performances, customer satisfaction, and switching barriers in the formation of satisfaction and switching intention were examined in this study. A field survey was conducted at upper-midscale hotels. The results of the structural analysis revealed that both core service and service encounter performances significantly affected customer satisfaction, and satisfaction completely mediated the effects of service performances on switching intention. In addition, findings from the tests for metric invariances indicated that components of switching barriers (switching costs, relational investment, and lack of alternatives’ attractiveness) moderated the relationships between satisfaction and switching intention. In particular, the role of satisfaction derived from service performances in decreasing hotel guests’ intention to switch is greater when they perceive high switching costs, relational investment, and lack of alternatives’ attractiveness. Based on study findings, theoretical and practical implications are identified and discussed.     

Managerial,organizational, and external drivers of sales effectiveness in export market ventures

The authors extend sales management theory by considering the role of export sales management in small- and medium-sized firms, and they develop an integrated model of export sales organization effectiveness. Specifically, the authors test 16 hypotheses that examine the relationships among export sales management control, export territory, psychic distance, export sales performance, and export sales organization effectiveness. Using a mail-survey approach, data were collected from U.K.-based export sales managers in 146 direct exporters of industrial products. Though certain anomalies are observed, the research findings support many of the hypothesized associations, confirming the robustness of existing sales management concepts and theories in an export-marketing context.