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.     

Environmental Multi‐dimensionality and Staff Localization in Multinational Enterprises: The Case of Korean Firms

The person–environment fit theory posits that the term “environment” can be defined at different levels. This study delineates two environmental dimensions (strategic and organizational) and empirically examines the potential moderating effects of two strategic factors (intra‐ and inter‐regional diversification) on the relationship between two organizational factors (subsidiary ownership and host‐country experience) and MNE subsidiary staffing composition. The results indicate that strategic and organizational dimensions have impacts on subsidiary staffing composition. This study also finds that the interaction effects between strategic and organizational factors are significant only when there is congruence between demands from different environmental dimensions.     

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.     

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.

To Justify or Not to Justify: The Role of Anticipated Regret on Consumers’ Decisions to Upgrade Technological Innovations

Prior research suggests that adoption decisions are primarily based on product features and experiential opportunities, like trial and observation. Our research follows inquiries that identify anticipated regret (AR) as an emotion integral to consumer decision making. Prior research and current retailing practice assume that AR can be alleviated by compelling product attribute-based rationales for immediate purchase. These rationales often take the form of direct attribute comparisons between the current best and the future technologies. Counter-intuitively, we find that giving consumers attribute-based justifications for immediate purchase produces a uniform level of AR and purchase delay regardless of the perceived rate of innovation (PRI). However, under conditions of low PRI and no justification, AR decreases significantly. A clear implication of our findings is that firms marketing current technology should not rush to provide consumers with justifications for immediate upgrade since such communications will remind consumers of what they might miss if they adopt now, resulting in increased AR and purchase delays. Instead, we suggest that retailers focus promotional efforts on highlighting the hedonic benefits consumers experience by adopting today.     

编点制:“人职适配”视域下政府编制的弹性化规划

文章直面“讨价还价”的惯常现象及“减而复增”恶性轨迹,政府部门人员编制管理应在整体性理路导引下突破数量维度的思维限囿,在多方位考量编制构造中顾及编制质量、结构和功能层面,进而审视编制运行机理,充分关注人员与职位的对应性联动而突显人职适配的编制性状,并在此基础上生成人职适配指数,以及相对应的编制点,构设定期性调整的政府编制“弹性”框架,因政府职能强调随机性安排其人员额度、领导职数、编制结构及人员质量,进而在人员数量及质量差距调控中探索人员编制“质量换数量”的管理新路向。     

干部经历会影响农户选择电商销售渠道吗?——基于荔枝种植户的实证分析

基于印记理论,选取2020年广东和广西两省荔枝主产区的964户种植户作为调研对象,运用logit模型进行实证分析,探索干部经历对农户选择电商销售渠道的影响。结果显示:干部经历对荔枝种植户采用电商销售具有显著的正向影响,而农户自身具有的销售渠道资源也是荔枝种植户选择电商销售的动力之一,其与干部经历带有的政治资本共同推动种植户选择电商销售。因此,要发挥具有干部经历的农户在农产品电商发展中的带头人作用,培育当地的销售服务团队与提供更多的销售渠道资源,并联合社会多方力量加大对农产品电商销售的培训力度。     

U.S. Organizations' Personnel Management in Mexico

Abstract

U.S. organizations are experiencing dramatic growth from the North American Free Trade Agreement. Companies that operate across the Mexican border must decide to either relocate currently employed personnel or to hire foreign nationals to staff positions. Since many cultural differences exist between the United States and Mexico, the use of “culture-pins,” or bicultural people who bridge value differences, may facilitate success in these operations. Consequently, this paper proposes that U.S. firms located in Mexico should recruit and retain Mexican Americans.

RESUMEN

Las corporaciones mexicanas y estadounidenses están creciendo dramáticamente como resultado directo del NAFTA. Las empresas que operan del otro lado de estas fronteras, debe decidir si desean trasladar a sus gerentes y trabajadores o contratar nacionales extranjeros para ocupar estos cargos. Este documento presupone que los iucomodines-culturalesl., o personas biculturales que pueden cruzar el puente de las diferencias culturales, son necesarios para asegurar el éxito de NAFTA y contribuir, brindando una inventaja competitivalc a las compañías participantes. La propuesta de este artículo es que las empresas estadounidenses que operan dentro de México se beneficiarían reclutando y entrenando mexicanos-norteamericanos para aumentar su fuerza de trabajo local.

RESUMO

As empresas mexicanas e americanas têm experimentado um crescimento diretamente relacionado à NAFTA. As empresas, que operam dentro destas fronteiras, devem decidir entre realocar os gerentes atuais contratados ou contratar estrangeiros para ocupar cargos disponíveis. Pretende-se, através deste estudo, mostrar que pessoas com ambas as culturas, capazes de superar as diferenças culturais, são essenciais para o sucesso da NAFTA e contribuem para a vantagem competitiva das empresas envolvidas. Este trabalho prop[otilde]e que as firmas americanas, atuando no México, seriam beneficiadas, se recrutassem e treinassem americanos, de origem mexicana, para aumentar a sua força de trabalho no México.