Marketing controls and employee responses: The moderating role of task characteristics

A key concern in implementing organizational controls is that little is known about when controls lead to “negative” employee responses. Previous research has suggested that lower levels of negative responses will be observed only if the controls that are being employed “fit” the characteristics of the tasks being controlled. The two task characteristics usually referred to include performance (outcome) documentation and procedural (cause-effect) knowledge. Unlike previous studies, however, this study assumes that the two task characteristics should have a joint, rather than independent, influence on employee responses to controls. The reason is that knowledge of how well one is doing is not sufficient for expecting lower levels of negative responses if information on procedures that may lead to better performance is not available. Knowledge of procedures, likewise, is not sufficient for lower levels of negative responses if performance documentation is not available. Results of an empirical study provide general support for the above line of reasoning. He obtained his Ph.D. at the Ohio State University. His research interests include the areas of international marketing and sales management. He has previously published inAdvances in International Marketing, International Trade Journal, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of International Business Studies, Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, and contributed to several national and international conference proceedings. He obtained his Ph.D. at the University of Texas at Austin. His research interests include sales management, marketing strategy, and international marketing. He has previously published inInternational Journal of Research in Marketing, International Trade Journal, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of International Business Studies, Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, Technology Forecasting and Social Change, and contributed to numerous conference proceedings.