The Mediating Role of Ethical Decision Making in the Relationship between Job Characteristics and Job Outcomes: An Examination of Business-to-Business Salespeople

The purpose of this research is to examine how the ethical decision making of a salesperson is influenced by job characteristics, and how ethical decision making then influences job outcomes. This research is important because the field of ethics draws from diverse disciplines that have minimal agreement with each other. While calls have been made for a uniform standard of ethics, a better decision may be for each discipline to look internally to determine both what ethics is and how it functions in relation to other variables on in each disciplines unique field. This study examines first how the exogenous job characteristic variables of perceived organizational support, sales force control system and ethical values of the salesperson affect ethical decision making. Perceived organizational support and the behavioral-based sales force control system are hypothesized to positively influence ethical decision making. The link between perceived organizational support and ethical decision making has been observed in the field of accounting, and sales research has found that perceived organizational support leads to organizational citizenship behavior, which contains ethical decision making under its umbrella. Behavior-based sales force control systems are predicted to lead to ethical decision making because this type of control system has been shown to both lead to increased affective organizational commitment and reduce the benefits of acting unethically. The ethical values of the salesperson are predicted to moderate the relationships between the independent variables and ethical decision making. Ethical values and the independent variables in the study are influenced by similar antecedent constructs. The study also examines how ethical decision making influences the endogenous job outcomes variables of affective organizational commitment and salesperson performance. Ethical decision making is hypothesized to positively influence both performance and commitment. Ethical climates have been found to increase commitment, and performance is considered a key outcome of ethical decision making. Azjen’s (1985) theory of planned behavior ties the hypotheses together

Buyer-Seller Relationships Within a Multisource Context: Understanding Customer Defection and Available Alternatives

The purpose of this study is to develop and test a customer defection model describing an organizational buyer\u27s propensity to stop purchasing from a supplier within a multisource buyer-seller relationship. A total of 168 employees who worked in purchasing using multiple suppliers in procurement were used for this study. Findings provide strategies for the salesperson to utilize in order to reduce the customer\u27s perception of available alternatives (e.g., increase trust in the salesperson) and defection (e.g., increase customer satisfaction and commitment). Findings also show that the relationship between satisfaction and commitment is fully mediated by trust within a multisource relationship

The Effects of Mentoring on Salesperson Commitment

This paper examines the impact of having a mentor on mentoree affective, continuance and normative commitment to the organization and occupation. Hypotheses are developed comparing salespeople with and without mentors, and mentorees with mentors inside and outside of the organization. Data was collected from a national sample of salespeople. The results indicate that having a mentor is positively associated with mentoree affective and normative organizational commitment, and affective, continuance and normative occupational commitment. Results also indicate that organizational mentors, as opposed to external mentors, are more strongly associated with mentoree affective and normative organizational commitment. Finally, organizational mentors do not have a greater impact on the facets of mentoree occupational commitment than mentors outside of the organization

Absolute Versus Relative Sales Failure

Researchers and practitioners alike are striving to understand the consequences of sales failures on salespeople and sales organizations. This aim is increasingly important as organizations seek to persist toward goals, despite the occurrence of sales failures. However, despite indications that sales failure is not the inverse of sales performance, salesperson failures are under conceptualized as scholarly work focuses considerably more on the study of performance. Utilizing a sample of 626 salespeople, the present study seeks to introduce and understand the comparative impacts of two assessments of sales failure — absolute and relative. Results show the differential impact of absolute sales failure and relative sales failure on outcomes critical to organizational well-being, including salesperson job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and turnover intentions. Findings also evidence the moderated impact of company-related and salesperson-related resources which may influence the detrimental effects of each form of sales failure

Measuring Salesperson Burnout: A Reduced Maslach Burnout Inventory for Sales Researchers

Given the negative effect that burnout has on the sales force, such as increased turnover intentions and decreased performance, measurement improvements on this multidimensional construct can have implications regarding how to manage the drivers and outcomes of burnout. However, little is known about the impact of the multiple burnout dimensions in sales contexts because researchers typically opt to collect data using the emotional exhaustion subscale instead of the complete Maslach burnout inventory, which also includes personal accomplishment and depersonalization facets. Using business-to-business and retail salespeople, this study reduces the 22-item burnout scale to 10 items in order to facilitate salesperson burnout research

The effects of mentoring on salesperson commitment

This paper examines the impact of having a mentor on mentoree affective, continuance and normative commitment to the organization and occupation. Hypotheses are developed comparing salespeople with and without mentors, and mentorees with mentors inside and outside of the organization. Data was collected from a national sample of salespeople. The results indicate that having a mentor is positively associated with mentoree affective and normative organizational commitment, and affective, continuance and normative occupational commitment. Results also indicate that organizational mentors, as opposed to external mentors, are more strongly associated with mentoree affective and normative organizational commitment. Finally, organizational mentors do not have a greater impact on the facets of mentoree occupational commitment than mentors outside of the organization