The relationship between job related expectations of salespeople and the use by sales management of a fulfilment approach.

This thesis is concerned with the job satisfaction, motivation and performance of salespeople. Within this conceptual domain, the study examines the relationship between job-related expectations and the process of their fulfilment / nonfulfilment, in an attempt to account for differences in their job behaviour, job attitudes and performance. There were two main purposes of this reseach. Firstly, to determine whether or not, and the extent to which, the behaviour of sales representatives could be attributed to their job related expectations. Second, to develop a conceptual framework, yielding the dynamics and impact of the fulfilment / non-fulfilment process (a pro-active mechanism of uncovering behavioural patterns) on possible action tendencies at the workplace. The study was field based and exploratory. Field research took place in Greece - the researcher's home country. One of the main reasons underlying this decision was to provide Greek researchers and managers with knowledge where it previously did not exist. In total, forty seven companies participated. These companies allowed the researcher to conduct structured interviews with their salespeople and in all one hundred and seventy salespersons comprised the final sample. The data from this sample were analysed for purposes of hypothesis testing. In cases where no clear cut points in responses were identified, the data were statistically analysed with the aid of non-parametric tests. The major reason underlying the use of non-parametric tests was that the level of measurement achieved was in ordinal scales. The findings indicated that the identification of perceived anticipated outcomes of salespeople's job-related expectations is a good predictor of their subsequent behaviour. Strong positive relationships were found between anticipated fulfilment and anticipated job satisfaction and motivation. Converserly, negative relationships were found between anticipated job satisfaction and motivation when fulfilment was not anticipated. The effects of causal attributions made by salespeople about their achieved performance, and the identified feedback loops, were also supported. Finally, the fulfilment approach (a process of a dynamic and directional cyclical nature in determining behaviour) was clearly indicated. The most important implications of this research are the identification of: a) the fulfilment process, and b) the major behavioural outcomes that are available to salespeople. On the one hand, the study found that salespersons' preference amongst different behaviours was associated with job related expectations and their perceived anticipated outcomes. On the other hand, job satisfaction, motivation and performance were also found to be dependent upon the cognitive process termed "fulfilment approach". That is, outcomes which were perceived as being able to either fulfill or facilitate fulfilment, or not to fulfill, job related expectations of sales representatives

The Moderating Effect of Perceived Effectiveness of Marketing Function on Network Ties – Strategic Adaptiveness Relationship

This study examines the critical role of perceived effectiveness of the Marketing function (MF) in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in leveraging entrepreneurial network ties to improve strategic adaptiveness (SA). The study tests whether a MF perceived as effective by SMEs’ managers/owners moderates the relationship between SMEs network ties and SA required for improved performance. Findings of a moderated regression analysis on a sample of 263 Croatian SMEs indicate that network ties contribute significantly to their SA, and that a MF perceived as effective only moderates the impact of customer and competitor ties on SMEs’ SA. Research and practical implications are discussed

Completing a PhD in business and management: a brief guide to doctoral students and universities

Purpose – Despite the ever-growing number of PhD students all over the world, there remain significant doubts about whether entering students in business and management disciplines fully understand the process of producing a PhD thesis, defending it and developing a coherent publication strategy. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to offer some guidance on what it takes to successfully complete a doctoral research thesis. Design/methodology/approach – The arguments and guidance presented in this viewpoint paper are drawn on the authors’ collective supervision and doctoral examination experiences. Findings – The paper presents guidelines on three key issues related with the doctoral completion: choosing a research problem; demonstrating rigour and quality; developing a publication strategy. Originality/value – The content presented in this paper would be valuable aide to those pursuing doctoral research

Antecedents of adaptive selling among retail salespeople: a multilevel analysis

The literature on adaptive selling behavior has grown rapidly over the years, with heavier emphasis placed on industrial/professional salespeople and less attention given to retail salespeople. This study contributes to addressing this imbalance by examining the effects of two salesperson factors (selling skills and affective commitment) and two company-level variables (empowerment and behavior-based control) on the adaptive selling behavior of retail salespeople. Using data obtained from a two staged sampling procedure (105 companies and 419 salespeople), we employ a multilevel analytical procedure to model the effects of the salesperson and organizational factors on adaptive selling behavior of retail salespeople. The results indicate that selling skills and affective commitment directly influence adaptive selling while empowerment and behavior based control only indirectly influence adaptive selling behavior. Based on the findings of this study, implications for managing retail salespeople as well as limitations and suggestions for future research are presented

How service quality and outcome confidence drive pre-outcome word-of-mouth

Existing research on word-of-mouth (WOM) referrals has rarely considered what drives consumers to engage in pre-outcome WOM (i.e., referrals before they have experienced the final service outcome). This study argues that WOM behavior that predates the service outcome is driven by the interplay between present experience (perceived quality of the service process) and anticipations of the future outcome (outcome confidence). Drawing upon perceived risk theory, the study explores how outcome confidence and service process quality independently predict WOM behavior and how outcome confidence moderates the impact of process quality on WOM behavior. We investigate these issues with customers of a driving school and use a multilevel modelling approach to test the hypotheses. The results show that consumers with higher levels of outcome confidence are more willing than low-confidence consumers to transmit pre-outcome WOM. However, the study also finds that outcome confidence compensates for process quality such that the effect of process quality diminishes when outcome confidence is high. The key managerial implication of the study’s finding is that managers can tactically use outcome confidence to compensate for low levels of process or employee service quality

The changing landscape of IS project failure: an examination of the key factors

YesInformation systems (IS) project failure has been a recurring problem for decades. The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to examine the key factors that influence project failure and an analysis of the major areas that can have a significant impact on success; and second, to explore some of the key aspects that have an impact on project management performance from the practitioner perspective and discusses the problems faced by organizations in the closer integration of change and project management. Design/methodology/approach: This study critically reviews the IS failure literature developing a synthesized view of the key issues and common reasons for projects to fail. The approach taken in this study is one that focuses on a number of key questions that pull together the relevant themes in this genre of research whilst highlighting many of the implications for practitioners and organizations alike. Findings: Key questions remain on the underlying causes of instances of poor project management as an IS failure factor. The literature has omitted to develop a deeper analysis of the associations between failure factors and the potential causal relationships between these factors. The realization of project benefits relies on the success of both change and project management yet the formal integration of these two disciplines is constrained by separate standards bodies and an immature body of research. Research limitations/implications: This study is limited by its theoretical nature lacking an empirical element to provide a deeper analysis of IS failure factors and their interrelationships. This specific area is a recommendation for future research, where causal relationships between failure factors could be developed via a mathematic-based method such as interpretive structural modeling. Practical implications: With failure rates of IS projects still unacceptably high after decades of attempts to significantly change outcomes, a deeper analysis of this topic is required. The research gaps and recommendations for practitioners highlighted in this study have the potential to provide valuable contributions to this topic of research. Originality/value: The intent of this study is to present a new perspective of this genre of IS research that develops the main arguments and gaps in the literature from the practitioner viewpoint

Method variation in calculating perceived change

Motivated by findings in the literature suggesting that error attributed to measures used in generating retrospective reports are excessive, this study explores error attributed to methods that individuals use for calculating change retrospectively. Preliminary findings indicate that method variation is present which, in turn, affects the reported change scores (i.e., the scores varied as a function of the calculation method used). These findings suggest that the accuracy and comparability of retrospective reporting might be improved if one controls for inter-individual calculation method variation. A brief discussion of the implications of the results along with suggestions for future research is provided