Sales manager problem resolution styles:measure development and an examination of their salesperson-related consequences

Personal selling and sales management play a critical role in the short and long term success of the firm, and have thus received substantial academic interest since the 1970s. Sales research has examined the role of the sales manager in some depth, defining a number of key technical and interpersonal roles which sales managers have in influencing sales force effectiveness. However, one aspect of sales management which appears to remain unexplored is that of their resolution of salesperson-related problems. This study represents the first attempt to address this gap by reporting on the conceptual and empirical development of an instrument designed to measure sales managers' problem resolution styles. A comprehensive literature review and qualitative research study identified three key constructs relating to sales managers' problem resolution styles. The three constructs identified were termed; sales manager willingness to respond, sales manager caring, and sales manager aggressiveness. Building on this, existing literature was used to develop a conceptual model of salesperson-specific consequences of the three problem resolution style constructs. The quantitative phase of the study consisted of a mail survey of UK salespeople, achieving a total sample of 140 fully usable responses. Rigorous statistical assessment of the sales manager problem resolution style measures was undertaken, and construct validity examined. Following this, the conceptual model was tested using latent variable path analysis. The results for the model were encouraging overall, and also with regard to the individual hypotheses. Sales manager problem resolution styles were found individually to have significant impacts on the salesperson-specific variables of role ambiguity, emotional exhaustion, job satisfaction, organisational commitment and organisational citizenship behaviours. The findings, theoretical and managerial implications, limitations and directions for future research are discussed

Small State Discourses in the International Political Economy.

yesThis article supports growing calls to ‘take small states seriously’ in the international political economy but questions prevailing interpretations that ‘smallness’ entails inherent qualities that create unique constraints on, and opportunities for, small states. Instead, we argue that discourses surrounding the ‘inherent vulnerability’ of small states, especially developing and less-developed states, may produce the very outcomes that are attributed to state size itself. By presenting small states as a problem to be solved, vulnerability discourses divert attention away from the existence of unequal power structures that, far from being the natural result of smallness, are in fact contingent and politically contested. The article then explores these themes empirically through discussion of small developing and less-developed states in the Commonwealth and the World Trade Organization (WTO), considering in particular how smallness has variously been articulated in terms of what small states either cannot or will not do

Corporeal Capitalism: The Body in International Political Economy

yesThis themed section takes as its starting point the premise that the body matters in International Political Economy (IPE) and presents four original articles which support and illustrate this ontologically critical and, perhaps, provocative position. Although feminist scholarship has undoubtedly gained a place at the table in IPE, it is curious that one of the most important concerns, and contributions, of feminist IPE – that global capitalism is marked upon, and forged through, bodies – has not emerged as a major preoccupation for the discipline more broadly. In what follows we present what we believe is a strong corrective to that inattention and, in so doing we hope to begin to set out an exploratory agenda for the body to be both foundational and fundamental to contemporary IPE

Ambiguity of gamma-ray tracking of "two-interaction" events

Tracking of gamma-ray interactions in germanium detectors can allow reconstruction of the photon paths, and is useful for many applications. Scrutiny of the kinematics and geometry of gamma rays which are Compton scattered only once prior to full absorption reveals that there are cases where even perfect spatial and energy resolution cannot resolve the true interaction sequence and consequently gamma-ray tracks cannot be reconstructed. The photon energy range where this ambiguity exists is from 255 keV to around 700 keV. This is a region of importance for nuclear structure research where two-point interactions are probable.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figure

SU(2) Calorons and Magnetic Monopoles

We investigate the self-dual Yang-Mills gauge configurations on $R^3\times S^1$ when the gauge symmetry SU(2) is broken to U(1) by the Wilson loop. We construct the explicit field configuration for a single instanton by the Nahm method and show that an instanton is composed of two self-dual monopoles of opposite magnetic charge. We normalize the moduli space metric of an instanton and study various limits of the field configuration and its moduli space metric.Comment: 17 pages, RevTex, 1 Figur

Appropriateness of the TOBY Application, an iPad Intervention for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Thematic Approach

This study aimed to explore the appropriateness of an ICT intervention, the Therapeutic Outcomes by You application (TOBY app), from the perspectives of the parents. Parental experiences of twenty-four parents of a child with ASD who had participated in a three-month trial using the TOBY app were collected using semi-structured interviews. Thematic analysis was conducted and themes were mapped against an appropriateness framework. Collectively, parents felt the TOBY app was relevant and important to them and their children’s needs, while expressing partial support of the TOBY app as: a positive experience for them and their children, beneficial for them and their children, a socially and ecological valid intervention, and an intervention that supported change and continuation in the skills learnt

Effectiveness of a guided online primary care intervention for fear of cancer recurrence:A randomised controlled trial

ObjectiveFear of Cancer Recurrence (FCR) is highly prevalent among cancer survivors and leads to decreased quality of life and increased healthcare costs. We assessed the effectiveness of a guided online primary care intervention for FCR, compared to waiting list. MethodsIn this RCT, participants were recruited online and randomised 1:1. All adults who finished successful curative cancer treatment between 3 months and 10 years ago, wanted support for FCR, and had sufficient Dutch skills were eligible. The intervention consisted of a 10‐week online programme and three to five video calling sessions with a trained mental health worker. After 6 months, the control group received the same intervention. The primary outcome was the difference between the groups in the change in FCR severity from baseline (T0) to 6 months (T2), measured online with the short form of the Fear of Cancer Recurrence Inventory. ResultsOne hundred and seventy‐three participants were enroled and randomised to the intervention (n = 86) or control group (n = 87). FCR severity dropped 2.1 points more in the intervention group than in the control group (2.7 points (SD = 3.9) versus 0.6 points (SD = 3.6), t(154) = 3.4, p = 0.0007). General mental well‐being also improved significantly in the intervention group and remained stable in the control group. These improvements remained at 10 months follow up.ConclusionsThis easily accessible and relatively inexpensive intervention effectively reduces FCR and has potential to replace or precede existing more intensive psychological treatments, improving patients' access to care. Trial registrationThe trial was prospectively registered in the Netherlands Trial Register on 25‐02‐2019 with number NL757

Beyond the Singularity of the 2-D Charged Black Hole

Two dimensional charged black holes in string theory can be obtained as exact (SL(2,R)xU(1))/U(1) quotient CFTs. The geometry of the quotient is induced from that of the group, and in particular includes regions beyond the black hole singularities. Moreover, wavefunctions in such black holes are obtained from gauge invariant vertex operators in the SL(2,R) CFT, hence their behavior beyond the singularity is determined. When the black hole is charged we find that the wavefunctions are smooth at the singularities. Unlike the uncharged case, scattering waves prepared beyond the singularity are not fully reflected; part of the wave is transmitted through the singularity. Hence, the physics outside the horizon of a charged black hole is sensitive to conditions set behind the past singularity.Comment: 19 pages, 5 figures; v2: refs added, minor typos corrected; v3: references on the infinite blue shift at the inner horizon and minor corrections adde