Betsy D. Gelb, Joanna Pishko and Carl Herman
This study aims to explore a previously unidentified antecedent of remaining in selling rather than leaving the field. That antecedent is “love of selling”: prioritizing intrinsic…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore a previously unidentified antecedent of remaining in selling rather than leaving the field. That antecedent is “love of selling”: prioritizing intrinsic rewards over those that are extrinsic.
Design/methodology/approach
The differences between those with each of those priorities are explored here in a survey of 348 salespeople, both inside and outside, and also qualitative interviews with a 20-person subset.
Findings
Comparing salespeople who select on a questionnaire the option that they “love selling” vs respondents who primarily enjoy its payoffs, the authors find the former group significantly less likely to say they would leave the selling field if they could get another job that pays as well. They are significantly more likely to rate their own selling skills highly, but sales results between the two groups do not differ. Telephone interviews asking what their company does to reinforce love of selling, and what it could do, elicit comments on support – but also on administrative dissatisfiers.
Practical implications
Organizations benefit from encouraging a love of selling and can do so by training, by management efforts to build confidence, by emphasizing challenge and by reducing administrative barriers to enjoying the selling experience.
Originality/value
This is the first study to identify “love of selling” as a characteristic of salespeople that managers will want to understand and foster.
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To consider anew the classic debate between Herman Finer and Carl Friedrich in the history of public administration that has shaped both the theory and practice of government…
Abstract
Purpose
To consider anew the classic debate between Herman Finer and Carl Friedrich in the history of public administration that has shaped both the theory and practice of government since the 1940s in much of the Western world, and in other parts of the world influenced by the Western example.
Design/methodology/approach
A study of the original contribution of both Finer and Friedrich in their own times, which is then put into the current context of reducing the size of government.
Findings
The central argument is a distinction between accountability which means obeying orders and responsibility which means acting on a judgment of the greater good.
Originality/value
The paper reminds readers that accountability to a minister and responsibility to the public good may not always coincide.
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Over 100 years ago, the bureaucratic compact and five professions were established: city/county management, city planning, civil engineering, landscape architecture, and…
Abstract
Over 100 years ago, the bureaucratic compact and five professions were established: city/county management, city planning, civil engineering, landscape architecture, and architecture. In exchange for merit employment and independence from politics, these professions offered expertise and related values. To understand those values and changes in the compact from the 1900s to today, codes of ethics from the five professions were examined. Anticipated changes were a movement from traditional public values to business values including New Public Management. However, findings show traditional values persisting over time (e.g. public interest), but not many New Public Management values (e.g. innovation). Modern values do appear and expand professionalsʼ responsibilities into environmental protection, sustainability, and human rights, which influence what these professions offer as they seek to uphold their end of the bureaucratic compact.
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This study examines the nature of emergent, self‐organizing systems in the context of the history of Herman Miller, Inc. This history informs our understanding of emergent systems…
Abstract
This study examines the nature of emergent, self‐organizing systems in the context of the history of Herman Miller, Inc. This history informs our understanding of emergent systems on two levels: how the dynamic of emergent self‐organization informs our sense of the past; and how it informs our understanding of an emergent, self‐organizing future. This article also recounts a critical period in the development history of Herman Miller, Inc.
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This chapter explores the transformation that occurs during an Appreciative Inquiry (AI) summit through the lens of Rogerian client-centered therapy. The client-centered approach…
Abstract
This chapter explores the transformation that occurs during an Appreciative Inquiry (AI) summit through the lens of Rogerian client-centered therapy. The client-centered approach stems from the work of Carl Rogers, who theorized that humans have a tendency toward self-actualization, or that they can be trusted to move constructively toward the fulfillment of their inherent potential. According to Rogers, a client-centered therapeutic approach enables an individual to radically alter the self-concept and achieve transformational change, but only when six specific conditions are met. When these conditions are met, the result is generativity at the individual level as the client’s world opens up with new possibilities. Starting from the assumption that individuals and higher-level human systems share common elements as open systems, the opening up of the self-structure at the individual level can be seen as similar to the system coming together in a generative way during an AI summit. Rogerian theory and AI share a common set of underlying principles, and these principles guide the similar approach to change at these different levels. Here, a community AI summit in Worcester, Massachusetts, is viewed through a Rogerian lens in an attempt to shed light on how these conditions might also operate in higher-level human systems aimed at enabling generativity.
Accepts that resistance to change by individuals in organizationsis a natural phenomenon and is an essential element in understanding anychange process. Holds that resistance has…
Abstract
Accepts that resistance to change by individuals in organizations is a natural phenomenon and is an essential element in understanding any change process. Holds that resistance has its origins in both the personality and the individual′s interaction with the environment and is a dynamic activity with both cognitive and emotional elements. Understanding and dealing with individuals who are resisting change requires that they be taken seriously, listened to and understood. Discusses how the person‐centred approach of Carl Rogers, with its philosophy and emphasis on individual self‐direction in a facilitative climate, provides a valid and useful way for consultants to work with clients in this context. Anything less than a person‐centred approach leads to increased alienation and resistance.