Susan K. DelVecchio, Dawn R. Deeter‐Schmelz and Kenneth Anselmi
The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of salespersons' attributions about managerial e‐monitoring on salespersons' customer orientation.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of salespersons' attributions about managerial e‐monitoring on salespersons' customer orientation.
Design/methodology/approach
Hierarchical linear modeling was used to test the six study hypotheses. A main effects model was used to test the first two hypotheses, with a comparison of regression models used to identify pure modifiers.
Findings
The results of this study found informing attributions enhance customer orientation. This effect, however, can be weakened under highly bureaucratic organizational cultures. Similarly, the ability of controlling attributions to hamper customer orientation is less pronounced in cultures described as more bureaucratic.
Research limitations/implications
Building on self‐determination theory (SDT), the authors' study provides an explicit test of e‐monitoring and examines the nature and effects of information and controlling attributions. Given a low variance extracted value attained for bureaucratic culture, future research investigating the underlying dimensions of bureaucratic cultures is warranted. Likewise, more tests of the cognitive mechanisms behind salespersons' attributions are needed to further extend SDT.
Practical implications
Managers seeking to improve customer orientation through the use of e‐monitoring might be best served by encouraging a salesperson's informing attributions. This might be accomplished by clearly communicating the purposes of the e‐monitoring to members of the salesforce.
Originality/value
By investigating the positive and negative effects of e‐monitoring on salesperson customer orientation, this study offers concrete implications for researchers and practitioners on a topic that previously has been examined in the literature only via speculative post hoc analysis.
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Michael L. Mallin and Susan K. DelVecchio
A strong and repeating theme in sales force automation (SFA) tool research is perceived usefulness. When salespeople perceived high levels of SFA tool usefulness, they report…
Abstract
Purpose
A strong and repeating theme in sales force automation (SFA) tool research is perceived usefulness. When salespeople perceived high levels of SFA tool usefulness, they report higher intent and actual use. The authors aim to apply agency theory to the concept of perceived usefulness (from the technology acceptance model) to explain why salespeople adopt some forms of SFA and reject still others. A set of hypotheses are proposed and tested revealing that salespeople will decide to use a SFA tool because they perceive it to be useful to themselves (i.e. PUsp) and to their management (PUsm).
Design/methodology/approach
Based on responses from 105 salespeople, the SFA tools they used were categorized as either outcome‐based (i.e. helping salespeople achieve their selling outcome goals) or activity‐based tools (i.e. helping management monitor selling activities/behaviors). Regression analyses were used to test six hypotheses relating salespeople's usage of each category of tools (the dependent variable) to the salesperson perceived usefulness constructs (both PUsp and PUsm – the independent variables).
Findings
The findings confirm that SFA tool use (either outcome‐based or activity‐based) is a function of both forms of perceived usefulness (i.e. PUsp and PUsm). Furthermore, when PUsp is high, the salesperson is more likely to use outcome‐based (versus activity‐based) SFA tools over a longer period of time.
Practical implications
The paper validates agency theory as a useful paradigm for understanding salesperson SFA tool adoption. Salespeople will use SFA tools that they view as useful to their productivity and that the sales manager's influence over the salesperson's use of SFA tools may not be as important. To encourage use, firms need to emphasize how a SFA tool can meet salesperson needs.
Originality/value
The paper is the first to hypothesize and test the relationship between perceptions of SFA tool usefulness and actual usage by considering salesperson perception of usefulness to themselves (PUsp) and perception of usefulness to their sales manager (PUsm).
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Michael A. Merz, Dana L. Alden, Wayne D. Hoyer and Kalpesh Kaushik Desai
Compares salespeople’s and managers’ perceptions of control. Salespeople in this sample of manufacturing firms perceive they are granted more control over sales‐call related…
Abstract
Compares salespeople’s and managers’ perceptions of control. Salespeople in this sample of manufacturing firms perceive they are granted more control over sales‐call related activities than their managers perceived they were granting. This lack of congruity, however, may not necessarily have a negative effect on job‐related outcomes. A comparison of two types of perceptual incongruity supports this notion. While the direction of the perceptual imbalance does not affect adaptive selling behaviors, it does affect salesperson satisfaction. Satisfaction with job and company is higher in salesperson‐manager dyads in which the salesperson’s control perceptions are higher than those of his or her manager.
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Jonathan Han Loong Kuek, Toby Raeburn, Melissa Yan Zhi Chow and Timothy Wand
Contemporary interpretations of mental health recovery emphasize the need to understand better the lived experience of people with mental health conditions and how they define the…
Abstract
Purpose
Contemporary interpretations of mental health recovery emphasize the need to understand better the lived experience of people with mental health conditions and how they define the idea of recovery. While traction for such ideas has been building in many western countries, the recovery movement is still in its early stages within most Asian countries. Hence, this study aims to add to this growing effort by understanding various factors that influence the recovery of people with mental health conditions in Singapore.
Design/methodology/approach
Braun and Clarke’s thematic analysis was used on the qualitative data provided by 21 participants.
Findings
Four themes were revealed: double-edged nature of social support, challenges accessing mental health support, personalized coping strategies and societal influences. As a result, the authors could better understand various factors that influenced the recovery process of people with mental health conditions in Singapore, such as the high costs and low levels of literacy regarding pathways to mental health services. In addition, the importance of societal influences on mental health recovery was highlighted, and their impact could be seen through the participants’ sharing.
Research limitations/implications
These findings form a foundation from which future research and recovery-oriented interventions can work from to provide more tailored approaches to supporting people with mental health conditions.
Originality/value
This study identified cultural nuances to notions of recovery that are commonly found in personal recovery constructs that need to be considered when working within culturally diverse populations.