scholarly journals An investigation of sales managers’ aggressiveness in B2B sales leadership: The sequential mediation model of emotional exhaustion and adaptive selling

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 2243-2254
Author(s):  
Bilal Ahmad ◽  
Muhammad Imad ud Din Akbar ◽  
Mirza Huzaifa Asif ◽  
Naila Nureen
Keyword(s):  
Emotional Exhaustion ◽  
Emotional Labor ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Conservation Of Resources ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Sales Managers ◽  
Salesperson Performance ◽  
Adaptive Selling ◽  
Adaptive Selling Behavior ◽  
Relationship Of

The aim of this research is to investigate the influence of sales managers’ aggressiveness on ethical sales leadership and salesperson performance in B2B context, taking into consideration the sequential mediation of emotional labor and adaptive selling behavior. Sales managers spend most of their time in solving salesforce-related issues, while empirical studies have largely neglected such factors that can have negative consequences on salesforce-related tasks. In order to overcome this gap in the literature, we draw from conservation of resources (COR) theory to introduce and establish an advanced theoretical paradigm. The authors tested the model through 336 responses from B2B salesperson-manager dyads. The findings of the study reveal that sales managers’ aggressiveness has a negative association with ethical sales leadership. Also, sales managers’ aggressiveness is positively related to emotional exhaustion and negatively related to salesperson performance. Consequently, we found significant serial mediation of ethical sales leadership and adaptive selling behavior between the relationship of sales managers’ aggressiveness and salesperson performance. In last, manager decisiveness is playing as a significant moderator in the study. Theoretical contributions and practical implications are also discussed.

scholarly journals Making the Customer Orientation of Salespeople Unsustainable—The Moderating Effect of Emotional Exhaustion

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 735 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lifang Shu ◽  
Haiying Wei ◽  
Leiqing Peng
Keyword(s):  
Emotional Exhaustion ◽  
Customer Orientation ◽  
Moderating Effect ◽  
Conservation Of Resources ◽  
Adaptive Selling ◽  
Sustainable Operation ◽  
Main Effect ◽  
Adaptive Selling Behavior ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Positive Effect

Customer orientation of salespeople usually leads to a sustainable positive effect on job performance, yet previous research has usually focused on the benefits of functional customer orientation, and less is known about its relational customer orientation’s outcomes. Based on conservation of resources theory, this research focuses on both types of customer orientation, functional and relational customer orientation, and investigates the moderating effect of emotional exhaustion on the relationship between customer orientation and adaptive selling behavior. We collected 282 valid questionnaires from frontline salespeople in China. Results showed that functional/relational customer orientation was positively correlated with salespeople’s adaptive selling behavior. Salespeople’s emotional exhaustion moderates the main effect: when emotional exhaustion is high, the relationship between functional/relational customer orientation and adaptive selling behavior is substantially weakened. This study contributes to a further understanding of the sustainable operation environment for customer orientation, and provides practical implications regarding the attainment of sustainable outcomes of customer orientation.

Experience, Emotion, and Exhaustion: How Unionization Influences Emotional Labor

2022 ◽  
pp. 0734371X2110681
Author(s):  
Randall S. Davis ◽  
Edmund C. Stazyk ◽  
Erika D. Kline ◽  
Adam C. Green
Keyword(s):  
Emotional Exhaustion ◽  
Emotional Labor ◽  
Process Model ◽  
Social Institution ◽  
Conservation Of Resources ◽  
Job Fit ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Government Organizations ◽  
Individual Outcomes ◽  
Using Data

While HRM scholars have built a rich body of knowledge regarding emotional labor (EL), we know comparatively less about the social origins of EL components and individual outcomes in government work contexts. To address this gap, we employ conservation of resources theory to examine how one prominent social institution within government organizations, labor unions, influence the process through which EL shapes one individual-level outcome, emotional exhaustion. We also draw from the process model of EL developed by Brotheridge and Lee to evaluate one specific countervailing resource, person-job fit. Results obtained using data from the 2016 U.S. Merit Principles Survey suggest that unionization indirectly increases emotional exhaustion via increases in the perceived need for false face acting. While unionization does not have a direct relationship with person-job fit, perceived increases in the need for false face acting contributes to emotional exhaustion by reducing person-job fit.

Empathy, nonverbal immediacy, and salesperson performance: the mediating role of adaptive selling behavior

2016 ◽  
Vol 31 (5) ◽  
pp. 654-667 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yam B. Limbu ◽  
C. Jayachandran ◽  
Barry J. Babin ◽  
Robin T. Peterson
Keyword(s):  
Perspective Taking ◽  
Sales Force ◽  
Nonverbal Immediacy ◽  
Salesperson Performance ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Adaptive Selling ◽  
Mediating Role ◽  
Adaptive Selling Behavior ◽  
Outcome Performance

Purpose Previous studies that examined the role of empathy and nonverbal immediacy on business-to-business (B2B) salesperson performance is limited in scope and yielded inconclusive evidence. Grounded in Plank and Greene’s (1996) framework of salesperson effectiveness, this paper aims to empirically investigate the mediating role of adaptive selling behavior through which empathy and nonverbal immediacy influence sales force performance and the form of empathy (cognitive or affective) that has the most beneficial role in improving relationship (versus outcome) salesperson performance. Design/methodology/approach Using cross-sectional data that were collected from 422 pharmaceutical sales representatives, this study used structural equation modeling to test the hypothesized relationships. Findings Adaptive selling behavior mediates the effect of perspective taking empathy and empathic concern on relationship performance. However, the impact of empathy on outcome performance is not significant through adaptive selling behavior, but perspective taking empathy has a direct influence on outcome performance. Contrary to expectations, nonverbal immediacy is not mediated by adaptive selling behavior but has a direct and positive impact on relationship performance. Research limitations/implications The results of this study have several implications for recruitment, training and assessment of salespeople in a B2B context. Based on the empirical evidence, it is highlighted that firms may use different forms of empathy and nonverbal cues to promote adaptive selling behavior that impact sales force performance (i.e. outcome or relationship). Originality/value To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study which simultaneously examines the mediating role of adaptive selling behavior in the relationship between three antecedent variables that relate to sales force empathy and nonverbal communication (i.e. perspective taking empathy, empathic concern and nonverbal immediacy) and two aspects of B2B sales performance (relationship and outcome).

scholarly journals Ethical Leadership and Followers’ Emotional Exhaustion: Exploring the Roles of Three Types of Emotional Labor toward Leaders in South Korea

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (20) ◽  
pp. 10862
Author(s):  
Hyewon Lee ◽  
Saemi An ◽  
Ga Young Lim ◽  
Young Woo Sohn
Keyword(s):  
South Korea ◽  
Emotional Exhaustion ◽  
Ethical Leadership ◽  
Emotional Labor ◽  
Negative Relationship ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Conservation Of Resources ◽  
Research Directions ◽  
Future Research Directions ◽  
Indirect Relationship

Employees’ emotional exhaustion caused by their leaders has significant consequences for both individuals and organizations. Identifying the roles of intra-organizational emotional labor is important to prevent employees’ emotional exhaustion. This study examined the relationships between ethical leadership, followers’ emotional labor toward leaders, and emotional exhaustion using Hobfoll’s conservation of resources theory. Data collected from 259 employees working in South Korea were analyzed using regression and SEM. The results indicate that ethical leadership was negatively related to followers’ emotional exhaustion. It is demonstrated that ethical leadership has a significant indirect relationship with followers’ emotional exhaustion through three types of emotional labor strategies; genuine display, faked display, and suppressed display. Through genuine display and suppressed display, ethical leadership had an indirect and negative relationship with followers’ emotional exhaustion, whereas ethical leadership and followers’ emotional exhaustion showed a positive indirect relationship through faked display. We discuss the implications and limitations of this research and future research directions.

scholarly journals Key Drivers of Salesperson Performance: The Role of Sales Antecedents and Moderating Effect of Customer Directed Extra Role Behavior

2020 ◽  
pp. 22-34
Author(s):  
Bilal Ahmad ◽  
Muhammad Imad ud Din Akbar
Keyword(s):  
Salesperson Performance ◽  
Adaptive Selling ◽  
Role Behavior ◽  
Sales Team ◽  
Managerial Implications ◽  
Adaptive Selling Behavior ◽  
And Performance ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Moderating Role

The salespersons are considered as one of the important sources while interacting between the company and its prospective customers. The purpose is to develop and test the model that involves salespersons performance in the pharmaceutical sector of Pakistan. Specifically, the study demonstrates the effects of salesperson creativity, adaptive selling behaviour, selling experience and customer directed extra-role behavior on salesperson performance. Adaptive selling behaviour has been taken as a mediator in this study. Individual salespersons in different pharmaceutical companies are the population of this study. Total 500 questionnaires were distributed among the salespersons, 367 useful responses were analyzed through structural education modeling (SEM). The results revealed that salesperson creativity has a positive and significant impact on adaptive selling behavior and performance. Furthermore, salespersons experience has significant impact on salesperson’s performance. Moreover, the adaptive selling behavior has positive and significant impact on salesperson’s performance. The research finding shows that the moderating role is stronger on the relationship among creativity, adaptive selling behaviour and salesperson performance but it is weaker on the relationship between salesperson experience and salesperson performance. This study is helpful to understand some indicators that could be highly influential on salesperson’s performance. The findings of this paper have some managerial implications for improvising sales team performance.

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