Identifying aggressive versus ethical sales supervision in B2B service recovery: a multilevel perspective

PurposeThe current research provides a conceptual framework that explains how sales managers' aggression across business-to-business (B2B) sales organizations triggers salespeople's surface acting, deep acting and service recovery performance. It also investigates the moderating role of ethical leadership through sales managers' aggressiveness on service recovery performance.Design/methodology/approachThe authors test the model using multilevel analysis with cross-sectional data of 367 salespeople from different sales organizations.FindingsThe study shows that the aggression of sales managers has an adverse influence on service recovery performance. Additionally, aggressiveness among sales managers is positively connected with surface acting while adversely affecting deep acting. The study’s findings also indicate that ethical sales leadership is positively moderate among sales managers' aggressiveness and service recovery performance.Research limitations/implicationsThe authors collected data from individual salespersons, which is the limitation; however, future studies could collect data using the dyadic approach, such as matching responses from both managers and salespersons. This method could enhance the model's internal validity.Originality/valueSeveral studies have mainly focused on positive supervision styles in the literature on service recovery. At the same time, building a negative supervision model in the B2B service recovery context, which has been persistently ignored, is noteworthy.

Sales complexity and value appropriation: a taxonomy of sales situations

Purpose The increasingly complex business-to-business (B2B) sales process necessitates that sales managers strike the right balance between appropriate resource allocation, while also maintaining the profitability of the organization. While previous research has mainly focused on how changes in the business environment pose distinct challenges to salespeople, very little research has focused on how sales managers should react to these complex situations. Drawing upon the extant sales research, this paper aims to point to a gap in the literature of how sales managers deal with the complexity associated with the sales process and deal with the same. Design/methodology/approach Methods from the grounded theory research approach were used to conduct 18 in-depth interviews with B2B sales managers. Purposive sampling was used to identify the participants. Findings A taxonomy of sales situations that reflects the changing complexity of the sales function and how sales managers need to orchestrate their resource allocation decisions to ensure appropriate value capture from B2B relationships emerged within the themes. This paper highlights four fundamental tenets of sales situations that account for both the complexity of the sales process and the value appropriation challenge that sales managers face. Practical implications The taxonomy will help sales managers have a better understanding of the changing complexity in the B2B sales process and help them with decisions making. Sales managers can orchestrate their resource allocation to achieve value appropriation. Originality/value This paper develops a new taxonomy of the sales situation. It unravels the changing complexity of the B2B sales process and discusses how value appropriation can be achieved by sales managers.

An empirical investigation of the professional identification of sales managers and their ethical intentions

Purpose The purpose of this study is to show how senior management can create work environments conducive to ethical behavior in organizations through the use of sales managers’ professionalism and professional identification. The study also aims to demonstrate the influence of professional identification in occupations other than those requiring certification. Design/methodology/approach This study conceptualizes and tests a model using data collected from a survey panel of 350 sales managers. To test the hypotheses, this study makes use of covariance structured analysis. Findings The results demonstrate the importance of developing sales managers’ professionalism as an antecedent to professional identification. The findings also show professional identification positively affects professional ethical values, work-related norms and occupational commitment. This study finds that work-related norms moderate the relationship between professional ethical values and ethical intentions and directly and positively influence ethical intentions. Research limitations/implications This study used a panel sampling technique and these findings cannot be generalized to other populations. This study recommends that this study is replicated not only with sales managers but also with other categories of marketers. This study also highlights that more work using methods such as longitudinal panel data and experimentation is required to validate the current findings. Practical implications The findings are of particular interest to senior managers and managers of professional associations, as well as other sales practitioners. Because ethical intentions are affected by work-related norms and from an interaction between work-related norms and professional ethical values, senior managers need to ensure both the work activities in which their staff are involved and the professional ethical values of their employees contribute to appropriate ethical intentions. Originality/value This study introduces professional identification into the sales ethics literature and theorize relationships among the professionalism of sales managers and their professional identification, work-related norms, professional ethical values, occupational commitment and ethical intentions. This study empirically measures the professionalism of sales managers.

Understanding salesperson intention to use AI feedback and its influence on business-to-business sales outcomes

Purpose Artificial intelligence (AI) is a rapidly growing frontier. One promising area for AI is its potential to assist sales managers in providing salesperson feedback. Despite this promise, little work has been done within the business-to-business (B2B) sales domain to investigate the potential impact of AI feedback on critical sales outcomes. The purpose of this research is to explore these issues and respond to calls in the literature to determine how AI can enhance salesperson adaptability and performance. Design/methodology/approach Survey data from a sample of 246 B2B salespeople was used to test the conceptual model and research hypotheses. The data were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). Findings The findings provide broad support for the model. An AI-feedback rich environment and salesperson feedback orientation predicted perceived accuracy of AI feedback which, in turn, strengthened intentions to use AI feedback. These favorable reactions to AI feedback positively related to adaptive selling behaviors, and adaptive selling behaviors mediated the relationships between intentions to use AI feedback and organizational commitment, as well as sales performance. Contrary to expectations, it did not mediate the relationship between intentions to use AI feedback and job satisfaction. Practical implications The managerial implications of this study lie in explaining practical considerations for the implementation and use of AI feedback in the sales context. Originality/value This study extends literature on technology adoption, performance feedback and the use of AI in the B2B sales domain. It offers practical insight for sales managers and those responsible for implementing AI solutions in sales.

Eight organizational enablers of digital service-sales ambidexterity in industrial firms

Purpose The purpose of this study is to explore organizational enablers of frontline employees’ (FLEs) service-sales ambidexterity (SSA) in industrial firms expanding their digital service portfolios. Design/methodology/approach The authors conducted a qualitative study of five industrial firms pursuing digital service growth and, for this purpose, collected and analyzed interview data obtained from 50 service and sales managers and FLEs across three continents. Findings The authors identify and explain eight organizational enablers of digital service-sales ambidexterity (DSSA), operating at the macro, micro and meso levels. Practical implications Service and sales managers should use the identified organizational enablers to exploit the established service business and to explore new digital growth paths. Originality/value The study expands the prior understanding of SSA by advancing the concept of DSSA, unpacking its multilevel dynamics and operationalizing eight organizational enablers.

Empirical analysis of the content of psychological competencies of active sales managers

Introduction. The subject of this article is the analysis of the requirements for the psychological properties of active sales managers from the point of view of the competence approach. It is assumed that the interaction of working conditions in the organization and the psychological properties of a professional, as well as the requirements for them from the tasks performed, generate a certain set of psychological competencies necessary for the productive activity of an active sales manager. The complex nature of human-to-human activities, as well as the need to perform organizational, intellectual, communicative and coordination tasks, forms a system of requirements for the psychological competencies of representatives of this profession, compliance with which increases the productivity of a professional. The article presents a theoretical and empirical analysis of the requirements for an active sales manager from the point of view of psychological competencies.Materials and Methods. Empirical research method - standardized self-reports with Likert scales, correlation and factor analysis.Results. Six main groups of required competencies are identified: value competence, regulatory competence, motivational competence, special competence, communication competence, strategic competence. It is assumed that the balanced development of these groups of competencies in accordance with the requirements of the profession of an active sales manager ensures high productivity of a specialist and his psychological well-being.Discussion and Conclusions. At the end of the article, the results obtained are evaluated from the point of view of their applicability in the training of specialists in key positions of sales departments, new research directions are outlined that allow for a more systematic study of the psychological competence of active sales managers, and it is also concluded that the content of psychological competencies should be taken into account when building educational programs for future sales managers.

Antecedents and Outcomes of Duty Orientation Among Salespeople

This study analyzed the relationship among ethical leadership, duty orientation, perceived organizational support (PSS), organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) and job performance among a sample of 45 sales managers and 203 salespeople. Duty orientation and perceived organizational support were found to mediate the relationship between ethical leadership and performance outcomes. Ethical leadership was a direct predictor of OCBs but not job performance. This study shows the importance of analyzing ethical leadership, duty orientation, and PSS and their relationship with OCBs and job performance in the salesforce.

Contingent conditions on the effectiveness of salesperson acquisition-retention ambidexterity: the motivation–opportunity–ability framework

Purpose This study aims to investigate moderators affecting the impact of salesperson acquisition-retention (AR) ambidexterity on sales performance based on the motivation-opportunity-ability (MOA) framework. Design/methodology/approach The authors collected triadic data through 391 questionnaires from salespeople, 50 questionnaires from sales managers and archival data about each salesperson’s performance. Hierarchical linear modeling was applied to test the hypotheses. Findings The results indicate that salesperson AR ambidexterity positively affects sales performance. The positive effect is strengthened by capability control but weakened by outcome control and activity control. The authors also find that sales experience and market attractiveness hurt the effectiveness of salesperson AR ambidexterity. Research limitations/implications First, this study does not examine the mediating mechanism underlying the effect of salesperson AR ambidexterity. Second, sales-service ambidexterity is another ambidextrous variable for salespeople. Future research can consider AR and sales-service ambidexterity together. Practical implications First, managers should be cautious when encouraging experienced salespeople to conduct AR ambidexterity. Second, managers need to use capability control to motivate salespeople with AR ambidextrous behaviors. Third, AR ambidexterity could be not required in a market with many opportunities. Originality/value Although some studies have examined the effectiveness of salesperson AR ambidexterity, they reveal inconsistent findings, which suggest contingent conditions on the effectiveness of salesperson AR ambidexterity. However, the attention on the contingent conditions is limited. Therefore, this paper systematically investigates the contingent conditions from the MOA framework. The findings provide some insights into when salesperson AR ambidexterity is effective.

A new perspective on sales outcome controls: an inside sales perspective

Purpose Previous sales control research has limited the definition of outcome controls exclusively to sales outcomes in an outside sales context. In addition to sales outcome controls, inside sales managers use phone operational outcomes to influence inside sales agent performance, supporting the need to expand the broader definition of outcome controls. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to explore the need to bifurcate outcome controls into two distinct variables: sales and phone operational controls. Researchers know little about the application of sales outcome controls beyond sales-only outcomes, which, in turn, limits the definition of outcome controls. Design/methodology/approach Through the utilization of survey, secondary operational data and sales manager’s feedback, this paper demonstrates that the definition of outcome controls needs to be divided into two distinct areas, sales and phone operational controls for inside sales agents, which, in turn, acts collectively to impact an inside sales agent’s job performance and satisfaction. Findings This research demonstrates that inside sales managers depend on both sales and phone operational outcome controls to drive sales agent performance, varying in degrees by industry. Even as inside sales managers focus on creating an employee-centric autonomous motivational work culture, the overarching controlling factors associated with phone operational outcomes dampen an inside sales agent’s performance and job satisfaction. Research limitations/implications To the best of the authors’ knowledge, as the first sales control research to examine an inside sales context, this study provides support to further study sales controls in an inside sales context. This research can be enhanced by examining business-to-consumer inside sales environments, behavior controls, greater sample size and additional work outcomes such as turnover and tenure. Practical implications The findings have important implications because they can help practitioners understand the effect that both sales and phone operational outcomes have on sales agent performance. It also illuminates the need for inside sales managers to be less controlling in their focus on phone operational outcomes, as such a practice has a negative influence on key sales agent job outcomes. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to triangulate multiple data sources to illustrate the need to evaluate both sales and phone operational outcomes as broader components of sales outcome controls. The study of sales controls in a different sales context suggests that sales management controls may differ by sales context, opening the door to extend the vast sales control literature beyond its current context of outside sales.

Determinants of e-commerce satisfaction: a comparative study between Romania and Moldova

PurposeThe purpose of this article is to highlight the relevance of the factors that influence the satisfaction of e-commerce consumers in Romania and Moldova. The study aims to clearly define the main influence factors, so that the marketing managers of the online stores can adopt scientific well-founded decisions.Design/methodology/approachThe paper opted for a study including a large sample of 399 respondents from two countries. For the analysis of the factors influencing the e-commerce satisfaction, multiple linear regression analysis was implemented, and their differentiation within the two countries was highlighted by multivariate analysis of variance.FindingsThe research conducted and the results obtained show that there is a differentiation of the factors that influence the level of satisfaction of e-commerce users in Romania and Moldova.Research limitations/implicationsThe research is still limited in terms of population studied to only two countries: Romania and Moldova. Although the study is intended to be exhaustive by analyzing no less than 11 factors influencing the satisfaction generated by e-commerce, it is still limited to this group of representative factors. Another limitation has to do with the limited number of demographic variables the authors have included.Practical implicationsBased on the results, the managerial implications for e-commerce companies that want to uniquely address consumers in Romania and Moldova are related to the decisions of marketing and sales managers who must allocate budgets and resources to improve the eight aspects highlighted in the paper. Also, the e-commerce companies should not allocate resources for the implementation of functionalities such as in-app after sales services, the possibility to cancel an order or the live consultant support feature, because these aspects do not influence the satisfaction of e-commerce consumers in Romania and Moldova.Originality/valueThis paper is the first in the scientific literature that implements a comparative study on the influence factors regarding the e-commerce satisfaction in Romania and Moldova. Also, it is important to mention that the present study is an exhaustive one because it includes many influence factors that were analyzed separately in the previous research papers from literature review.