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The Role of Emotional Wisdom in Salespersons' Relationships with Colleagues and Customers
Psychology & Marketing
Abstract
Emotional wisdom is defined as a set of seven dimensions of basic skills and meta-narratives concerning how to regulate emotions within specific domains in such a way that the individual's and firm's well-being are tied together. Using operationalizations of emotional wisdom for salespersons from a wide range of industries (Study 1) and in automotive dealerships (Study 2), with respect to both colleagues and customers, it is discovered that salespeople who score high on emotional wisdom cope differently with socially challenging situations and achieve better social relationships than those who score low on emotional wisdom. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
... While ordinarily, high-agency should make sales managers' behaviors more purposeful, in the specific context of achieving situational responsiveness, it appears to be counterproductive. Inherent in individual agency is the tendency to ignore situational nuances (such as the complexity of operating in precarious and challenging environments as such the emergent in Ghana), a condition that renders high-agency people to sometimes appear ruthless and self-centered (Bagozzi et al., 2010). While engaging in creative, spontaneous, and action-oriented behaviors, high-agency managers may be too preoccupied with their choice-predefined outcome fit resulting in a neglect of situational requirements and customer needs (Bagozzi et al., 2010). ...
... Inherent in individual agency is the tendency to ignore situational nuances (such as the complexity of operating in precarious and challenging environments as such the emergent in Ghana), a condition that renders high-agency people to sometimes appear ruthless and self-centered (Bagozzi et al., 2010). While engaging in creative, spontaneous, and action-oriented behaviors, high-agency managers may be too preoccupied with their choice-predefined outcome fit resulting in a neglect of situational requirements and customer needs (Bagozzi et al., 2010). Agency might reduce the task focus which is instrumental in boosting performance by directing attention (Brown et al., 2005), to the extent that this creates "off-task thoughts" (Martin & Tesser, 1996, p. 12). ...
... While the agentic psychological tendency to consider predefined behavioral scripts and personal goals can strengthen the relationships with sales performance for both action-orientation and creativity, at high levels and without recourse to contextual requirements, the impact on sales performance becomes negative. As suggested by Bagozzi et al. (2010), agency tendencies may predispose individuals to selfishness and ruthlessness, both of which may be harmful to their customer relationships. Yet individual agency does increase the positive spontaneity-sales performance relationship, given the U-shaped quadratic relationship uncovered. ...
This study develops and tests arguments that improvisation is not universal in its benefits for the firm, but rather its multidimensional characteristics (action‐orientation, creativity, and spontaneity) hold differential performance effects. The study further examines whether these relationships are contingent upon individual agency and self‐efficacy. Drawing on primary data from industrial sales account managers in Ghana, the study finds that an increasing level of action‐orientation is associated with decreases in perceived sales performance and the decrease in performance is more pronounced under conditions of stronger sense of agency and self‐efficacy. Similarly, an increasing level of creativity is associated with decreases in perceived sales performance when agency is stronger. However, an increasing level of spontaneity is associated with increases in performance and this increase is strengthened under conditions of stronger sense of self‐efficacy. The study concludes that the effect of strategic improvisation on sales performance outcome within the context of an emerging economy (such as Ghana) is more nuanced than established improvisation literature suggests.
... In another conceptual study, Bagozzi (2006) explores salespersons' and customers' emotions, their self-regulation and their impact on the exchange relationships. Bagozzi, Belschak, and Verbeke (2010) empirically study salespersons' emotional self-regulation, how they cope with emotionally challenging situations and achieve better social relationships. In the second category, focusing on customers' emotional responses to sellers' positive and/or negative actions, we find only two studies; a survey by Selnes and Grønhaug (2000) and an experiment by Wang and Huff (2007). ...
... The review indicates that research is only beginning to explain and understand the cultural practices, tendencies and contingencies that influence the process of sales-persons' selfregulation. Bagozzi et al. (2010) show that salespersons differ in their emotional wisdom, and suggest that those with greater emotional wisdom achieve better in customer relationships. These salespeople use emotions strategically, i.e. perceive others' emotions accurately, adapt their emotions to the situation, and remain authentic at the same time. ...
Although b-to-b relationships have been studied for a number of years, the view has mostly been on the economic and social side of business, leaving the influence of emotions in the business life understudied. The situation in the area of consumer behaviour, services marketing, or advertising is completely different. Hence, it seems strange to think that emotional consumers could leave their emotions behind when working as managers or boundary spanners, although the ethos very much is that managers behave rationally and not emotionally.
... More recently, Kidwell et al.'s (2011) study involving insurance agents suggests that salespeople with higher emotional intelligence not only generate higher revenue but also retain customers better than those with lower emotional intelligence. Whereas emotional intelligence is associated with regulating one's emotions to achieve one's own benefits, " emotional wisdom, " applied in sales contexts by Bagozzi, Belschak, and Verbeke (2010), is associated with regulating one's emotion to achieve not only one's own benefits but also the customer's and/or firm's benefits. The authors suggest that salespeople with higher emotional wisdom show better coping behavior in emotionally challenging incidents than those with lower emotional wisdom. ...
... The authors suggest that salespeople with higher emotional wisdom show better coping behavior in emotionally challenging incidents than those with lower emotional wisdom. Bagozzi, Belschak, and Verbeke (2010) ...
The term "affect" is generally used to refer to a set of "internal feeling states," and includes mood and emotion. This paper provides an assessment of the current state of knowledge on affect and other related constructs as they relate to personal selling and sales management. The authors review and reflect on the theoretical frameworks commonly used in the study of affect in the sales literature. The managerial issues related with affect in sales contexts are also highlighted. The authors conclude with an identification of critical gaps that exist in the sales literature and suggest several directions for future research.
... In another conceptual study, Bagozzi (2006) explores salespersons' and customers' emotions, their self-regulation and their impact on the exchange relationships. Bagozzi, Belschak, and Verbeke (2010) empirically study salespersons' emotional self-regulation, how they cope with emotionally challenging situations and achieve better social relationships. In the second category, focusing on customers' emotional responses to sellers' positive and/or negative actions, we find only two studies; a survey by Selnes and Grønhaug (2000) and an experiment by Wang and Huff (2007). ...
... The review indicates that research is only beginning to explain and understand the cultural practices, tendencies and contingencies that influence the process of sales-persons' selfregulation. Bagozzi et al. (2010) show that salespersons differ in their emotional wisdom, and suggest that those with greater emotional wisdom achieve better in customer relationships. These salespeople use emotions strategically, i.e. perceive others' emotions accurately, adapt their emotions to the situation, and remain authentic at the same time. ...
This paper discusses emotions as mediators in business-to-business relationships which is an understudied topic. Yet within consumer marketing, emotions have been widely studied, and calls have been made for business relationship research to take account of managers' emotions. This study addresses the gap by firstly establishing the relevance of emotions in problematic business relationships and secondly showing how emotions are a major component in determining the outcomes of the problematic relationships. Interview data in the form of narratives describing problematic relationships is analyzed and identifies both the emotions experienced by participants and their role in the future course of the business relationship.
... Given the increasing importance of sales activity for business success [16], companies began to focus on customer relationship management (CRM), which required a redefinition of the salesperson's job description. They were looking for employees with emotional intelligence [17], who were familiar with new technologies [18], who were well-trained, motivated, and customer-oriented [19], and who provided customers with high-quality service primarily through persuasion and refrained from aggressive sales techniques [20]. All of these aspects suggest that the reasons that drive people to pursue a career in sales include developed social skills, emotional intelligence, the ability to influence people and effectively manage customer decisions and stressful situations. ...
This study examines the factors that lead students to consider or avoid a career in sales, focusing on behaviors and preferences during the transition period following the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Conducted in 2021, the study captures how the pandemic has changed traditional aspects of sales work, such as face-to-face interaction, and explores the lasting impact of these changes on young professionals. A sample of 671 business and engineering students participated in an online survey; data analysis was performed by using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (SEM-PLS). Results show that intrinsic and social motivations enhance the perceived attractiveness of a sales career, which, in turn, impacts career intentions. Although empathy and COVID-19-related fears lack a direct effect on the intention to pursue a sales career, digital skills reinforce the connection between job attractiveness and career intentions in a digital-centric environment, having a moderating role. These findings emphasize the evolving nature of sales careers, highlighting the need to align career development strategies with young people’s intrinsic motivation and digital competencies. This study adds to the understanding of motivational factors in sales career decisions and offers valuable insights for employers seeking to attract motivated talent in a shifting industry landscape.
... Furthermore, the fundamental tenet of customer orientation lies in the employee's adept response to customer needs. In this vein, the propositions of (Bagozzi et al., 2010) posit that sales professionals endowed with emotional intelligence increasingly treat customers' expectations and interests with gravity, fostering the establishment of trust and the sustenance of positive relationships. The research by Homburg et al. (2009) underscored the pivotal role of empathic comprehension in the realm of relationship selling, enabling salespersons to effectively address customer expectations. ...
Purpose
This study aims to discern and refine the role of emotional intelligence (EI) in the development of customer orientation among banking employees in Morocco. This analysis seeks to enhance understanding about the significance of this emotional skill within the Moroccan banking sector.
Design/methodology/approach
The research embraces an interpretivist philosophical perspective to gain insight into the subjective meanings and experiences of study participants. The methodology employed is qualitative, involving data collected from semi-structured interviews conducted with 21 front-office bank employees. The analysis of the data was conducted through employing thematic analysis.
Findings
The findings of this study conclude that emotional intelligence fosters and stimulates customer orientation for bank employees. The perception, understanding and effective management of emotions – both those of the contact personnel and their customers – enable employees to better comprehend customer reactions. They experience heightened empathy through the impact of accumulated professional experience, adapt their behaviors according to the emotional state of the customer, maintain a positive relationship with them and ultimately gain their confidence.
Originality/value
This study offers clear theoretical explanations and conceptualizations that have identified and linked pertinent literature on the topic. It focuses on a salient subject, investigating how emotional intelligence influences the customer-oriented behavior of front-office bank employees. Notably, this study represents one of the first attempts to explore this relationship within the Moroccan context. As a result, it contributes to the enhancement of managerial practices and human resource policies, thereby fostering a more productive and harmonious working environment.
... In recent years, contrary to the past, sales is more toward building and maintaining long-term relationship (Leigh and Marshall, 2001;Ballestra et al., 2017;Handley et al., 2017). Therefore, salesperson in the present are characterized as individuals who are adaptable, resilient, and self-driven (Lassk et al., 2012), possess emotional wisdom (Bagozzi et al., 2010), exhibit a thorough understanding on organizations, behavior, information collection, market research, and sales forecasting (Allen et al., 2014), and well-versed in technologies (Walker et al., 2009). This results in the birth of a new generation of youthful, clever, highly-trained, ambitious, and customer-oriented individuals (Lassk et al., 2012). ...
The sales profession has suffered from negative perception and misconception. Despite a huge opportunity in this industry, several reasons have been highlighted as deterrents to job applicants from applying for a career in sales including the unethical practices, low prestige, and uncertainty of the job. This study examines the influence of job characteristics and feelings on intention to pursue a sales career among undergraduate and postgraduate students. A cross-sectional study was conducted with 251 questionnaires analyzed using Partial-Least Square-Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The findings suggest that job characteristics and feelings have a favorable impact on intention. Job characteristics, on the other hand, influence feelings, and feelings mediate the relationship between job characteristics and intention. This study contributes to the body of knowledge by examining feelings as one of the constructs influencing sales career intention, and provides several implications to employers and business instructors to develop effective strategies to spark student interest in sales-related careers.
... When employees feel that their psychological contract has been violated for whatever reason, their affinity to the employer brand is severely affected and results in negative outcomes for the employer brand, such as lack of loyalty (Abimbola et al., 2010;Moroko & Uncles, 2008). We propose that possessing online social capital with co-workers can make employees resilient to feelings of psychological contract violation towards their employer brand, since having closer connections (thus, social capital) with others in the conventional sense often forms a "social safety net" that builds psychological resistance in individuals (Bagozzi et al., 2010;Henry, 2004). ...
Despite the significant and increasing influence of social media on employees' work lives, there is limited focus on employees' social media competencies from an employer branding or internal marketing perspective. Building on social identity and social exchange theories, this paper links employees' social media competence to an increase in online brand citizenship behaviour and reduction in feelings of psychological contract violation towards their employer's brand. We also examine the distinct mediatory effects of two forms of online social capital—bonding mediates the influence of employee social media competence on online brand citizenship and feelings of psychological contract violation, whilst Bridging only mediates the effect of social media competence on feelings of psychological contract violation. In doing so, we contribute to extant literature in two ways: (1) Address the need for research on social media in relation to employer branding; and (2) highlight the importance of building employee‐to‐employee and employee‐to‐employer relationships by virtual means in the context of employer branding. Therefore, this paper responds to calls for research that advances more responsible approaches to employer branding and internal marketing; that is, approaches that take into account employee competencies (emphasise need for skill development) as well as wellbeing (emphasise need for support).
... In conclusion, building upon the social cognitive and self-regulation theories, this study posits that a salesperson's self-regulation mechanism not only helps build positive context but also facilitates the crafting of the expected experiences from customer interactions and the related outcomes. This process strengthens the salesperson's focus on the positive aspects of the selling tasks, and he/she regulates sales behaviors accordingly (Bagozzi et al., 2010). ...
Purpose-Although the role of self-leadership is important, it remains understudied in business-to-business (B2B) selling context. This study aims to provide insights into the drivers and outcomes of behavioral self-leadership tested through a sample working in pharmaceutical sales in an emerging economy. In accord, the authors investigate the relationships between self-efficacy, behavioral self-leadership, adaptive selling and ultimately sales performance. This study also investigates the moderating role of technical knowledge. Design/methodology/approach-Data were gathered from 208 salespeople working in pharmaceutical industry. AMOS 21.0 and SmartPLS3.0 were utilized to test the conceptual framework. Findings-The study finds that self-efficacy is positively related to behavioral self-leadership that in turn is positively related to adaptive selling and sales performance. In addition, counter intuitive findings were uncovered related to salesperson's technical knowledge. Those with high technical knowledge exhibited weaker relationship between self-efficacy and behavioral self-leadership, behavioral self-leadership and adaptive selling and that between behavioral self-leadership and sales performance than their counterparts with low technical knowledge. Research limitations/implications-This study extends work on self-leadership by exploring the effect of self-efficacy and behavioral self-leadership on sales performance. This study also extends the theory on salesperson's knowledge by proposing the counter-intuitive effect of knowledge and self-efficacy and knowledge and behavioral self-leadership on adaptive selling and sales performance. Practical implications-Sales managers should consider that not all employees indulging in behavioral self-leadership would reap benefits from the same. As such, sales managers should assess the level of technical knowledge of the salesforce and when determining their training programs that develop such self-leadership skills. Originality/value-The study is one of the first to consider the drivers and outcomes of behavioral self-leadership and technical knowledge in a B2B sales context. By focusing on the interplay between knowledge and self-efficacy and knowledge and behavioral self-leadership, this study provides greater understanding of the effects of behavioral self-leadership than previously expected by sales researchers.
... In conclusion, building upon the social cognitive and self-regulation theories, this study posits that a salesperson's self-regulation mechanism not only helps build positive context but also facilitates the crafting of the expected experiences from customer interactions and the related outcomes. This process strengthens the salesperson's focus on the positive aspects of the selling tasks, and he/she regulates sales behaviors accordingly (Bagozzi et al., 2010). ...
Purpose
Although the role of self-leadership is important, it remains understudied in business-to-business (B2B) selling context. This study aims to provide insights into the drivers and outcomes of behavioral self-leadership tested through a sample working in pharmaceutical sales in an emerging economy. In accord, the authors investigate the relationships between self-efficacy, behavioral self-leadership, adaptive selling and ultimately sales performance. This study also investigates the moderating role of technical knowledge.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were gathered from 208 salespeople working in pharmaceutical industry. AMOS 21.0 and SmartPLS3.0 were utilized to test the conceptual framework.
Findings
The study finds that self-efficacy is positively related to behavioral self-leadership that in turn is positively related to adaptive selling and sales performance. In addition, counter intuitive findings were uncovered related to salesperson’s technical knowledge. Those with high technical knowledge exhibited weaker relationship between self-efficacy and behavioral self-leadership, behavioral self-leadership and adaptive selling and that between behavioral self-leadership and sales performance than their counterparts with low technical knowledge.
Research limitations/implications
This study extends work on self-leadership by exploring the effect of self-efficacy and behavioral self-leadership on sales performance. This study also extends the theory on salesperson’s knowledge by proposing the counter-intuitive effect of knowledge and self-efficacy and knowledge and behavioral self-leadership on adaptive selling and sales performance.
Practical implications
Sales managers should consider that not all employees indulging in behavioral self-leadership would reap benefits from the same. As such, sales managers should assess the level of technical knowledge of the salesforce and when determining their training programs that develop such self-leadership skills.
Originality/value
The study is one of the first to consider the drivers and outcomes of behavioral self-leadership and technical knowledge in a B2B sales context. By focusing on the interplay between knowledge and self-efficacy and knowledge and behavioral self-leadership, this study provides greater understanding of the effects of behavioral self-leadership than previously expected by sales researchers.
... We argue that selfregulation encompasses the concept of self-efficacy, which serves as the mechanism through which the phenomenon of transforming thoughts into actions is explained (Bandura, 1991;Manz, 1986). Therefore, one's self-regulation mechanism not only helps in building a positive context but also in crafting one's expected experiences from customer interactions and outcomes and strengthening one's focus on positive aspects of the selling tasks, thereby, recrafting the purpose of such selling (Bagozzi, Belschak, & Verbeke, 2010). ...
Selling as a profession and sales management as an organizational function have undergone major changes that were driven by the evolutionary journey of the marketing discipline. The extant value cocreation paradigm is recrafting the purpose of selling. This paper explores the conceptual development of a selling paradigm that is more responsible to its customers. Specifically, in Business-to-Business (B2B) context, the cost of any selling behavior that compromises customer interest could be of disastrous proportions. Building on the theoretical foundations of self-regulation and job demands-resources theory, this paper develops a conceptual model of responsible selling by integrating self-leadership literature with the emerging paradigm of value-based selling. The conceptual model outlines several research propositions for empirical validation and discusses its potential implications for sales managers and sales organizations.
... 257). This self-regulation mechanism also helps in crafting one's expected experiences from customer interactions and outcomes and strengthening one's focus on positive aspects of the selling tasks (Bagozzi et al., 2010). The JD-R theory (Demerouti et al., 2000;Demerouti et al., 2001b;Demerouti et al., 2001a) emphasizes on the fact that job resources are the aspects of a job, and the person who enables frontline employees to achieve work goals, help reduce job demands, provide for personal growth and well-being by reducing stress and burnout (Bakker and Demerouti, 2007). ...
Purpose
In the context of an emerging market, this paper empirically investigates the direct as well as the indirect impact of natural reward strategies (NRS) on the sales performance of B2B sales force. It also investigates the mediating impact of salesmanship skills on the NRS–sales performance linkage.
Design/methodology/approach
Structural equation modeling (using AMOS 18 software) is used to analyze the data collected, using a survey questionnaire from a sample of 317 B2B salespersons of a single media firm in India.
Findings
Results indicate that NRS are influenced primarily by a salesperson’s emotion regulation abilities, while salesmanship skills partially mediate in the NRS–performance relationship.
Research limitations/implications
The study results are based on convenience sampling, which may limit the theoretical generalization of the results across all emerging markets.
Originality/value
It is one of the earliest studies in the B2B sales literature that integrates multiple theoretical perspectives from job-demands-resources theory, self-regulation theory, motivation and skills theory and social cognitive theory. These theories have been synthesized; then they have been used to develop and test the impact of emotional regulation on NRS components of self-leadership among salespersons, and its subsequent direct impact on sales performance, as well as mediating impact via salesmanship skills.
... Another characteristic of empathic individuals in service roles is that they have more social influence, as well as the skills to determine when and how to use and manage their emotions and those of others appropriately (Bagozzi et al., 2010). Consequently, empathy is proposed as an antecedent of adaptive selling. ...
Purpose
This study explores salesperson empathy and the moderating impact of positive/negative affect on a salesperson’s listening and adaptive selling behaviors. It also seeks to identify whether and how empathy influences performance.
Design/methodology/approach
The study’s hypotheses was analyzed using data collected from business-to-business salespeople working for a manufacturing firm. A partial least squares analysis was used to test the study’s proposed hypotheses.
Findings
The results show that empathy and the moderating role of positive affect foster desirable sales behaviors (listening and adaptive selling behaviors) that subsequently enhance in-role (expected) and extra-role (discretionary) performance.
Originality/value
Contributions from the findings’ enhance the literature through its consideration of (1) how the direct effect of empathy on sales behaviors (a salesperson’s listening and adapting selling behavior) is moderated by the salesperson’s positive and negative affect, and (2) how sales behaviors impact final sales outcomes (in-role and extra-role performance).
... This means that when employees are provided with the requisite knowledge, they are enabled to serve the stakeholders better. It is equally important to customers because according to Bagozzi, Frank, and Willem (2010), salespeople work directly with customers and as such, have to maintain good relationships with customers because they act as representatives of their firm. This means that they have to be wise enough to engage the concerns of customers. ...
... Seemingly, the self-regulation process encompasses the concept of self-efficacy that serves as a mechanism through which the phenomenon of thoughts transforming into actions can be explained (Bandura, 1991;Manz, 1986). Therefore, one's self-regulation mechanism not only helps in positive context building but also in crafting one's expected experiences from customer interactions and outcomes and strengthening one's focus on positive aspects of the selling tasks (Bagozzi et al., 2010). ...
Purpose
This study aims to address the need to study salespersons’ thought self-leadership (TSL) and its effectiveness through the interplay of self-efficacy, skills and behavior at the individual level. It also advances the agenda of integrating self-leadership into marketing literature.
Design/methodology/approach
A model was tested using survey data collected from salespeople within pharmaceutical companies located in India and other Asian countries. A structural equation model was used to test the hypotheses.
Findings
The results suggest an interesting interplay between a salesperson’s TSL and his/her sales performance. The results also demonstrate the relationship between TSL and self-efficacy and the mediation mechanism through which self-efficacy influences sales performance. Results support the role of TSL as a distal predictor of performance and delineate the complexity of the mediation mechanism through theoretical grounding and empirical evidence.
Research limitations/implications
The research suggests that a salesperson’s TSL relates positively with the sales performance through three process variables; self-efficacy, selling skills and adaptive selling behavior. The results should encourage managers to leverage salesperson’s TSL strategies to build a self-leading sales force and optimize supervision cost. Moreover, training the sales force for enhanced TSL has immediate payoffs in terms of increased selling effectiveness. The study also discusses theoretical implications.
Originality/value
By examining TSL in the sales context, the study makes an original contribution to the extant literature. The results of the study enrich the extant information on self-leadership and sales performance linkages by suggesting a mediation mechanism and proposing an integrated framework with selling skills and adaptive selling behavior.
... 소비자 반응에 관한 이론은 주로 환경심리학자들에 의해 연구돼왔으며 감정적 반응과 인지적 반응은 서로 밀접히 연관되어 있다는 관점에서 함께 고려될 필요가 있다(Park & Lee, 2005). 소비자의 반응에 관련된 선행 연구에 따르면 태도 반응을 단일 차원으로 보기보다 감 정과 인지의 두 가지 성분으로 구성된다고 보고, 감정은 소비자가 경험하게 되는 느낌을 의미하고, 인지는 태도 대상에 대한 소비자의 평가를 반영한다고 하였다(Bagozzi et al., 2010).즐거움, 지배적인 감정을 경험하였을 때 긍정적인 구매 행동 여부를 결정짓는다고 하였다. ...
Based on the self-congruity theory, this study investigated how congruity between multi-brand store image and consumers` self-image affect store attributes and consumer responses. A total of 331 questionnaires were used to analyze data. The results of research were: 1) `Sophistication` as the congruity factor between store image and consumers` self-image affected `utility`, `atmosphere`, and `design` among store attribute factors. Also, `sincerity` influenced `utility` as the store attribute factor. 2) `Atmosphere` as the store attribute factor positively influenced consumers` emotional responses, and `utility` and `design` factors positively influenced consumers` cognitive responses. 3) Consumers` emotional responses had a positive impact on consumers` cognitive responses; in addition, consumers` emotional and cognitive responses had positive impacts on consumers` behavioral responses. 4) A-Land indicated higher scores on `sophistication`, `atmosphere`, and `design` factors than ABC Mart. ABC Mart had shown higher scores on `ruggedness` and `utility` factors than A-Land. This study provides practical implications to develop effective marketing strategies to manage multi-brand stores.
... In fact, firms these days seek people with diverse cultural backgrounds as a matter of policy (McGuire & Bagher, 2010). Recent research demonstrates too that sales people and their managers require certain skills in social intelligence (Verbeke, Belschak, Bakker, & Dietz, 2008), emotional wisdom (Bagozzi, Belschak, & Verbeke, 2010), and emotional intelligence (Mayer, Salovey, & Caruso, 2000), but more and more as well in cultural intelligence (Earley & Ang, 2003) or cultural diversity skills (Bush & Ingram, 2001). Firms make huge investments in training their sales forces, for example, and it is quite challenging to comprehend let alone train salespeople from diverse cultural backgrounds (Lassk et al., 2012). ...
We investigate and compare how salespersons within an independent-based culture (the Netherlands) and an interdependent-based culture (the Philippines) experience and self-regulate pride that is evoked through praise and recognition by their managers. This self-regulation differentially influences behavior toward customers (through adaptive resource utilization and effort put forth) and colleagues (via company citizenship behaviors). For Dutch employees, the impact of pride on adaptive resource utilization and working hard in front of customers was moderated by dispositional proneness to pride and the tendency to self-regulate one's pride so as to avoid hubris; toward colleagues, the experience of pride directly affected citizenship behaviors as main effects. For Filipinos, experienced pride had main effects on adaptive resource utilization and working hard in front of customers. With respect to citizenship behaviors, the effects of experienced pride were moderated by dispositional proneness to pride. As firms operate in international contexts and seek to sell to people from different cultures, managers need to understand how pride and its self-regulation function so as to better select, train, coach, compensate, and manage the salesforce.
... The corporate psychopath main board director was also reported to be losing clients owing to a misunderstanding of the emotional aspect of client relationships. Relationship building and maintaining is important to marketing (Groonroos, 1994;Harker and Egan, 2006), especially in the services sector (Groonroos, 1994;Melewar QMR 19,1 et al., 2001), and relationships do have an emotional element to them (Bagozzi et al., 2010). ...
Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to make a contribution to knowledge by examining what happens to marketing in a time of toxic leadership, embodied in a corporate psychopath, in response to a call for marketers to seek a broader understanding of how marketing operates within organisations.
Design/methodology/approach
– Commentators have suggested that concepts outside the usual marketing domain may aid in the gaining of an intra-organisational understanding of how marketing operates. Here, the concept of corporate psychopathy was used to identify a psychopathic UK board director and chief executive officer (CEO) via a constructivist approach to research involving six in-depth interviews. A CEO and a main board director who were measurably psychopathic were studied via these reports.
Findings
– The paper examines how corporate psychopaths, as archetypal toxic leaders, are detrimental to marketing. Overseeing the marketing function within the UK part of an established and well-branded multi-national services company, corporate psychopaths capriciously dismantled the marketing initiatives that were in place and needlessly abandoned future marketing plans. Marketing services, marketing ethics, product quality and corporate reputation declined. Good marketers left.
Practical implications
– The research demonstrates the dangers to marketing of toxic leadership. The paper also suggests that marketing may be uniquely qualified to deal with toxic leaders because it can, through research, identify them through their effects and behaviour. The results illustrate the value of longitudinal qualitative market research in investigating complex organisational situations.
Originality/value
– The paper makes a unique contribution to the marketing field by empirically investigating, for the first time, the influence of a corporate psychopath director and a psychopathic CEO on the marketing function and practice. The research was conducted longitudinally using qualitative market research techniques via in-depth interviews over a two-year period. Longitudinal research aids in establishing causality, and this was evident in this research, as the negative influence of psychopathic leadership was monitored over time.
... Practical wisdom draws from many sources-including scientific knowledge-and deals with responding to contemporary challenges creatively, ethically, mindfully, and proactively. Wisdom research is increasingly interdisciplinary and is part of fields such as management, leadership, politics, psychology, sociology, gerontology, biology, neurosciences, marketing, health, and medicine (Intezari & Pauleen, 2014;Gimbel, 2014;Shotter & Tsoukas, 2014;Bangen, Meeks, & Jeste, 2013;Mehta, 2013;Sternberg, 2013;Bagozzi, Belschak, & Verbeke, 2010;Kaldjian, 2010;Meeks & Jeste, 2009;Baltes & Kunzmann, 2003). In this paper, we define practical wisdom as the sum of experience, knowledge, insight, and judgment from the individual and collective consciousness applied to the art and science of the possible to achieve excellent and ethical outcomes with genuine long-term value for the planet. ...
Are we in bed with seductive information technologies? And what have we begat? This panel, delivered at AMCIS in Auckland on 8 December 2014, resulted in thought-provoking dialog that generated critical reflection on several themes linking technology and practical wisdom that aligned with the conference theme “Integral IS: The Embedding of Information Systems in Business, Government and Society”. The panel found common ground, although each author began from a different starting position. The common ground was that neither utopian nor dystopian stances on the value of technology achieve much practical value. Instead, perennial universal insights of wisdom viewed in a contemporary, practical, and scientific context may provide a path in technology research, design, management, and use. We believe the topics addressed during the panel session, which we summarize in this paper, are vital and relevant to the information systems field as a whole. The panel’s deliberations hold importance for academics and practitioners alike and have implications that extend to individuals, organizations, and society at large.
... Emotions in this sense are essential in personal decisions and lead to informed choice and decision making, particularly in social and relationship contexts (Kramer & Yoon, 2007;Lazarus, 1991). A number of frameworks have been suggested for the use or management of emotions including emotional intelligence (Goleman, 1998;Mayer & Salovey, 1995;Salovey & Mayer, 1990), emotional wisdom (Bagozzi, Belschak & Verbeke, 2010) and emotional information management (Taute, Huhmann & Thakur, 2010). Emotional competencies include the awareness or recognition of emotions, emotional regulatory capacities and selfpresentation, and perception and understanding of emotions in others (e.g., empathy) (Goleman, 1998;Taute, Huhmann & Thakur, 2010). ...
Gift giving is prominent in marketplace exchanges and has robust emotional implications for both the giver and recipient. For example, prior to and during the selection of a gift, the giver endures positive and negative emotions, as he/she grapples with selecting the perfect gift, and ponders if the recipient will actually cherish the purchased item. During this dynamic exchange process, emotional recognition, management of emotions, emotional empathy, and anticipated elation are oft experienced by both the giver and recipient. However, research examining such emotions quantitatively in a gifting context is scant and models of these faculties in the gift-giving milieu are nonexistent. To help fill this research fissure, four studies are developed; they, in general, investigate determinants of feelings linked with the gestation, prestation, and reformulation stages of the gift-giving event. Specifically, Study 1 (giver's perspective) and Study 2 (receiver's perspective) reveal a mediation void in the models tested. Heeding these results, Study 3 (gift given) and Study 4 (gift received) introduce anticipated elation as a key factor between the aforementioned emotive factors and the emotional responses inherent in the gift-giving stages, among others. Managerial implications and future research directions are offered.
... During the last few decades, practitioners and academics have established the importance of emotional intelligence (EI) in explaining human exchanges and performance (Cherniss, Extein, Goleman, & Weissberg, 2006;Grandey, 2000;Kidwell et al., 2011;Law, Wong, & Song, 2004;Mayer, Roberts, & Barsade, 2008;Rozell, Pettijohn, & Parker, 2004). In the marketing literature, emotions have, for some time, been considered an important influence on the cognitive process (Bagozzi, Belschak, & Verbeke, 2010;Bagozzi, Gopinath, & Nyer, 1999). EI is described as "ability to acquire and apply knowledge from one's emotions and those of others to produce beneficial outcomes" (Kidwell et al., 2011, p. 78). ...
This research explores how salespeople make decisions and what factors influence these decisions. Research in psychology suggests that, in making decisions, people use both intuition and deliberation, often relying on some degree of both processes. This study examines the impact of emotion, intuition, and deliberation on a salesperson's adaptability and resulting performance. Intuition is found to play a significant moderating role in the relationships between both deliberation and regulation of emotions on adaptive selling. However, as anticipated, the role of this moderation variable differs for each of these relationships. Findings suggest that intuition provides an important input to deliberative and emotive thought processes, and plays an important role in salesperson adaptiveness. Implications for salesperson mentoring and training programs are explored.
The study’s purpose is to design a model of wise managers based on the
implicit theory of employees. In this research, the qualitative method of
phenomenology has been used, which reveals the structure and implicit
meaning of a phenomenon according to the implicit meaning that people have
experienced in their lives. The statistical population included all employees of
an industrial company, which continued by purposive sampling until
theoretical saturation (26people). Semi-structured interviews were used for
data collection. Reliability was examined using inter-rater reliability and
validity was investigated and confirmed by subject-matter experts. The data
were analyzed by qualitative analysis.The results showed the model consists
of 7dimensions in which concern and awareness of others, organization and
planning, problem-solving and decision making, and motivation had the
highest frequencies. These results can be used in dimension-based selection
and development of wise managers, as well as the design of simulated
situations and assessment centers.
This study identifies and tests how the competencies of live streamers affect the B2B livestreaming sales per- formance, with a particular focus on the moderating role of product type and product competitiveness. By analyzing a fine-grained livestreaming event dataset consisting of 915 brand firms from a B2B livestreaming platform and matching them with actual sales transactions, the results show that the cognitive and social competencies of live streamers have a positive effect on the sales performance, while emotional competence has a negative effect. More importantly, this study provides strong evidence that the effects of live streamers’ com- petencies on online sales are contingent on product type and competitiveness. Specifically, live streamers’ cognitive and emotional competencies have a more salient impact on experience product sales than search products. On the other hand, product competitiveness moderates the interaction effect between product type and live streamer competencies.
The goal of this conceptual study is to highlight the potential contribution of emotional intelligence as a tool in advancing the study of equity in public service delivery. By reviewing the literature on emotional intelligence in public administration and rationalizing its relationship with equity among street-level bureaucrats and bureaucracies, this article proposes a strategy to promote social equity in the provision of public service. The proposed strategy focuses on the role of EI-supportive organizational culture, and particularly human resource management practices, as a means to enhance bureaucrats’ emotionally intelligent behavior in their interactions with citizens-clients. Finally, the article proposes a theoretical and methodological agenda for future research in this important field of study.
Emotions play a key role in determining business results in various sectors. Its function as cause, effect, mediation, and moderation of behaviors has been a key element in the actions of consumers and marketers, mainly in B2C studies. However, in B2B perspective, the buying behavior has mostly been approached as a rational activity. This article provides a background for researchers and practitioners who seek to understand how emotion has been explored in B2B through a systematic literature review that covered 38 papers. Results suggest a rational-emotional paradigm shift with the latent recognition of emotions' role in B2B both in buyer and seller contexts, addressing five main research categories: (1) brand, (2) sales-buyer dyad, (3) purchase decision-making, (4) relationship, and (5) service experiences. We also provide a synthesis and outcomes of main emotions advocated in literature (joy, empathy, pride, anger, fear, anxiety, and sadness), as well as avenues for future research.
The new marketing systems paradigm proposed by El-Ansary, Shaw, and Lazer in their thoughtful AMS Review Article is taken to heart herein by reframing disparate pieces of scholarship and emerging research in the field through a systems lens. Three systems are proposed to undergird marketing theories, thought, and behavior: (1) a purposive-driven, goal-directed behavior systems point of view that the actors contemplating, entering, engaging, and resolving marketing exchanges undergo, (2) biological systems (neuroscience, endocrinological, and genetic) grounding marketing exchanges, and (3) cooperative and competitive systems in which goal-directed behavior and biological systems are realized in an integrative way. It is straining, however, to characterize the state of the field as constituting an identity crisis in my opinion, because the majority of marketing scholars, practitioners, and students do not appear to be concerned with or even aware of such a crisis in that the history of marketing thought does not interest them. Perhaps once the field moves from descriptive frameworks to testable theories, and experiences an integration of ideas potentially building towards more comprehensive theories in marketing, we will see hope for a general theory of marketing.
Purpose
This study aims to explore Australasian students’ current perception towards a sales career.
Design/methodology/approach
Data was collected through a self-administered survey from 431 students enrolled in a Sales Management unit in a large Australian university and its Asian campuses.
Findings
The study reveals a 4-factor solution with factors labelled as ‘exciting’, ‘deceptive’, ‘taxing’, and ‘challenging’; with ‘exciting’ being the only factor to significantly predict likelihood of pursuing a sales career. Although no differences of perception were found between males and females, Asian students were found to perceive sales career as more exciting, innovative and fun than Australian students.
Research limitations/implications
Although significant difference was noted between Australian and Asian students’ perceptions towards sales as an exciting career, it is prudent to interpret and generalize our finding with caution as Asia is the largest continent with different cultures, religions and races.
Practical implications
The four factors that were found to influence students’ perception towards a sales career are novel, psychometrically sound, and are pertinent for businesses conducting graduate recruitment. This study indicates how sales education at university level assist in changing students’ views towards a sales career from negative to positive.
Originality/value
While previous research has reported negative perceptions about sales as a career, this study reveals that students consider sales to be an ‘exciting’ career.
The term “affect” is generally used to refer to a set of “internal feeling states,” and includes mood and emotion. This paper provides an assessment of the current state of knowledge on affect and other related constructs as they relate to personal selling and sales management. The authors review and reflect on the theoretical frameworks commonly used in the study of affect in the sales literature. The managerial issues related with affect in sales contexts are also highlighted. The authors conclude with an identification of critical gaps that exist in the sales literature and suggest several directions for future research. © 2013 PSE National Educational Foundation. All rights reserved.
We explore respect's meaning and impact as experienced by individuals in buyer/seller business‐to‐business relationships. Though respect has known drivers and important consequences, it is poorly defined and understood, especially in business literature. We reviewed literature from various fields, including education, aging, and social work, and conducted in‐depth interviews with 24 North American professionals. Through thematic analysis of transcripts, we found respect is about valuing relationship partners. It results not only in commitment and positive word‐of‐mouth (as expected), but also positive emotions and citizenship behaviours. We develop a synthesized and expanded model of the determinants and outcomes of respect and point to future research. Our findings suggest managers should consider how to build respect in buyer/seller relationships to improve long‐term outcomes. Copyright © 2016 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Any career is marked by luck, both good and bad, as well as by hard work interspersed by times of uncertainty, fits and starts, and learning from one's mistakes and successes. But beyond these outcomes and actions, I owe an enormous debt to people who have shaped me and made life the challenging and rewarding journey it is. My family of origin and extended family were incredibly supportive in personal and functional ways. So many mentors and teachers influenced what I know and who I am. Many students, colleagues, secretaries, computer and library staff, and group chairs and deans provided the help, inspiration, and friendship guiding my career behind the scenes. My wife, son, and daughter sustained me through times of tears and joy, as did my community of faith. All these relationships were foundational to any contributions I may have made to attitudes, social action, and theory of mind; methodology, statistics, and philosophical foundations of research; sales force, organization, and health behaviors; emotions, ethics, and moral behavior; and marketing and managerial practice. For me, my career contributions are secondary to the relationships within which I was fortunate to engage.
In this article, we extend and refine previous research on marketing relationships by specifically examining consumers’ use of pre-existing social relationships (i.e., friendships) with firm representatives to make purchases. This study identifies the various consequences of using pre-existing social relationships and integrates these new outcomes with existing research to develop a cohesive theoretical framework. Doing so highlights the unique advantages of developing stronger relationships between firms and customers, while also extending marketing scholars’ and practitioners’ understanding of relationship marketing. Finally, this study links the outcomes of using these relationships to important marketing constructs, such as satisfaction and loyalty.
Emotional intelligence can positively impact sales outcomes. However, research is needed to enhance our understanding about how salesperson's emotional intelligence affects adaptive selling and customer outcomes. This study uses dyadic data from 150 customers matched with 25 salespeople to investigate relationships among emotional intelligence, adaptive selling (AS) and customer loyalty perceptions. Research findings show that regulation of emotions negatively affects salesperson-owned loyalty (SOL), while it positively moderates the AS-SOL relationship. These findings are critical as they challenge the pervasive conception of the positive impact of regulation of emotions in sales. Results also provide further evidence that SOL is important to the firm as it positively affects loyalty to the service provider and through mediating processes also impacts word of mouth.
Emotional labor is the display of expected emotions by service agents during service encounters. It is performed through surface acting, deep acting, or the expression of genuine emotion. Emotional labor may facilitate task effectiveness and self-expression, but it also may prime customer expectations that cannot be met and may trigger emotive dissonance and self-alienation. However, following social identity theory, we argue that some effects of emotional labor are moderated by one's social and personal identities and that emotional labor stimulates pressures for the person to identify with the service role. Research implications for the micro, meso, and macro levels of organizations are discussed.
Wisdom is such an elusive psychological construct that few people have considered it a viable field, though many are fascinated by the topic. Well-known psychologist Robert J. Sternberg of Yale University, perceiving the growth of interest in wisdom as a field, saw a need to document the progress that has been made in the field since the early '80s and to point the way for future theory and research. The resulting comprehensive and authoritative book, Wisdom: Its Nature, Origins and Development, is a well-rounded collection of psychological views on wisdom. It introduces this concept of wisdom, considers philosophical issues and developmental approaches, and covers as well folk conceptions of the topic. In the final section, Professor Sternberg provides an integration of the fascinating and comprehensive material.
The primary focus of this article is on the presentation of wisdom research conducted under the heading of the Berlin wisdom paradigm. Informed by a cultural-historical analysis, wisdom in this paradigm is defined as an expert knowledge system concerning the fundamental pragmatics of life. These include knowledge and judgment about the meaning and conduct of life and the orchestration of human development toward excellence while attending conjointly to personal and collective well-being. Measurement includes think-aloud protocols concerning various problems of life associated with life planning, life management, and life review. Responses are evaluated with reference to a family of 5 criteria: rich factual and procedural knowledge, lifespan contextualism, relativism of values and life priorities, and recognition and management of uncertainty. A series of studies is reported that aim to describe, explain, and optimize wisdom. The authors conclude with a new theoretical perspective that characterizes wisdom as a cognitive and motivational metaheuristic (pragmatic) that organizes and orchestrates knowledge toward human excellence in mind and virtue, both individually and collectively.
A poststructuralist feminist reading of Herbert Simon's construct, bounded rationality, is presented in this article. Following from this notion, it is maintained that even though bounded rationality provides a modified critique of "pure" rationality, this concept is grounded in male-centered assumptions that exclude alternative modes of organizing. Through a feminist deconstructive process, bounded emotionality is introduced as an alternative organizing construct. The premises, conditions of organizing, and implications of this alternative are discussed and illustrated. Finally, theorists are urged to move beyond the traditional dichotomy between rationality and emotionality, in order to question the assumptions that underlie traditional constructs and to create new grounds for future theoretical activities.
In this article, the author describes a new theoretical perspective on positive emotions and situates this new perspective within the emerging field of positive psychology. The broaden-and-build theory posits that experiences of positive emotions broaden people's momentary thought-action repertoires, which in turn serves to build their enduring personal resources, ranging from physical and intellectual resources to social and psychological resources. Preliminary empirical evidence supporting the broaden-and-build theory is reviewed, and open empirical questions that remain to be tested are identified. The theory and findings suggest that the capacity to experience positive emotions may be a fundamental human strength central to the study of human flourishing.
Three studies explored the relationship between participants using different styles of upward influence in formal organizations and their performance evaluations, salaries, and reported stress. In studies of workers, supervisors, and chief executive officers, the following four upward-influence styles were identified through cluster analysis: Shotgun, Tactician, Ingratiator, and Bystander. Male subordinates using a Shotgun style of upward influence were evaluated less favorably by their superiors, earned less, and reported more job tension and personal stress than Tactician subordinates. There was evidence that gender moderated the relation between subordinates' upward-influence styles and superiors' evaluation of their performances.
I present a multilevel theory of emotion and change, which focuses on attributes of emotional intelligence at the individual level and emotional capability at the organizational level. Emotional intelligence facilitates individual adaptation and change, and emotional capability increases the likelihood for organizations to realize radical change. I also present a mesolevel framework relating emotion-attending behaviors to three dynamics of change: receptivity, mobilization, and learning. These behaviors, which I term emotional dynamics, constitute the organization's emotional capability.
This article presents a framework for emotional intelligence, a set of skills hypothesized to contribute to the accurate appraisal and expression of emotion in oneself and in others, the effective regulation of emotion in self and others, and the use of feelings to motivate, plan, and achieve in one's life. We start by reviewing the debate about the adaptive versus maladaptive qualities of emotion. We then explore the literature on intelligence, and especially social intelligence, to examine the place of emotion in traditional intelligence conceptions. A framework for integrating the research on emotion-related skills is then described. Next, we review the components of emotional intelligence. To conclude the review, the role of emotional intelligence in mental health is discussed and avenues for further investigation are suggested.
Organizations are prone to ego defenses, such as denial, rationalization,
idealization, fantasy, and symbolization, that maintain collective self-esteem and the
continuity of existing identity. These defenses are dysfunctional when they militate against
necessary organizational change. Maladaptive identity defense mechanisms can be
mitigated through processes of organizational learning in the form of critical self-reflexivity
and an identity-focused dialogue, which promote attitudes of wisdom.
Study 1 investigates the beneficial effects of experiencing pride. Pride was found to have two different effects. First, it increases salespersonsâ performance-related motivations. Specifically, it promotes adaptive selling strategies, greater effort, and self-efficacy. Secondly, it positively affects organizational citizenship behaviors. Study 2 takes an emotion-process point of view and compares excessive pride (hubris) with positive pride. The results show that salespeople are capable of self-regulating the expression of these emotions via anticipated feelings of fear, shame, and regret. Salespeople in other words are affected by their emotions, but they also are capable of controlling them to their advantage.
Impression management, the process by which people control the impressions others form of them, plays an important role in interpersonal behavior. This article presents a 2-component model within which the literature regarding impression management is reviewed. This model conceptualizes impression management as being composed of 2 discrete processes. The 1st involves impression motivation—the degree to which people are motivated to control how others see them. Impression motivation is conceptualized as a function of 3 factors: the goal-relevance of the impressions one creates, the value of desired outcomes, and the discrepancy between current and desired images. The 2nd component involves impression construction. Five factors appear to determine the kinds of impressions people try to construct: the self-concept, desired and undesired identity images, role constraints, target's values, and current social image. The 2-component model provides coherence to the literature in the area, addresses controversial issues, and supplies a framework for future research regarding impression management.
While there is a significant amount of research on determinants of selling effectiveness for individual salespeople, there
is a surprising lack of study offactors that affect selling effectiveness in team-selling situations. The authors focus on
the context of key account management (KAM) and develop a conceptual model offactors that affect KAM effectiveness. They test
hypotheses with data from 385 firms using structural equation modeling and find that firms should seek to build esprit de
corps among those involved in KAM, should proactively initiate activities with key accounts and do these activities more intensively,
should ensure that key account managers have access to key resources within the marketing and sales organization, and should
involve top managers of the firm.
The thesis I explore in this essay is that organizational members use humorous remarks to discursively construct and organize their cognitive and emotional experiences in and of their organizations. My assumptions are that: (1) organizations are socially constructed through discourse about them (especially managerial discourse), (2) humorous discourse provides a contradiction-centered construction of organizations that operates in the domains of both cognition and emotion, and (3) interpretation of the text of ironic remarks will suggest the processes by which contradictions and their cultural and emotional contexts are socially constructed through discourse. In this essay I use a form of analysis that I developed in relation to humor theory (Mulkay 1988), theories of irony (Brown 1977, Weick and Browning 1986) and Rorty's (1989) concept of the ironic disposition to interpret spontaneous humorous exchanges observed during the regular meetings of a group of middle managers. My interpretations of ironically humorous remarks indicate that the managers in my study constructed at least some of their cognitive and emotional experiences in contradictory ways including: possible/impossible, great/horrible, comic/serious, and upto-date/unprepared, The interpretations also suggest how, in constructing contradiction, the managers reflexively constructed themselves in relation to their organization. The analysis points to a paradoxical understanding of organizational stability and change and informs a contradiction-centered view of organizations.
This article takes as its point of departure concepts derived from couple therapy to better understand collusive relationships in organizations. As we examine these dysfunctional workplace relationships-these interpersonal "gridlocks"four main types of collusive superior-subordinate interaction patterns are identified-the narcissistic, the controlling, the paranoid, and the sadomasochistic-and the consequences of each such dyad in organizations are explored. In conclusion, the paper presents a number of recommendations on how to recognize the presence of such collusive arrangements (taking leadership behavior as a point of departure) and suggests preventive steps that can be taken.
Self-reports figure prominently in organizational and management research, but there are several problems associated with their use. This article identifies six categories of self-reports and discusses such problems as common method variance, the consistency motif, and social desirability. Statistical and post hoc remedies and some procedural methods for dealing with artifactual bias are presented and evaluated. Recommendations for future research are also offered.
Applications of cluster analysis to marketing problems are reviewed. Alternative methods of cluster analysis are presented and evaluated in terms of recent empirical work on their performance characteristics. A two-stage cluster analysis methodology is recommended: preliminary identification of clusters via Ward's minimum variance method or simple average linkage, followed by cluster refinement by an iterative partitioning procedure. Issues and problems related to the use and validation of cluster analytic methods are discussed.
Salespeople involved in the marketing of complex services often perform the role of “relationship manager.” It is, in part, the quality of the relationship between the salesperson and the customer that determines the probability of continued interchange between those parties in the future. A relationship quality model is advanced and tested that examines the nature, consequences, and antecedents of relationship quality, as perceived by the customer. The findings suggest that future sales opportunities depend mostly on relationship quality (i.e., trust and satisfaction), whereas the ability to convert those opportunities into sales hinges more on conventional source characteristics of similarity and expertise. Relational selling behaviors such as cooperative intentions, mutual disclosure, and intensive followup contact generally produce a strong buyer-seller bond.
Relationship marketing—establishing, developing, and maintaining successful relational exchanges—constitutes a major shift in marketing theory and practice. After conceptualizing relationship marketing and discussing its ten forms, the authors (1) theorize that successful relationship marketing requires relationship commitment and trust, (2) model relationship commitment and trust as key mediating variables, (3) test this key mediating variable model using data from automobile tire retailers, and (4) compare their model with a rival that does not allow relationship commitment and trust to function as mediating variables. Given the favorable test results for the key mediating variable model, suggestions for further explicating and testing it are offered.
The authors use meta-analysis techniques to investigate the evidence that has been gathered on the determinants of salespeople's performance. A search of the published and unpublished literature uncovered 116 articles (the list of which is available upon request) that yielded 1653 reported associations between performance and determinants of that performance. The results indicate the determinants can be ordered in the following way in terms of the average size of their association with performance: (1) role variables, (2) skill, (3) motivation, (4) personal factors, (5) aptitude, and (6) organizational/environmental factors. When ordered according to the amount of the observed variation in correlations across studies that is real variation (i.e., not attributable to sampling error), the determinants rank as follows: (1) personal factors, (2) skill, (3) role variables, (4) aptitude, (5) motivation, and (6) organizational/environmental factors. To investigate whether the associations between each of the categories of predictors and performance could be partially accounted for by the presence of moderator variables, the results were broken out by customer type, product type, and type of dependent measure used. The results indicate that the strength of the relationship between the major determinants and salespeople's performance is affected by the type of products salespeople sell. The authors discuss the implications of these findings for sales managers and researchers.
Scholars of the theory of the firm have begun to emphasize the sources and conditions of what has been described as “the organizational advantage,” rather than focus on the causes and consequences of market failure. Typically, researchers see such organizational advantage as accruing from the particular capabilities organizations have for creating and sharing knowledge. In this article we seek to contribute to this body of work by developing the following arguments: (1) social capital facilitates the creation of new intellectual capital; (2) organizations, as institutional settings, are conducive to the development of high levels of social capital; and (3) it is because of their more dense social capital that firms, within certain limits, have an advantage over markets in creating and sharing intellectual capital. We present a model that incorporates this overall argument in the form of a series of hypothesized relationships between different dimensions of social capital and the main mechanisms and processes necessary for the creation of intellectual capital.
This article proposes a positive approach to organizational behavior (OB). Although the importance of positive feelings has been recognized through the years in the academic OB and popular literature, both management scholars and practitioners have arguably too often taken a negative perspective-trying to fix what is wrong with managers and employees and concentrating on weaknesses. Positive organizational behavior (POB) follows the lead of recently emerging positive psychology, which is driven by theory and research focusing on people's strengths and psychological capabilities. Instead of just retreading and putting a positive spin on traditional OB concepts, this unveiling of POB sets forth specific criteria for inclusion. Not only does positivity have to be associated with the concept, but it must also be relatively unique to the OB field, have valid measures, be adaptable to leader/management and human resource training and development, and, most important, capable of contributing to performance improvement in today's workplace. The criteria-meeting concepts of confidence/self-efficacy, hope, optimism, subjective well-being/happiness, and emotional intelligence (or the acronym CHOSE) are identified and analyzed as most representative of the proposed POB approach. The implications of these POB concepts for the workplace are given particular attention.
Impression management, the process by which people control the impressions others form of them, plays an important role in interpersonal behavior. This article presents a 2-component model within which the literature regarding impression management is reviewed. This model conceptualizes impression management as being composed of 2 discrete processes. The 1st involves impression motivation-the degree to which people are motivated to control how others see them. Impression motivation is conceptualized as a function of 3 factors: the goal-relevance of the impressions one creates, the value of desired outcomes, and the discrepancy between current and desired images. The 2nd component involves impression construction. Five factors appear to determine the kinds of impressions people try to construct: the self-concept, desired and undesired identity images, role constraints, target's values, and current social image. The 2-component model provides coherence to the literature in the area, addresses controversial issues, and supplies a framework for future research regarding impression management.
Interest in the problem of method biases has a long history in the behavioral sciences. Despite this, a comprehensive summary of the potential sources of method biases and how to control for them does not exist. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to examine the extent to which method biases influence behavioral research results, identify potential sources of method biases, discuss the cognitive processes through which method biases influence responses to measures, evaluate the many different procedural and statistical techniques that can be used to control method biases, and provide recommendations for how to select appropriate procedural and statistical remedies for different types of research settings.
This study examines the relationship between burnout and performance among three samples of account managers. Using a multidimensional and multifaceted burnout instrument, the authors tried to uncover meaningful configurations based on the basic symptoms of burnout and the role members to whom these symptoms refer. Subsequently, the authors explored how the revealed burnout configurations are related to in-role and extra-role performance. Cluster analysis resulted in five burnout configurations, including the burned-out group, the non-burned-out group, and three moderately burned-out groups. As predicted, the burnout configurations performed differently.
In this study, we examined the links between leadership style, the use of humor, and two measures of performance. Results indicated that leadership style was moderated by the use of humor in its relationship with individual and unit-level performance. Implications for further research on the use of humor by leaders are discussed.
By distinguishing among managerial behaviors according to the time interval over which they are learned and performed and the specificity with which they can be described, three types of skills are identified, and a phased approach to skill training is proposed.
In this article, the author describes a new theoretical perspective on positive emotions and situates this new perspective within the emerging field of positive psychology. The broaden-and-build theory posits that experiences of positive emotions broaden people's momentary thought-action repertoires, which in turn serves to build their enduring personal resources, ranging from physical and intellectual resources to social and psychological resources. Preliminary empirical evidence supporting the broaden-and-build theory is reviewed, and open empirical questions that remain to be tested are identified. The theory and findings suggest that the capacity to experience positive emotions may be a fundamental human strength central to the study of human flourishing.
This article conceptualizes the emotional labor construct in terms of four dimensions: frequency of appropriate emotional display, attentiveness to required display rules, variety of emotions to be displayed, and emotional dissonance generated by having to express organizationally desired emotions not genuinely felt. Through this framework, the article then presents a series of propositions about the organizational-, job-, and individual-level characteristics that are antecedents of each of these four dimensions. Frequency of emotional display, attentiveness to display rules, variety of emotions to be displayed, and emotional dissonance are hypothesized to lead to greater emotional exhaustion, but only emotional dissonance is hypothesized to lead to lower job satisfaction. Implications for future theory development and empirical research on emotional labor are discussed as well.
Research in organizational behavior focuses on expressed and felt emotions as indicators of employee health and satisfaction. In contrast, less conceptual and empirical work addresses the display of feelings as part of the job. This paper proposes a conceptual framework to guide theory development and research about the causes, qualities, and consequences of emotions that are expressed to fulfill role expectations.
This article takes as its point of departure concepts derived from couple therapy to better understand collusive relationships in organizations. As we examine these dysfunctional workplace relationships — these interpersonal “gridlocks” —four main types of collusive superior subordinate interaction patterns are identified — the narcissistic, the controlling, the paranoid, and the sadomasochistic — and the consequences of each such dyad in organizations are explored. In conclusion, the paper presents a number of recommendations on how to recognize the presence of such collusive arrangements (taking leadership behavior as a point of departure) and suggests preventive steps that can be taken.
The authors use meta-analysis techniques to investigate the evidence that has been gathered on the determinants of salespeople's performance. A search of the published and unpublished literature uncovered 116 articles (the list of which is available upon request) that yielded 1653 reported associations between performance and determinants of that performance. The results indicate the determinants can be ordered in the following way in terms of the average size of their association with performance: (1) role variables, (2) skill, (3) motivation, (4) personal factors, (5) aptitude, and (6) organizational/environmental factors. When ordered according to the amount of the observed variation in correlations across studies that is real variation (i.e., not attributable to sampling error), the determinants rank as follows: (1) personal factors, (2) skill, (3) role variables, (4) aptitude, (5) motivation, and (6) organizational/environmental factors. To investigate whether the associations between each of the categories of predictors and performance could be partially accounted for by the presence of moderator variables, the results were broken out by customer type, product type, and type of dependent measure used. The results indicate that the strength of the relationship between the major determinants and salespeople's performance is affected by the type of products salespeople sell. The authors discuss the implications of these findings for sales managers and researchers.
Current university and on-the-job learning programs for managers seldom address managerial wisdom. Yet a number of authors point to the importance of wisdom in the management of a firm. This article identifies the changes that occur in a person as he or she becomes wiser; it also presents a model of the process of becoming wise. Implications for university education and in-house development of managerial wisdom are discussed.
Kipnis and Schmidt (1988) challenged the traditional between-person focus in upward influence research by the clustering of tactics to identify four broader styles individuals use in influence attempts. Using two diverse samples, findings supported the existence of three of the four styles identified by Kipnis and Schmidt (Tactician, Shotgun, and Bystander). Tests of hypotheses linking theoretical correlates to specific styles suggest that configurational approaches to influence use should not be ignored by researchers.
Salespeople involved in the marketing of complex services often perform the role of "relationship manager." It is, in part, the quality of the relationship between the salesperson and the customer that determines the probability of continued interchange between those parties in the future. A relationship quality model is advanced and tested that examines the nature, consequences, and antecedents of relationship quality, as perceived by the customer. The findings suggest that future sales opportunities depend mostly on relationship quality (i. e., trust and satisfaction), whereas the ability to convert those opportunities into sales hinges more on conventional source characteristics of similarity and expertise. Relational selling behaviors such as cooperative intentions, mutual disclosure, and intensive followup contact generally produce a strong buyer-seller bond.