Michael Ahearne Professor and C.T. Bauer Chair in Marketing University of Houston

1. Michael Ahearne Professor and C.T. Bauer Chair in Marketing University of Houston 2011 GSSI Conference SDA Bocconni School of Management Milan, Italy An Outlook on Sales Research: Addressing the Famished State of Sales Manager Research

2. Agenda • Importance of Sales Managers • Current State of the Literature • Fruitful Avenues for Future Investigation • Example 2

3. 1. Importance of Sales Managers What organizations really have are the outer people, connected to the world, and the inner ones, disconnected from it, as well as many so-called middle managers, who are desperately trying to connect the inner and outer people to each other. s (Mintzberg 1996, p. 61, italics in original) 3

4. 1. Importance of Sales Managers Source: Trailer and Dickie (2006) 4

5. 2. Current State of the Literature The Majority of Sales Research lies at the Salesperson Level  Determinants of salesperson performance (e.g., Churchill et al. 1985; 535 citations)  Measures of salesperson performance (e.g., Behrman and Perrault 1982; 245 citations).  Role stress (e.g., Behrman and Perrault 1984; 293 citations). Adaptive Selling (e.g., Weitz, Sujan, and Sujan 1986; 374 citations).  5

6. 2. Current State of the Literature Sales Manager Research Falls Predominantly in Four Categories Control Systems Effectiveness • Anderson and Oliver (1987) • Cravens et al. (1993) • John and Weitz (1989) • Joseph and Thevaranjan (1998) • Oliver and Anderson (1994, 1995) • Brewer (1997) • Deeter-Schmelz et al. (2002, 2008) • Dubinsky and Ingram (1983) • Guest and Meric (1989) • Spencer (1972) Leadership Trust • Dubinsky et al. (1995) • Comer et al. (1995) • MacKenzie, Podsakoff, and Rich (2001) • Rich (1997) • Wieseke et al. (2009) • Brashear et al. (2003) • Flaherty and Pappas (2000) • Strutton and Pelton (1993) 6

7. 2. Current State of the Literature Critical Impediments to the Advancement of Sales Manager Research  Research regarding sales manager effectiveness is predominantly qualitative in nature (e.g., Deeter-Schmelz et al. 2008)  Most accounts are published in practitioner-oriented journals (e.g., Business Horizons, California Management, and HBR)  Previous research has failed to investigate phenomena beyond the sales manager – salesperson dyad Sales researchers have mainly examined sales leadership from a “human capital” perspective rather than from a “social capital” point of view.  7

8. 3. Fruitful Avenues for Future Investigation Areas Open for Examination  The sales manager may be looked at as a strategic implementer, responsible for gathering, integrating, and disseminating information to those above and below him/her  Informal networks within the sales force may be studied from a social capital perspective (Brass 2011)  Traits of effective sales managers – e.g., long-term orientation, achievement motivation, ambition – remain an empirical question 8

9. 5. Example Study 2 – Research Overview Research Setting • Data were collected from the sales organization of a US-based Fortune 500 company in the B2B sector (cleaning and sanitizing industry) • Questionnaires were distributed to all top managers, sales managers, and salespeople directly involved in the sales function of the sales organization (i.e., service personnel and divisions were excluded) Sample • Three source data: • 31 top managers (response rate: 100%) • 228sales managers (response rate: 95%) • 1437salespeople (response rate: 71%) • Objective company records: • Business unit performance: (1) sales as a percentage of quota, (2) new customer productivity, and (3) district manager performance evaluation Methodological Approach • Hierarchical Linear Modeling: • Responses from sales managers who work under the same sales director are not independent • Network Analysis: • UCINET was used to calculate network measures (Borgatti, Everett, and Freeman 2002) 9

10. 5. Example Study 2 – Network Structure 10

11. 5. Example Study 2 – Hypotheses 11

12. 5. Example Study 2 – Implications Conclusions and Implications for Practice  The findings suggest that “successful leaders have a nose for opportunity and a knack for knowing whom to tap to get things done” (Ibarra and Hunter 2007, p. 40)  Product knowledge training and an experienced sales force are integral to converting competitive intelligence efforts into quality, company-wide information.  For competitive intelligence to be valuable, it must be integrated and harmonized by highly central sales managers. Sales managers can play a vital role in filtering redundant information and, then, disemminating it throughout the organization  12

13. Thank You! Contact: Michael Ahearne, PhD Professor of Marketing Executive Director, Sales Excellence Institute Department of Marketing & EntrepreneurshipBauer College of BusinessUniversity of Houston334 Melcher HallHouston, Texas 77204-6021 Phone: 713-743-4155 Fax: 713-743-4572 13

14. Back-up Slides Contact: Michael Ahearne, PhD Professor of Marketing Executive Director, Sales Excellence Institute Department of Marketing & EntrepreneurshipBauer College of BusinessUniversity of Houston334 Melcher HallHouston, Texas 77204-6021 Phone: 713-743-4155 Fax: 713-743-4572 14

15. 4. Example Study 1– Results Notes: TM = top managers, SM = sales managers, SP = salespeople, EX = external contacts 15

16. 4. Example Study 1 – Results 16

17. 4. Example Study 1 – Results Notes: MDR = sales manager’s business unit network size, TDR = top manager’s regional network size. 17

18. 4. Example Study 1 – Results Notes: MCHAR = sales manager’s charismatic leadership, DCHAR = top manager’s charismatic leadership. 18