Bolander et al. (2015). Social networks within sales organizations: their development and importance for salesperson performance. Journal of Marketing, 79(6), 1-16. doi:10.1509/jm.14.0444
Overview - Summary of the Key Points
The topic of this article is related to salespersons performance. Traditionally, it was based on sales people relations with customers and their own activities. Off late, researchers have found other factors, playing a leading role in sales people’s performance. Main focus of this research is on sales people’s intra-organizational connections and activities, helping in realising high sales outputs as well as the role played by different traits of the sales persons. Other than the sales persons own acts of creating influence impacts their sales realizations. In other words they use politics as a tool in creating an impressing upon others. Sales persons take leverage from their social networking traits, which can be based either on their relationship building prowess or their holding a distinct position in the organization. Researchers are surprised somewhat over sales persons developing political skill, antecedent to their relationship building trait but not over their holding a position in the organization. The result is that such sales men, who have political insights to avail the received information, use it to increase sales and get job satisfaction as well. The important question is which network – relational or positional – plays a critical role in increased performance and sales realization.
Bolander et al. address the issue of what variables help the sales person to increase sales performance, the relational centrality or positional centrality. What role does political acumen play in increasing sales persons performance in the context of their relational centrality and positional centrality and how much. Research hypotheses include:
H1: Political acumen has a straight and positive effect on relationship building.
H2: Political acumen has a straight and positive effect on positional basis.
H3a: There is a positively important interaction between political acumen and job tenure in the organization on relational basis: as tenure increases, the impact of political acumen on relational basis also increases.
H3b: There is a positively important interaction between sales person tenure and political acumen on positional basis; as sales man’s tenure increases, the impact of political acumen on positional basis also increases.
H4: Relational basis has a positively important impact on sales output.
H5: Positional basis has a positively important impact on sales output.
Research Design and Procedures
The research was designed using primary method of conducting a survey of the company’s sales people who were well informed about the project and permission of the management was taken in conducting the survey. Special about this research design was that only a single company was targeted to avoid errors, creeping in from wrong computations of network measures. It helped in the analysis of the given network, as a single company analysis provided a transparent network fence. It also helped researchers in controlling external factors of the company, not interfering in the outcomes. Response rates were computed by including either or both members of the dyad for non-directed networks. All the positive integers were included in the computations for undirected networks in the attempt to include maximum participation of the network of sales employees. Additionally, data was not limited to sales people network only. The social network represented equal number of non-sales people, thus, creating 763 distinct dyads of the social grouping.
Modus operandi was to create a political acumen inventory of 12 items, 3 for each aspect of political acumen. Free-recall method was preferred to roaster method for designing the networks. Thus, relational and positional bases were computed by including the data from the whole sales team. Other than relational and positional bases, sales output and tenure were also derived from the company records, segregating output dependent measure from computations of group positions. Month was taken as a unit, representing output. Extroversion and gender controls were applied for affecting sales persons grouping behaviour.
Findings/Analysis of Data – Summary of Researcher’s Analysis in addition to Assessment of the Data
Bolander et al. employed two methods to evaluate the hypotheses; UCINET was used to compute relational and positional bases. It is a randomly used method for analyzing social networks. Second method was partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM), used to evaluate the structural model for a number of reasons, including: it centres around predictive analysis; it optimizes the division of endogenous variables stated by the exogenous variables; assumptions are not required for data distribution in PLS; skewed distributions don’t affect research outcomes; PLS is also suitable for approximating complicated models, including hierarchical segments.
As far as assessment of the data methods is concerned, the researchers have taken full measures, as have used two methods of estimation, UNICET and PLS-SEM. Knowing well the limitations of different methods, they have logically proved the pertinence of preferring PLS-SEM to CB-SEM, another equally effective procedure but after comparing both for their shortcomings, which are same in both models, researchers have given priority to PLS-SEM because outcomes of PLS-SEM provide good proxies for CB-SEM. As stated by the researchers, although it is stated that weaknesses of PLS-SEM are robust points for CB-SEM but given the complexity of the firm data and model, researchers advocate that PLS is employed by standard marketing journals as well. Thus, the method PLS-SEM has been well justified by the researchers.
Taking additional precautions, researchers have also finally examined the relevance of the outcomes of the selected model, employing Stone-Geisser’s Q2 value and the blind-folding process in the SmartPLS. It ensures accuracy in outcomes, as predicting the items in reflective approximation models of multi and single item endogenous designs. Q2 values for leading variables were found safely above zero, which points out the pertinence of the model for endogenous inactive variable.
Flaws in Analysis/Design - Identify Limitations Noted in addition to Assessment of Flaws
Researchers have used extensive methods to get accurate results. Use of UNICET method for estimating one aspect and PLS-SEM for complicated hierarchical kind of data to get extra information over aspects of political acumen, indicates their seriousness of purpose, i.e. to get optimized outcomes, without compromising the quality of their work. Nevertheless, it needs to be mentioned that researchers have shown agreement that there are flaws in the PLS method, as outcomes over-appraise the item loadings and under-appraise the structural relationships. Nevertheless, it needs to be acknowledged that their choice of PLS is based on the popular trend, prevalent in the marketing journals to use and prefer PLS to CB-SEM.
Research Conclusions and Recommendations - the Applicability of the Findings
This research has been successful in substantiating the relevance of networked connections, providing competitive edge to its members to help increase performance in salesmanship. They can be given training to learn the tactics of relationship building and using political skills to their advantage. These traits should be made part of the new employee orientation programs to highlight how internal connections within the firms change sales prospects into realities. This research can help managers to recruit such people in their sales force who are extrovert, as research has established that rather than political acumen, it is extroversion that impresses positional centrality. For such sales men who are low on these qualities, managers should find ways to help them develop relationship skills like their extrovert counterparts.
Organizations’ managers can leverage from these research outcomes by recognizing the importance of sales persons networking abilities by appreciating them. Sales people realizing sales through field jobs should be encouraged by the management in cultivating relationships. It is recommended that managers take a lenient view of the time punctuality element, not raising eyebrows when finding employees interacting with one another. Events should be organized to create a positive environment for the sales people to participate in the orientation programs when new employees are inducted in the organization. Management needs to see to it that all time of the sales people is not spent outside partying, as inside resources available to them also need to be taken leverage by them.
Researchers’ Reputation
Although the document provides no help to get any information about the researchers but research on the internet confirms that Willy Bolander, the leading researcher, is assistant professor of marketing in the College of Business in the Florida State University. Cinthia B. Satornino, the corresponding researcher also holds the same rank, i.e. Assistant Professor of Marketing, in D’Amore-McKim School of Business, in North-eastern University. Douglas E. Hughes is Associate Professor of Marketing, Eli Broad College of Business, Michigan State University. Gerald R. Ferris is Francis Eppes Professor of Management, College of Business, Florida State University.
