This study explored how sales managers and sales people construct and perform
motivational communication. Sullivan's (1988) Motivational Language Theory
(MLT) was used as a starting point. This theory is critiqued and reinterpreted
within a framework emphasizing multiple communication goals and multiple
levels of communication competence. Participants included 24 sales managers
and sales representatives from University Directories, a major publishing
company of campus telephone directories. A thematic analysis was conducted on
interview notes and transcripts, from which three major and four minor themes
emerged. The experiences of three sales teams are explored to contextualize the
themes, to illustrate deficiencies in MLT, and to highlight the potential of the
alternative theoretical framework for explaining motivational communication.
Findings demonstrate that motivational communication acts often address
multiple communication goals and are open to multiple interpretations. Motiva
tional communication considered competent by employees typically addresses
multiple goals (instrumental, identity, and relational) by strategies of integra
tion or separation and fits employees' beliefs about what constitutes competent
communication. Managers therefore must pay attention to the multiple implica
tions and interpretations of their motivational attempts and must adapt their
communication strategically to employees' beliefs and values.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Adams, J.S. (1965). Inequity in social exchange. In L. Berkowitz (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology(Vol. 2, pp. 267-300). New York: Academic Press.
2.
Austin, J.L. (1962). How to do things with words. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
3.
Bandura, A. (1982, February). Self-efficacy mechanism in human agency . American Psychologist, 37, 122-147.
4.
Barge, J.K. (1994). Leadership: Communication skills for organizations and groups. New York: St. Martin's .
5.
Bass, B.M. (1985). Leadership and performance beyond expectations . New York: Free Press.
6.
Clark, R.A., & Delia, J.G. (1979, April). Thpoi and rhetorical competence. Quarterly Journal of Speech, 65, 187-206.
7.
Coulthard, M. (1977). An introduction to discourse analysis. Essex, UK: Longman.
8.
Cusella, L.P. (1987). Feedback, motivation, and performance. In F. M. Jablin, L. Putnam, K. Roberts, & L. Porter (Eds.), Handbook of organizational communication: An interdisciplinary perspective. (pp. 624-678). Newbury Park: Sage.
9.
Dalrymple, D.J. (1988). Sales management: Concepts and cases (3rd ed.). New York: John Wiley.
10.
Deal, T., & Kennedy, A. (1982). Corporate cultures: The rites and rituals of corporate life. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley .
11.
Fairhurst, G.T. (In press). Dualisms in leadership communication research. In F.M. Jablin & L.L. Putnam (Eds.), The new handbook of organizational communication. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
12.
Frey, L. R., Botan, C. H. , Friedman, P, G., & Kreps, G. L. (Eds.). (1991). Investigating communication: An introduction to research methods. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall.
13.
Giddens, A. (1979). Central problems in social theory. Berkeley: University of California Press.
14.
Haas, J., & Sypher, B.D. (1991). Communication-related abilities and individual success in organizations. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Speech Communication Association, Atlanta, GA.
15.
House, R.J. (1971, September). A path-goal theory of leader effectiveness . Administrative Science Quarterly, 16, 321-338.
16.
House, R.J. (1996). Path goal theory of leadership: Lessons, legacy, and a reformulated theory. Leadership Quarterly, 7, 323-352.
17.
Jablin, F.M., & Krone, K.J. (1994). Task/work relationships: A life-span perspective . In G. Miller & M. Knapp (Eds.), Handbook of interpersonal communication (pp. 621-675). Beverly Hill, CA: Sage.
18.
Jablin, F.M., Cude, R.L., House, A., Lee, J., & Roth, N.L. (1994). Communication competence in organizations: Conceptualization and comparison across multiple levels of analysis. In L. Thayer & G. Barnett (Eds.), Organization-communication: Emerging perspectives (Vol. 4, pp. 114-140). Norwood, NJ: Ablex.
19.
Jablin, F.M., & Sias, P.M. (In press). Communication competence. In F. M. Jablin & L. L. Putnam (Eds.), The new handbook of organizational communication. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
20.
Kellerman, K., & Cole, T. (1994, February). Classifying compliance-gaining messages: Taxonomic disorder and strategic confusion. Communication Theory, 4, 3-60.
21.
Kouzes, J., & Posner, B.Z. (1987). The leadership challenge: How to get extraordinary things done in organizations. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
22.
Locke, E.A., & Latham, G.P. (1990). A theory of goal setting and task performance . Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall .
23.
Mayfield, J., Mayfield, M., & Kopf, J. (1995, October). Motivating language: Exploring theory with scale development. The Journal of Business Communication , 32(4), 329-344.
24.
McGuire, W.J. (1973). Persuasion, resistance, and attitude change. In 1. 0. Poole, F. W. Frey, W. Schramm, N. Maccoby, & E. Parker (Eds.), Handbook of communication (pp. 216-252). Chicago: Rand McNally.
25.
McPhee, R.D. (1985). Formal structure and organizational communication . In R. McPhee & P. K. Tompkins (Eds.), Organizational communication: Traditional themes and new directions (pp. 149-178). Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
26.
O'Keefe, B.J., & Delia, J.G. (1982). Impression formation and message production. In M. E. Roloff & C. R. Berger (Eds.), Social cognition and communication (pp. 33-72). Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
27.
O'Keefe, D.J. (1994). Compliance gaining: From strategy-based to feature-based analyses of compliance-gaining message classification and production. Communication Theory, 4, 61-69.
28.
Owen, W.F. (1984). Interpretive themes in relational communication . Quarterly Journal of Speech, 70, 274-287.
29.
Pike, K.L. (1967). Language in relation to a unified theory of the structure of human behavior. The Hague: Mouton.
30.
Prus, R.C. (1989). Making sales: Influence as interpersonal accomplishment . Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
31.
Putnam, L.L. (1983). The interpretive perspective: An alternate to functionalism. In L. L. Putnam & M. E. Pacanowsky (Eds.), Communication and organizations: An interpretive approach (pp. 31-53). Beverly Hills: Sage.
32.
Rost, J.C. (1991). Leadership for the twenty-first century. New York: Praeger.
33.
Seibold, D., Cantrill, & Meyers, R. (1985). Interpersonal influence. In G. Miller & M. Knapp (Eds.), Handbook of interpersonal communication (pp. 551-611). Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
34.
Steers, R. M., & Porter, L. W. (Eds.). (1991). Motivation and work behavior (5th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.
35.
Sullivan, J.J. (1988). Three roles of language in motivation theory. Academy of Management Review, 13, 104-115.
36.
Sypher, B.D., & Zorn, T.E. (1986). Communication related abilities and upward mobility: A longitudinal investigation. Human Communication Research , 12, 420-431.
37.
Tompkins, P.K. (1994). Principles of rigor for assessing evidence in "qualitative" communication research. Western Journal of Communication , 58, 44-50.
38.
Trujillo, N. (1992). Interpreting (the work and talk of) baseball: Perspectives on ballpark culture. Western Journal of Communication , 56, 350-371.
39.
Vroom, V.H. (1964). Work and motivation. New York : John Wiley.
40.
Weick, K. (1987). Communication: An interdisciplinary perspective . In F. Jablin, L. Putnam, K. Roberts, & L. Porter (Eds.) Handbook of organizational communication: An interdisciplinary perspective (pp. 97-122). Newbury Park: Sage.
41.
Weinstein, E.A., & Deutschberger, P. (1963). Some dimensions of altercasting . Sociometry, 26, 454-466.
42.
Wood, J.T., Dendy, L.L., Dordek, E., Germany, M., & Varallo, S. (1994). The dialectic of difference: A thematic analysis of intimates' meanings for differences. In K. Carter & M. Presnell (Eds.), Interpretive approaches to interpersonal communication (pp. 115-136). New York: SUNY Press.
43.
Yin, R.K. (1984). Case study research: Design and methods. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
44.
Zorn, T.E. (1993). Motivation to communicate: A critical review with suggested alternatives. Communication Yearbook, 16, 515-549.
45.
Zorn, T.E., & Leichty, G.B. (1991). Leadership and identity: A reinterpretation of situational leadership theory. Southern Communication Journal , 56, 11-24.
46.
Zorn, T.E., & Violanti, M. (1996). Communication abilities and individual achievement in organizations. Management Communication Quarterly, 10, 139-167.
