Although team-based selling is highly prominent in practice, research on the drivers of its effectiveness is sparse. Drawing from the literature on climate consensus, the authors propose that in addition to leadership and team factors, team consensus plays a critical role in boosting sales team effectiveness. Using survey and archival data from a sample of 185 pharmaceutical sales teams, the authors find that high team consensus regarding team-level leadership empowerment behaviors (LEBs) and team interpersonal climate quality enhances team potency given high LEBs but weakens team potency given low LEBs. In turn, team potency translates into sales team performance through both extra-role (team helping behavior) and in-role (team effort) behavior. The authors discuss the implications of these findings.
AhearneMichael, MathieuJohn, and RappAdam (2005), “To Empower or Not to Empower Your Sales Force? An Empirical Examination of the Influence of Leader Empowerment Behavior on Customer Satisfaction and Performance,”Journal Applied Psychology, 90(5), 945–55.
2.
BennisWarren G., and NanusBurt (1989), Leaders: The Strategies for Taking Charge.New York: Harper & Row.
3.
BrownSteven P., CronWilliam L., and JohnW. SlocumJr. (1997), “Effects of Goal-Directed Emotions on Salesperson Volitions, Behavior, and Performance: A Longitudinal Study,”Journal of Marketing, 61(January), 39–50.
4.
BrownSteven P., and PetersonRobert A. (1994), “The Effects of Effort on Salesperson Performance and Job Satisfaction,”Journal of Marketing, 58(April), 70–80.
5.
ChanDavid (1998), “Functional Relations Among Constructs in the Same Content Domain at Different Levels of Analysis: A Typology of Composition Models,”Journal of Applied Psychology, 83(2), 234–46.
6.
ChinWynne, W. (1998), “The Partial Least Squares Approach for Structural Equation Modeling,” in Modern Methods for Business Research, MarcoulidesGeorge, A., ed. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 295–336.
7.
ChinWynne W., and GopalAbhijit (1995), “Adoption Intention in GSS: Relative Importance of Beliefs,”Data Base Advances, 26(2-3), 42–64.
8.
ChurchillGilbert A., FordNeil M., HartleySteven W., and WalkerOrville C. (1985), “The Determinants of Salesperson Performance: A Meta-Analysis,”Journal of Marketing Research, 22(May), 103–118.
9.
CongerJay, and KanungoRabindra N. (1988), “The Empowerment Process: Integrating Theory and Practice,”Academy of Management Review, 13(3), 471–82.
De JongAd, de RuyterKo, and LemminkJos (2004), “Antecedents and Consequences of the Service Climate in Boundary-Spanning Self-Managing Service Teams,”Journal of Marketing, 68(April), 18–35.
12.
De JongAd, de RuyterKo, and WetzelsMartin (2005), “Antecedents and Consequences of Group Potency: A Study of Self-Managing Service Teams,”Management Science, 51(11), 1610–25.
13.
GibsonChristina, and VermeulenFreek (2003), “A Healthy Divide: Subgroups as a Stimulus for Team Learning Behavior,”Administrative Science Quarterly, 48(2), 202–239.
14.
GraenGeorge B., and Uhl-BienMary (1995), “Relationship-Based Approach to Leadership: Development of Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) Theory of Leadership over 25 Years—Applying a Multilevel Multidomain Perspective,”Leadership Quarterly, 6(2), 219–47.
15.
GuzzoRichard A., and DicksonMarcus W. (1996), “Teams in Organizations: Recent Research on Performance and Effectiveness,”Annual Review of Psychology, 47(1), 307–338.
16.
GuzzoRichard A., YostP.R., CampbellR.J., and SheaG.P. (1993), “Potency in Groups: Articulating a Construct,”British Journal of Social Psychology, 32(1), 87–106.
17.
RichardHackman J. (1987), “The Design of Work Teams,” in Handbook of Organizational Behavior, LorschJay, W., ed. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 315–42.
18.
HarrisonDavid A., and KleinKatherine J. (2007), “What's the Difference? Diversity Constructs as Separation, Variety, or Disparity in Organizations,”Academy of Management Review, 32(4), 1199–1228.
19.
JarvisCheryl, MacKenzieScott B., and PodsakoffPhilip M. (2003), “A Critical Review of Construct Indicators and Measurement Model Misspecification in Marketing and Consumer Research,”Journal of Consumer Research, 30(September), 199–218.
20.
LindellMichael K., and BrandtChristina J. (2000), “Climate Quality and Climate Consensus as Mediators of the Relationship Between Organizational Antecedents and Outcomes,”Journal of Applied Psychology, 85(3), 331–48.
21.
LockeEdwin A., and LathamGary P. (1990), A Theory of Goal Setting and Task Performance.Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
22.
MacKenzieScott B., PodsakoffPhilip M., and FetterRichard (1993), “The Impact of Organizational Citizenship Behavior on Evaluations of Salesperson Performance,”Journal of Marketing, 57(January), 70–80.
23.
MarksMichelle A., MathieuJohn E., and ZaccaroStephen J. (2001), “A Temporally Based Framework and Taxonomy of Team Processes,”Academy of Management Review, 26(3), 356–76.
24.
MischelWalter (1976), “Towards a Cognitive Social Model Learning Reconceptualization of Personality,” in Interactional Psychology and Personality, EndlerNorman S., and MagnussonDavid, eds. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 166–207.
25.
MohammedSusan, and DumvilleBrad C. (2001), “Team Mental Models in a Team Knowledge Framework: Expanding Theory and Measurement Across Disciplinary Boundaries,”Journal of Organizational Behavior, 22(2), 89–106.
26.
MoonMark A., and ArmstrongGary M. (1994), “Selling Teams: A Conceptual Framework and Research Agenda,”Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, 14(1), 17–30.
OrganDennis W., PodsakoffPhilip M., and MacKenzieScott B. (2006), Organizational Citizenship Behavior: Its Nature, Antecedent, and Consequences.Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
29.
ParsonsLeonard Jon, and AbeelePire Vanden (1981), “Analysis of Sales Call Effectiveness,”Journal of Marketing Research, 18(February), 107–113.
30.
PerryMonica L., PearceCraig L., and HenryP. SimsJr. (1999), “Empowered Selling Teams: How Shared Leadership Can Contribute to Selling Team Outcomes,”Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, 19(3), 35–51.
31.
PodsakoffPhilip M., AhearneMichael, and MacKenzieScott B. (1997), “Organizational Citizenship Behaviors and Quality and Quantity of Work Group Performance,”Journal of Applied Psychology, 82(2), 262–70.
32.
PodsakoffPhilip M., and MacKenzieScott B. (1994), “Organizational Citizenship Behavior and Sales Unit Effectiveness,”Journal of Marketing Research, 31(August), 351–63.
33.
RobersonQuinetta M., SturmanMichael C., and SimonsTony L. (2007), “Does the Measure of Dispersion Matter in Multilevel Research?”Organizational Research Methods, 10(4), 564–88.
34.
SchneiderBenjamin (1990), Organizational Climate and Culture.San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
35.
SchneiderBenjamin, SalvaggioAmy Nicole, and SubiratsMontse (2002), “Climate Strength: A New Direction for Climate Research,”Journal of Applied Psychology, 87(2), 220–29.
36.
SethiRajesh, SmithDaniel C., and Whan ParkC. (2001), “Cross-Functional Product Development Teams, Creativity, and the Innovativeness of New Consumer Products,”Journal of Marketing Research, 38(February), 73–85.
37.
SteinerL.D. (1972), Group Process and Productivity.New York: Academic Press.
38.
WatersonP.E., CleggC.W., BoldenR., PepperK., WarrP.B., and WallT.D. (1999), “The Use and Effectiveness of Modern Manufacturing Practices: A Survey of UK Industry,”International Journal of Production Research, 37(10), 2271–92.
39.
WeitzBarton A., SujanHarish, and SujanMita (1986), “Knowledge, Motivation, and Adaptive Behavior: A Framework for Improving Selling Effectiveness,”Journal of Marketing, 50(October), 174–91.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
