![[PDF]](/pb-assets/Icons/adobe-pdf-icon-1498649896243.png){kind=icon}
Abstract
Undergraduate sales education is somewhat unique in that it prepares students for a career which functions mostly outside of traditional corporate management structures. Concurrently, the demand for well-qualified salespeople has intensified partly due to high turnover. This article contends that there may be a disconnection between student expectations of a sales job when they leave school and what they actually experience on the job. Using salesforce socialization as a theoretical foundation, this study compares students’ versus salespeople’s perceptions of sales jobs in terms of realism and congruence with outcome and behavior-based job performance indicators as well as perceived ethical control. When considering job performance and ethics, the results show that students have a highly idealistic perception of sales when compared to those in the actual field of sales. For marketing educators it is imperative that efforts are focused on helping students form more realistic expectations for a sales career. Such efforts and suggestions are provided in the implications.
Keywords sales education, career planning, socialization, sales performance
References
Section:
|
Ahearne, M., Jelinek, R., Jones, E. (2007). Examining the effect of salesperson service behavior in a competitive context. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 35(4), 603-616. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
Bagozzi, R. P. (1980). Performance and satisfaction in an industrial salesforce: An examination of their antecedents and simultaneity. Journal of Marketing, 44(Spring), 65-77. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
|
Beck, L., Ajzen, I. (1991). Predicting dishonest actions using the theory of planned behavior. Journal of Research in Personality, 25(3), 285-301. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
Bommer, W. H., Johnson, J. L., Rich, G., Podsakoff, P. M., MacKenzie, S. B. (1995). On the interchangeability of objective and subjective measures of employee performance: A meta-analysis. Personnel Psychology, 48, 587-598. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
Buchanan, B. (1974). Building organizational commitment: The socialization of managers in work organization. Administrative Science Quarterly, 19(December), 533-546. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
Butler, D. D. (2012). Take a professional to lunch: A process to establish a professional network. Marketing Education Review, 22, 39-40. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Carson, T. (2001). Deception and withholding information in sales. Business Ethics Quarterly, 11, 275-306. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
Cascio, W. F. (2006). Managing human resources: Productivity, quality of work life, profits (7th ed.). Burr Ridge, IL: Irwin/McGraw-Hill. Google Scholar | |
|
Churchill, G. A., Ford, N. M., Hartley, S. W., Walker, O. C. (1985). The determinants of salesperson performance: A meta-analysis. Journal of Marketing Research, 22(2), 103-118. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
|
Cummins, S., Peltier, J. W., Erffmeyer, R., Whalen, J. (2013). A critical review of the literature for sales educators. Journal of Marketing Education, 35(1), 68-78. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | |
|
Darmon, R. Y. (1990). Identifying sources of turnover costs: A segmental approach. Journal of Marketing, 54, 46-56. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
|
Darmon, R. Y. (2008). The concept of salesperson replacement value: A salesforce turnover management tool. Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, 28(3), 211-232. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Donoho, C. L., Heinze, T., Kondo, C. (2012). Gender differences in personal selling ethics evaluations: Do they exist and what does their existence mean for teaching sales ethics? Journal of Marketing Education, 34, 55-66. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | |
|
Dubinsky, A. J. (1981). Perceptions of the sales job: How students compare with industrial salespeople. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 9(Fall), 352-367. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | |
|
Dubinsky, A. J., Howell, R. D., Ingram, T. N., Bellenger, D. N. (1986). Salesforce socialization. Journal of Marketing, 50(4), 192-207. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
|
Dwyer, S., Hill, J., Martin, W. (2000). An empirical investigation of critical success factors in the personal selling process for homogenous goods. Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, 20(3), 151-159. Google Scholar | |
|
Evans, K. R., McFarland, R. G., Dietz, B., Jaramillo, F. (2012). Advancing sales performance research: A focus on five under-researched topic areas. Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, 32(1), 89-106. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Feldman, D. C. (1976). A contingency theory of socialization. Administrative Science Quarterly, 21(September), 433-450. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
Ferrell, O. C., Gresham, L. (1985). A contingency framework for understanding ethical decision-making in marketing. Journal of Marketing, 49(3), 87-96. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
|
Fishbein, M., Ajzen, I. (2010). Predicting and changing behavior: The reasoned action approach. New York: Psychology Press. Google Scholar | |
|
Fogel, S., Hoffmeister, D., Rocco, R., Strunk, D. (2012). Teaching sales. Harvard Business Review, 90(7/8), 94-99. Google Scholar | ISI | |
|
Fogelman College of Business and Economics . (2013). MILE program. Retrieved from http://www.memphis.edu/fcbe/MILE Google Scholar | |
|
Gault, J., Redington, J., Schlager, T. (2000). Undergraduate business internships and career success: Are they related? Journal of Marketing Education, 22(1), 45053. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | |
|
Gomersall, E. R., Myers, M. S. (1966). Breakthrough in on-the-job training. Harvard Business Review, 44(July-August), 62-72. Google Scholar | ISI | |
|
Griffeth, R. W., Hom, P. W. (2001). Retaining valued employees. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Google Scholar | |
|
Haley, D. A. (1991). Sales management students vs business practitioners: Ethical dilemmas and perceptual differences. Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, 11(2), 59-63. Google Scholar | |
|
Hise, R. T. (1970). Conflict in the salesman’s role. In Barnhill, J. A. (Ed.), Sales management: Contemporary perspectives (pp. 48-62). Glenview, IL: Scott, Foresman and Company. Google Scholar | |
|
Hoffmeister, D. C., Rocco, R. A. (2012). 2011-2012 sales effectiveness survey. Chicago: DePaul University, Center for Sales Leadership. Google Scholar | |
|
Holland, J. L. (1973). Making vocational choices: A theory of careers. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall. Google Scholar | |
|
Hunter, G. K., Perreault, W. D. (2007). Making sales technology effective. Journal of Marketing, 71(1), 16-34. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
|
Jaramillo, F., Mulki, J. P., Marshall, G. W. (2005). A meta-analysis of the relationship between organizational commitment and salesperson job performance: 25 years of research. Journal of Business Research, 58(6), 705-714. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
Johnston, M. W., Hair, J. F., Boles, J. (1989). Why do salespeople fail? Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, 9(Fall), 53-58. Google Scholar | |
|
Kraut, R., Olson, J., Banaji, M., Bruckman, A., Cohen, J., Couper, M. (2004). Psychological research online: Report of board of scientific affairs’ advisory group on the conduct of research on the Internet. American Psychologist, 59(2), 105-117. Google Scholar | Crossref | Medline | ISI | |
|
Louis, M. R. (1980). Surprise and sense making: What newcomers experience in entering unfamiliar organizational settings. Administrative Science Quarterly, 25(June), 226-251. Google Scholar | Crossref | Medline | ISI | |
|
MacKenzie, S. B., Podsakoff, P. M., Fetter, R. (1993). The impact of organizational citizenship behavior on evaluations of salespeople. Journal of Marketing, 57(1), 70-80. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
|
ManpowerGroup . (2012). 2012 Talent shortage survey. Retrieved from www.manpowergroup.us/campaigns/talent-shortage-2012/pdf/2012 Google Scholar | |
|
Nunnally, J. C. (1978). Psychometric theory. New York: McGraw-Hill. Google Scholar | |
|
Osborn, R. N., Hunt, J. G. (1974). Environmental and organizational effectiveness. Administrative Science Quarterly, 19(2), 231-246. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
Palmatier, R. W., Dant, R. P., Grewal, D., Evans, K. R. (2006). Factors influencing the effectiveness of relationship marketing: A meta-analysis. Journal of Marketing, 70(4), 136-153. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
|
Peter, J. P. (1979). Reliability: A review of psychometric basics and recent marketing practices. Journal of Marketing Research, 16(1), 6-17. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
|
Porter, L. W., Lawler, E. E., Hackman, J. R. (1975). Behavior in organizations. New York: McGraw-Hill. Google Scholar | |
|
Richardson, R. (1999). Measuring the impact of turnover of sales. Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, 19(4), 53-66. Google Scholar | |
|
Schein, E. H. (1978). Career dynamics: Matching individual and organizational needs. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley Publishing. Google Scholar | |
|
U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics . (2013). Labor force statistics from the current population survey. Retrieved from: http://www.bls.gov/cps/cpsaat11.pdf Google Scholar | |
|
Van Maanen, J. (1976). Breaking in: Socialization to work. In Dubin, R. (Ed.), Handbook of work, organization, and society (pp. 67-130). Chicago: Rand-McNally. Google Scholar | |
|
Van Maanen, J., Schein, E. H. (1979). Toward a theory of organizational socialization. In Staw, B.M. (Ed.), Research in organizational behavior (pp. 209-264). Greenwich, CT: JAI Press. Google Scholar | |
|
Vroom, V. H. (1964). Work and motivation. New York: John Wiley and Sons. Google Scholar | |
|
Walker, O. C., Churchill, G. A., Ford, N. M. (1975). Organizational determinants of the industrial salesman’s role conflict and ambiguity. Journal of Marketing, 39(January), 32-39. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
|
Walker, O. C., Churchill, G. A., Ford, N. M. (1979). Where do we go from here? Selected conceptual and empirical issues concerning the motivation and performance of the industrial salesforce. In Albaum, G., Churchill, G. A. (Eds.), Critical issues in sales management: State-of-the-art and future research needs (pp. 10-75). Eugene: Division of Research, College of Business Administration, University of Oregon. Google Scholar | |
|
Wanous, J. P. (1973). Effects of realistic job preview on job acceptance, job attitudes, and job survival. Journal of Applied Psychology, 58(December), 327-332. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
Wanous, J. P. (1980). Organizational entry: Recruitment, selection, and socialization of newcomers. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley Publishing. Google Scholar | |
|
Weilbaker, D. C., Merritt, N. J. (1992). Attracting graduates to sales positions: The role of recruiter knowledge. Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, 12(4), 49-58. Google Scholar | |
|
Weitz, J. (1956). Job expectancy and survival. Journal of Applied Psychology, 40(August), 245-257. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
Willingham, R. (2003). Integrity selling for the 21st century: How to sell the way people want to buy. New York: Currency Books. Google Scholar | |
|
Zoltners, A., Sinha, P., Lorimer, S. (2012). To build a great sales team, you need a great manager. www.hbr.org,July 23. Google Scholar |
