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To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2008.03.002 Byline: Nigel F. Piercy (a), David W. Cravens (b), Nikala Lane (a) Keywords: Market orientation; Critical sales skills; Sales management control; Control competencies; Salesperson performance; Sales unit effectiveness Abstract: The pursuit of superior salesperson performance and higher levels of sales organization effectiveness is a growing management priority. Management control is an important antecedent to several aspects of salesperson performance and organizational effectiveness. However, prior research has neglected two important issues. First, the impact of market orientation on sales manager control approaches has not been previously considered. Second, sales manager competencies in behavior-based control have not been examined, as research has focused on the level and form of control. Market orientation and the critical sales skills required of salespeople have strong antecedent relationships with sales manager control. Also, sales manager control competencies play a significant role in shaping salesperson performance, and the impact of control competencies is larger than control level. Sales manager control competencies play an important mediating role between sales manager control level and salesperson performance and sales organization effectiveness. Our findings are based on a study of British companies in which five hundred sales managers were sent surveys and 300 usable responses (a response rate of 60%) were returned. Three important implications derived from this study include: (1) sales managers need to translate market orientation into sales force behaviors; (2) control strategy should be aligned with sales force priorities; and (3) time and resources should be invested in training sales managers. Author Affiliation: (a) The University of Warwick, Warwick Business School, Coventry CV4 7AL, United Kingdom (b) Texas Christian University, M.J. Neeley School of Business, TCU Box 298530, Fort Worth TX 76129, United States Article History: Received 1 September 2006; Revised 12 March 2007; Accepted 6 March 2008

Salespeople play an important role in applying customer-driven strategies, and enhancing their performance becomes a top piority for many organizations. An approach to help executives determinine the control levels suitable to to the company's selling situation and creating comparisons with manager competencies in carrying out these control activities is presented.

The author examines growing opportunities for female managers within sales organizations. Topics include career choices, employment outlook, and management training.

The reorganization of the sales staff to promote better customer relations is discussed.

The influence of organizational structure in the creation of better collaboration between marketing and sales functions is investigated. High performing organizations were found to structure their marketing and sales functions both as single departments and as separate departments. The absence of a relationship between structure and collaboration of sales and marketing is also discussed.

[46] Piercy, Nigel F., David W. Cravens, Nikala Lane, and Douglas W. Vorhies (2006), 'Driving Organizational Citizenship Behaviors and Salesperson In-Role Behavior Performance: The Role of Management Control and Perceived Organizational Support,' Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 34 (2), 244-262. [Shoemaker] As firms shift their sales forces toward relationship marketing, the behaviors of sales people and sales managers that affect performance need to be examined. These authors have tested two models of salesperson and sales manager behaviors. The first model shows that organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) are antecedents to salesperson in-role behavior performance and that salesperson in-role behavior performance mediates the relationship of OCBs with salesperson outcome performance. The second model suggests that sales manager behavior control will impact perceived organizational support and OCB. The authors surveyed the field sales force for a commercial directory publisher obtaining 214 responses. The results show substantial support for the two models and support for the importance of sales manager behavior controls on salesperson performance.

See also 4, 8, 9, 11, 12, 17, 26, 28, 29, 30, 35, 43. [18] Cravens, David W., Nigel F. Piercy, and George S. Low (2006), 'Globalization of the Sales Organization: Management Control and Its Consequences,' Organizational Dynamics, 35 (3), 291-303. [Jung] This paper deals with global management of the sales force with particular emphasis on sales management control and outcomes. Authors argue that global convergence trends in sales practices prompt companies to design global sales structures--a rather standardized (versus localized) approach. Analyzing data collected from eight countries (Austria, Greece, Gulf States [Bahrain and Saudi Arabia], India, Israel, Malaysia, Nigeria, and the United Kingdom), the authors found some support for their notion that sales organizations practices are increasingly similar around the world. That is, sales organizations in those countries used a high level of behavioral control and it was mostly effective. Further, the use of incentive pay was not effective in most countries. However, the authors also found some divergence of sales management control and outcomes in their data. For instance, the behavioral control seems to be more effective in high uncertainty avoidance countries, but it seems less effective in high power distance countries. The authors recommend that companies proactively respond to the emerging convergence trend in sales management.

Discusses the "Consequences of Sales Management's Behavior and Compensation-Based Control Strategies in Developing Countries," a study by David W. Cravens, George S. Low and Nigel F. Piercy, published in the U.S. in September 2004. Objective of the study; Prospects for sales growth of international companies; Association of salesperson performance with managers' coaching and facilitation; Effect of compensation control on sales unit effectiveness; Conclusion of the study.