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This research evaluates determinants of sales organization effectiveness in a sample of British companies, and contributes to an important new research stream by following recent empirical studies in the USA and Australia. We discuss a model of sales organization effectiveness determined by salesforce outcome performance and behavioural performance, as well as by the use of a behaviour-based control approach. Sales territory design is also considered as a particularly important managerial variable, which has received little analytical attention in the traditional literature, but which appears to be an important influence on the effectiveness of the sales operation. Our exploratory path analytical model suggests that sales territory design has a large effect on sales organization effectiveness both directly, and indirectly through its relationship with salesforce behavioural performance. These findings are somewhat different to those in similar studies in other countries, and suggest some important implications for managers as well as for researchers in this field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents information on determinants of level of import development. Relatively little empirical attention has been devoted to the purchasing side of the international business transaction, in contrast with the plethora of research efforts investigating firms' export marketing behavior. In the light of this gap in the general field, and the importance of the import function in export development and success, this research project focuses on the importing activities of Great Britain firms trading with the U.S. suppliers. In this context, an attempt is made to investigate those factors which play an important role in the determination of: level of import development, defined as the extent to which the firm is involved in regular or sporadic importing; and attitudes towards future import activities. A conceptual model of import development and attitudes towards future imports has been formulated, based on both a systematic review of the international marketing and purchasing literature and a series of exploratory interviews with imports executives.