Sales Control Systems and Salesperson Commitment: The Moderating Role of Behavior Uncertainty

Abstract

Although sales control has been identified by previous literature as an effective tool to promote salesperson commitment, unclear categorization of the focal variables makes existing findings confounding. This paper aims to provide more nuanced understanding about the relation between sales control systems and salesperson commitment by categorizing sales control into outcome control, activity control, and capability control. Moreover, we explore the moderating role of behavioral uncertainty, which includes sales cycle uncertainty and behavioral content uncertainty. Using a sample of 208 salespersons in China, we find the following results: (1) sales cycle uncertainty weakens the positive impact of outcome control on salesperson commitment and the negative relationship between activity control and salesperson commitment; (2) behavioral content uncertainty strengthens the positive link between outcome control and salesperson commitment and the negative impact of activity control on salesperson commitment; and (3) both sales cycle uncertainty and behavioral content uncertainty strengthen the positive relationship between capability control and salesperson commitment. This research enriches knowledge about sales control systems and offers insights into the important contextual role of behavior uncertainty that has been largely ignored by prior research in the sales force control literature.

Formal salesforce control mechanisms and behavioral outcomes

“…Output control (which is the most widely studied form of control both within and outside the sales literature) focuses on final performance. For example, in a typical output control scheme, the sales volume, income or quota achievement of a salesperson is tracked and used as the benchmark for measuring their success (Li et al, 2020;Malek et al, 2018;Evans et al, 2007). On the other hand, behavior or process control is broken down into capability and activity controls.…”

“…For example, most of the recent research on salesforce control outcomes either concerns variables related to the selling firm (e.g. sales performance) (Zang et al, 2020) or salespersons (salesperson commitment) (Li et al, 2020). There seems to be a lack of study addressing how salesforce controls affect main consumer behavioral intentions (outcomes).…”

“…Mainstream research on salesforce controls have been conducted in the western contexts (see, for instance, Zang et al, 2020;Li et al, 2020;Evans et al, 2007;Malmi and David, 2008). Though similar works have been undertaken by some researchers like Wang et al (2012), our research goes a step further to evaluate how individual control mechanisms influence customer-directed problem-solving and adaptive selling behavior.…”

How and when does job crafting contribute to franchised restaurant managers' service performance? The moderation of headquarter control systems

“…While BBCSs have been reported to generate positive outcomes, such as role clarity, organizational commitment, intrinsic motivation and trust in supervisors (Challagalla JSTP 32,3 and Shervani, 1996;Jaworski and Kohli, 1991;Oliver and Anderson, 1994;Ramaswami, 2002), they simultaneously stifle individuals' creativity, flexibility, innovation (Merchant, 1985) and risk-taking (Cravens et al, 1993;Oliver and Anderson, 1994). The organizational control literature suggests that BBCSs involve frequent performance evaluation and top-down enforcement of routine activities, which has a deleterious effect on managers' motivation and emotions in the workplace (Li et al, 2020). Building on this contention, we propose BBCSs as hindering job demands that weaken the positive effect of job crafting.…”

When and How Does the Job Insecurity of Salespersons Become a Sleep Problem? The Moderating Roles of Organizational Control Systems

“…Previous studies have found that a behavior-based control system is positively associated with several employee outcomes, such as sales skills and motivation, job satisfaction, trust in supervisors, and behavior performance [ 40 ]. By contrast, outcome-based control systems are based on objective measures of the outcomes (i.e., a salesperson’s sales volume, revenue, or quota attainment) that are demanded by the firm, and salespersons are fully responsible for their accomplishment, with little monitoring of salespersons by management [ 41 ]. Under an outcome-based control system, salespersons tend to have substantial autonomy in performing their jobs (e.g., they may choose their own sales strategies) and are tightly evaluated and rewarded for positive outcomes, such as a high sales volume, market share, and profit contribution [ 38 ].…”