Does service-sales ambidexterity matter in business-to-business service recovery? A perspective through salesforce control system

Abstract

Service-sales ambidexterity has recently been presented as a modern type of ambidexterity. Despite the huge prominence of ambidexterity's antecedents, literature has overlooked the influence of salesforce control system on service-sales ambidexterity that may turn into service-related performance outcomes. This research examines three main research questions: (1) whether behavior-based and outcome-based control directly predicts service-sales ambidexterity; (2) how service-sales ambidexterity affects service recovery performance and service innovation capabilities; (3) how the relationship among antecedents and outcomes of service-sales ambidexterity shaped by the interaction effect of manager trust in salesperson and resistance to change. We tested our research framework using a sample of 344 sales employees. The findings advocate that behavior-based control have a negative impression on service-sales ambidexterity. In contrast, outcome-based control has a substantial positive impact on service-sales ambidexterity. The study findings also demonstrate the positive influence of service-sales ambidexterity on both service innovation capability and service recovery performance. The present research found that manager trust in salesperson and resistance to change played a significant moderating role between antecedents and outcomes. This study contributes to several literatures and recommends future direction for researchers and practitioners.