Sales Manager Behavior-Based Control and Salesperson Performance: The effects of Manager Control Competencies and Organizational Citizenship Behavior

Abstract

Sales management control strategy attracts considerable research attention because of its importance to achieving superior salesperson performance. However, the research stream on this topic evaluates the type of control exercised by sales managers (e.g., behavior versus outcome based) and the level of control. First, this paper introduces the construct of sales manager control competencies and examines not simply how much control managers exercise, but how well they implement control. Second, the paper examines the role of sales manager organizational citizenship behavior in the implementation of control. Sales manager control competencies is examined as a moderator of the relationship between control and salesperson performance, and sales manager organizational citizenship behavior as a mediator of the control-performance relationship. The study findings provide provocative new insights into the implementation of sales management control. Relevant new research directions and managerial implications are identified.