Sales team formation: The right team member helps performance

Abstract

This research uses quasi-experimental, control group design to examine the performance and behavioral impact of team design on sales performance. We assess team versus individual performance and team composition. Drawing on motivation gain literature, we evaluate the impact of team composition based on the relative ability of the team members. The research is in a field sales setting in collaboration with a major insurance provider, providing the first example of assessing Group Motivation Gain (GMG) in a sales setting through a field experiment. Our paper extends previous research in this domain by considering outcome interdependence, not merely task interdependence, evaluating the performance of both team members, assessing motivation gain in the context of a task over a longer duration, and building the related nomological network. The findings demonstrate improved overall performance for the team and the individual members of the team, the gains were particularly pronounced when members have moderate levels of difference in ability, rather than small or large differences in ability. We discuss managerial implications of our findings and suggest further research directions.