The Effect of Abusive Supervision Climate on B2B Sales Performance: A Moderated Mediation Model

Abstract

Abusive supervision climate (ASC) describes what happens to third parties that witness displays of abusive supervision towards their coworkers. This study examined how an ASC impacts business-to business (B2B) sales performance within a moderated mediation model. The data were collected through LinkedIn and audience panel services MTurk and Centiment. The results showed that the moderated mediation model explained 40% of the variance in outcome sales performance, with leader-members interdependence (LMI) as the moderator and psychological safety (PS) as the mediator. Furthermore, ASC had a significant negative effect on PS, while leader-members interdependence buffered the effect of ASC on PS. The findings from this study may help companies appreciate the broader impact an abusive supervision climate has on their sales organization. Organizations may prioritize interventions and implement policies to reduce the frequency of ASC within their B2B sales organizations, thereby fostering higher psychological safety and building high-performing sales teams.