The flexibility of salespeople and management teams: How they interact and influence performance during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

This research examines the effect of salespeople's functional flexibility on sales performance during the COVID-19 pandemic. Grounded in the contingency approach to management and the person-environment fit theory, we analyze whether the flexibility of the management team with which salespeople work moderates the effect of their functional flexibility on sales performance. The study collected data from a sample of 227 salespeople in 120 sales organizations in Bangkok, Thailand. Partial least squares structural equation modeling was used in data analysis. Although the results from the model estimation support the significant positive association between salespeople's functional flexibility and sales performance, the moderating effect analysis clarifies that the positive association is present only among salespeople who work with a management team that is highly flexible. When salespeople work with a management team with low flexibility, their functional flexibility is not related positively to sales performance.