The interactive effects of goal orientation and leadership style on sales performance

Abstract

The authors develop and test a model depicting the moderating effects of different types of manager leadership styles on the relationship between salesperson goal orientations (i.e., performance orientation and learning orientation) and performance. The two surveys were set in retail work contexts in Brazil. Results from a multi-level hierarchical analysis demonstrate that (i) transactional leadership strengthens the positive link between learning orientation and sales performance, whereas (ii) transformational leadership weakens the positive association between learning orientation and performance. Our argument for the positive moderating effect of transactional leadership is built upon the path-goal theory and contingent reward mechanism. The justification for the negative effect of transformational leadership involves the follower-dependency logic and overdependence on supervisory cues.