Although the meaning of work—an individual's understanding of the purpose and significance of his or her work—is often discussed, the issue of how to enrich the meaning of work for salespeople remains poorly understood. This study examines the role of sales manager–salesperson relationships in the development of work meaning in a cross-cultural context. To better understand how work meaning might differ in Eastern (collectivist) and Western (individualist) cultures, data were gathered from salespersons in the Chinese and Canadian telecommunications industries. Findings suggest that the development of work meaning among Canadian salespeople is ascribed to the perceptions of customer orientation and self-determination. Conversely, in China, a quality relationship with one's sales supervisor is a direct factor in the development of work meaning. Managers of global sales forces should carefully consider the cultural differences of their salespersons and how a close personal relationship can impact the understanding of the purpose and significance of work for their sales team. After discussing the findings, managerial implications and suggestions for future research are offered.
With the growth of globalization, increased competition, and the challenge of understanding the complex needs of clients, today's selling environment has changed significantly (Jones et al., 2005, Sheth and Sharma, 2008, Tanner et al., 2008 and Trailer and Dickie, 2006). Salespeople now face rapidly evolving buyer needs and expectations (Atkinson and Koprowski, 2006 and Blocker and Flint, 2007) and the challenge of successfully growing customer relationships while meeting company goals (Bettencourt and Brown, 2003 and Homburg et al., 2009). Given the demanding nature of these responsibilities, salespeople can experience dissatisfaction in their sales role. If sales professionals become dissatisfied with their job and experience excessive stress, their level of service to the customer may not meet buyer expectations that produce long-term, profitable customer relationships.
One important driver that can help sales people buffer job stress and increase productivity is their belief in work meaning. Work meaning refers to an individual's understanding of the purpose and significance of their work (Wrzensniewski & Dutton, 2001). Research suggests that employees are more likely to expend personal time for extra-duties and accept a challenging work environment when they believe their work is meaningful and worthy (Bunderson & Thompson, 2009). Increased work meaning can improve individual motivation and performance (Guion & Landy, 1972), and increase work effectiveness, an important concern for sales practitioners and researchers in today's competitive selling arena.
By virtue of the importance to salespeople and the selling organization, sales managers need to identify ways to heighten subordinates' perceptions of work meaning. However, little insight on this topic is found in the extant literature. The issue becomes even more complex as global sales efforts require sales supervisors to lead and support a culturally diverse sales team. In response to this research void, this study addresses the following question: How can a sales supervisor enrich work meaning of salespeople in local and overseas markets?
The purpose of this study is to propose and test a model that hypothesizes that by developing of a quality working relationship, a sales supervisor can enrich the meaning of their sales team's work by nurturing perceptions of customer orientation in the selling organization and enhancing self-determination (see Fig. 1). Additionally, we compare the influence of a personal sales supervisor–salesperson relationship in Eastern and Western cultural sales environments.
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Fig. 1.
Summary of hypotheses.
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By formulating and testing our model, we contribute to the literature in two ways. First, we undertake a pioneering effort to explore work meaning in a sales context, a construct related to sales force motivation and performance (Roberson, 1990). Second, in response to the call for more cross-national sales management studies (e.g., Albaum & Peterson, 1984), we investigate how salespeople from different cultures experience work meaning. This is a valuable contribution to the sales literature because work outcomes, as well as work meaning perceptions, can vary across cultures (e.g., Comer & Dubinsky, 1985).
