Examining The Impact of Servant Leadership On Sale Forece Performance

Examining the Impact of Servant Leadership on Sales Force Performance
Author(s): Fernando Jaramillo, Douglas B. Grisaffe, Lawrence B. Chonko and James A.

Roberts
Source: The Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, Vol. 29, No. 3 (Summer,
2009), pp. 257-275
Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd.
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/40472187
Accessed: 12-03-2019 05:05 UTC
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide
range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and
facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at
https://about.jstor.org/terms
Taylor & Francis, Ltd. is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to
The Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management
This content downloaded from 104.207.138.102 on Tue, 12 Mar 2019 05:05:29 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
EXAMINING THE IMPACT OF SERVANT LEADERSHIP ON
SALES FORCE PERFORMANCE
Fernando Jaramillo, Douglas B. Grisaffe, Lawrence B. Chonko, and James A. Roberts
Much has been written about the importance of focusing on customers to drive organizational success
aspects of manager-salesperson relationships are examined as drivers of deeper customer focus in salesp
interactions. In particular, managers' servant leadership, a leadership style emphasizing genuine concern f
welfare, is examined as a catalyst of parallel concern by salespeople for their customers. Salesperson percep
ers' servant leadership empirically relate to salesperson customer orientation, in turn driving adaptive sel
customer-directed extra-role behaviors, and sales performance outcomes. Other results and implications fo
and sales leadership research are presented.
Many organizations are discovering the value of heightened

A critical question arises for companies that have ad
focus on the customer and are moving to act like customer-
customer centrici ty as a strategy for achieving succe
centric organizations. In such organizations, ideally, all em-
can organizations build a culture where the core mind-
motivation
ployees understand the importance of their roles in focusing of employees, especially boundary spann
a genuineisconcern for and focus on customers? In
on and serving customers. However, customer-centricity
particularly important for boundary-spanning to
employees
careful hiring decisions, logically it will be organiza
leaders
such as salespeople. Salespeople need to adopt a strategic who intentionally build this customer-centric
pro-
customer vision because they directly interact with andinto
tion serve
the very fabric of the organization. Regardin
customers. Salespersons' underlying motivation fororganizations
adopting specifically, the role of sales leaders s
especially
such a customer-centric mind-set also likely affects customercritical in instilling customer focus amon
responses. Is a salesperson's apparent customer-centricity
people. Sales leadership styles that teach and model
merely a self-focused means to success (e.g., I'll saycare
whatever
for others should be particularly effective in dev
a sincere focus on customer wants and needs.
customers want to hear just so that they buy my products),
or is it borne out of sincere concern for the welfare of othersleadership (Greenleaf 2002) is a style of lead
Servant
(e.g., I truly care about meeting the wants and needs ofuniquely
that my relates to a core focus on the welfare of
customers in ways that create value for them)? Perhaps
drivencus-
out of a sincere, even selfless underlying motiv
tomers can discern these underlying motivations. If
Thus,
so, will
servant leadership may be a particularly effectiv
the customer-centric efforts of salespeople be well-received
of sales leadership to instill in and model for the sales
and effective in building strong long-term relationships
genuinethat
motivation to serve customers. Yet, to date, e
pay off for the company? research examining the impact of servant leadership o
force customer orientation is still lacking. Thus, th
posits and tests the impact of servant leadership on th
and
Fernando Jaramillo (Ph.D., University of South Florida), quality of salesperson interactions with the custom
Assistant
Professor, Marketing Department, College of Business, examining
University how such an effect may spark additional
of Texas at Arlington, jaramillo@uta.edu. that help the sales force achieve higher levels of perfo
TheseProfes-
Douglas B. Grisaffe (Ph.D., Vanderbilt University), Assistant associations represent a special case of the well-a
sor, Marketing Department, College of Administration,general notion that sales leadership styles and actions in
University
of Texas at Arlington, grisaffe@uta.edu. sales performance.
Lawrence B. Chonko (Ph.D., University of Houston), The Thomas
LEADERSHIP AND PERFORMANCE
McMahon Professor in Business Ethics, Marketing Department,
College of Business, University of Texas at Arlington, larry.chonko@
uta.edu. Sales leadership has been defined as activities underta
those in a sales organization that motivate others to
James A. Roberts (Ph.D., University of Nebraska), Professor,
common
Marketing Department, Hankamer School of Business, Baylorgoals for the collective good of the organ
University, j im_roberts@baylor. edu. (Ingram et al. 2005). Leadership meta-analyses have
Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, vol. XXIX, no. 3 (summer 2009), p
© 2009 PSE National Educational Foundation. All rights reser
ISSN 0885-3134 / 2009 $9.50 + 0.00.
DOI 10.2753/PSS0885-3134290304
258 Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management
that a sales manager's actions can significantly affect sales force be the focal point in implementing an organizational culture
performance (e.g., Mulki, Jaramillo, and Locander 2005). that focuses on responding to customer expectations (Bowen,
Leadership researchers have been particularly interested in Siehl, and Schneider 1989). Servant leadership should be
identifying factors that may explain how sales leaders can especially helpful in implementing a market-oriented culture.
influence the performance of their followers (Ingram et al. As Greenleaf asserts, managers who possess servant leadership
2005). To that end, numerous studies have shown that sales qualities believe that firms have a moral obligation to serve
leadership can affect sales performance both directly and "those who produce and those who use" (2002, p. 155).
indirectly (e.g., MacKenzie, Podsakoff, and Rich 2001). The This core premise is in line with Kirka, Jayachandran, and
indirect effect of sales leadership can be explained by its re- Bearden's (2005) meta-analysis. They found that top man-
lationship with many factors, including job satisfaction (e.g., agement actions are critical in the development of a market-
Shoemaker 1999), organizational commitment (e.g., Dubin- oriented culture in which employees follow the marketing
sky, Yammarino, andjolson 1994), role stress (e.g., Dubinsky concept. However, empirical research examining whether
et al. 1995), self-esteem (e.g., Kohli 1985), motivation (e.g., servant leader actions in specific impact the degree to which
Weitz, Sujan, and Sujan 1986), and effort (e.g., Jaramillo salespeople practice the marketing concept is still lacking.
and Mulki 2008). Such indirect mechanisms are especially To address this gap in the literature, our study posits that
relevant for the current study. Our central proposition is that salespeople who are supervised by servant leaders respond to
the servant style of leadership leads to heightened degrees of the leader's genuine concern for them with a parallel genuine
customer orientation. Subsequently, this heightened customer concern for their customers. We test a model that (1) exam-
orientation should spark a set of indirect effects leading to ines the direct effect of servant leadership on salespersons'
higher levels of performance. Thus, mediated through cus- customer orientation (Saxe and Weitz 1982), (2) tests whether
tomer orientation, servant leadership may activate a chain this proposed link is moderated by the role of sales experi-
of effects that lead to higher performance. These proposed ence, and (3) tests how the leader-customer orientation link
notions are consistent with the prevailing rationale behind sparks additional effects that lead to enhanced performance
the leadership- performance relationship. (e.g., through adaptive selling) (Weitz, Sujan, and Sujan
Effective leaders get things done in organizations. They help 1986). As part of the latter, we also explore whether the ser-
create a positive work environment in which employees have vant leadership-to-performance link operates only through
clearer job expectations, are happier with their jobs, become the proposed mediating effects, or if there is a direct servant
more committed to the organization, gain greater confidence leadership-to-performance link (i.e., full versus partial media-
in their capabilities, and ultimately respond with additional tion). Figure 1 depicts our conceptualization. Rationale for
motivation to work harder and smarter (e.g., Ingram et al. each part of the model is built in the sections that follow.
2005; Jaramillo and Mulki 2008; MacKenzie, Podsakoff,
and Rich 2001). Studies based on this rationale have en-
CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK AND
hanced our understanding of the leadership-performance
HYPOTHESES
process. However, such studies tend to present only part of
the story because they are mostly grounded in what happens Sales Leadership
inside the organization and thus disregard the effect that the
leader may have on what occurs outside the boundaries of Sales managers have always been called upon to be
the organization, in the market. Specifically, the actions of in the sense that they serve in capacities such as articu
the leader should also affect salesperson's interactions with a vision; communicating that vision to salespeople; p
the customer. As Chebat and Kollias state, "if managers treat ing resources to salespeople in their ever more chall
their employees well, the employees will then reciprocate by quest to serve customers; and facilitating quick inform
treating customers well" (2000, p. 68). We propose a specific gathering, processing, and decision making in order to
instance of this connection between sales leadership and a competitive advantage in the marketplace. As lead
sales force performance: servant leaders help the firm create thought has grown and provided new insights, the
a culture in which serving the customer becomes the central the sales manager has adapted and must continue to
organizational principle, which in turn produces desired We have seen sales managers' roles change due to techno
performance outcomes. automation, empowerment, team selling, and relatio
Schein (1985) argues that organizational leaders are pri- selling (Cravens 1995). Sales managers must recognize th
marily responsible for creating and managing organizational times of rapid change, innovation and knowledge are es
culture, defined as the shared set of assumptions, values, and for success. The servant leadership paradigm may rep
beliefs that employees hold. Company leaders therefore must another impetus for change in the sales manager's role.
Summer 2009 259
Figure 1
Impact of Servant Leadership on Sales Force Performance
Sales
Experience
I H4 /-
| x / Customer- X
'
w* '00000^^ -
/ / c
/ / c Servant ♦ ' ' H1 ^
Servant ♦ ' ' ( Customer
I Leadership i H1
' ' ' |

' ' ' | Control
' ' SNS^ Variables '. J
' 'v ~H Satisfaction,/* / J '
N. ^Commitment/ J >^ /
All scale items are n. '^^ ^/ / >/ /
allowed to load on the '. / ^^^ /
corresponding construct ^'^^ ^^ ^'/ ^^^^^^^^ /
method bias factor /^^ ^ ^^' - >l Stress j yS
and on the common ^
f / Common ' x^ ^y s'

I
V Factor J
'^
Leadership Theories leadership but rather its

As Bass asserts "transfor
In their search for form,
common is likely
traits among to add to tr
successful
ers, researchers have subordinates
examined to of
a variety make great
leadershi
The mance with more satisfact
transactional/transformationalleadership style f
is perhaps the most MacKenzie,
frequently Podsakoff,
used paradigm an
in sale
(e.g., Bass 1997; MacKenzie, Podsakoff,
the augmenting and
effect R
of
Trans actional leaders Their study
consistently found
inform that t
salespeop
their responsibilities, actually
instruct increase
them theto
on how impac
per
activities, and attain subordinates' compliance
on several business by
outcom
use of rewards or and extra-
punishment role performanc
(Dubinsky et al. 1995
formational leaders obtain Sales researchcompliance
subordinates' has also r
of identification and 1971; 1996) processes
internalization to define - the
the
employees to go beyond leaders
their (e.g.,
own Jaramilloan
self-interests a
the organization's visiongoal
andtheory
missionargues that
as their owm
et al. 2005; MacKenzie, actions
Podsakoff, and Rich
by setting 200
and com
transformational tions,
leadership by aexplaining
is not substitute how g
for t
the reward systems for motivating goal achievement (House servant leadership paradigm takes a different approach to the
1971; 1996). Path goal theory also posits that a strategic leader- follower relationship. Serving the needs of the follower
function of the leader is to enhance the psychological well- becomes a leader's priority and an end in itself rather than a
being of employees to attain greater employee motivation to means to achieve organizational objectives (Ehrhart 2004).
perform (House 1971; 1996). Path goal theory shows that Levering and Moskowitz (2000) assert that servant leadership
leaders employ two styles to motivate employees, initiating has been practiced in some of America's "best" firms. These
structure and leadership consideration (Greene 1979; Kohli "best" companies are characterized by how their employees
1989). Initiating structure, which is also called instrumental are treated. Human resource practices in these companies are
leadership, characterizes leaders who employ a directive man- driven by the following principles: (1) openness and fairness,
agement style - they set what and how things should be done (2) camaraderie and friendliness, (3) providing employees
and use the reward system to achieve compliance (Greene with opportunities, (4) instilling pride in their work and their
1979; Harris and Ogbonna 2001; House 1971). Leadership company, (5) giving adequate compensation, and (6) offering
consideration depicts leaders who create an environment of security.
psychological support and friendliness (House 1971). This As Greenleaf (2002) notes, leaders have responsibilities
is achieved when the leader employs a participative- and a that transcend contributing to the economic success of orga-
supportive-leadership style (Greene 1979; Harris and Ogbonna nizations. A company leader is "not only responsible for the
2001; House 1971). Participative leaders listen and respond success of the organization but also to his or her subordinates,
to employee feedback by incorporating subordinate's sugges- the organization's customers, and other organizational stake-
tions into the decision-making process. Supportive leaders holders" (Ehrhart 2004, p. 68). The implication of this, as
help employees achieve higher performance by collaborating will be shown later, is that servant leadership values held by
with them and by providing the resources that are needed for sales managers have a significant effect on salesperson values
goal completion (Rafferty and Griffin 2006). Research has about customer interactions, ultimately affecting salesperson
found that leadership consideration has a positive effect on performance.
salesperson's attitudes and performance (e.g., Jaramillo and Servant leadership brings the core values of the leader to
Mulki 2008; Kohli 1989). the forefront in a time when organizations seem to be moving
The above discussion provides evidence that salespeople to management by values (Dolan and Garcia 2002). Servant
are responsive to the sales-leader influence, particularly when leadership has been discussed from the perspective of its vi-
the leader helps the salesperson grow by performing activi- ability as a leadership theory, as a subset of other theories such
ties that go beyond the mere administration of rewards and as transformational leadership, and as a conceptual idea (e.g.,
punishment. Salespeople are particularly willing to reciprocate Pawar and Eastman 1997; Rainey and Watson 1996). The
actions of leaders who employ a transformational or considerate conceptual innovations of those who have studied servant
style, responding with positive job attitudes, greater effort, leadership (e.g., Ehrhart 2004; Greenleaf 1970, 2002) have
and ultimately higher performance (e.g., Jaramillo and Mulki resulted in the specification of a broad domain for servant
2008; MacKenzie, Podsakoff, and Rich 2001). Although trans- leadership as will be presented in this paper. Agreeing with
formational ana considerate leadership depict sales leaders who Bass (2000), servant leadership requires substantial empirical
care about their subordinates more so than instrumental lead- investigation. There is intrinsic strength in the movement
ers, the primary priority still is on "achieving organizational toward servant leadership as ideas such as follower learning,
objectives." Thus, even these "kinder" leadership styles share growth, and empowerment suggest that servant leadership has
the same underlying principle with other leadership styles that its basis in both tested and untested theory.
appear less friendly to the subordinate - effectively motivating The servant leadership literature has its roots in Greenleaf s
others to engage in actions that help the firm achieve its ob- ( 1 970) seminal work in which he asserts that servant leaders
jectives. Following Yukl's (2001) directive, servant leadership must walk the walk of being servants first. Greenleaf charac-
contrasts with transformational and considerate leadership in terized a servant leader this way:
one very important way - the focus of transformational leader-
ship is on the organization. Yet servant leadership is about a It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to
serve first. Then, conscious choice brings one to aspire to
genuine focus on followers.
lead. Such a person is sharply different from one who is a
leader first, perhaps because of the need to assuage an unusual
Servant Leadership power drive or to acquire material possessions. (1998, p. 123,
emphasis in original)
The servant leadership style has been discussed more fre-
quently in the literature in recent years (e.g., Chonko 2007; The servant leader takes great pains to ensure that others'
Sauser 2005; Sendjaya, Sarros, and Sanatoria 2008). The needs are a priority as depicted in Laub's definition: "Servant
Summer 2009 261
that the development of a market-oriented culture requires

leadership is an understanding and practice of leadership that
managers who listen to employee feedback, are committed to
places the good of those led over the self-interest of the leader"
(1999, p. 25). the well-being of their subordinates, and are willing to col-
laborate with them to facilitate their actions.
Servant leadership has also been described as a virtuous
theory, a virtue being a qualitative characteristic that is part Market orientation is a central concept of marketing and
of one's character (Yu 1998). Arjoon (2000) asserts that virtueultimately reflects a firms concern for its customers (Gebhardt,
theory has a place in leadership as it focuses on the commonCarpenter, and Sherry 2006). The practice of the marketing
good rather than on results such as profit maximization. concept
A can also be conceptualized at the salesperson level as
key premise of servant leadership is that any leader has the customer-oriented selling, the extent to which salespeople
power to create an environment conducive to such ends. But"help their customers make purchase decisions that will sat-
isfy customer needs" (Saxe and Weitz 1982, p. 344). Thus,
it takes courage on the part of a leader to do so, as servant
leaders emphasize power distribution rather than power con-just as various leadership styles relate to firm-level market
solidation. Thus, sales managers as servant leaders are in sync
orientation, we assert in this paper that servant leadership as
with and seek to assess, understand, and grow the skill sets, a leadership style relates to salesperson-level customer orienta-
passions, gifts, and well-being of salespeople, and to blend tion. And if, indeed, servant leader values can be transferred
these attributes with job requirements and the management in a manner that positively influences the way salespeople
of performance. treat their customers, the logical result should be higher sales
performance.
Several core principles of servant leadership are evident from
the servant leadership literature - the belief that all people have The notion that the values and the goals of senior com-
dignity and worth, that people are all interconnected, and
pany leaders have a fundamental impact on the behavior of
other employees is well supported (e.g., Kennedy, Goolsby,
that there exists a real purpose of human affairs (Fiedler and
Chemers 1984). This dovetails with current thought about
and Arnould 2003). Schneider (1987) claims that the person
the root of success in organizations - people (Collins 2001).
or persons who establish the organization define its impera-
tives and have a significant effect on its goals, structures, and
Leadership in light of those ideas is a way of thinking, acting,
and leading that takes others into account, sometimes even
processes. This ultimately defines organizational behavior and
at the expense of the leader's own needs, as evidenced in thedetermines "the kinds of people who are attracted to, and se-
previous statements about servant leadership. lected by, and stay with a particular organization" (Schneider
1987, p. 445). Thus, over time, the employees who remain
Sales Leadership and Customer Orientation in the organization make the place and become similar to each
other (Schneider 1987). The cascading notion also suggests
Kirka, Jayachandran, and Bearden's (2005) meta-analysis of- that leadership cascades from higher to lower levels of the
fered evidence that managerial actions define the success organizational
of hierarchy (Bass et al. 1987). Servant leadership
organizational strategies aimed at creating a market-orientedfrom senior leaders is thus likely to be emulated by sales force
culture. For instance, Harris and Ogbonna (2001) found management and ultimately by salespeople.
that employees are more likely to judge their firm as market- At the salesperson's level, the servant leader's concern for
orientated when top management engages in supportive and others is likely manifested in a higher desire to serve custom-
participative leadership behaviors. Supportive leadershipers. We believe that a higher desire to serve customer needs is
includes managerial actions "directed toward the satisfactionevidenced in higher levels of both customer orientation and
of subordinates' needs and preferences," whereas participative
customer-directed extra-role performance. Netemeyer, Max-
leadership involves behaviors "directed toward encouragement
ham, and Pullig define customer-directed extra-role perfor-
of subordinate influence on decision making" (House 1996, mance as the degree to which an employee "goes the extra mile
pp. 326-327). Harris and Ogbonna (2001) also found thatin serving customers during the employee-customer interface"
(2005, p. 132). Shanock and Eisenberger (2006) report that
instrumental leadership is negatively related to market orienta-
subordinates' extra-role behavior increases as they perceive
tion. Instrumental leadership reflects a directive style in which
the manager sets job expectations and establishes procedures their supervisors to be supportive, also a characteristic of ser-
that define what and how things are done (Harris and Og- vant leaders. This has been described as a trickle-down effect
bonna 2001). Similarly, Gebhardt, Carpenter, and Sherry
by authors such as Masterson (2001) and Tepper and Taylor
(2006) found that transactional leadership is a major impedi- (2003). Employees increase their efforts as they perceive that
ment on a firm's journey toward becoming market oriented.the organization and its leaders are willing to reciprocate with
Transactional leadership involves an exchange relationship inresources and support (Aselage and Eisenberger 2003). Also,
as Kennedy, Goolsby, and Arnould (2003) assert, employees
which the follower receives explicit rewards for complying with
the leaders wishes (Rafferty and Griffin 2004). This suggestsare more willing to embrace the marketing concept when
they believe that senior leadership is genuinely interested in Hypothesis 4: More experienced salespeople will exhibit
the well-being of others and thus "willing to walk the walk." higher levels of customer orientation.
Together, these notions lead to the following hypotheses:
Research also shows that the response of the salesperson to
Hypothesis 1: The more the salesperson views his or her sales supervisor's actions is contingent on the salesperson's experi-
manager as a servant leader, the greater the salespersons ence. Allen (2006) asserts that new employees entering organi-
customer orientation. zations often feel disoriented and are prone to experiencing a
reality shock. Thus, they have a high need to obtain information
Hypothesis 2: The more the salesperson views his or her sales
to understand the new environment. Supervisors play a fun-
manager as a servant leader, the greater the salespersons
damental role in newcomers learning about the organization,
customer-directed extra-role performance.
job tasks, and their work roles (Ostroff and Kozlowski 1992).
Researchers have also hypothesized that sales management However, as employees gain experience, additional knowledge
leadership can affect salesperson's performance directly. For is more efficiently acquired through other sources, such as
instance, researchers have argued that transformational lead- observing others and by means of trial and experimentation
ership has a positive effect on performance because transfor- (Ostroff and Kozlowski 1992). This supports the long-held
mational leaders inspire salespeople to perform beyond the notion that less-experienced salespeople are more receptive
minimum organizational expectations (e.g., Dubinsky et al. and responsive to managerial actions (Kohli 1989). Rapp et
1995; MacKenzie, Podsakoff, and Rich 2001). In their study al. (2006) found that sales managers have a smaller impact on
of employees of a production and distribution company, motivating salespeople to put forth higher effort as salespeople
Liden et al. (2008) found that servant leadership explains a become more experienced. In view of this, it is also likely
significant amount of variance of subordinates' in-role perfor- that experience moderates the effect of servant leadership on
mance beyond that explained by transformational leadership customer orientation. This leads to the following hypothesis:
and leader- member exchange. Earlier we stated that servant
Hypothesis 5: Salespersons experience moderates the impact
leaders are highly concerned about the well-being and growth
of servant leadership on customer orientation. The impact of
of their subordinates. Salespeople may reciprocate by engag-
servant leadership on customer orientation gains importance
ing in actions that benefit the leader and the organization.
when the salesperson is inexperienced.
Therefore,
Hypothesis 3: The more the salesperson views his or her sales

Customer Orientation and Adaptive Selling
manager as a servant leader, the greater the salespersons
outcome performance. Customer orientation and adaptive selling have received
considerable research attention and are deemed important
Moderating Role of Sales Experience predictors of salesperson's performance (Franke and Park
2006). This seems particularly true in sales situations in which
Researchers have long noted that experience plays a central long-term customer satisfaction is critical (Saxe and Weitz
role in how salespeople view their jobs and work environment 1982). Salespeople with higher levels of customer orientation
(Slocum and Cron 1985). For instance, Jones (1986) argues truly care about customers, and thus engage in actions that
that the accumulated knowledge acquired through experience customers value, such as listening to customer feedback and
affects employees expectations about future success. Experi- solving customer problems (Saxe and Weitz 1982). Salespeople
ence thus enhances salespersons' confidence in their ability to who demonstrate higher levels of adaptive selling adjust their
understand customer problems and propose solutions to them sales strategies in ways that better fit customers' needs and
(Franke and Park 2006). In various contexts (e.g., Giacobbe et preferences (Spiro and Weitz 1990). Together then, customer
al. 2006; Rapp et al. 2006), experienced salespeople have been orientation and adaptive selling lead to win-win outcomes
shown to operate differently than inexperienced salespeople because customers are served in better, more individually
from the perspective of simply giving more consideration relevant ways, producing higher levels of success for the sales
to more behavioral options, and the like. This may explain force and the organization. Therefore, we hypothesize that
meta-analytic findings that show that sales experience has both customer orientation and adaptive selling have a direct
a positive effect on customer orientation (Franke and Park effect on performance.
2006). Experienced salespeople learn what customer goals
Hypothesis 6: The greater a salespersons customer orienta-
are important. With their growth in experience, they learn
tion, the higher his or her outcome performance.
more ways to identify and react to customer goals, also learn-
ing additional ways to accomplish these goals. Therefore, we Hypothesis 7: The greater a salespersons adaptive selling,
propose the following: the higher his or her outcome performance.
Summer 2009 263
Control Variables
Researchers have also hypothesized that customer orienta-
tion may affect performance indirectly, via adaptive selling
Research indicates that one primary way sales leaders are able
(Franke and Park 2006). Salespeople who are concerned
to stimulate salespeople to achieve higher performance is by
about their customers are more likely to spend the necessary
time and effort in assessing customer problems and respond-
helping to create an employee-friendly work environment
(e.g., Martin and Bush 2006). The underlying principle is
ing to them with customized solutions. Thus, a positive effect
of customer orientation on adaptive selling is expected. that salespeople reciprocate managerial actions that positively
affect their well-being with higher performance. This should
Hypothesis 8: The greater a salespersons customer orienta- be especially true under an extremely other-focused leadership
tion, the more he or she will exhibit adaptive selling. style such as servant leadership. To capture this, our study uses
two attitudinal variables (job satisfaction and organizational
Borman et al. (2001) argue that the predictors of in-
commitment) and an overall measure of job stress. Because
role performance and extra-role performance are differ-
these outcomes of leadership are known to influence job per-
ent. Specifically, the antecedents of in-role performance
formance, we use them as control variables on performance
are contextual and thus vary by occupation. For instance,
itself, and as partial mediators of the servant leadership and
adaptive behaviors are desirable traits in sales jobs but may
outcome performance relationship (Figure 1). Prior models
be detrimental in some manufacturing jobs where quality
examining the impact of sales leadership on performance have
is defined in terms of conformance with predefined stan-
used job Stressors (e.g., MacKenzie, Podsakoff, and Rich 2001;
dards. Borman et al. (2001) assert that extra- role behaviors
Netemeyer et al. 1997) and job attitudes (e.g., Hampton,
such as cooperating and volunteering are the same for most
Dubinsky, and Skinner 1986; Piercy et al. 2006) as media-
jobs. Research has shown that employees with positive job
tors or partial mediators. Because sales experience affects job
attitudes reciprocate by putting forth a greater amount of
attitudes and stress perceptions (e.g., Behrman and Perreault
effort into their jobs (e.g., Ehrhart 2004). Researchers have
1984), sales experience is also used as a control variable.
consistently found that organizational commitment is a sig-
nificant driver of extra-role performance (e.g., MacKenzie,
METHODS
Podsakoff, and Ahearne 1998). Organizational commitment
is often defined as an attitude in the form of employee's psy-
Data Collection Procedure and Sample
chological identification and emotional attachment with the
firm (e.g., Allen and Meyer 1990). However, this attitude
The sample for our study was drawn with the h
can be specific to the various individuals or groups that
market research supplier company specializing in
compose the organization-â of commitment. The focus ingof of online quantitative studies and the executi
commitment includes "co-workers, superiors, subordinates,
line focus groups. This company maintains a larg
customers, and other groups and individuals that collectively
consumer panel, initially started in 1997, now co
comprise the organization" (Reichers 1985, p. 482). It isof approximately 1.5 million people. When mem
reasonable to expect that salespeople who are committed recruited
to for the panel, information is collected,
their customers have higher levels of customer orientation. an e-mail address for contact with survey invitation
A higher level of customer orientation is thus likely to result
postal address for sending incentive checks, birth m
in customer-directed extra- role behaviors. Researchers have
year, and other descriptors such as gender and em
long claimed that customer-oriented salespeople provide information. This confidential information is protec
exceptional personal service to their customers (e.g., Beatty
secure database and is used to match respondent char
et al. 1996) and are willing to spend additional effort in tics with survey sponsor specifications. For examp
serving them (e.g., Harich and LeBahn 1998). One wouldcurrent study, we extracted a sample frame compose
anticipate that these salespeople are also willing to "go the
people whose full-time professional occupation is
extra mile" in serving the customer and would ultimately Respondents are given incentives for participa
sell more. In view of this:
amounts are in keeping with the nature of any p
survey. Incentives take the form of a mailed ch
Hypothesis 9: The greater a salespersons customer orienta-
preferred by the respondent, donation to a charity o
tion, the more likely he or she will exhibit customer-directed
her choosing. The company adheres to professiona
extra-role performance.
ethics outlined by the American Marketing Assoc
Hypothesis 10: The greater a salespersons customer-directed the Marketing Research Association, and panel me
extra-role performance, the higher his or her outcome free to opt out of membership at any time for an
performance. Data quality assurance processes included separat
invitations for each study, security measures to ensure only Measures and Measure Assessment
prerecruited members participate, one answer per e-mail
address, and no reentry to the survey system if not passing Appendix Table Al describes the constructs used in this study.
screening qualifications. The proprietary survey adminis- Servant leadership was measured with 14 items from Ehrhart
tration system also checks for "straight-line" answers and (2004). As Ehrhart asserts, this scale captures seven key
embeds "attention questions" in every survey to make sure characteristics of servant leaders:1 (1) forming relationships
respondents are not just "speeding through" a survey. Those with subordinates, (2) empowering subordinates, (3) help-
bases for disqualification help to ensure data integrity in the ing subordinates grow and succeed, (4) behaving ethically,
final respondent data set. (5) having conceptual skills, (6) putting subordinates first,
Our respondents were 501 salespeople from this database and (7) creating value for those outside the organization.
with an average of 10.3 years of sales experience (standard Customer orientation was measured with four items from Saxe
deviation [SD] = 5.3). The sample included a well-balanced and Weitz's (1982) scale. The four items selected were those
group of females (53.1 percent) and males (46.9 percent) from with the highest factor loadings reported in Martin and Bush's
diverse ethnic backgrounds - Caucasian (87.2 percent), Afri- (2006) study. Using all items from the original instrument
can American (5.2 percent), Asian (3.0 percent), and Hispanic was deemed unnecessary because the customer-orientation
(2.8 percent). Respondent ages were 18-24 (4A percent), construct is unidimensional (Bergkvist and Rossiter 2007).
25-34 (21.2 percent), 35-49 (46.5 percent), 50-54 (14.6 Customer-directed extra-role performance was assessed with
percent), and 55 and older (13.4 percent). Education levels four items from Netemeyer, Maxham, and Pullig's (2005)
were completed high school (14.0 percent), some college or scale that were slightly adapted for study context. Robinson
post-high school education (42.7 percent), college graduate et al. 's (2002) five-item scale was used to measure adaptive
(36.7 percent), and postgraduate education (6.6 percent). selling. Evans et al.'s (2007) instrument was used to measure
Household incomes were less than $25,000 (9.4 percent), outcome performance. Job satisfaction (three items) and job
$25,000 to less than $50,000 (29.1 percent), $50,000 to less stress (four items) were measured with scales found in Nete-
than $75,000 (27.3 percent), $75,000 to $100,000 (21.0 meyer, Brashear-Alejandro, and Boles (2004). Organizational
percent), more than $100,000 (13.21 percent). commitment was measured with three items from Speier and
Regarding their sales jobs specifically, our respondents Venkatesh (2002). Finally, sales experience was measured with
worked in a variety of industries, including insurance, health a single item: "How many total years have you been in sales?"
care, manufacturing, financial services, technology, consumer Table 1 shows the correlation structure of the measures.
products, business services, and others. Participants report Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to examine
spending over 66 percent of their work time in direct contact the properties of the latent variables (Anderson and Gerbing
with customers, performing diverse selling jobs, including 1988). The parameters of the eight latent construct CFA
retail selling (37.9 percent), consultative or relationship model were estimated using the maximum likelihood method,
selling (25.5 percent), new business selling (12.4 percent), CALIS-Procedure of SAS 9.I.3. Results suggest a good fit
and key account selling (9.2 percent). Commissions as a (%2 = 2,174, degrees of freedom [df] = 829; root mean square
percent of income for this sample ranged from 0 percent to error of approximation [RMSEA] = 0.057, CI90% 0.054 to
100 percent, averaging approximately 26 percent of total 0.060; comparative fit index [CFI] = 0.94; normed fit index
compensation (SD = 36.2). [NFI] =0.91; Bollens nonnormed index [NNI] = 0.94). Re-
We compared various demographic groups for differences sults also showed that all indicator loadings were significant
with respect to the construct measures in our model. Sum- at a = 0.01, thus providing validity evidence in favor of the
mative scale values were computed on the constructs (Hair items used to represent the constructs. Reliability was assessed
et al. 2006), and these values were compared in one-way with Cronbachs OC and the composite reliability (pc). As shown
analysis of variance (ANOVA) models to test for potential in Appendix Table Al, both statistics are above 0.7, which
demographic differences. No significant differences were provides evidence of adequate reliability (Gerbing and Ander-
observed on any of the model constructs for gender, educa- son 1988). In addition, average variance extracted statistics
tion, or ethnicity. With respect to age, a significant ANOVA (pv) were above the desirable 0.6 level (Diamantopoulos and
was observed for one model variable - customer-directed Siguaw2000).
extra-role behaviors CF(4,496) = 4.66, p < 0.01). Post hoc Fornell and Larckers (1981) approach was used to assess
tests indicate that those 1 8 to 24 years old show significantly discriminant validity. A test of confidence intervals of factor
lower mean extra- role performance (mean [M] = 5.27) thancorrelations showed that none of the 95 percent confidence
each of the over-25 age groups (means range from 5.88 to intervals of the factor correlations included one. Also, the aver-
6.33). Thus, among some 32 demographic comparisons, 31 age variance extracted (AVE) for each of the factors is greater
were nonsignificant. than squared correlations for all pairs of factors.
265
LU I O
(/) I O
t
l_ o so hv
W Ö O Ö
$ $
11 ro M S M
X O (N - O
ü Ö Ö Ö Ö
f t t
</) ~* oq N n fS q
~* Ö Ö O Ö Ö
tí $
CL fs oo m s o m
no PO p (N O
ö ö ö ö ö ö
CL 4£. .v. .y. 42.

tf 4£. t .v. $ .y. $ 42. t
■ M LO h«. <N 00 O vO O
Jr on lo n m o - p
g ö ö ö ö ö ö ö
f ÎÎ1 *
|J
^^ öö
o>>Ln öööööö
io fS rs q - p
ì
il
h- - v^ ööö
^f -X- -5f
¥ -X- ¥ -X-
ro - (N vOOh^roo^ro
ONvOvq ^roíNppp ,_;
öööööö o
1 o
t V
o
ü
Iti lìti $.
j co N t io Tj-fNIÔOrol^ in
(/> °' - - - N in vq - pp p
öööö öööööö o
1 V
*■ .2 ^
-3*5 sO - <N - fS ifl N 'O ro lo 77Í
^.g _'^^^ ----Lno S
S S g
5 sO - (NO - (N p ^-# «^ «-Q gv

QÍ t NO LO Nû LO LO LÒ fO O - rt
z ^
* o _ |
O^ ^ ^ c _ f |
ÍP18 gj aï f
Si I £ ¿ S t § rt p c « S
g o 'S o t o S "E b UJ « ..
cS U < U O -O O ^J? Ü ^
Structural Model Hypotheses Testing
The maximum likelihood method, CALIS-Procedure of SAS The ¿-values and signs of the standardized coefficients of the
9.1.3 was used to test the relationships shown in Figure 1. model represented in Figure 1 were used for hypothesis testing.
The moderating effect of sales experience on the relationship Table 2 summarizes the hypothesized relationships, structural
between servant leadership (SL) and experience (E) was as- path coefficients, and the corresponding ¿-values. As shown
sessed by forming an interaction term from the corresponding in Table 2, common method bias changed the magnitude of
variables (SL * E) . This procedure is preferred to the alternative the observed relationships - either attenuating or inflating the
group comparison method because the moderator is not arbi- standardized paths (Williams and Brown 1994), ultimately
trarily partitioned (Rigdon, Schumacker, and Wothke 1998). altering the proportions of variance explained by the model.
This method is also preferred to regression-based tests because However, this impact did not alter the outcome of our hy-
the measurement error from the latent variables is taken into potheses tests.
consideration (Rigdon, Schumacker, and Wothke 1998). We anticipated a direct impact of servant leadership on
Ultimately, this method renders fewer Type 1 errors (Rigdon, customer orientation, customer-directed extra-role perfor-
Schumacker, and Wothke 1998). The SL and E predictors mance, and outcome performance. Results indicate that ser-
were standardized in computing the interaction term to avoid vant leadership positively affected customer orientation (HI:
multicollinearity (Wood and Erickson 1998). ß = 0. '3-,p < 0.05). This effect is stronger when the salesperson
is inexperienced (H5: ßSL*E = -0.14, p < 0.05). Contrary to
Common Method Bias our expectations, we found that the effects of servant leader-
ship on outcome performance (H3: ß = 0.05, ^> > 0.1) and
Researchers have long shown that part of the shared variance customer-directed extra-role performance (H2: ß = 0.03,
of construct relationships can be explained by the use of the p > 0. 1) were nonsignificant. However, as will be shown later,
same method (Cote and Buckley 1987). Common method servant leadership affects these constructs indirectly through
bias threatens the validity of study findings because it can its significant influence on customer orientation.
either inflate or attenuate correlations among constructs, thus Experienced salespeople have higher levels of customer ori-
leading to significant findings in the absence of true relation- entation (H4: ß = 0.10,/? < 0.05). As expected, customer ori-
ships or insignificant findings when true relationships exist entation had a direct effect on adaptive selling (H8: ß = 0.65,
(Williams and Brown 1994). To address this issue, we allowed p < 0.01) and customer-directed extra-role performance (H9:
all indicators to load on their theoretical construct as well as ß = 0.44, p < 0.01). Customer-directed extra-role perfor-
on a latent common methods factor (Podsakoff et al. 2003). mance had a positive effect on outcome performance (H10:
This procedure allows researchers to control for method bias ß = 0.31,/? < 0.01). Our hypothesis about the direct effect of
because the response variance of the responses is partitioned customer orientation on outcome performance did not hold
into its three components - trait, method, and random error (H6: ß = -0.06, p > 0. 1). Yet adaptive selling had a significant
(Podsakoff et al. 2003). This method has been used in previ- impact on outcome performance (H7: ß = 0Äl,p < 0.1). Taken
ous studies using self-reported measures (e.g., Carson 2007; together, our findings show that customer orientation affects
MacKenzie, Podsakoff, and Rich 2001). performance indirectly through adaptive selling and customer-
directed extra-role performance. This is in line with Franke and
Model Fit Park (2006), who found that adaptive selling fully mediates
the impact of customer orientation on performance.
Results of the structural model shown in Figure 1 (Model 1) Regarding our control variables, results also confirm earlier
indicate a good fit with the data (%2 = 1,789, df = 874; findings that job attitudes, job stress, and sales experience
RMSEA = 0.046, CI90% 0.043 to 0.049; CFI = 0.96; mediate the effect of the leader on outcome performance
NFI = 0.93; Bollens NNI = 0.96). For comparison purposes, we (see Figure 2). This brings additional support to the notion
also estimated a structural model without the common method that sales leaders get things done in organizations because they
factor (see Table 2, Model 2). Results also indicate a good fit help to create a low-stress environment in which salespeople
with the data (%2 = 2,177, df = 917, /> < 0.01; RMSEA = 0.052, display positive job attitudes. Yet our findings also show that
CI90% 0.050 to 0.055; CFI = 0.95; NFI = 0.91; Bollens servant leadership may additionally affect what happens in the
NNI = 0.95). A comparison of the two models indicates that market, during salesperson's interactions with the customers.
adding the common method factor results in a statistically sig- Specifically, our findings show that servant leaders are also able
nificant reduction in %2 (A%2 = 388, Adf = 43, p < 0.01). This to affect salespersons performance through complex chains-of-
indicates that there was a significant improvement in model fit effects that involve customer orientation, customer-oriented
when the model controls for the common method factor. extra-role performance, and adaptive selling.
Summer 2009 267
Table 2
Hypotheses and Standardized Structural Paths
Hypotheses and Control Variables Model I ' Model 22 Model 33
H I : Servant Leadership -^ Customer Orientation 0. 1 3* 0.20** 0. 1 3*

H2: Servant Leadership -» Customer-Directed 0.03 0.04 -
Extra-Role Performance
H3: Servant Leadership -> Outcome Performance 0.05 0.04 -

H4: Sales Experience -> Customer Orientation 0. 1 0* 0. 1 0* 0. 1 I *
H5: Moderating Effect of Experience on Servant -0. 1 4* -0. 1 4* -0. 1 5**
Leadership - > Customer Orientation
H6: Customer Orientation - > Outcome Performance -0.06 -0.07 -
H7: Adaptive Selling -^ Outcome Performance 0.4 1 ** 0.40** 0.38**
H8: Customer Orientation -> Adaptive Selling 0.65** 0.64** 0.67**
H9: Customer Orientation -» Customer-Directed 0.44** 0.66** 0.46**
Extra-Role Performance
H 1 0: Customer-Directed Extra-Role Performance -> 0.32** 0.39** 0.32**
Outcome Performance
Control Variables
Servant Leadership -> Job Satisfaction 0.5 1 ** 0.52** 0.5 1 **

Servant Leadership -> Organizational Commitment 0.39** 0.36** 0.39**
Servant Leadership -> Job Stress -0.20** -0.20** -0.20**
Job Stress -> Job Satisfaction -0.29* -0.27* -0.28*
Job Satisfaction -> Organizational Commitment 0.52* 0.56* 0.52*
Sales Experience -* Job Satisfaction 0. 1 0** 0. 1 I ** 0. 1 0**
Sales Experience - > Organizational Commitment 0.07* 0.07* 0.07*
Sales Experience -> Job Stress -0. 1 7** -0. 1 8** -0. 1 7**
Sales Experience -> Outcome Performance 0. 1 0* 0.09* 0.09*
Organizational Commitment -> Outcome Performance 0. 14* 0. 1 4* 0. 1 8**
Job Stress -> Outcome Performance -0.02 -0.02 -
Variance Explained (R2)

Customer Orientation 0.05 0.07 0.05
Adaptive Selling 0.43 0.40 0.45
Customer-Directed Extra-Role Performance 0.20 0.44 0.21
Outcome Performance 0.38 0.46 0.39
Job Satisfaction 0.42 0.42 0.42
Organizational Commitment 0.67 0.70 0.67
Job Stress 0.07 0.07 0.07
Notes: 1 Corrected for common m

removed. 3 Revised model correct
**/><0.01 one tailed.
A revised model DISCUSSION

was built b
paths from the model show
(Model 3) has This
a paper represents a first
close fit empirical examinatio
with
df = 874; relevance of servant
RMSEA = leadership
0.046,to sales force res
NFI = 0.93; Bollen
trying to understand s NNI
how sales =s
leaders influence
of four to succeed
paths with customers, servant leadership
rendered simi was
p > 0.10), this model
construct was
to test. Servant leadership r
is a style that em
model shown in care
genuine Figure 2
and concern for others. fur
In selling organ
leadership affects salesperso
this concern involves multiple stakeholders, including
salesperson's approach to
tors, customers, and the growth and cus
development of
lead to higher
ers, inperformance
this case, the salesperson. Thus, not only does
explains a sizable amount
leadership logically of
foster the development and main
(R2 = 0.39). of positive relationships between manager and sub
Figure 2
Revised Model: Impact of Servant Leadership on Sales Force Performance
Sales
Experience _^^^
I T4.07 XCustomeiX
H5 (í= 1.91) . / Directed '
SP="°15 ' 1 Fvrra-Role ^xira-KOie i
up=-o.io ' V Fvrra-Role ^xira-KOie y' ^
/ „ Servant t ' ' hi / Customer ' / Outcome '

/ „ Servant t '
I Leadership )
' J ('=215> ' ~Z & ' 7
' ' 1
' ' ' 1 Control 1 I Selling J / I
'' '' 'UP
sp=o.5i Variables '^^ J J / I
= 0.76 SP = O.1O f ^' s' /
'' 'N,
(t= 11.80)
-^r- UP -= M
(1-2.62) 0.14 M / JobJ' ^^
Satisfaction ^^ /
/
' ' SP = 0.39 ^^^^=0.52 ' TâVqI /
' UP = 0 61 UP = 0.55 ' ^^^ V-*&) /
' (/ = 9.94) sp = 007 ^. (1-12.17) '^^ /
UP = 0.10 /^" ^N. ^^^' /
AU scale items are SP=-0.20 ^^^^^^^•v'omm*tmenysp==-<)28 / /

allowed to load on the up =-0.30 '^_^^ up=-o.28/ >/ /
corresponding construct (/=-4.23) in>--^?A ^^
and method on
method the bias
bias common/^
factor factor /^
^' ^'__ ( ^^ Y^ (t = 2Al)
T
1
1 / Common ' PNv S ^
' Factor / | 1 SaTei 1^-
'. ^y/ ] Experience 1
Notes: SP = standardized path; UP = unstandardized path.
but also something of this concern for theknown

welfare
toof
beothers
important to the development of
should be "taught and/or caught" by salespeople
ships and
withcarried
customers (e.g., Guenzi, Pardo, and
over into concern for the welfare of their customers.
Netemeyer, Thus, we
Maxham, and Pullig 2005).
Our
posited that other-focused care and concern in moderation
good relation- analysis reveals that t
servant
ships between salespeople and their customers is leadership
enhanced on customer orientation
less-experienced
by the existence of other-focused care and concern in good salespeople. Less-experienc
likely
relationships between those same salespeople need servant
and their more guidance, organizational s
leader managers. This brings further support and additional
mentoring while "learning the ropes" early in t
tenure.
insight to the notion that employees who work for Servant leaders, with their genuine ca
firms that
provide a positive work climate subsequently provide
for superior
the welfare of their salespeople, may tune
service to customers (Schneider 1994). Indeed, this and
and serve research
help in ways that substantially
provides evidence that salespeople who view their managers
salesperson experience. Another reason this gre
occur earlier
as servant leaders exhibit higher levels of customer on is because "sales managers hav
orientation
with behaviors
and are more likely to engage in adaptive selling inexperienced
and reps than experienced reps
customer-directed extra-role performance. agers
These will
factors
playare
a bigger role in their professio
Summer 2009 269
and McNeilly 1995, p. 58). This finding implies that a servant

orientation, resulting in stronger customer-directed extra-role
leadership style is one effective way of facilitating the critical
behaviors that ultimately produce higher performance. This
goal of sales managers and salespeople forming solid relation-
finding also attests to the important power of leadership-driven
ships at the very early stages of the salespersons career. enhancement of stronger relationships between salespeople
and customers. Because servant leaders go "the extra mile"
The implications of this finding are particularly important
because inexperienced salespeople are more likely to engagefor the betterment of their followers, perhaps salespeople
in selling-oriented practices that prioritize achievement who
of benefit from this type of leadership feel compelled to
short-term sales gains even if customer relationships are reciprocate and act similarly toward their customers. They
compromised (e.g., Wachner, Plouffe, and Grégoire 2009). do so intelligently, by first attending to the importance of
understanding, then meeting customer wants and needs - a
That is antithetical to the vital organizational goal of fostering
strong durable customer relationships. Our results indicate mind-set augmented by the attitudes and actions of servant
leaders. Subsequently, they go above and beyond the call of
servant leadership reinforces more appropriate organizational
socialization and helps to internalize critical facets of initialduty for their customers.
sales training and orientation for new sales recruits. One Finally, much prior research is supported in this study,
reason this positive effect may occur is that younger sales- which we merely note here. More experienced salespeople
people may have heightened concern and motivation about
feel less job stress (e.g., Behrman and Perreault 1984), exhibit
their personal growth. Perhaps the perception that a servant
higher levels of organizational commitment (e.g., Siguaw and
leader genuinely desires to move them to self-actualization
Honeycutt 1995), are more satisfied with their jobs (e.g.,
is evident. Experienced salespeople may be more focused onOliver and Anderson 1994), and perform at higher levels
the importance of organizational success through long-term(Franke and Park 2006). Servant leadership influences these
relationships with customers. Experienced salespeople may relationships in that it was found to relate to lesser levels of
operate by the well-known heuristic that it is easier and more
job stress, higher levels of job satisfaction, and greater orga-
profitable to keep an existing customer than it is to have tonizational commitment. No direct relationship was found
gain a new customer, and thus already may have internalized
between servant leadership and performance, but there were
the importance of customer orientation. These principles,
strong indirect relationships through these job attitudes and
being more ingrained, could diminish, but not eliminate, the
stress variables. In short, it seems that the well-being of the
impact of servant leadership on the customer focus of moresalesperson is conducive to a variety of positive job outcomes,
experienced salespeople. and a servant leadership style can play a key role in enhancing
Regarding other findings, salespeople who are higher the
in well-being of salespeople.
adaptability perform at higher levels than their less-adaptable In sum, our study reveals that a leadership style new to
counterparts. However, no such relationship was found for
sales research - servant leadership - conceptually and empiri-
customer orientation. Perhaps this is due to the fact that cus-
cally relates to sales success in at least two ways: by creating
genuine customer focus and a related chain of associated
tomer orientation is a more cerebrally focused concept. It rep-
positive outcomes, and by contributing to higher levels of
resents an idea or an orientation but is much akin to strategy.
It is a process that conceptually focuses on the well-being ofperformance-enhancing salesperson well-being.
the customer. Adaptability, on the other hand, suggests more
actionable behavioral steps. Both are highly correlated with Limitations and Future Research
each other, but the behaviors of salespeople directly lead to
improved performance. Salespeople who embrace a customerThis research is the first empirical study linking servant leader-
orientation but do not implement customer-focused actions ship to critical sales force outcomes. It is exploratory, and fur-
are, perhaps, mired in the planning trap (Jaramillo et al. 2007).
ther research is needed to address its limitations. Study results
Effective plans must have effective implementation. Custom-rely on a single sample from a massive online panel. Although
ers benefit more from the actions of salespeople rather than
the sample was carefully selected by the provider and represents
their thought process. We submit both are necessary, but the
an array of industries, results may not be generalizable. Also,
customer acts on what he or she can see. And, as demonstrated
because the model constructs were assessed with self-reported
by their dependency in our model, it is also true that adaptive
measures, study findings may be partially driven by common
behaviors are more likely to result from a more customer-method bias (Cote and Buckley 1987). Although we controlled
focused mind-set. for common method bias by allowing all scale items to load
Customer-directed extra-role performance was also foundon their corresponding constructs and a common method
to be related to increased sales performance. This is a further
factor (Podsakoff et al. 2003), future research with dyadic or
mechanism by which the servant leader-customer orientation
triadic data is warranted. Certainly, what salespeople feel about
link plays itself out. Servant leaders instill greater customer
themselves and their managers is important. However, it would
be useful to integrate managers' and customers' responses to load on a single factor adequately explains the variance am
assess similarities and differences. the servant leadership components. In view of this, the scale
treated as unidimensional.
Our study did not compare the impact of servant leadership
on organizational outcomes relative to other leadership styles
such as transactional or transformational leadership. Future REFERENCES
research is needed to assess which leadership style has a greater
effect on the sales force. Even though there are overlapping Allen, David G. (2006), "Do Organizational Socialization Tact
components between the two leadership styles, the leadership Influence Newcomer Embeddedness andTmnoveri" Jour
styles do have distinguishing elements of uniqueness (Smith, of Management, 32 (April), 237-256.
Montagno, and Kuzmeko 2004). On those bases, Smith, Allen, Natalie, and John P. Meyer (1990), "The Measurem
and Antecedents of Affective, Continuance and Norma
Montagno, and Kuzmeko (2004) assert that servant leader-
Commitment to the Organization," Journal of Occupati
ship may be more effective than transformational leadership
Psychology, 63 (March), 1-18.
in nonprofit, volunteer, and religious organizations. In these
Anderson, James C, and David W. Gerbing (1988), "Structu
organizations, people seek opportunities for personal growth, Equation Modeling in Practice: A Review and Reco
nurturing, and healing. In more dynamic environments in mended Two-Step Approach," Psychological Bulletin, 1
which people are empowered with greater responsibilities and (May), 411-423.
encouraged to take risks, they assert that transformational Arjoon, Surendra (2000), "Virtue Theory as a Dynamic The
leadership may be more effective. of Business," Journal of Business Ethics, 28 (2), 159-178
In addition, because a goal of the study was to investigate Aselage, Justin, and Robert Eisenberger (2003), "Perce
the overall impact of servant leadership on the selling orga- Organizational Support and Psychological Contracts
Theoretical Integration, " Journal of Organizational Behav
nization, servant leadership was treated as a unidimensional
24 (5), 491-509.
construct. This was statistically supported in our data. How-
Bass, Bernard M. (1997), "Personal Selling and Transactiona
ever, the servant leadership literature has identified important
Transformational Leadership," Journal of Personal Sellin
subdimensions of the construct; namely, showing concern Sales Management, 17, 3 (Summer), 19-28.
for others, creating value for the community, possessing
organizational knowledge, empowering employees, helping tions," Journal of Leadership Studies, 7
subordinates grow and succeed, putting subordinates' goals
first, behaving ethically, putting emphasis on human relation- (1987), "Transformational Leadersh
ships, and willingness to sacrifice one's aspirations (e.g., Liden Effect," Group & Organization Mana
73-87.
et al. 2008). Future research is needed to examine the effect of
Beatty, Sharon E., Morris Mayer, James E. Coleman, Kristy
these individual components of servant leadership. This might
Ellis Reynolds, and Jungki Lee (1996), "Customer-Sales
represent a prudent focus of study given the seeming overlap
Associate Retail Relationship ," Journal of Retailing, 72 (3),
of many of the leadership styles that have been proffered in 223-247.
the literature (Ingram et al. 2005). Behrman, Douglas N., and William D. Perreault (1984), "A Role
Finally, servant leadership may also impact other sales force Stress Model of the Performance and Satisfaction of Indus-
outcomes such as ethical climate and the quality of long-term trial Salespersons" Journal of Marketing, 48 (Fall), 9-21.
relationships with customers. As Mulki, Jaramillo, and Lo- Bergkvist, Lars, and John R. Rossiter (2007), "The Predictive
cander (2009) assert, sales leaders play a fundamental role in Validity of Multiple-Item Versus Single-Item Measures of
setting the tone for organizational climate. Deeter-Schmelz, the Same Construct," Journal of Marketing Research, 44
Goebel, and Kennedy (2008) report that sales leaders have a (May), 175-184.
Borman, Walter C, Stephan J. Motowidlo, Tammy D. Allen,
significant effect on the process by which salespeople initiate,
and Stephan J. Motowidlo (2001), "Personality Predictors
develop, and expand customer relationships. Thus, future
of Citizenship Performance," International Journal of Selec-
research examining the impact of servant leadership on ethics tion and Assessment, 9 (March-June), 52-69.
and long-term customer relationship quality is warranted. Bowen, David E., Caren Siehl, and Benjamin Schneider (1989),
"A Framework for Analyzing Customer Service Orienta-
NOTE tions in Manufacturing," Academy of Management Review,
14 (1), 75-95.
1. We performed an exploratory factor analysis (EFA)Carson,
to as- Stephen J. (2007), "When to Give Up Control of Out-
sess the dimensionality of the servant leadership scale (Hair et
sourced New Product Development," Journal of Marketing,
71 (January),
al. 2006). EFA results indicate that one single factor captures a 49-66.
significant amount of common variance (over 75 percent). Chebat,
Also,Jean-Charles, and Paul Kollias (2000), "The Impact of
Empowerment on Customer Contact Employees' Roles
a confirmatory factor analysis shows that a model where all items
Summer 2009 271
in Service Organizations," Journal of Service Research, 3 Paradigm for

(August), 66-81. sionali ty and
Chonko, Lawrence B. (2007), "A Philosophy of Teaching . . . and 25 (May), 18
More," Journal of * Marketing Education, 29 (2), 111-121. Giacobbe, Ralp
Collins, James C. (2001), Good to Great: Why Some Companies and Claudia M
Make the Leap . . . and Others Dont, New York: HarperBusi- to Adaptive S
ness Essentials. ing Situation
Cote, Joseph A., and Ronald Buckley (1987), "Estimating Trait, of Personal
Method, and Error Variance: Generalizing Across 70 Con- 115-142.
Greene, Charles N. (1979), "Questions of Causation in the
struct Validation Studies," Journal of Marketing Research,
24 (August), 315-318. Path-Goal Theory of Leadership," Academy of Management
Cravens, David W. (1995), "The Changing Role of the Sales Journal, 27 (March), 22-41.
Force," Marketing Management, 4, 2 (Fall), 48-57. Greenleaf, Robert K. (1970), The Servant as Leader, Cambridge,
Deeter-Schmelz, Dawn R., Daniel J. Goebel, and Karen Nor- MA: Center for Applied Studies.
man Kennedy (2008), "What Are the Characteristics of an
Effective Sales Manager? An Exploratory Study Comparing Berrett-Koehler.
Salesperson and Sales Manager Perspectives ," Journal of Per-
sonal Selling & Sales Management, 28, 1 (Winter), 7-20. Legitimate Power and Greatness, 25th an
Diamantopoulos, Adaman tios, and Judy A. Siguaw (2000), Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press.
Introducing LISREL, London: Sage. Guenzi, Paolo, Catherine Pardo, and Laur
Dolan, Shimon L., and Salvador Garcia (2002), "Management "Relational Selling Strategy and Key Acc
by Values: Cultural Redesign for Strategic Organizational Relational Behaviors: An Exploratory
Change at the Dawn of the Twenty- First Century ," Journal Marketing Management, 36 (January), 1
of Management Development, 21 (2), 101-117. Hair, Joseph F., Jr., William C. Black, Barry
Dubinsky, Alan J., Francis J. Yammarino, and Marvin A. Jolson Anderson, and Ronald L. Tatham (2006),
(1994), "Closeness of Supervision and Salesperson Work Analysis, 6th ed., Upper Saddle River, N
Hampton, Ron, Alan J. Dubinsky, and Steve
Outcomes: An Alternative Perspective ," Journal of Business
Research, 29 (March), 225-237. "A Model of Sales Supervisor Leadership B
Salespeople's Job-Related Outcomes ," Jour
"Transformational Leade
of Marketing Science, 14 (Fall), 33-43.
in Sales Management,"
Harich, Katrin R., and Douglas W. Jou
LaBahn (
Management, 15, Business
International 2 (Spring
Relationships: A F
Ehrhart, Mark Perceptions
G. of Salespeople Role Perfo
(2004), "L
Climate as Antecedents
Cultural Sensitivity," Journal of Busine
Citizenship (May), 87-101.
Behavior," Per
61-94. Harris, Lloyd C, and Emmanuel Ogbonna
Evans, Kenneth R.,
Style and Market Timo
Orientation: An Empir
Shaoming Zou (2007),
pean Journal of Marketing,"How
35 (5-6), 744
lated Outcomes:
House, Robert The
J. (1971), "A Role
Path Goal Theoo
Psychological tiveness,"
Climate Perce
Administrative Science Quarter
of Marketing 321-339.
Science, 35 (
Fiedler, Fred E., and Mart
Leadership Effectiveness: T
Legacy, and a Reformulated Theory,"
New York: 7 (Fall), 323-352.
John Wiley &
Fornell, Claes, and
Ingram, David
Thomas N., F.
Raymond W. LaFor
tural Equation
Scott B. Models wi
MacKenzie, and Philip M. P
Measurement Error,"
Directions Jour
in Sales Leadership Research
(February), 39-50.
Selling & Sales Management, 25 (S
Franke, George R., and
Jaramillo, Fernando, and Je
Jay Prakash M
Adaptive The Intertwined
Selling Roles of the Leade
Behavior
Meta- Analysis," Journal
Salesperson, " o
Journal of Personal Selli
vember), 693-702.
28, 1 (Winter), 37-51.
Gebhardt, Gary F., Gregory
(2006), (2007), "Getting
"Creating a the Job Done: The M
Market
Multifirm, Initiative on the Relationship
Grounded Analy Between In
Journal of Marketing,
and Adaptive Selling," Journal of70Perso
Gerbing, Management,
David W, 27, 1 (Winter),
and 59-74.
Jam
Jones, Gareth R. (1986), "Socialization Tactics, Self-Efficacy, Outcomes of

and Newcomers' Adjustments to Organizations," Academy Sales Context
of Management Journal 29 (June), 262-279. 32 (Winter),
Kennedy, Karen Norman, Jerry R. Goolsby, and Eric J. Arnould
(2003), "Implementing a Customer Orientation: Exten- in the Work-Family Interface: Links to Job
sion of Theory and Application," Journal of Marketing, 67 Service Employee Performance, and Custo
(October), 67-81. Intent " Journal of Marketing, 69 (April),
Kirka, Ahmet H., Satish Jayachandran, and William O. Bearden
(2005), "Market Orientation: A Meta-Analytic Review and rian (1997), "An Investigation into
Assessment of Its Antecedents and Impact on Performance," Organizational Citizenship Behaviors
Journal of Marketing; 69 (April), 24-41. Context," Journal of Marketing; 61 (l
Kohli, Ajay K. (1985), "Some Unexplored Supervisory Behaviors Oliver, Richard L., and Erin Anderson
and Their Influence on Salespeople's Role Clarity, Specific Test of the Consequences of Behavior
Self-Esteem, Job Satisfaction, and Motivation," Journal of Sales Control Systems " Journal of Ma
Marketing Research, 22 (November), 424-433. 53-67.
Ostroff, Cheri, and Steve WJ. Kozlowski (1992), "Organizational
Individual Differences Among Salespeople," Journal
Socialization as Learning of
Process: The Role of Information
Marketing Research, 53 (October), 40-50. Acquisition," Personnel Psychology, 45 (Winter), 849-874.
Pawar,
Laub, James Alan (1999), "Assessing the ServantBadrinarayan Shankar, and Kenneth K. Eastman (1997),
Organization:
"The Nature
Development of the Organizational Leadership Assessmentand Implications of Contextual Influences on
(OLA) Instrument," Synopsis of Ed.D. dissertation,
Transformational Dis-
Leadership: A Contextual Examination,"
Academy of of
sertation Abstracts International, Department Management Review, 22 (1), 80-109.
Education,
Piercy, Nigel E, David W. Cravens, Nikala Lane, and Douglas
Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton.
W. Vorhies
Levering, Robert, and Milton Moskowitz (2006), "Driving
(2000), "The Organizational
100 Citizenship
Behaviors
Best Companies to Work for in America," and Salesperson
Fortune, 141,In-Role
1 Behavior Performance:
(October 1), 82-110. The Role of Management Control and Perceived Organiza-
Liden, Robert C, Sandy J. Wayne, Hao Zhao, and" David
tional Support, Hen-
Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science,
derson (2008), "Servant Leadership: 34 (Spring), 244-262. of a
Development
Multidimensional Measure and Multi-Level Assessment,"
Podsakoff, Philip M., Scott B. MacKenzie, Jeong-Yeon Lee, and
Leadership Quarterly, 19 (2), 161-177. Nathan P. Podsakoff (2003), "Common Method Bias in
MacKenzie, Scott B., Philip M. Podsakoff,Behavioral Research: A Critical
and Michael Ahearne Review of the Literature and
(1998), "Some Possible Antecedents and Consequences
Recommended Remedies," Journalofoj Applied Psychology, 88
(October), 879-903.Journal
In-Role and Extra-Role Salesperson Performance,"
of Marketing, 62 (July), 87-98. Rafferty, Alannah E., and Mark A. Griffin (2004), "Dimensions
of Transformational Leadership: Conceptual and Empirical
tional and Transactional Extensions,"Leadership
Leadership Quarterly, 15 (June), 329-354.
and Sa
formance, " Journal of the Academy of Mark
(Summer), 115-134. sideration: Distingui
Martin, Craig A., and Alan J. Bush
Supportive (200
Leadersh
Climate, Empowerment, nizational Psycholog
Leadership Style,
er-Oriented Selling: An Analysis
Rainey, of St
Hal G., and th
Leadership
er-Salesperson Dyad," Journal and
oj ^the Midd
Academ
Science, 34 (Summer), 419-438.
Mere Mortals," Inter
Masterson, S. tion, 19"A
(2001), (6), 763-80
Suzanne
Trickle-D
Rapp,
ganizational Justice: Adam,
Relating Michae
Employees' a
Schillewaert
Perceptions and Reactions (2006),
to Fairness," Jou
powerment on Wor
Psychology, 86, (4), 594-604.
Moderating
Mulki, Jay, Fernando Jaramillo, andRole of
Willia
"Transform or Transact? Which in
Research Leader Get
Marketi
Reichers,
A Meta- Analysis, "Journal of Arnon
BusinessE. and
(19
search, Practice, and of Organizational
Teaching, Com
1 (1), 85-94.
Review, 10 (July), 4
ship on Rigdon,
Ethical Edward and
Climate E.,
of Business Ethics, 86
Wothke (1998), (2),
"A C
Netemeyer, Nonlinear
Richard Modeling,"
G., Tho
S. Boles (2004), "A Cross-
in Structural Equatio
Summer 2009 27 ò
and George A. Marcoulides, eds., Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Slocum, John, Jr., and William L. Cron (1985), "Job Attitudes
Erlbaum, 1-16. and Performance During Three Career Stages ," Journal of
Robinson, Leroy, Jr., Greg W. Marshall, William C. Moncrief, Vocational Behavior, 26 (April), 126-145.
and Felicia G. Lassk (2002), "Towards a Shortened Mea-Smith, Brien N., Ray V. Montagno, and Tania N. Kuzmeko
sure of Adaptive Selling," Journal of Personal Selling & Sales (2004), "Transformational and Servant Leadership: Content
Management, 22, 2 (Spring), 111-119. and Contextual Comparisons," Journal of Leadership and
Russ, Frederick A., and Kevin M. McNeilly (1995), "Links Organizational Studies, 10 (4), 80-91.
Among Satisfaction, Commitment, and Turnover inten- Speier, Cheri, and Viswanath Venkatesh (2002), "The Hidden
tions: The Moderating Effect of Experience, Gender and Minefields in the Adoption of Sales Force Automation
Performance ," Journal of Business Research, 34 (1), 57-65. Technologies ," Journal of Marketing, 66 (July), 98-111.
Sauser, William I., Jr. (2005), "Ethics in Business: Answering theSpiro, Rosann L., and Barton A. Weitz (1 990), Adaptive Selling:
Call," Journal of ^ Business Ethics, 58 (4), 345-357. Conceptualization, Measurement, and Nomological Valid-
Saxe, Robert, and Barton A. Weitz (1982), "The SOCO Scale: ity, " Journal of Marketing Research, 27 (February), 61-69.
A Measure of the Customer Orientation of Salespeople," Tepper, Bennett, and Edward C. Taylor (2003). "Relationships
Journal of Marketing Research, 19 (August), 343-351. Among Supervisors' and Subordinates' Procedural Justice
Schein, Edgar H. (1985), Organizational Culture and Leadership, Perceptions and Organizational Citizenship Behaviors,"
San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Academy of Management Journal, 46 (1), 97-105.
Schneider, Benjamin (1987), "The People Make the Place,"Wachner, Trent, Christopher R. Plouffe, and Yany Grégoire
Personnel Psychology, 40 (3), 439-453. (2009), "SOCO's Impact on Individual Sales Performance:
The Integration of Selling Skills as a Missing Link," Indus-
trial Marketing
Customer-Focused HRM, " International Management,
Journal of 38 (January), 32-44.
Service
Weitz, Barton A., Harish Sujan, and Mita Sujan (1986), "Knowl-
Industry Management, 5 (1), 64-76.
Sendjaya, Sen, James C. Sarros, and edge, Motivation,
Joseph C.and Adaptive Behavior:
Santoria A Framework for
(2008),
"Defining and Measuring Servant Leadership
Improving Behaviour
Selling Effectiveness ," Journal of Marketing, 50
(October), 174-191.
in Organizations ," Journal of 'Management Studies, 45 (2),
402-424. Williams, Larry J., and Barbara K. Brown (1994), "Method
Shanock, Linda Rhoades, and Robert Eisenberger (2006), Variance in Organizational Behavior and Human Resources
"When Supervisors Feel Supported: Relationships with Research: Effects on Correlations, Path Coefficients, and
Subordinates' Perceived Supervisor Support, Perceived Or- Hypothesis Testing," Organizational Behavior and Human
ganizational Support, and Performance ," Journal of Applied Decision Processes, 57 (February), 185-209.
Psychology, 91 (May), 689-695. Wood, Phillip K., and Darin J. Erickson (1998), "Estimating
Shoemaker, Mary E. (1999), "Leadership Practices in Sales Man- Interaction and Nonlinear Effects with SAS," in Interac-
agers Associated with the Self-Efficacy, Role Clarity, and Job tion and Nonlinear Effects in Structural Equation Modeling,
Satisfaction of Individual Industrial Salespeople," Journal of Randall E. Schumacker and George A. Marcoulides, eds.,
Personal Selling & Sales Management, 19, 4 (Fall), 1-19. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, 101-124.
Yu,
Siguaw, Judy A., and Earl D. Honeycutt (1995), "An Examination Jiyuan (1998), "Virtue: Confucius and Aristotle," Philosophy
of Gender Differences in Selling Behaviors and Job Atti- East and West, 48 (2), 323-347.
tudes," Industrial Marketing Management, 24 (1), 45-52. Yukl, Gary A. (2001), Leadership in Organizations, 5th ed., Upper
Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Appendix Table A I
Measure Properties
Average
Factor Variance
Loading Reliability Extracted
Measure
Servant Leadership (Ehrhart 2004) 0.98; 0.97 0.74

My department manager spends the time to form qua
department employees.
My department manager creates a sense of communit
employees.
My department manager's decisions are influenced by department employees' 0.84
input.
My department manager tries to reach consensus among department 0.89
employees on important decisions.
My department manager is sensitive to department employees' responsibilities 0.87
outside the workplace.
My department manager makes the personal development of department 0.9 1
employees a priority.
My department manager holds department employees to high ethical standards. 0.83
My department manager does what he or she promises to do. 0.89
My department manager balances concern for day-to-day details with projections 0.90
for the future.
My department manager displays wide-ranging knowledge and interests in 0.88

finding solutions to work problems.
My department manager makes me feel like I work with him or her, not for 0.87
him or her.
My department manager works hard at finding ways to help others be the best 0.93
they can be.
My department manager encourages department employees to be involved in 0.65
community service and volunteer activities outside of work.
My department manager emphasizes the importance of giving back to the 0.68
community.
Customer Orientation (Saxe and Weitz 1982) 0.93; 0.93 0.77
A good salesperson has to have the customer's best interests in mind. 0.80
I try to achieve my goals by satisfying customers. 0.89
I try to find what kinds of products would be most helpful to a customer. 0.9 1
I try to give customers an accurate expectation of what the product will do 0.90
for them.
Customer-Directed Extra-Role Performance (Netemeyer, Maxham, and Pullig 2005) 0.95; 0.95 0.84
I go above and beyond the "call of duty" when serving the customers. 0.87
I am willing to go out of my way to make a customer satisfied. 0.89
I voluntarily assist customers even if it means going beyond job requirements. 0.96
I often help customers with problems beyond what is expected or required. 0.95
Adaptive Selling (Robinson et al. 2002) 0.9 1 ; 0.92 0.69
When I feel that my sales approach is not working, I can easily change to 0.79
another approach.
I like to experiment with different sales approaches. 0.78
I am very flexible in the selling approach I use. 0.93
I can easily use a wide variety of selling approaches. 0.90
I try to understand how one customer differs from another. 0.72
Outcome Performance (Evans et al. 2007) 0.92; 0.92 0.66
Contributing to your company's acquiring a good market share. 0.72
Making sales of those products with the highest profit margins. 0.84
Generating a high level of dollar sales. 0.9 1
Quickly generating sales of new company products. 0.85
Identifying major accounts in your territory and selling to them. 0.71
Exceeding sales targets and objectives during the year. 0.83
Summer 2009 275
Average
Factor Variance
Loading Reliability Extracted
Measure
Job Satisfaction (Netemeyer, Brashear-Alejandro, and Boles 2004) 0.88; 0.88 0.72
All in all, how satisfied are you with your present line of work? 0.88
All things considered (i.e., paid promotions, supervisors, coworkers, etc.), 0.93
how satisfied are you with your present line of work?
I feel a great sense of personal satisfaction from my line of work. 0.72
Job Stress (Netemeyer, Brashear-Alejandro, and Boles 2004) 0.90; 0.90 0.69
My job tends to directly affect my health. 0.75
At the end of the day, my job leaves me "stressed out." 0.86
Problems associated with work have kept me awake at night. 0.82
I feel fidgety or nervous because of my job. 0.89
Organizational Commitment (Speier and Venkatesh 2002) 0.93; 0.93 0.82
I am proud to tell others that I am a part of this organization. 0.93
I talk up this organization to my friends as a great organization to work for. 0.93
I feel a sense of ownership for this organization rather than just being an employee. 0.86
* Factor loadings from the measurement model (X) are standardized and significant at a = 0.01.

Examining The Impact of Servant Leadership On Sale Forece Performance

Diunggah oleh

Informasi Dokumen

Judul Asli

Hak Cipta

Format Tersedia

Bagikan dokumen Ini

Bagikan atau Tanam Dokumen

Opsi Berbagi

Apakah menurut Anda dokumen ini bermanfaat?

Apakah konten ini tidak pantas?

Hak Cipta:

Format Tersedia

Examining The Impact of Servant Leadership On Sale Forece Performance

Diunggah oleh

Hak Cipta:

Format Tersedia

Examining the Impact of Servant Leadership on Sales Force Performance

Author(s): Fernando Jaramillo, Douglas B. Grisaffe, Lawrence B. Chonko and James A.

Fernando Jaramillo, Douglas B. Grisaffe, Lawrence B. Chonko, and James A. Roberts

Many organizations are discovering the value of heightened

' ' ' |

f / Common ' x^ ^y s'

Leadership Theories leadership but rather its

that the development of a market-oriented culture requires

Hypothesis 3: The more the salesperson views his or her sales

CL 4£. .v. .y. 42.

5 sO - (NO - (N p ^-# «^ «-Q gv

Structural Model Hypotheses Testing

Hypotheses and Control Variables Model I ' Model 22 Model 33

H I : Servant Leadership -^ Customer Orientation 0. 1 3* 0.20** 0. 1 3*

H3: Servant Leadership -> Outcome Performance 0.05 0.04 -

Servant Leadership -> Job Satisfaction 0.5 1 ** 0.52** 0.5 1 **

Variance Explained (R2)

Notes: 1 Corrected for common m

A revised model DISCUSSION

/ „ Servant t ' ' hi / Customer ' / Outcome '

' J ('=215> ' ~Z & ' 7

AU scale items are SP=-0.20 ^^^^^^^•v'omm*tmenysp==-<)28 / /

Notes: SP = standardized path; UP = unstandardized path.

but also something of this concern for theknown

and McNeilly 1995, p. 58). This finding implies that a servant

in Service Organizations," Journal of Service Research, 3 Paradigm for

Jones, Gareth R. (1986), "Socialization Tactics, Self-Efficacy, Outcomes of

Servant Leadership (Ehrhart 2004) 0.98; 0.97 0.74

My department manager displays wide-ranging knowledge and interests in 0.88

Anda mungkin juga menyukai

Servant Leadership -> Job Satisfaction 0.5 1 0.52 0.5 1 **