دانلود رایگان مقاله انگلیسی بررسی استفاده از عملیات مدیریت نیروی فروش - امرالد 2017

ABSTRACT

Purpose: The purpose of this research is to understand what sales management practices (SMPs) are being used by managers in the current market place; changes over time, insights that can be gained, and future research needs. Methodology: Data for this study were collected via a cross-sectional internet-based survey using a sampling frame provided by a professional sales publication. ANOVA was used to analyze 159 sales manager respondents. Findings: Empirical results indicate several differences are evident across the 68 sales management practices items gathered, especially in terms of the size of the sales force and establish some data on using technology in sales management. However, in spite of significant changes in the sales environment, many SMPs have had limited change. Research Limitations: Research study limitations include a sample frame drawn from a single source and via the internet and thus may have excluded some possible respondents from participation and somewhat limit generalizability. Practical Implications: The results of our study raise a number of important issues for sales managers to consider. First, which SMPs should they be using? Managers need to give serious thought as to which practices they choose to employ. Second, why are so many of them not making more extensive use of sales force technology? Third, is it wise for sales managers to be relying on executive opinion as their most extensively used forecasting method, or should they be emphasizing another approach. A fourth issue is the continued heavy emphasis on generating sales volume as opposed to profits. Originality/Value: The data provides a rare and updated understanding of the use of sales management practices by sales managers.

Future Research

This research looked at which SMPs are being used today and compared them with the SMPs examined by Dubinsky and Barry (1982) overall and in terms of size of the firm. It yielded a number of useful insights into SMPs while at the same time generating a number of additional questions in need of further study. Some of these questions can be directly drawn from the research results, others are indirect. First, while the current study examined the impact of sales force size with respect to the use of SMPs, there are no doubt other factors such as industry or type of sales (product versus service or consumer versus business-to-business) that might impact or determine which SMPs are used and if so, how strong is their impact? Moreover, are some SMPs better suited to different types of firms than others? Second, the current study looked at extent of use of each SMP, it did not look at the perceived importance of the various SMPs employed, or their impact on sales performance. Do managers perceive some SMPs as more important than others and just how great is the impact of various SMPs on sales performance?

Third, as can be seen by a comparison of the current study’s findings and those of Dubinsky and Barry (1982), the use of some SMPs have changed. But it is equally important to note that most have not. Significant differences in terms of the SMPs used in supervision and evaluation between small and large sales forces appear to have lessened with both sized sales forces making similar use of particular SMPs in this area. Multiple changes were also found in terms of training. While clearly, SMP usage changes with time, additional research is also needed to examine to determine what other factors affect the usage of different SMPs. As is clear from Table 1, various authors have noted that sales management is facing a number of significant changes and challenges. To date, no research has explicitly linked these changes and challenges to the specific sales management practices used by firms.