The Influence of Supervisory Approaches on Sales Performance Through a Regulatory Focus Perspective in Telemarketing in Bangladesh
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
The influence of supervisory control and empowerment was investigated through a regulatory focus perspective (promotion focus and prevention focus) on sales performance. The responses came from 387 telemarketers working in international call centers in Dhaka, Bangladesh and were obtained through an online self-administered survey and analyzed using structural equation modeling. The results indicated that between control and empowerment, empowerment was more impactful on telemarketers, whereas supervisory control had no influence on regulatory focus. Some of the variables of supervisory empowerment impacted regulatory focuses. The sales performance of telemarketers was influenced by their regulatory focus-based strategies that were connected to the regulatory focus of both telemarketers and customers. The findings obtained from this research can be applied in the call center industry by designing supervisory approaches to motivate employees to maximize revenue and ensure better sales performance. Future studies from varied geographic locations or with a sales-customer dyadic perspective may add more insights in this area of research.
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Copyright: Asia-Pacific International University reserve exclusive rights to publish, reproduce and distribute the manuscript and all contents therein.
References
Anderson, E., & Oliver, R. L. (1987). Perspectives on behavior-based versus outcome-based salesforce control systems. Journal of Marketing, 51(4), 76–88. https://doi.org/10.1177/002224298705100407
Anthony, R. N. (1965). Planning and control systems: A framework for analysis. Harvard University Press.
BACCO (2019). BACCO: Bangladesh association of call center & outsourcing. https://www.bacco.org.bd/
Bangladesh Unemployment Rate. (2019). Bangladesh Unemployment Rate 1991-2020. https://www.macrotrends.net/countries/BGD/bangladesh/unemployment-rate
Barbier, L. (2016, October 7). Working in a call center: The definitive guide. https://aircall.io/blog/call-center/working-in-a-call-center/
Bardwick, J. H. (1991). Social issues in workplace. American Management Associations.
Bartram, D., & Roe, R. A. (2005). Definition and assessment of competences in the context of the European diploma in psychology. European Psychologist, 10(2), 93–102. https://doi.org/10.1027/1016-9040.10.2.93
Baumgartner, H., & Homburg, C. (1996). Applications of structural equation modeling in marketing and consumer research: A review. International Journal of Research in Marketing, 13(2), 139–161. https://doi.org/10.1016/0167-8116(95)00038-0
Biron, M., & Bamberger, P. (2010). The impact of structural empowerment on individual well-being and performance: Taking agent preferences, self-efficacy and operational constraints into account. Human Relations, 63(2), 163–191. https://doi.org/10.1177/0018726709337039
Block, P. (1993). Stewardship. Benett-Kochler.
Carver, C., & Scheier, M. (1998). On the Self-Regulation of Behavior. https://doi.org/10.1017/cbo9781139174794
Cesario, J., Higgins, E. T., & Scholer, A. A. (2008). Regulatory fit and persuasion: Basic principles and remaining questions. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 2(1), 444–463. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1751-9004.2007.00055.x
Challagalla, G. N., & Shervani, T. A. (1996). Dimensions and types of supervisory control: Effects on salesperson performance and satisfaction. Journal of Marketing, 60(1), 89–105. https://doi.org/10.1177/ 002224299606000108
Champy, J. (1995). Reengineering management: The mandate for new leadership. Harper Business.
Chen, F., Chen, H., Yang, J., Long, R., & Li, W. (2019). Impact of regulatory focus on express packaging waste recycling behavior: moderating role of psychological empowerment perception. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 26(9), 8862–8874. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-019-04416-7
Conger, J. A., & Kanungo, R. N. (1988). The empowerment process: Integrating theory and practice. Academy of Management Review, 13(3), 471–482. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.1988.4306983
Dalton, G. W. (1971). Motivation and control in organizations. R.D. Irwin and the Dorsey Press.
Doll, W. J., Xia, W., & Torkzadeh, G. (1994). A confirmatory factor analysis of the end-user computing satisfaction instrument. MIS Quarterly, 18(4), 453. https://doi.org/10.2307/249524
Förster, J., & Higgins, E. T. (2005). How global versus local perception fits regulatory focus. Psychological Science, 16(8), 631–636. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2005.01586.x
Förster, J., Higgins, E. T., & Bianco, A. T. (2003). Speed/accuracy decisions in task performance: Built-in trade-off or separate strategic concerns? Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 90(1), 148–164. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0749-5978(02)00509-5
Freitas, A. L., & Higgins, E. T. (2002). Enjoying goal-directed action: The role of regulatory fit. Psychological Science, 13(1), 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9280.00401
Hamstra, M. R. W., McCabe, K. O., Klekamp, B., & Rietzschel, E. F. (2018). Regulatory focus and individual sales performance of field marketers: A constructive replication. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 40(6), 414–420. https://doi.org/10.1080/01973533.2018.1526086
Hartmann, N., Plouffe, C. R., Kohsuwan, P., & Cote, J. A. (2020). Salesperson influence tactics and the buying agent purchase decision: Mediating role of buying agent trust of the salesperson and moderating role of buying agent regulatory orientation focus. Industrial Marketing Management, 87. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2020.02.023
Henderson, J. C., & Lee, S. (1992). Managing I/S design teams: A control theories perspective. Management Science, 38(6), 757–777. https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.38.6.757
Johnson, P. D., Shull, A., & Wallace, J. C. (2010). Regulatory focus as a mediator in goal orientation and performance relationships. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 32(5), 751–766. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.701
Kanai-Pak, M. (2009). Leadership behaviors that mitigate burnout and empower Japanese nurses. University of Arizona. https://books.google.com.bd/books?id=f9YHzQEACAAJ
Kanter, R. M. (1993). Men and women of the corporation. Basic Books.
Kim, K., & Lee, S. (2019). Psychological empowerment. Oxford Bibliographies. https://doi: 10.1093/OBO/ 9780199846740-0090
Kim, S. Y., & Fernandez, S. (2016). Employee empowerment and turnover intention in the U.S. federal bureaucracy. The American Review of Public Administration, 47(1), 4–22. https://doi.org/10.1177/ 0275074015583712
Kirmani, A., & Campbell, M. C. (2004). Goal seeker and persuasion sentry: How consumer targets respond to interpersonal marketing persuasion. Journal of Consumer Research, 31(3), 573–582. https://doi.org/10.1086/425092
Laschinger, H. K. (2012). Conditions for work effectiveness questionnaire 1 and II. Western University. https://www.uwo.ca/fhs/hkl/cweq.html
Laschinger, H., Finegan, J., Shamian, J., & Wilk, P. (2001). Impact of structural and psychological empowerment on job strain in nursing work settings. JONA: The Journal of Nursing Administration, 31(5), 260–272. https://doi.org/10.1097/00005110-200105000-00006
Lawler, E. E. (1990). Strategic pay: Aligning organizational strategies and pay systems. Jossey-Bass.
Lee, A. Y., & Aaker, J. L. (2004). Bringing the frame into focus: The influence of regulatory fit on processing fluency and persuasion. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 86(2), 205–218. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.86.2.205
May, D. R., Gilson, R. L., & Harter, L. M. (2004). The psychological conditions of meaningfulness, safety and availability and the engagement of the human spirit at work. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 77(1), 11–37. https://doi.org/10.1348/096317904322915892
Neubert, M. J., Kacmar, K. M., Carlson, D. S., Chonko, L. B., & Roberts, J. A. (2008). Regulatory focus as a mediator of the influence of initiating structure and servant leadership on employee behavior. Journal of Applied Psychology, 93(6), 1220–1233. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0012695
Orgambídez-Ramos, A., & Borrego-Alés, Y. (2014). Empowering employees: Structural empowerment as antecedent of job satisfaction in university settings. Psychological Thought, 7(1), 28–36. https://doi.org/ 10.5964/psyct.v7i1.88
Ouchi, W. G., & Maguire, M. A. (1975). Organizational control: Two functions. Administrative Science Quarterly, 20(4), 559. https://doi.org/10.2307/2392023
Papadopoulos, M. (2018, March 18). Supervisory skills–become a successful supervisor. The Online Learning Platform. https://www.potential.com/articles/supervisory-skills
Patterson, J. (2019, March 6). Outsourcing statistics to guide your business decisions in 2019. Transcosmos. http://transcosmos.co.uk/blog/outsourcing-statistics/
Pham, M. T., & Aaker, J. L. (2002). Special session summary consumers as motivated beings: The influence of self-regulation on judgement and persuasion. ACR North American Advances, 29, 308–311. https://www.acrwebsite.org/volumes/8664/volumes/v29/NA-29
Puto, C. P., Patton, W. E., & King, R. H. (1985). Risk handling strategies in industrial vendor selection decisions. Journal of Marketing, 49(1), 89–98. https://doi.org/10.1177/002224298504900109
Spreitzer, G. M. (1995). An empirical test of a comprehensive model of intrapersonal empowerment in the workplace. American Journal of Community Psychology, 23(5), 601–629. https://doi.org/10.1007/ bf02506984
Stander, M. W., & Rothmann, S. (2010). Psychological empowerment, job insecurity and employee engagement. SA Journal of Industrial Psychology, 36(1). https://doi.org/10.4102/sajip.v36i1.849
Sun, L. Y., Zhang, Z., Qi, J., & Chen, Z. X. (2012). Empowerment and creativity: A cross-level investigation. The Leadership Quarterly, 23(1), 55–65. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2011.11.005
Thomas, K. W., & Velthouse, B. A. (1990). Cognitive Elements of Empowerment: An “Interpretive” Model of Intrinsic Task Motivation. Academy of Management Review, 15(4), 666–681. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr. 1990.4310926
Tung, F. C. (2016). Does transformational, ambidextrous, transactional leadership promote employee creativity? Mediating effects of empowerment and promotion focus. International Journal of Manpower, 37(8), 1250–1263. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijm-09-2014-0177
Turcotte, W. E. (1974). Control systems, performance, and satisfaction in two state agencies. Administrative Science Quarterly, 19(1), 60–73. https://doi.org/10.2307/2391788
Walker, O. C., Churchill, G. A., & Ford, N. M. (1977). Motivation and performance in industrial selling: Present knowledge and needed research. Journal of Marketing Research, 14(2), 156–168. https://doi.org/10.2307/ 3150465
Wong, K. L., & Tan, C. L. (2018). Adaptive selling behaviour: A study among salesperson in pharmaceutical industry. Asian Academy of Management Journal, 23(1), 1–22. https://doi.org/10.21315/aamj2018.23.1.1
Xie, G. X., & Kahle, L. R. (2014). Approach or avoid? The effect of regulatory focus on consumer behavioural responses to personal selling attempts. Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, 34(4), 260–271. https://doi.org/10.1080/08853134.2014.929503
Yu, M., Vaagaasar, A. L., Müller, R., Wang, L., & Zhu, F. (2018). Empowerment: The key to horizontal leadership in projects. International Journal of Project Management, 36(7), 992–1006. https://doi.org/10.1016/ j.ijproman.2018.04.003