Date of Award

Fall 8-6-2018

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Marketing

First Advisor

V. Kumar

Second Advisor

Sarang Sunder

Third Advisor

Nita Umashankar

Fourth Advisor

Naveen Donthu

Abstract

A present trend across industries is to engage salespeople with a more hands-on approach to learning, by increasing feedback from supervisors. With already demanding schedules, firms are seeking ways to ease their supervisor’s time constraint. One such solution is to reduce the time a supervisor allocates to training their subordinates, while not impacting overall training. Applying Social Network and Organization Learning theories, this research attempts to identify whom within the firm would be better suited for training initiatives. Past literature has yet to empirically compare the influence of peers and supervisors on a salesperson’s different sales capabilities. Thus, using a Type II Tobit model and a Negative Binomial model, we empirically examine which type of colleague influences a salesperson’s sales capabilities more, peers or supervisors, and how experience and supervisor-leadership-style affect these relationships. This research can assist managers in training initiatives, as well as time management strategies within sales firms.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.57709/13409789

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