The effects of organizational culture on salesperson customer orientation
В статье исследуются теоретические основы изучаемых вопросов, а также факторы воздействия концепции, ориентированной на клиента. Изучается роль организационной культуры на предприятии; удовлетворение от работы и обязательства работника по отношению к организации и выполнение продавцами их должностны...
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| Cite this: | The effects of organizational culture on salesperson customer orientation / F. Coelho, M. Augusto, P. Moura e Sa, A. Coelho, E. Soares // Культура народов Причерноморья. — 2005. — № 58. — С. 226-232. — англ. |
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| author | Coelho, F. Augusto, M. Moura e Sa, P. Coelho, A. Soares, E. |
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| citation_txt | The effects of organizational culture on salesperson customer orientation / F. Coelho, M. Augusto, P. Moura e Sa, A. Coelho, E. Soares // Культура народов Причерноморья. — 2005. — № 58. — С. 226-232. — англ. |
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| description | В статье исследуются теоретические основы изучаемых вопросов, а также факторы воздействия концепции, ориентированной на клиента. Изучается роль организационной культуры на предприятии; удовлетворение от работы и обязательства работника по отношению к организации и выполнение продавцами их должностных обязанностей. Выдвигаются гипотезы, касающиеся связи организационной культуры и концепции, ориентированной на клиента. Рассматриваются данные тестирования выдвинутых гипотез на базе двух организаций, занимающихся предоставлением услуг; предлагаются результаты проведенного исследования
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António Martins
PERCEPTIONS OF THE QUALITY OF FINANCIAL INFORMATION IN PORTUGAL
226
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Schilit H, 1993, Financial shenenigans, McGraw Hill
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Sweeney A, 1994, Debt covenant violations and managers´ accounting responses, Journal of Accounting
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Filipe Coelho, Mário Augusto, Patrícia Moura e Sá, Arnaldo Coelho, Elsa Soares
THE EFFECTS OF ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE ON SALESPERSON CUSTOMER
ORIENTATION
Резюме
Известно, что организация может добиться успеха только при условии удовлетворения потребностей
своих клиентов. Фактически, организационная работа в значительной степени зависит от понимания по-
требностей и требований клиента; необходимы исследования, демонстрирующие существование пози-
тивной взаимосвязи между рыночной ориентацией (составляющей которой является ориентация на кли-
ента) и работой организации в целом.
Особую важность для организаций представляет распространение собственной стратегии, ориенти-
рованной на клиента, среди своих сотрудников так, чтобы сотрудники разделяли эту стратегию и способ-
ствовали ее реализации.
В ходе исследований были выделены несколько важных результатов, относящихся к уровням ори-
ентации на клиента сотрудников, работающих в сфере продаж. Такие сотрудники должны быть настроены
на удовлетворение потребностей клиента, выполнение плана продаж и установление длительных отноше-
ний с клиентами.
В современных условиях наличие работников, ориентированных на удовлетворение потребностей
клиента, важно для успешной деятельности любой организации; но для фирм, занимающихся предостав-
лением услуг – это основное условие успеха. Происходит реализация концепции маркетинга в организа-
циях, оказывающих услуги. Ориентация на развитие и улучшение отношений с клиентами вызвала инте-
рес к факторам, способствующим ориентированию продавца на потребности клиента (что до сих пор еще
мало изучено). Поэтому целью статьи является дополнительное изучение рассмотренных определений и, в
частности, изучение роли культуры организации.
В статье исследуются теоретические основы изучаемых вопросов, а также факторы воздействия кон-
цепции, ориентированной на клиента. Изучается роль организационной культуры на предприятии; удов-
летворение от работы и обязательства работника по отношению к организации и выполнение продавцами
их должностных обязанностей. Выдвигаются гипотезы, касающиеся связи организационной культуры и
концепции, ориентированной на клиента. Рассматриваются данные тестирования выдвинутых гипотез на
базе двух организаций, занимающихся предоставлением услуг; предлагаются результаты проведенного
исследования.
INTRODUCTION
It is widely acknowledged that most organizations can only achieve success by satisfying their customers’
needs. In fact, organisational performance is largely dependent upon the understanding of customer needs and re-
quirements, with diverse studies demonstrating the existence of a positive relationship between market orientation,
of which customer orientation is a component, and an organization’s performance (e.g., Caruana, Ramasesham,
and Ewing, 1997; Jaworski and Kohli, 1990; Narver and Slater, 1990; Baker and Sinkula, 1999). Of particular im-
portance for organizations is how to disseminate their customer-oriented strategy to their employees so that these
share the customer-oriented values of the firm and are inspired to carry out such strategy (Hartline, Maxham, and
McKee, 2000). Several studies have already empirically identified several important outcomes of the level of cus-
tomer orientation of salespeople, which has been positively related with customer satisfaction, the sales per-
formance of salespeople and the development of long-term relationships with customers (Boles et al, 2001; Keilor,
Parker and Pettijohn, 2000; Martin and Bush, 2003; Saxe and Weitz, 1982; Williams and Attaway, 1996). Hence,
developing a customer orientated workforce plays an important role in any organisation, but for service firms it is
particularly key. In fact, contact employees have been considered crucial in the implementation of the marketing
concept in service organizations. This acknowledgement, spurred by the trend to develop better relationships with
customers (Webster, 1992) has promoted the interest in understanding the organizational drivers of salespeople’s
customer orientation, about which little is still known (Boles et al, 2001; Brown et al, 2002; Flaherty, Dahlstrom
and Skiner, 1999; Kennedy, Lassk and Goolsby, 2002). Hence, the goal of this study is to shed additional light on
these determinants considering, in particular, the role of an organization’s cultural traits.
This paper is organised as follows. Firstly, we review prior theory and research concerning the factors af-
fecting salespeople’s customer orientation and, in addition, we review the role of organizational culture on organ-
izational performance along with the impact of role stress and job satisfaction and organizational commitment on
salespeople performance. Next, we develop a set of hypotheses relating the cultural traits of the organization with
salespeople’s customer orientation. Subsequently, the hypotheses are tested in the context of two service organi-
zations, and the results are discussed.
RESEARCH BACKGROUND
Customer orientation at the individual level can be understood as “the degree to which salespeople practice
the marketing concept by trying to help their customers make purchase decisions that will satisfy customer needs”
(Saxe and Weitz, 1982: 344). Similarly, Brown et al. (2002) suggest that customer orientation is the “employee’s
227
tendency or predisposition to meet customer needs in an on-the-job context.” In a customer oriented approach,
salespeople help customers to make purchase decisions that are consistent with their long-term needs, therefore
producing satisfied customers in the long-term (Michaels and Day, 1985; Saxe and Weitz, 1982). A customer ori-
ented salesperson directs his efforts towards serving the interests of the customer, discovering his needs before
developing or presenting the appropriate solution, avoiding the utilization of manipulative, deceptive, and pressure
tactics.
However, it has been acknowledged that, to obtain a customer orientated workforce, the firm must put in
place the appropriate values, structures, processes, and incentives (Hartline, Maxham, and McKee, 2000). Not
surprisingly, it has been suggested that corporate culture can provide an important foundation for the transmission
of the organisation’s expectations and requirements to the employees, who are then responsible for implementing
the organisation’s policies and carrying out organisational strategies (Flaherty, Dahlstrom, and Skinner, 1999;
Parasuraman, 1987).
In the marketing literature, culture has been defined as “the pattern of shared values and beliefs that help indi-
viduals understand organizational functioning and thus provide them norms for behaviour in the organization”
(Deshpande and Webster, 1989: 4). This is a layered construct, where values and assumptions represent a less
conscious, inner layer, and behavioural norms and behavioural expectations representing an outer, more conscious
layer, with these layers being highly interrelated (Shein, 1992). Evidence for the impact of cultural traits on or-
ganizational behaviour and performance is diverse. It has been found, for example, that cultural traits may pro-
mote or demote market oriented behaviours in organizations (Homburg and Pflesser, 2000), and that market ori-
ented cultures are associated with company performance (Deshpandé, Farley, and Webster, 1993; Webster, 1988).
At a more micro level, it has been found that the customer orientation of salespeople was positively influenced by
the organizational climate for service (Kelley, 1992), supportive culture (Williams and Attaway, 1996), and mar-
ket/customer oriented culture (Flaherty, Dahlstrom, and Skinner, 1999; Jones, Busch, and Dacin, 2003; Menguç,
1996; Siguaw, Brown, and Widing,1994).
However, prior research has shown that cultural traits affect employees through mediating variables (Glisson
and James, 2002; Kopelman, Brief, and Guzzo, 1990), such as role stress, which has been observed to have some
of its roots on organizational culture and structure (Flaherty, Dahlstrom and Skiner, 1999; Michaels et al, 1988).
Role stress, which is intrinsic to salespeople’s jobs (Nonis, Sager, and Kumar, 1996; Walker, Churchill, and Ford,
1975), concerns to boundary role perceptions by salespeople regarding tasks and the environment in which they
work (Rizzo, House, and Lirtzman, 1970). Role stress has been found to have a profound impact on organizational
effectiveness. It has been obseerved that under role stress, employees exhibit higher dislike for their superiors
(Phelen, 1969), lower job involvement (Bhagat, 1983), and it has also been suggested to negativelly affect per-
formance (Yammarino and Dubinsky, 1990). Additionally, there are inconsistent results in the literature regarding
the effects of role stress on customer orientation (see for example, Hoffman and Ingram, 1991; Shepherde and
Fine, 1994). The two sources of role stress considered in this work are role conflict and role clarity, which House
and Rizzo (1972) found acting as intervening variables between organizational practices and individual and organ-
izational performance.
Role conflict occurs when a salesperson perceives incompatibility between expectations of two or more role
set members, such as sales manager, customers, peers, and family (Ford, Walker, and Churchill, 1975; Rizzo,
House, and Lirtzman, 1970). This might involve, for example, incompatibility between the person’s values and
the defined role, conflicting requests from others, and conflicting evaluation mechanisms. Role conflict has been
found to affect negatively organizational commitment (Michaels et al, 1988), job performance (Dubinsky and
Hartley, 1986), and job satisfaction (Fry et al 1986; Hampton, Dubinsky, and Skinner, 1986).
Role clarity is the opposite of role ambiguity, which has been defined as an “evaluation about the lack of sali-
ent information needed to perform a role effectively” (Singh and Rhoads, 1991: 330-331). The lack of employee
information may concern the standards by which job performance is judged to be adequate, responsibilities, the
appropriate ways to fulfil his role and the expectations associated with his role (Rizzo, House, and Lirtzman,
1970; Singh, 1993). It has been found, for example, that role ambiguity is negatively related with job satisfaction
(Cummings, Jackson and Ostrom, 1984; Dubinsky and Hartley, 1986; Fry et al, 1986; Teas, 1980), organizational
commitment (Michaels et al, 1988), and job performance (Dubinsky and Hartley, 1986).
Finally, we consider the impact of job satisfaction and organizational commitment, which have been shown to
mediate the impact of the two role stressors on employee behavior. Job satisfaction is a widely research topic in
the salesforce literature, and its influence has been related with work outcomes such as performance and turnover.
Brown and Peterson (1993), based on their meta analysis of job satisfaction suggest that job satisfaction mediates
the impact of role stress on other work outcomes. Organizational commitment has also been widely studied in
terms of its antecedents and consequences, and has been shown related with employee behavior (such as perform-
ance and turnover), job attitudes (including job satisfaction), and job characteristics (including role conflict and
ambiguity) (Bateman and Strasser, 1984).
A MODEL OF THE INFLUENCE OF CULTURAL VALUES ON SALESPERSON CUSTOMER
ORIENTATION
Organisational values are useful means firms can use to influence the orientation of their customer-contact
employees. Different organisational value orientations can result in variations in perceived organisational priori-
ties and in the perception of the organisation’s treatment of customers (Flaherty, Dahlstrom, and Skinner, 1999).
Figure 1 contains the conceptual model depicting how cultural orientations disseminate and impact on the cus-
tomer orientation of salespeople. The proposed model adds to the customer orientation of the firm two other (and
more innovative) cultural determinants: ethics and innovation. These cultural determinants are disseminated
through the organizational structure, which in our model has two main components – role clarity and role ambi-
guity. Finally, the model considers that the impact of the two role stressors on customer orientation is mediated by
organizational commitment and job satisfaction.
Filipe Coelho, Mário Augusto, Patrícia Moura e Sá, Arnaldo Coelho, Elsa Soares
THE EFFECTS OF ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE ON SALESPERSON CUSTOMER ORIENTATION
228
H12 H11
H10
H9
H8
H7
H6
H5
H4
H3
H2
H1
Customer
values
Organizational
Commitment
Role
Conflict
Innovatio
n values
Job
Satisfation CO
Role
Clarity
Ethical
values
Figure 1: A model of the influence of cultural values on salesperson customer orientation
The impact of the cultural values of the organization
Customer values concern the customer orientation of the firm, which is a key element of the market orien-
tation construct, defined by Narver and Slatter (1990) as “the organizational culture that most effectively and effi-
ciently creates necessary behaviors for the creation of superior value for buyers and, thus, continuous superior per-
formance for the business”. These are values that show a commitment to a stable and proactive concern towards
meeting customers’ needs. If a firm is being perceived as being customer oriented, customer contact employees
are more likely to practice customer oriented selling (Flaherty, Dahlstrom, and Skinner, 1999; Menguç, 1996;
Siguaw, Brown, and Widing, 1994).
A strong customer orientation of the firm can influence employees to engage in more honest, competent and
trust building behaviours, as well as become more responsive to customer interests. Therefore, customer ori-
entation of the firm is likely to reduce role conflict, by making it clear that the relationship with the customer is to
be governed by the long-term interests of the later, and not, for example, by what might seem the short term goals
of the organization. Siguaw, Brown, and Widing (1994) found empirical evidence that a highly customer-oriented
organisation reduces the contradictory demands placed on customer-oriented salespeople, thereby lowering their
levels of role conflict. The negative relationship between customer orientation of the firm and role conflict was
also empirically supported by Jones, Busch, and Dacin (2003), and Menguç (1996). Likewise, it is likely to con-
tribute to role clarity, by clarifying the duties and tasks of the employee when interacting with the customer (Kel-
ley, 1992). In particular, it emphasizes the continuous collection of information about customers, and the utiliza-
tion of such information for the creation of a continuous superior value to customers (Kohli and Jaworski, 1990;
Narver and Slater, 1990; Slater and Narver, 1995). Hence, a customer orientation provides a clear direction on the
efforts employees should put into understand customer needs and to serve them (Boles et al, 2001), an effort that
should be continuous because of the dynamic nature of customers’ needs. Because of its reliance on the external
collection of information, a customer oriented culture is well positioned to anticipate customers’ needs and to sat-
isfy them with innovative solutions (Slater and Narver, 1995). Evidence of the impact of market/customer orien-
tation of the firm on salespeople role clarity is provided by Jones, Busch, and Dacin (2003), Menguç (1996),
Siguaw, Brown, and Widing (1994). Hence, we offer the following hypotheses:
H1: The customer orientation of the firm is positively related with the role clarity perceived by the employee
H2: The customer orientation of the firm is negatively related with the role conflict perceived by the employee
Taylor (1975) has defined ethics as “inquiry into the nature and grounds of morality”. Following Hunt, Wood
and Chonko (1989), corporate ethics can be seen as mirroring employee’s perceptions that managers act ethically
in their organizations, are concerned with ethical issues in their organizations, and the degree to which ethical be-
havior is rewarded or punished in their organizations.
There are long-term benefits associated with customer oriented behaviors on the part of the salesperson, but
some costs are also likely to occur (Saxe and Weitz, 1982: 348): a sacrifice of short term sales so as to satisfy cus-
tomer needs and preserve their long-term patronage; and the time spent on discovering customer needs, on ap-
propriately communicating product attributes, and educating the customer on product functioning, which could
otherwise be spent, for example, on additional sales calls or ‘forcing’ the product to the customer. These costs are
likely to be perceived as the result of conflicting interests between firm and customer. Hence, the firm-customer
interaction is bound to create opportunities for employees to engage in unethical behavior such as the practice of
hard selling, which may produce undesired consequences, as an ethical conduct is fundamental for building trust-
ful relationships between buyer and seller. In fact, the degree of customers’ trust on the salesperson is influenced
by the extent to which they perceive the salesperson to engage in ethical behavior. Hence, the lack of an ethical
conduct will curtail trust and the development of relational commitments (Morgan and Hunt, 1994).
229
The salesperson-customer interaction is likely to foster an ethical decision making process on the part of the
employee, process which might contain the following stages (Srnka, 2004: 11; see also Hunt and Vitell, 1986):
moral perception, characterised by the perception of an ethical problem, along with the identification of relevant
alternatives and the respective consequences; moral reasoning, which involves the identification of relevant moral
philosophies that will serve for the evaluation of the alternatives previously developed; moral judgement, which
comprises the employee’s judgement about whether a specific alternative is morally good or bad; moral intention,
which translates the employee’s choice over different alternatives; moral behaviour, which denotes action; and, fi-
nally, behavioural evaluation, which includes an evaluation of the action taken and of its consequences, and this in
turn will contribute to the development of stable predispositions. Along this process, a salesperson will use rules
derived from organizational values to assist his decision making process (Srnka, 2004) and in fact, the marketing
literature acknowledges that organizational values impact the stages of the ethical decision making process
(Ferrell and Gresham, 1985). The norms and values of an organization, for example, become embedded in em-
ployee’s minds through the socialization process. The adoption of the desired behaviors is further promoted when
compliance with existing values is rewarded and punishment is applied to violations of existing values (Ferrell,
Gresham, and Fraedrich, 1989).
Being consumer oriented implies an ethical behavior on the part of the salesperson. An ethical behavior
means the practice of a set of actions that may be perceived as just or morally correct by the customer (Lagace,
Ingram, and Boorom, 1994: 119). Hence, an organizational culture with ethical values will help installing a cus-
tomer oriented behavior, as it will help preventing hard selling behaviors, and will ensure appropriate product de-
scriptions and the avoidance of deceptive or manipulative tactics. In summary, an ethical orientation reduces po-
tential contradictory demands upon the employee, therefore mitigating role conflict. To some extent, such organ-
izational values give an indication of behaviors that the salesperson should adopt for the attainment of organiza-
tional goals, and this is likely to increase role clarity. In this context, ethics may be regarded as a type of organ-
izational control, specifying what the organization expects and values. Not surprisingly, it has been observed that
when employees are required to behave unethically, the end result includes, for example, absenteeism and poor
performance (Srnka, 2004).
H3: The ethical orientation of the organization is positively related with the role clarity perceived by the em-
ployee
H4: The ethical orientation of the organization is negatively related with the role conflict perceived by the
employee
According to Menguç (1996: 279), a market orientated organization “is not dominated by reactive responses
to customers. It is proactive and has a forecasting capability that can anticipate changes in customer needs, wants,
perceptions and so forth.” However, Han, Kim, and Srivastava (1998) noted that innovation, being strongly linked
to organizational performance, is an increasingly important function of management, and stated that “a market
orientation culture should be designed with the innovation strategy in mind, and vice versa. Being market oriented
or market driven alone increasingly does not appear to be comprehensive enough to be used as a strategic beacon
in achieving competitive advantage… formulating an innovation strategy to complement the firm’s market orien-
tation strategy should provide a more coherent and comprehensive road map for organizations to follow” (p. 41).
In the same vein, Slater and Narver (1995), in a view that is seconded by Baker and Sinkula (1999), note that a
market oriented culture, complemented with an entrepreneurial drive, where innovation and risk taking are valued,
provides the cultural background for organizational learning and that “a market oriented culture can achieve
maximum effectiveness only if it is complemented with a spirit of entrepreneurship” (p. 63). Baker and Sinkula
(1999) add that market orientation promotes adaptive learning, whereas the satisfaction of latent needs requires
discontinuous innovation and double-loop learning. The importance of continuous learning has also been pointed
out by Day (1994).
Customer satisfaction is the focus of a market oriented culture. In many organizations, and particularly in ser-
vice settings, employees are crucial in the process of creating satisfied and loyal customers, as the interaction pro-
vides them with direct information about the latter’s needs, information which they interpret to develop solutions
for customers. A customer oriented salesperson is not restricted to offer current solutions. He should rather seek
innovative solutions to dynamic customer needs. Furthermore, he must not be limited by the needs expressed by
customers, but also strive to understand his latent needs, in the quest for his long-term loyalty. These are be-
haviours that require an innovation oriented culture, as “a market orientation may not encourage a sufficient will-
ingness to take risks” (Slater and Narver, 1995: 67).
Organisational cultures emphasising innovation create conditions for employees to better analyse customer
needs, and to pursue risky, proactive efforts, to provide more innovative solutions to customer needs. A culture
that prizes non-routine solutions creates an environment that promotes experimentation and creative problem solv-
ing abilities (Hamel and Prahalad, 1991; Naman and Slevin, 1993). Additionally, innovation oriented cultures
promote the necessary unlearning because “many of our hard-earned nuggets of knowledge, institutions, and just
plain opinions depend on assumptions about the world that are simply no longer true” (Brown, 1991: 192), there-
fore instilling a permanent challenge to current assumptions about customers. This orientation towards innovation
is likely to be of the most importance in service organizations, where standardization is less feasible and customi-
zation more feasible, therefore creating a wider scope for innovative solutions. In summary, innovation oriented
cultures provides directions on the duties and responsibilities of the employee, therefore reducing their perceived
role ambiguity.
It is also likely that innovation values will reduce role conflict. The argument is that innovation oriented or-
ganizations allow more flexibility to their customer contact employees, so they can pursue risky activities and
provide innovative solutions. This flexibility can be used by employees to avoid role conflict (Wetzels, Ruyter,
and Bloemer, 2000). In particular, employees can use this extra flexibility to identify and choose the relevant ex-
pectations to comply with. Hence, the two following hypotheses are offered:
Filipe Coelho, Mário Augusto, Patrícia Moura e Sá, Arnaldo Coelho, Elsa Soares
THE EFFECTS OF ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE ON SALESPERSON CUSTOMER ORIENTATION
230
H5: The innovation orientation of the organization is positively related with the role clarity perceived by the
employee.
H6: The innovation orientation of the organization is negatively related with the role conflict perceived by the
employee.
The impact of role stress
Organizational commitment has been defined as “the relative strength of an individual’s identification with
and involvement in a particular organization’’ (Steers 1977: 46). Similarly, Allen and Meyer (1990) defined af-
fective commitment as an employee’s degree of emotional attachment to an organization. This attachment is im-
portant for the effective dissemination of the cultural values throughout the organization because a committed em-
ployee strongly believes in the values of the organization, is willing to exert an extra effort for the fulfillment of
the organization’s values and objectives, and exhibits a desire to maintain organizational membership (Mowday,
Steers, and Porter, 1979: 226). Given that the salesperson derives a sense of positive self-worth from his relation-
ship with the organization, the salesperson is motivated to engage in behaviors, including customer orientation,
that enhance and sustain the organization (Joshi and Randall, 2001). Therefore, commitment generates pro-or-
ganizational behavior on the salesperson’s part, i.e. drives employees to adopt behaviors promoting the goals of
the organization.
Previous research has found that role ambiguity has a negative direct effect on organizational commitment
(Johnston et al, 1990; Menguç, 1996; Siguaw, Brown, and Widing, 1994). The definition of clear expectations and
guidelines for employees, in the form of behaviors that should be adopted for the accomplishment of organiza-
tional goals and of rewards associated with performance, provides employees with a direction for their efforts.
The lack of clarity builds stress and anxiety, affecting employee’s behavior and attitudes. Hence, role clarity con-
tributes to the development of congruity between the values of the organization and those of the individual, thus
promoting a sense of identification with the organization (Joshi and Randall, 2001). Previous research has also
found that role conflict has a negative direct effect on organizational commitment (Brown and Peterson, 1993;
Johnston et al, 1990; Menguç, 1996; Siguaw, Brown, and Widing, 1994). Conflicting demands upon salespeople
also generates stress, alienation from work, and reduce the energy employees put into their job. The end result is a
lower degree of attachment to the organization. Therefore, we hypothesize the following:
H7: The perceived level of role clarity is positively related with the organizational commitment of the em-
ployee.
H8: The perceived level of role conflict is positively related with the organizational commitment of the em-
ployee.
Locke (1976: 1300) defines job satisfaction as “a pleasurable or positive emotional state resulting from the
appraisal of one’s job or job experiences.” In the same vein, Hackman and Oldham (1975) consider it a global,
overall measure of employee’s feelings and happiness towards the job. Previous research has found that role con-
flict and role ambiguity have a negative direct effect on job satisfaction (Behrman and Perreault, 1984; Brown and
Peterson, 1994; Fry et al., 1986; Menguç, 1996; Rizzo, House, and Lirtzman, 1970; Siguaw, Brown, and Widing,
1994; Singh, 1993; Walker, Churchill, and Ford, 1977). As role conflict and ambiguity are a cause of stress and
alienation from work, they are likely to reduce the positive emotional state arising from the components of the
work setting. Notwithstanding, Dubinsky and Hartley (1986) did not find a significant relationship between role
conflict and job satisfaction. Other researchers have also found that only one of these role stressors affected job
satisfaction (Hoffman and Ingram, 1991; Johnston et al 1990; Teas, 1983). Brown and Peterson (1993), in their
meta analysis of antecedents and consequences of job satisfaction, observed that both role conflict and ambiguity
were consistently and negatively related with job satisfaction. Considering the evidence linking both sources of
stress to job satisfaction, we define the following hypotheses:
H9: The perceived level of role clarity is positively related with job satisfaction.
H10: The perceived level of role conflict is negatively related with job satisfaction.
The impact of organizational commitment
The causal link between job satisfaction and commitment is still an issue of debate (Bateman and Strasser,
1984; Currivan, 1999; Vanderberg and Lance, 1992). Job satisfaction is often considered a cause of organizational
commitment, a statement that is supported in several empirical studies. The assumption is that an employee’s ori-
entation towards a certain job precedes the orientation towards an entire organization and that, additionally, job
satisfaction varies more frequently with changes in working conditions and is formed more rapidly than commit-
ment (Bateman and Strasser, 1984; Currivan, 1999). However, the studies that have supported these assumptions
have essentially a cross sectional nature, which curtails inferences over causation. Bateman and Strasser (1984), in
a longitudinal study, concluded that satisfaction is not a cause of commitment, but rather the consequence, rea-
soning “that a cognitive outlook such as commitment is rationalized by subsequent attitudes of job satisfaction”
(Bateman and Strasser, 1984: 97). Additionally, it has been argued that commitment can develop quite early
(O’Reilly and Caldwell, 1981), namely as a function of socialization efforts, which aim to embed newly hired em-
ployees in the values of the organization, provide them with the ability to work in and to interact with others in the
organization, and to define the expectations that the organization has upon employees’ roles (Louis, 1980), driving
the employees to adopt the behaviors prescribed by the organization (Hartline, Maxham, and McKee, 2000). Ad-
ditionally, it has been argued that the socialization process builds employee confidence and also comfort in the
work environment (Hartline, Maxham, and McKee, 2000). Steers and Porter (1983) also suggest that employees
are satisfied when, for example, they believe they have been treated well by their organizations. Therefore, by
providing for the appreciation of the cultural, role and socially-related skills required to perform effectively in the
organization, these efforts can be essential for the formation of positive job attitudes.
H11: Organizational commitment is positively related with job satisfaction.
The impact of job satisfaction
231
Several authors have suggested that satisfied employees are more willing to adopt behaviours that assist cus-
tomers and promote their satisfaction (Hartline and Ferrell, 1996; Jones, Busch, and Dacin, 2003; Lau and Huang,
1999). Job satisfaction has been linked with pro-social behaviour, which is more likely when people experience a
positive affect originated by a good mood, with these positive feelings generalizing towards other objects, regard-
less of its cause. It has been observed, for example, that satisfied employees reveal altruistic and citizenship be-
haviors. Additionally, Hoffman and Ingram (1992) note that job satisfaction has been found to be associated with
sensitivity and kindness in interpersonal relationships, including concern for the needs and feelings of others, and
acceptance of criticisms (see Motowidlo, 1984). On the contrary, unsatisfied employees are likely to exhibit
higher levels of alienation from work.
Hence, an employee satisfied with his job is more likely to have a better mood and to be emotionally pre-
disposed to meet customers, listen to their requirements, and satisfy them (Lau and Huang, 1999). Previous re-
search has identified that job satisfaction influences employee behaviour, namely performance (Bagozzi, 1978;
Behrman and Perreault, 1984). Hartline and Ferrell (1996) also found evidence of a positive link between job sat-
isfaction and customer perception of service quality. Additionally, the service profit chain of Heskett, Sasser, and
Schlesinger (1997) posits a direct link between employee satisfaction and customer satisfaction, the argument be-
ing that more satisfied employees are also more loyal and productive. Finally, other studies (Hoffman and Ingram,
1992; Lau and Huang, 1999) indicate that job satisfaction is positively related to customer oriented selling, though
Jones, Busch, and Dacin (2003) did not find any relationship between job satisfaction and customer perception of
service quality. Based on the above evidence, we predict the following hypothesis:
H12: Job satisfaction is positively related with the customer orientation of salespeople.
METHODOLOGY
The current research is based on a quantitative study carried on two companies belonging to a major
telecommunications group. Data was collected by means of a questionnaire directed towards customer contact
employees. Two-hundred and fifty questionnaires were distributed along with a covering letter reinforcing the
purpose of the study and ensuring the confidentiality of the answers. One-hundred and seventy questionnaires
successfully completed were returned, corresponding to a very favorable 65% response rate.
The measurement instrument was pilot-tested and the final version included a set of items related to each of
the model constructs. Typically used scales were utilized in this study. To measure the customer orientation of the
firm, we used some of the items in the customer orientation scale proposed by Narver and Slater (1990). The
ethical items were derived from the scale put forward by Hunt, Chonko and Wilcox (1984). The innovation
construct was based on the scale from Song and Parry (1993). Role clarity and role conflict items were based on
the extensively used scale developed by Rizzo, House, and Lirtzman (1970). Organisational commitment was
measured using eight items related to the affective commitment facet of the scale developed by Mowday, Steers
and Porter (1979). The items selected to measure job satisfaction were derived from the scale proposed by
Hackman and Oldham (1975) and extensively validated afterwards. The construct customer orientation of the
employee makes use of some of the items from the well-known scale developed by Saxe and Weitz (1982).
Drawing upon these items, the respondents were asked to indicate their degree of agreement, on a Likert scale
ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree). Data collected was subject to the usual data cleaning
procedures in order to be statistically analysed with the AMOS software.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Measurement model
All measures were subjected to confirmatory factor analysis to evaluate their psychometric properties. Only
minimal modifications to the original measurement instrument were suggested by the modification indexes. As
recommended by the literature, any adjustments were always evaluated according to their theoretical justifica-
tions, rather than being statistically driven. The most common model fit indices of the measurement model are
presented next. The relative chi-square statistic was 1.49, and the goodness of fit statistics were GFI=0.82,
TLI=0.92, and the CFI=0.93. The RMSEA is 0.05. This measurement model performs very well by reference to
the acceptable levels mentioned in key literature, thus indicating the unidimensionality of the utilised measures.
Subsequently, the scales were examined for internal consistency. Once again, the quality of the scales employed in
this study meets accepted standards. The Cronbach alphas are all above the 0.70 level. The internal consistency
index, as proposed by Fornell and Lacker (1981) ranges from .71 for innovation to .93 for organizational com-
mitment, thus all exceeding the required level of 0.7 (or even 0.6 for recently developed constructs). The variance
extracted estimates reflects the amount of variance that is captured by an underling latent variable (construct) in
relation to the amount of variance associated with measurement error of the indicators utilized. In our case, the
variance extracted estimates range from .46 for innovation (the only variable below 0.50) to .72 for customer ori-
entation of the firm. Fornell and Larker (1981) argue that it would be desirable that constructs produce estimates
of .50 or higher, because below this level the variance due to measurement error is larger than the variance of in-
dicators captured by the construct. However, other authors (eg. Hatcher, 1994) considers that minimum to be con-
servative.
Structural model and discussion of results
This model yielded the following statistics: χ2/df = 1.45, GFI=0.80, TLI=0.93, CFI=0.93, and RMSEA=0.05.
Therefore, the model provides a very plausible account for the data collected. The structural parameter estimates
associated with hypotheses testing are presented in Table 1. One can observe that the vast majority of the path es-
timates are statistically significant and have the anticipated sign. Only two hypotheses did not find support in our
study: H6, which predicted a positive relationship between innovation and role conflict; and H7, which posited a
negative relationship between role conflict and job satisfaction.
Filipe Coelho, Mário Augusto, Patrícia Moura e Sá, Arnaldo Coelho, Elsa Soares
THE EFFECTS OF ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE ON SALESPERSON CUSTOMER ORIENTATION
232
Table 1. Standardized parameter estimates and t-values
Path to Path from Hyp.
Standardized
structural
coefficients
t-value R2
Role clarity Customer orientation of the firm H1(+) .016 1.86* .42
Ethical climate H3(+) .47 4.95**
Innovation
H5(+) .17 1.87*
Role conflict Customer orientation of the firm H2(-) -.57 -6.77** .47
Ethical climate H4(-) -.16 -1.74*
Innovation
H6(-) -.07 -.76
Organizational com-
mitment
Role clarity H7(+) .32 4.25** .48
Role conflict
H8(-) -.51 -6.69**
Job satisfaction Role clarity H9(+) .19 2.54** .66
Role conflict H10(-) .01 .12
Organizational commitment
H11(+) .71 7.97**
Customer orientation
the employee
Job satisfaction H12(+) .21 2.49** .04
Notes: ns = not significant; * = significant at the 5% level (one tail); ** = significant at the 1% level
(one tail)
Overall, the results vindicate the study’s proposition that cultural aspects are extremely important vehicles for
the creation of an environment where customer contact employees are more predisposed to serve their customers’
needs. In particular, this study has shown the importance of developing a customer, ethical, and innovation orien-
tations. These orientations were shown to contribute positively to role clarity and negatively to role conflict, but
the innovation orientation wasn’t related with role conflict. Support is therefore obtained for H1 to H5, but not to
H6. Innovation is likely to be associated with empowerment, so employees can use their discretion to pursue risky
activities. In this context, it is worthwhile mentioning that Wetzels, Ruyter, and Bloemer (2000) did not find any
relationship between empowerment and role conflict. As predicted, the two sources of role stress considered in
this work, role clarity and role ambiguity, were found positively and negatively related with organizational com-
mitment, respectively, thus supporting H7 and H8. Role clarity was also found to contribute positively to job satis-
faction, supporting H9. Role conflict, however, was not related with job satisfaction and, therefore, support was
not found to H10. In the vein, Singh, Verbeke, and Rhoads (1996) commented upon the smaller effects of role
conflict compared to role ambiguity, suggesting that boundary-spanning personnel will find it easier to deal with
conflicting expectations than with role ambiguity. Other authors such as Dubinsky and Hartley (1986) also did not
find a significant relationship between role conflict and job satisfaction. As predicted by H11, organizational
commitment was found strongly and positively related with job satisfaction. Finally, job satisfaction revealed a
positive relationship with the customer orientation of salespeople, thus supporting H12.
CONCLUSION
It has been argued that the sharing of values among a firm's employees can promote to a great extent the im-
plementation of an organization’s marketing strategy and thus, the accomplishment the organization’s perform-
ance (Hartline, Maxham, and McKee, 2000). The results obtained in this study show very clearly that cultural
traits, in particular the customer orientation of the firm, along with its ethical and innovation orientation, are im-
portant values affecting the behavior of customer contact personnel and, particularly, their customer orientation.
These values seem to disseminate via their impact on role stressors, namely role clarity and role conflict, who then
affect organizational commitment and job satisfaction and, ultimately, the customer orientation of employees.
However, these results must be looked at with some caution, given that one of the limitations of this study is the
sample, which is limited to two companies.
Ари Палениус
РЕГУЛИРОВАНИЕ ИНФОРМАЦИОННОГО ВЗАИМОДЕЙСТВИЯ ГОСУДАРСТВЕННЫХ
ОРГАНОВ С ГРАЖДАНАМИ И ОРГАНИЗАЦИЯМИ УКРАИНЫ
Abstract
The system of a uniform information support of authorities and local management units is the integral part of
information society and "E-government" of Ukraine. Its main objective is to provide efficiency for collection of
information, creation of information resources, access to the information of authorities and the citizens, rise of ef-
ficiency of accepted solutions, support of information interactions of authorities; rendering real services from the
state authorities to its citizens. Creation of such a system calls for enforcement issues inside the state bodies of the
defined functions, development projects to define the rules in using interaction with citizens, implementations of
the methods of process concepts and analysis of economic and social information.
|
| id | nasplib_isofts_kiev_ua-123456789-33043 |
| institution | Digital Library of Periodicals of National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine |
| issn | 1562-0808 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-12-07T13:36:04Z |
| publishDate | 2005 |
| publisher | Кримський науковий центр НАН України і МОН України |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | Coelho, F. Augusto, M. Moura e Sa, P. Coelho, A. Soares, E. 2012-05-26T18:27:27Z 2012-05-26T18:27:27Z 2005 The effects of organizational culture on salesperson customer orientation / F. Coelho, M. Augusto, P. Moura e Sa, A. Coelho, E. Soares // Культура народов Причерноморья. — 2005. — № 58. — С. 226-232. — англ. 1562-0808 https://nasplib.isofts.kiev.ua/handle/123456789/33043 В статье исследуются теоретические основы изучаемых вопросов, а также факторы воздействия концепции, ориентированной на клиента. Изучается роль организационной культуры на предприятии; удовлетворение от работы и обязательства работника по отношению к организации и выполнение продавцами их должностных обязанностей. Выдвигаются гипотезы, касающиеся связи организационной культуры и концепции, ориентированной на клиента. Рассматриваются данные тестирования выдвинутых гипотез на базе двух организаций, занимающихся предоставлением услуг; предлагаются результаты проведенного исследования en Кримський науковий центр НАН України і МОН України Культура народов Причерноморья The effects of organizational culture on salesperson customer orientation Article published earlier |
| spellingShingle | The effects of organizational culture on salesperson customer orientation Coelho, F. Augusto, M. Moura e Sa, P. Coelho, A. Soares, E. |
| title | The effects of organizational culture on salesperson customer orientation |
| title_full | The effects of organizational culture on salesperson customer orientation |
| title_fullStr | The effects of organizational culture on salesperson customer orientation |
| title_full_unstemmed | The effects of organizational culture on salesperson customer orientation |
| title_short | The effects of organizational culture on salesperson customer orientation |
| title_sort | effects of organizational culture on salesperson customer orientation |
| url | https://nasplib.isofts.kiev.ua/handle/123456789/33043 |
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