Earl Honeycutt, professor of business administration and marketing, was notifed recently of the acceptance of three articles. Two articles will appear in highly respected refereed outlets and the third article will be presented at the Society for Marketing Advances Conference in Nashville, Tenn., Nov. 1-4, 2006.
The first article, “Global Sales Training: In Search of Antecedent, Mediating, and Consequence Variables,” will appear in Industrial Marketing Management and was co-authored with Dr. Ashraf Attia, SUNY Oswego and Dr. Asri Jantan, SUNY Brockport.
Abstract
“This study proposes a framework that identifies and explains the relationships of input, mediating, and output variables for global sales training programs. Input or antecedent variables include high-quality: determination of sales training needs, objective setting, designing/implementing the training program, and evaluating training outcomes. The mediating variable culture is measured by a latent indicator: managers’ perceived importance/perceived adequacy. The output or consequence variable is the quantitative improvement a firm measures in sales force performance that results from global sales training in the form of increases in sales revenue, profitability, decreased customer complaints, and/or reduced selling expenses. This framework is an initial attempt to synthesize existing knowledge about how to conduct effective sales training programs in cross-cultural settings. The article also offers research propositions that can be tested to advance our understanding of global sales training, discusses managerial implications, identifies limitations encountered by global sales training practitioners, and suggests future study opportunities for researchers.”
The second article, “Exploring the Practice of Undercover Selling,” will appear in the Journal of Selling and Major Account Management. Co-authors for the article include Dr. Vince Magnini and Dr. John Gaskins of Longwood University, Va., and Dr. Sharon Hodge of the Love School of Business at Elon University.
Abstract
“Because of promotional clutter, firms are utilizing covert sales agents to convey messages and influence potential buyers without the latter being aware of the seller’s role. This paper first describes the advantages and disadvantages associated with employing undercover sales agents. Advantages are explained based upon the concepts of word-of-mouth effectiveness and agent flexibility. Disadvantages revolve around source distance, commitment and trust, ethics, and potential intervention by legislative/industry groups. Agent compensation and point of buyer discovery also moderates undercover sales effectiveness. Based upon these discussions, propositions and implications are presented to sales managers.”
The third article, titled “Techniques Marketing Chairs Employ to Evaluate and Motivate Teaching, Research, and Service Performance,” will be presented at the SMA Conference and will appear in the conference proceedings. Dr. John Ford of Old Dominion University and Dr. Shawn Thelen of Hofstra University were co-authors of the research project.
Abstract
“This article examines two facets of marketing education: (1) how teaching, research, and service performance are evaluated and (2) how chairs motivate faculty members to improve their performance in these areas. One-hundred nine chairs, a 24% sample response rate, completed a web-survey that addressed five research questions (RQs). Teaching, research, and performance differ in importance based upon institutional mission. Second, teaching performance is evaluated similarly regardless of mission categories. Third, most schools require five to six articles for promotion and tenure; but, “A” level journal articles are most important at research schools, while teaching schools place significantly greater emphasis on conference proceedings. Fourth, faculty members allocate different priorities to service activities based upon institutional mission. Fifth, financial incentives are employed to motivate higher research performance; mentoring, oversight, and teaching centers are used to improve teaching performance, and requests, assignments, and financial rewards are employed to improve service engagement. The study concludes with a discussion of the findings and suggestions for future research.”