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Chicken or egg? Sequential complementarity among salesforce control mechanisms

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Listed:
  • Stephen K. Kim

    (Iowa State University)

  • Amrit Tiwana

    (University of Georgia)

Abstract

Firms struggle with salesforce control, particularly as typical piecemeal approaches overlook the nuance that the effect of a control is amplified or muted by a context created by other simultaneously deployed controls. Recent studies showing interactions between formal controls caution that control mechanisms must be examined as a portfolio. This study takes the next step in addressing how widely-studied formal controls interact with understudied input control and informal control in a salesforce control portfolio. We introduce the idea of sequential complementarity—when deploying a control mechanism enhances marginal returns from increasing a temporally preceding one—within a control portfolio to explain those interactions. We use data from 120 apparel manufacturers and 94 retailers to show that the performance benefits of formal control mechanisms depend on precedence by input control. These effects flip in the presence of informal control. Our unique contribution is theoretically introducing temporality into “holochronic” control theory to explain interactions of formal with informal control mechanisms.

Suggested Citation

  • Stephen K. Kim & Amrit Tiwana, 2016. "Chicken or egg? Sequential complementarity among salesforce control mechanisms," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 44(3), pages 316-333, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:joamsc:v:44:y:2016:i:3:d:10.1007_s11747-014-0409-2
    DOI: 10.1007/s11747-014-0409-2
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Valerie Good & Douglas E. Hughes & Ahmet H. Kirca & Sean McGrath, 2022. "A self-determination theory-based meta-analysis on the differential effects of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation on salesperson performance," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 50(3), pages 586-614, May.
    2. Miao Li & Luluo Peng & Guijun Zhuang, 2020. "Sales Control Systems and Salesperson Commitment: The Moderating Role of Behavior Uncertainty," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-18, March.
    3. Juan Manuel Ramon-Jeronimo & Raquel Florez-Lopez & Pedro Araujo-Pinzon, 2019. "Resource-Based View and SMEs Performance Exporting through Foreign Intermediaries: The Mediating Effect of Management Controls," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(12), pages 1-26, June.
    4. Bedford, David S., 2020. "Conceptual and empirical issues in understanding management control combinations," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    5. Valerie Good & Douglas E. Hughes & Hao Wang, 2022. "More than money: establishing the importance of a sense of purpose for salespeople," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 50(2), pages 272-295, March.

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