Psychological ethical climate,leader–member exchange and commitment to superior customer value: influencing salespeople’s unethical intent and sales performance

In today’s competitive environment, salespeople are challenged with creating customer value in an ethical manner while meeting performance goals. Sales supervisors play a critical role in ensuring that this challenge is met. This research examines the roles of psychological ethical climate and leader–member exchange (LMX) in encouraging salespeople’s commitment to providing superior customer value, reducing their unethical intentions and improving sales performance. Results indicate that business-to-business salespeople’s psychological ethical climate perceptions influence their perceived relationship with their sales supervisor (i.e. LMX relationship) as well as their commitment to providing superior customer value. LMX also directly influences commitment to providing superior customer value, which in turn affects salespeople’s unethical intent and quota performance. Theoretical and managerial implications based on the study’s findings are provided, as well as directions for future research.     

Introducing a forced-choice recognition task to the California Verbal Learning Test – Children’s Version

The importance of performance validity tests (PVTs) is increasingly recognized in pediatric neuropsychology. To date, research has focused on investigating whether PVTs designed for adults function similarly in children. The downward extension of adult cutoffs is counter-intuitive considering the robust effect of age-related changes in basic cognitive skills in children and adolescents. The purpose of this study was to examine the signal detection properties of a forced-choice recognition trial (FCR-C) for the California Verbal Learning Test – Children’s Version. A total of 72 children aged 6–15 years (M = 11.1 , SD = 2.6) completed the FCR-C as part of a larger neuropsychological assessment battery. Cross-validation analyses revealed that the FCR-C had good signal detection performance against reference PVTs. The first level of failure (≤14/15) produced the best combination of overall sensitivity (.31) and specificity (.87). A more conservative FCR-C cutoff (≤13) resulted in a predictable trade-off between sensitivity (.15) and specificity (.94), but also a net loss in discriminant power. Lowering the cutoff to ≤12 resulted in a slight improvement in specificity (.97) but further deterioration in sensitivity (.14). These preliminary findings suggest that the FCR-C has the potential to become the newest addition to a growing arsenal of pediatric PVTs.     

Does job crafting assist dealing with organizational changes due to austerity measures? Two studies among Greek employees

In this paper, we focussed on Greek employees that are heavily affected by austerity-led organizational changes, and studied whether job crafting (defined as seeking resources, seeking challenges, reducing demands) helps them deal with these changes. In the first, cross-sectional study we examined whether job crafting relates to adaptive performance, and whether individuals’ assessment of changes moderates this relationship. The results showed that the relationship between reducing demands and adaptive performance was positive for those assessing the changes more positively, and negative for those assessing them more negatively. This interaction was replicated in the second, quasi-experimental field study, where we examined the effects of an intervention designed to help employees deal with organizational changes and increase their well-being, adaptive performance and openness to such changes by stimulating job crafting behaviours. Participants received training and worked for 3 weeks on self-set job crafting goals. The intervention was effective in increasing reducing demands, positive affect and openness to change. Moreover, it had a positive effect on openness to change and adaptive performance through positive effect, but a negative effect on adaptive performance through reducing demands. Thus, the intervention facilitated to some extent employee functioning under unfavourable working conditions that result from austerity measures.