When the Sales Manager is a Woman: An Exploration into the Relationship Between Salespeople's Gender and their Responses to Leadership Styles |
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| Authors: | Lucette B. Comer Marvin A. Jolson Alan J. Dubinsky Francis J. Yammarino |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Lucette B. Comer (Ph.D., University of Maryland) is an assistant professor in the Department of Consumer Sciences and Retailing, Purdue University. Her current research interests include gender issues in sales management and salesperson psychology. She has published in such journals as Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, Industrial Marketing Management, Sloan Management Review, among others.;2. Marvin A. Jolson (D.B.A., University of Maryland) is professor of marketing at the University of Maryland, College Park. He is author of five texts, and his research has been reported in almost all of the major marketing journals. His articles, texts, teaching and consulting are focused primarily in the areas of sales management, personal selling, and retail management. He is past editor of the Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management.;3. Alan J. Dubinsky (Ph.D., University of Minnesota) is professor of marketing at Metropolitan State University in Minneapolis. His research interests are in the area of personal selling and sales management. His research has appeared in Journal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Applied Psychology, Journal of International Business Studies, Journal of Retailing, Journal of Business Research, and Sloan Management Review, among others.;4. Francis J. Yammarino (Ph.D., State University of New York at Buffalo) is associate professor of management and fellow of the Center for Leadership Studies at the State University of New York at Binghamton. His research interests involve leadership and levels of analysis. He has published in the Journal of Applied Psychology, Personnel Psychology, and Leadership Quarterly, among other journals. |
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| Abstract: | This paper reports the results of an exploratory study comparing the responsiveness of male versus female salespersons to differing leadership styles of female sales managers. Responding triads, made up of one female sales manager and two subordinate salespersons (one male and one female), completed questionnaires assessing the managers' leadership style, the salespersons' satisfaction with supervision, and the salespersons' selling performance. Partial correlational analysis revealed gender differences in the way satisfaction with supervision and performance effectiveness related to the female managers' leadership styles. Male sales force members were most responsive to leaders who displayed individualized consideration and used a transactional style (contingent rewards or management by exception). Saleswomen preferred charismatic leaders and those who were capable of intellectually stimulating methods. The results are discussed and recommendations made for future research. |
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