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Papers by Dr. Lee Allison

Personal branding is the process by which an individual actively tries to manage others’ impressi... more Personal branding is the process by which an individual actively tries to manage others’ impression of their skills, abilities and experiences (Johnson, 2017). It is the marketing of oneself to society (Lair, Sullivan, & Cheney, 2005; Peters, 1997; Shepherd, 2005). While the current job market is touted as being the best in years, employment opportunities for business aspirants in the U.S. economy changed little from 2017 to 2016 when comparing a United States Department of Labor annual report (“United States Department of Labor,” 2018). This suggests that new business graduates continue to face the harsh reality of a challenging environment in terms of future employment prospects. This accentuates a great need for business schools to arm students with the personal branding skills requisite for today’s competitive employment landscape

An electronic survey was distributed through the local chamber of commerce to generate data from ... more An electronic survey was distributed through the local chamber of commerce to generate data from several local companies and non-profit organizations. In addition, two graduate (MBA) leadership courses (one traditional and one executive) were also surveyed. The survey was comprised of a scale for emotional intelligence, individual learning style, some additional attitudinal data not included in this analysis, and some demographic data.

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2021

Using the World Bank Enterprise Survey (WBES) data from 2006-2017 on 130,000 firms in 130 countri... more Using the World Bank Enterprise Survey (WBES) data from 2006-2017 on 130,000 firms in 130 countries across the globe, we document that women-led firms tend to underperform men-led firms. The main contribution of this work is to shed light on three mechanisms that help explain the underperformance: finance, technology, and labor. First, women-led firms are investing less in fixed assets and obtaining less credit from banks. Second, women-led firms are less likely to use information technology to manage their businesses. Third, women-led firms tend to employ more skilled and educated workers, and are more likely to provide workers with permanent contracts, hence incurring higher labor costs. Interestingly, in our data, women top managers do not perceive themselves facing more business obstacles than their male counterparts do.

Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, 2016

Sales researchers have largely ignored the idea that salespeople form attachments to the brands t... more Sales researchers have largely ignored the idea that salespeople form attachments to the brands that they sell, and that these attachments hold important consequences for sales outcomes. Drawing on job demands-resources theory, the authors suggest that salesperson brand attachment (SBA) serves as a unique psychological resource for salespeople. Using data from 154 salespeople from the beverage industry, they provide evidence that SBA increases selling effort toward the brand, and ultimately job satisfaction. In addition, they show that salesperson's brand attachment acts as a buffer against perceived job demands, including job codification and hierarchy of authority. In general, results support the job demands-resources framework and confirm that SBA is a resource that may be leveraged to offset job demands, under certain situations.

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2015

In this paper, we investigate whether female-owned businesses (FOBs) face more obstacles than mal... more In this paper, we investigate whether female-owned businesses (FOBs) face more obstacles than male-owned businesses (MOBs). Using the World Bank Enterprise Survey (WBES) data collected in 2006 and 2010 for over 20,000 businesses from 26 Latin American and the Caribbean (LAC) countries, we find strong evidence that FOBs are associated with more obstacles related to crime, theft and disorder, and to practices of competitors in the informal sector. However, FOBs and MOBs face similar levels of obstacles related to corruption and access to financing. We further examine the effect of female ownership on firm performance and find that FOBs exhibit significantly better labor productivity than MOBs, while FOBs and MOBs exhibit similar sales growth. Our results are robust after controlling for relevant country-level macroeconomic and governance variables, as well as any endogeneity due to selection bias.

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2013

ABSTRACT

Industrial Marketing Management, 2014

In this study, the effect of a deviation from an optimally blended control system on salesperson ... more In this study, the effect of a deviation from an optimally blended control system on salesperson performance and championing is investigated. Blended control systems represent combinations of many different forms of control, affording sales managers the opportunity to better match a control system with the overall context in which their firm operates, addressing such things as current salesperson, firm, and environmental variables. The extent to which the blended system represents an appropriate match with the overall context, however, is of primary concern. As demonstrated here, deviations from optimal control negatively affect both individual salesperson performance, as well as salesperson championing. In combination, these findings emphasize the importance of understanding a broader picture of salesperson control than is allowed through simple direct effect analysis.

Personal branding is the process by which an individual actively tries to manage others’ impressi... more Personal branding is the process by which an individual actively tries to manage others’ impression of their skills, abilities and experiences (Johnson, 2017). It is the marketing of oneself to society (Lair, Sullivan, & Cheney, 2005; Peters, 1997; Shepherd, 2005). While the current job market is touted as being the best in years, employment opportunities for business aspirants in the U.S. economy changed little from 2017 to 2016 when comparing a United States Department of Labor annual report (“United States Department of Labor,” 2018). This suggests that new business graduates continue to face the harsh reality of a challenging environment in terms of future employment prospects. This accentuates a great need for business schools to arm students with the personal branding skills requisite for today’s competitive employment landscape

An electronic survey was distributed through the local chamber of commerce to generate data from ... more An electronic survey was distributed through the local chamber of commerce to generate data from several local companies and non-profit organizations. In addition, two graduate (MBA) leadership courses (one traditional and one executive) were also surveyed. The survey was comprised of a scale for emotional intelligence, individual learning style, some additional attitudinal data not included in this analysis, and some demographic data.

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2021

Using the World Bank Enterprise Survey (WBES) data from 2006-2017 on 130,000 firms in 130 countri... more Using the World Bank Enterprise Survey (WBES) data from 2006-2017 on 130,000 firms in 130 countries across the globe, we document that women-led firms tend to underperform men-led firms. The main contribution of this work is to shed light on three mechanisms that help explain the underperformance: finance, technology, and labor. First, women-led firms are investing less in fixed assets and obtaining less credit from banks. Second, women-led firms are less likely to use information technology to manage their businesses. Third, women-led firms tend to employ more skilled and educated workers, and are more likely to provide workers with permanent contracts, hence incurring higher labor costs. Interestingly, in our data, women top managers do not perceive themselves facing more business obstacles than their male counterparts do.

Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, 2016

Sales researchers have largely ignored the idea that salespeople form attachments to the brands t... more Sales researchers have largely ignored the idea that salespeople form attachments to the brands that they sell, and that these attachments hold important consequences for sales outcomes. Drawing on job demands-resources theory, the authors suggest that salesperson brand attachment (SBA) serves as a unique psychological resource for salespeople. Using data from 154 salespeople from the beverage industry, they provide evidence that SBA increases selling effort toward the brand, and ultimately job satisfaction. In addition, they show that salesperson's brand attachment acts as a buffer against perceived job demands, including job codification and hierarchy of authority. In general, results support the job demands-resources framework and confirm that SBA is a resource that may be leveraged to offset job demands, under certain situations.

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2015

In this paper, we investigate whether female-owned businesses (FOBs) face more obstacles than mal... more In this paper, we investigate whether female-owned businesses (FOBs) face more obstacles than male-owned businesses (MOBs). Using the World Bank Enterprise Survey (WBES) data collected in 2006 and 2010 for over 20,000 businesses from 26 Latin American and the Caribbean (LAC) countries, we find strong evidence that FOBs are associated with more obstacles related to crime, theft and disorder, and to practices of competitors in the informal sector. However, FOBs and MOBs face similar levels of obstacles related to corruption and access to financing. We further examine the effect of female ownership on firm performance and find that FOBs exhibit significantly better labor productivity than MOBs, while FOBs and MOBs exhibit similar sales growth. Our results are robust after controlling for relevant country-level macroeconomic and governance variables, as well as any endogeneity due to selection bias.

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2013

ABSTRACT

Industrial Marketing Management, 2014

In this study, the effect of a deviation from an optimally blended control system on salesperson ... more In this study, the effect of a deviation from an optimally blended control system on salesperson performance and championing is investigated. Blended control systems represent combinations of many different forms of control, affording sales managers the opportunity to better match a control system with the overall context in which their firm operates, addressing such things as current salesperson, firm, and environmental variables. The extent to which the blended system represents an appropriate match with the overall context, however, is of primary concern. As demonstrated here, deviations from optimal control negatively affect both individual salesperson performance, as well as salesperson championing. In combination, these findings emphasize the importance of understanding a broader picture of salesperson control than is allowed through simple direct effect analysis.