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Papers by Michael Mallin

Using an interactionist perspective (Bandura 1986), we extend the existing proactive behavior lit... more Using an interactionist perspective (Bandura 1986), we extend the existing proactive behavior literature by modeling antecedents and outcomes of the proactive entrepreneurial nature of salespeople. Antecedents are based on the personal characteristics that define an individual as entrepreneurial. Outcomes are based on determinants of selling performance. By sampling 157 industrial salespeople, we tested a model to confirm that salespeople tend to engage in proactive entrepreneurial behaviors when they are intrinsically motivated, confident in the tasks of selling, and willing to take risks. These proactive behaviors resulted in our salesperson sample demonstrating high levels of behavior performance and job involvement. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

Journal of Business-to-Business Marketing

Journal of Product & Brand Management, 2020

Purpose This study aims to extend current research efforts by examining the dual role of salesper... more Purpose This study aims to extend current research efforts by examining the dual role of salesperson brand and organizational identification in driving organizational citizenship behaviors, brand advocacy and ultimately brand market performance. Design/methodology/approach This study uses an online survey to collect data from a cross-sectional sample of salespeople. The measurement model and proposed research hypotheses are tested with SmartPLS. Findings Study results show that each level of identification has a stronger influence on the type of behaviors relevant to that foci of identification. That is, salesperson organizational identification has a significant and strong effect on organizational citizenship behavior while the influence of salesperson organizational identification on brand advocacy is not significant. Along the same lines, salesperson identification with the brand significantly influences brand advocacy behaviors but not their overall organizational citizenship be...

Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, 2018

PurposeThe purpose of the study is to address the gap in understanding how the brand influences s... more PurposeThe purpose of the study is to address the gap in understanding how the brand influences sales outcomes by focusing one’s attention on the salesperson perceptions of the brand and the salesperson brand selling confidence.Design/methodology/approachThe study uses a cross-section survey of professional salespeople. SmartPLS was used to estimate the measurement model and test the hypothesized path relationships.FindingsThe study’s results indicate that salespeople who believe in the strength of the brands they represent are more likely to identify with the brand, are more confident in selling the brand and, overall, tend to perform better, have higher job satisfaction and are more committed to their companies.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to the sales literature by further exploring the relationship between the brand and sales function in the firm. This area has recently received academic attention but has not yet considered the mediating processes that connect the two...

Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice, 2017

The purpose of this study is to develop and empirically test the mediating role of salesperson br... more The purpose of this study is to develop and empirically test the mediating role of salesperson brand identification in the relationship between intrinsic and extrinsic motivational dispositions and three salesforce outcomes–sales performance, organizational commitment, and job satisfaction. We find salesperson brand identification mediates salesperson motivation’s impact on outcomes for extrinsically motivated salespeople. We combine motivational and social identification theories to provide a better understanding of the relationship between salesperson innate motivational dispositions and salesforce management outcomes. We provide additional insight as to how salesperson identification with the brand can boost performance, gain commitment, and increase job satisfaction among salespeople.

Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, 2022

Vol. 9, No. 2 This study proposes and empirically tests a framework for a sales manager’s selecti... more Vol. 9, No. 2 This study proposes and empirically tests a framework for a sales manager’s selection of management strategies using sales control and trust to impact individual salesperson performance levels. By combining either more outcome-based or behavior-based sales control with high/low trust, four distinct integrated sales management strategies emerge. To test the hypothesized relationships between sales management strategy and salesperson performance, data was analyzed on 300 industrial salespeople reported by 100 sales managers. Findings reveal that significant differences exist in salesperson outcome and behavior performance levels when sales managers use a combination of trust and sales control to manage salesperson performance. The Impact of Managerial Trust and Control on Salesperson Performance

The purpose of this study is to propose and test a model suggesting that the relationship between... more The purpose of this study is to propose and test a model suggesting that the relationship between antecedent variables (role ambiguity, organizational commitment, relationship orientation) and salesperson ethical intentions will be mediated by a "neutralization" construct. Neutralization techniques are defined as a means for individuals to justify potential behavior that is incongruent with (their own and society's) moral and ethical code. A sample of 157 industrial salespeople was obtained and the results were analyzed by a structural equation path model. The results suggest that salespeople will use neutralization techniques to justify their ethical intention when they exhibit lower levels of organizational commitment, higher levels of role ambiguity, and lower levels of relationship orientation. These results were more prominent in a business-to-consumer selling environment. This research contributes to the sales literature since exploring ethical neutralizations as a mediator between situational/personal antecedents and salesperson ethical intention as an outcome has yet to be studied in the professional sales domain. Implications for both sales research and sales managers are discussed. An Exploratory Study of the Role of Neutralization.. . .

International Journal of Electronic Commerce, 2013

This research adopts a brand relationship perspective to investigate how users of a social networ... more This research adopts a brand relationship perspective to investigate how users of a social network site (e.g., Facebook and Twitter) perceive the quality of their relationship with those sites and their intention to continue to use them, as well as the intention to continue using the hosted brands that they "follow" through the social network site. In addition, the role of matching a user's personality to the perceived personality of the social network site is explored as an antecedent to perceived relationship quality with the social network site. Survey responses from 284 Twitter and Facebook users were collected, and Smart PLS path modeling was used to test our hypotheses. Findings confirm that individuals join and form stronger ties with social networks that convey similar personality characteristics to themselves. Study findings also reveal that perceived strength of relationship quality with an online network brand not only facilitates future intentions to continue using this network and recommend it to others but also strengthens preferences for other brands utilizing this network for marketing purposes. A key implication of our findings is that social network sites and "followed" businesses may benefit from designing and implementing relationship-building-focused processes to strengthen participation in the social network site to increase user engagement with brands hosted on the social network site.

American Journal of Business, 2014

ABSTRACT Purpose ‐ The purpose of this paper is to determine the effects from perceptions of age ... more ABSTRACT Purpose ‐ The purpose of this paper is to determine the effects from perceptions of age disadvantageness when job candidates are interviewing with recruiters from different age groups. More specifically, the authors examine the issues of intergenerational recruiting through the lens of social identity theory (SIT) and relational demography. Using these theoretical underpinnings, problems that result from dissatisfaction with between group inequities in the recruiting process are explored. Design/methodology/approach ‐ Using these theoretical underpinnings, problems that result from dissatisfaction with between group inequities in the recruiting process are explored. Results from a survey of 176 undergraduate students actively pursuing sales positions provide evidence that candidate perceptions are influenced by age of the interviewer. Findings ‐ The results support that sales job candidates do indeed feel disadvantaged when interviewed by older recruiters. Compared to interviewers from a more similar age in-group interviewer, the respondents felt a greater difficulty in establishing commonality and credibility and they felt the need to establish dependability, demonstrate professionalism, energy, and enthusiasm with an older out-group interviewer. Interestingly, sales job candidates did not feel lower levels of job confidence relative to the age-group of the interviewer. Research limitations/implications ‐ The study reflects the perceptions of sales job applicants sampled from only two universities in the same region of the USA. Generalizations outside of this job applicant population (i.e. major and geography) cannot be made based on this limited group of respondents. Additionally, outcomes were not explored in this paper, so there is no way to know with certainty that these feelings of disadvantageness translate to concrete differences in results, such as lower job acceptance. Practical implications ‐ From a recruiting/hiring managers' perspective, they should be mindful that younger sales job candidates may feel uncomfortable or disadvantaged relative to age/generational differences. This could potentially even impact a recruit's desire to consider a company and accept a job offer, based on perceived organizational cultural differences. Educators need to prepare college students for the interview process. They should make students aware that they may feel the need to compensate for feelings that stem from intergeneration differences. Originality/value ‐ From a theory perspective, the study applies the SIT to a human resource and recruiting context to better understand possible recruiting barriers that may be particularly relevant in today's changing recruitment environment. This represents one of only a few empirical research efforts that has attempted to explain intergenerational recruiting issues relative to SIT. In addition to the use of SIT and relational demography, this paper introduces a unique context.

INSTRUCTORS' NOTES Case Overview and Recommendations for Teaching Approaches Students will fi... more INSTRUCTORS' NOTES Case Overview and Recommendations for Teaching Approaches Students will find the case very interesting as most of them will have used one of Apple's products. Students will combine the facts presented in the case with their own perceptions and experiences with Apple's products to answer the discussion questions. The case makes valuable contributions related to the historical background of one of the most successful companies in the world and consistently voted the most innovative company. Furthermore, the case examines the psychology of an entrepreneur, Steve Jobs, and takes the student through the entrepreneurial process of starting Apple along with Steve Wozniak. A unique aspect of this case is that Apple products are so ubiquitous that most students will have experienced the technological innovativeness of the company through personal ownership of an iPod, iPhone, or Apple computer product (MAC or laptop). This aspect should make the case both relevant and interesting to students. The following questions are recommended for discussion. DISCUSSION QUESTIONS WITH SUGGESTED ANSWERS 1. Discuss the attributes that contribute to the success of Steve Jobs. Students should draw from facts presented in the case highlighting various attributes that could be argued to be related to his success. Evidence of this may include the following: Passion-- Job's introduction to the world of electronics came during High School with the discovery of electronic hobby kits. He realized that the electric world was not as complicated as it first seemed and that electronics was an interesting field. It quickly became his passion. He began attending lectures conducted by the Hewlett Packard Company (HP) and audited classes at Reed College. This further fueled his appetite for the field and eventually he found summer employment at HP. Jobs (and Wozniak) attended meetings of the Homebrew Computer Club. The club consisted of other electronics enthusiasts who presented news of new innovations in the electronics world and discussed updates of the progressions made by members in creating their own computers. Intelligence and Confidence-- Early on, he found school to be so easy that he was able to skip 5th grade and move directly into Middle School. Later, while working at his job at Atari, some of his fellow workers viewed him as arrogant and overly confident. Although, this was not necessarily an attribute conducive to a collegial work environment, it did provide Jobs the opportunity to work the night shift where it was easier for him to befriend Steve Wozniak who assisted Jobs with the technical aspects of his work. Others described Jobs as "referring to most people as bozos". Although this was a condescending way of viewing his future customers, it did serve to ensure that Apple products were developed in a user-friendly and understandable manner. Resourcefulness-- Atari invited Jobs to develop the circuitry that would transform the popular game, Pong into something more innovative (Breakout), however he was given only four days to complete the task. Realizing that this project was beyond his capabilities, he contacted his friend, Steve Wozniak who helped him accomplish the task. This event, turned out to be the motivation for starting the Apple Computer Company. Visionary and Opportunistic-- Jobs recognized an opportunity to pitch a working model (developed by Wozniak) of a computer that could be viewed on a TV (as opposed to a costly monitor) to HP and Atari. Although neither company chose to invest in the production and marketing, Jobs persuaded Wozniak that this creation was good enough that they should try to produce and market the computer on their own. They raised 1,750tobeginthisventure,whichturnedouttobethestartoftheAppleComputerCompany(YoungandSimon,2005).AfterleavingApplein1986,Jobsboughtthemajorityshareofaputteringcomputergraphicscompany,calledPixar,for1,750 to begin this venture, which turned out to be the start of the Apple Computer Company (Young and Simon, 2005). After leaving Apple in 1986, Jobs bought the majority share of a puttering computer graphics company, called Pixar, for 1,750tobeginthisventure,whichturnedouttobethestartoftheAppleComputerCompany(YoungandSimon,2005).AfterleavingApplein1986,Jobsboughtthemajorityshareofaputteringcomputergraphicscompany,calledPixar,for10 million from George Lucas. …

Direct Marketing: An International Journal, 2007

PurposeTo assist the social entrepreneur with direct marketing decision, the authors examine the ... more PurposeTo assist the social entrepreneur with direct marketing decision, the authors examine the relationship between the risks and costs associated with direct marketing for non‐profit organizations. This is done by developing and presenting a framework centered on two uncertainty factors – the cost to implement a direct marketing solution and control over (e.g. ability to manage) resources. A transaction cost analysis (economic) argument is used to rationalize the importance for entrepreneurs to effectively manage these two uncertainty factors when implementing a direct marketing program. This is illustrated using a perceptual mapping of each direct marketing channel relative to the two uncertainty dimensions.Design/methodology/approachThe paper is organized by first presenting a brief description of each direct marketing strategy relative to its use by entrepreneurs in a non‐profit business environment. These strategies include: online, direct mail, catalogue, direct response, te...

Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, 2006

Hobfoll's conservation of resource (COR) theory is used to predict how net resource loss (defined... more Hobfoll's conservation of resource (COR) theory is used to predict how net resource loss (defined in this study as "sales failure impact") influences the type of attributions used by salespeople to account for a sales setback. Partial support for the theory was found where salespeople employed external attributions to conserve resources following a loss perceived as having high sales failure impact. The role of self-efficacy and internal locus of control are also used to explain when salespeople choose internal attributions or to "spend" resources as predicted from COR. Implications for both sales research and sales management are discussed.

Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, 2009

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to contribute to the understanding of sales performance measu... more PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to contribute to the understanding of sales performance measurement by developing an organizing framework for classifying sales performance measures based on the various performance criteria used by researchers. Subsequently, the results of both a focus group and in‐depth interviews with sales managers and salespeople will be presented using the classification framework developed. The objective is to determine whether gaps exist between how researchers and practitioners view and classify salesperson performance measures as well as to provide insights to effective sales management practices in areas such as salesperson skill development, goal attainment, resource allocation, and customer relationship management.Design/methodology/approachA qualitative study, using in‐depth interviews, explores the relationship between sales managers and salespersons and their respective views on sales performance measurement. The interview questions were developed ...

Industrial Marketing Management, 2009

ABSTRACT Using a social psychology theory, Cognitive Evaluation Theory (CET), the authors show ho... more ABSTRACT Using a social psychology theory, Cognitive Evaluation Theory (CET), the authors show how commission compensation can be viewed as a sales performance contingent reward and the extent of its use to reward performance, coupled with a sales control system, impacts salesperson intrinsic motivation in a relationship selling environment. In essence, the sales control mechanisms modify the impact of the commission based on whether it is perceived as controlling or informative. This is empirically tested using a sample of business-to-business salespeople. Partial support for three hypothesized relationships is shown providing preliminary evidence that CET is a way to study the integration of commission compensation rewards, sales control systems, and motivational impact. Implications of the findings for theory and for managers are considered, along with suggested directions for future research.

ABSTRACT The primary issues in this case involve business start-up and management, and are approp... more ABSTRACT The primary issues in this case involve business start-up and management, and are appropriate for entrepreneurship and management courses. A secondary issue demonstrates how personal drive and motivation are critical components of successfully managing and growing a business, thereby making this case appropriate for discussion on the topic of strategic management. The case chronicles the life and passion of entrepreneur, Steve Jobs – illustrating the rise, fall, and current state of the Apple Computer Company. The purpose of this case is to illustrate to students how individual passion, determination, and innovation is a critical element in business start up success and also to stimulate critical thinking in terms of future direction for a company in a struggling economy.

ABSTRACT Increased scrutiny of corporate actions in today’s business climate puts pressure on all... more ABSTRACT Increased scrutiny of corporate actions in today’s business climate puts pressure on all facets of business to adhere to ethical practices founded on principles that are honest, fair and transparent to the stakeholders (Turner, 2010). The importance of business ethics becomes magnified in the entrepreneurial setting. Consumer word of mouth and viral internet communications are just a few ways that a negative ethical image could ruin a small business. In fact, Rutherford, Buller and Stebbins (2009) point out scholars have yet to investigate the legitimacy of new ventures. Most of the research that has been done is by a few entrepreneurship researchers (see Aldrich & Fiol, 1994; Shepherd & Zacharakis, 2003; Suchman, 1995; Williamson, 2000). According to Rutherford, et. al., (2009), entrepreneurs may be tempted to misrepresent the respective newness and smallness of their firms by lying to their respective customers. Arguably, the most visible and vulnerable function of a small business is sales. The sales function is a driving force in our economy and should not be left untouched when scrutinizing ethical issues. A premise of this research is that sales should be one of the first places where entrepreneurs build an ethical culture of decision making. This is because the selling function has become the public face of corporations and is often painted by brand identity, marketing messages delivered via various media, and the sales representatives who deal directly with the buying public. With an aligned and sound code of ethics for selling and customer service, organizations should theoretically build consumer confidence and shareholder value (Turner, 2010). Entrepreneurs have various sales distribution options for channeling their products and services to the public. Whether the choice is to utilize direct selling resources, online contact, telemarketing, or direct response – each channel decision comes with its own set of control, cost, and ethical challenges. Given the importance of sales ethics in an entrepreneurial setting, the purpose of this paper is to assist entrepreneurs with sales channel selection decisions. To do this, we examine the relationship between the risks and costs associated with various selling channel options available to entrepreneurs. Based on an economic theory of minimizing transaction costs, we present a framework centered on two factors – the cost to implement a sales channel option and control over (e.g., ability to manage) sales channel resources. We discuss that each of these factors will have potential ethical implications to selling efforts. We begin by discussing the background literature on entrepreneurship, ethics, and sales. A brief summary of the economic theory - transaction cost analysis is presented as the basis for setting up a framework for sales channel decisions. The discussion portion of the paper centers on how entrepreneurs might utilize this work to make sales channel decisions with ethical consideration. Finally, a 10 point plan for emphasizing ethics in the sales culture is offered as a way for entrepreneurs to operationalize this research.

ABSTRACT This case assesses a company’s product line mix relative to two marketing environmental ... more ABSTRACT This case assesses a company’s product line mix relative to two marketing environmental factors and explores four product line growth strategies using a product portfolio analysis approach. The case provides a history of the Apple Computer Company and its key product lines. An approach to analyzing a company’s product portfolio is reviewed and applied to Apple’s product lines. The purpose of this case is to illustrate to students one approach to making decisions about a company’s line of products. The case also stimulates critical thinking in regards to the future direction of a company’s product portfolio.

ABSTRACT This article explores the research records and perceptions of tenure requirements of 108... more ABSTRACT This article explores the research records and perceptions of tenure requirements of 108faculty members who taught entrepreneurship and earned tenure between 1964 and 2002. Thesample was broken down based on the primary fo cus of the school (research versus teaching) andtime frame, 1964-1988 versus 1989-2002. Significant differences were found between facultymembers’ perception of the College’s stated requirements for teaching, research, and servicecompared to the faculty member’s own perceived requirements for teaching, research, and service.Furthermore, research schools were found to have a significantly larger amount of A, B, and Crefereed journal publications, books authored, and chapters in books. Finally, the findings indicatethat 60% of successful tenure candidates at research schools had a least one publication in a topmanagement journal, compared to only 13% at teac hing schools. The findings of this study providea benchmark for faculty and schools when candidates go up for tenure.