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Sales technology: Help or hindrance to ethical behaviors and productivity?

Author

Listed:
  • Bush, Alan J.
  • Bush, Victoria D.
  • Orr, Linda M.
  • Rocco, Richard A.

Abstract

Sales technology has had a major impact on the efficiency, effectiveness, and relationship building processes between the organization, manager, salesperson, and ultimately, the customer. However, this technology may generate ethical issues for these stakeholders. While the importance of sales force ethics and information technology are undeniable, there is a dearth of research that has examined these two topics together. Thus, we attempt to do so by conducting a qualitative investigation of sales experts in the field. Based on in-depth interviews with key sales executives from a variety of business-to-business and business-to-consumer industries, our results show that, indeed, there are many ethical issues surrounding the use of sales technology. These ethical issues comprise two major themes: Exploitation and Control. These themes are discussed from a productivity perspective with implications for business researchers and managers.

Suggested Citation

  • Bush, Alan J. & Bush, Victoria D. & Orr, Linda M. & Rocco, Richard A., 2007. "Sales technology: Help or hindrance to ethical behaviors and productivity?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 60(11), pages 1198-1205, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:60:y:2007:i:11:p:1198-1205
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Roman, Sergio & Ruiz, Salvador, 2005. "Relationship outcomes of perceived ethical sales behavior: the customer's perspective," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 58(4), pages 439-445, April.
    2. Sheth, Jagdish N. & Sisodia, Rajendra S., 2002. "Marketing productivity: issues and analysis," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 55(5), pages 349-362, May.
    3. Schwepker, Charles Jr., 2001. "Ethical climate's relationship to job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and turnover intention in the salesforce," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 54(1), pages 39-52, October.
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    Cited by:

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    2. Valentin-Florentin Dumitru & Gabriel Jinga & Florin Mihai & Aurelia Stefanescu, 2015. "Innovative information technologies and their impact on the performance of the entities which activate in the retail industry," The AMFITEATRU ECONOMIC journal, Academy of Economic Studies - Bucharest, Romania, vol. 17(39), pages 520-520, May.
    3. Touzani, Mourad & Hirschman, Elizabeth C. & Hechiche Salah, Lamia, 2016. "Retail stressors in the Middle East/North Africa region," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(2), pages 726-735.
    4. Osmonbekov, Talai, 2010. "Reseller adoption of manufacturers' e-business tools: The impact of social enforcement, technology-relationship fit and the mediating role of reseller benefits," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 63(3), pages 217-223, March.
    5. Nicholas McClaren, 2015. "The Methodology in Empirical Sales Ethics Research: 1980–2010," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 127(1), pages 121-147, March.
    6. Cicala, John E. & Bush, Alan J. & Sherrell, Daniel L. & Deitz, George D., 2014. "Does transparency influence the ethical behavior of salespeople?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 67(9), pages 1787-1795.
    7. Nicholas McClaren, 2013. "The Personal Selling and Sales Management Ethics Research: Managerial Implications and Research Directions from a Comprehensive Review of the Empirical Literature," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 112(1), pages 101-125, January.

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