IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/jbuset/v141y2017i3d10.1007_s10551-015-2696-z.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Influence of Political Skill on Salespersons’ Work Outcomes: A Resource Perspective

Author

Listed:
  • Jie Li

    (Shanghai University)

  • Gong Sun

    (Central University of Finance and Economics)

  • Zhiming Cheng

    (The University of Wollongong)

Abstract

In this article, we investigate the resource-based mechanism underlying the relationship between political skill and salespersons’ work outcomes. Specifically, we propose that political skill influences salespersons’ sales performance and job satisfaction through organizational resources and salesperson–customer (s–c) guanxi, which serve as their internal and external resources. To examine our model, we collected data from 203 salespersons working at a large financial services institution in China. The findings reveal that both access to resources and build-up of s–c guanxi mediate the effect of political skill on salespersons’ work outcomes. Moreover, access to resources and build-up of s–c guanxi interact to predict salespersons’ sales performance and job satisfaction. Implications and future research directions are discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Jie Li & Gong Sun & Zhiming Cheng, 2017. "The Influence of Political Skill on Salespersons’ Work Outcomes: A Resource Perspective," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 141(3), pages 551-562, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:141:y:2017:i:3:d:10.1007_s10551-015-2696-z
    DOI: 10.1007/s10551-015-2696-z
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10551-015-2696-z
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10551-015-2696-z?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Millissa Cheung & Wei-Ping Wu & Allan Chan & May Wong, 2009. "Supervisor–Subordinate Guanxi and Employee Work Outcomes: The Mediating Role of Job Satisfaction," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 88(1), pages 77-89, April.
    2. Xiao-Ping Chen & Chao C. Chen, 2004. "On the Intricacies of the Chinese Guanxi: A Process Model of Guanxi Development," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 21(3), pages 305-324, September.
    3. Li‐Qun Wei & Flora F. T. Chiang & Long‐Zeng Wu, 2012. "Developing and Utilizing Network Resources: Roles of Political Skill," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(2), pages 381-402, March.
    4. Shaalan, Ahmed S. & Reast, Jon & Johnson, Debra & Tourky, Marwa E., 2013. "East meets West: Toward a theoretical model linking guanxi and relationship marketing," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 66(12), pages 2515-2521.
    5. Tsui, Anne S., 2006. "Contextualization in Chinese Management Research," Management and Organization Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 2(01), pages 1-13, March.
    6. Merrilees, Bill & Miller, Dale, 1999. "Direct Selling in the West and East: The Relative Roles of Product and Relationship (Guanxi) Drivers," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 45(3), pages 267-273, July.
    7. Li‐Qun Wei & Jun Liu & Yuan‐Yi Chen & Long‐Zeng Wu, 2010. "Political Skill, Supervisor–Subordinate Guanxi and Career Prospects in Chinese Firms," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(3), pages 437-454, May.
    8. Qingguo Zhai & Margaret Lindorff & Brian Cooper, 2013. "Workplace Guanxi: Its Dispositional Antecedents and Mediating Role in the Affectivity–Job Satisfaction Relationship," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 117(3), pages 541-551, October.
    9. Chao C. Chen & Xiao-Ping Chen & Shengsheng Huang, 2013. "Chinese Guanxi: An Integrative Review and New Directions for Future Research. 中国人的关系: 综合文献回顾及未来研究方向," Management and Organization Review, The International Association for Chinese Management Research, vol. 9(1), pages 167-207, March.
    10. Chen, Chao C. & Chen, Xiao-Ping & Huang, Shengsheng, 2013. "Chinese Guanxi: An Integrative Review and New Directions for Future Research," Management and Organization Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 9(1), pages 167-207, March.
    11. Rosseel, Yves, 2012. "lavaan: An R Package for Structural Equation Modeling," Journal of Statistical Software, Foundation for Open Access Statistics, vol. 48(i02).
    12. Steve Lovett & Lee C Simmons & Raja Kali, 1999. "Guanxi Versus the Market: Ethics and Efficiency," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 30(2), pages 231-247, June.
    13. Gronroos, Christian, 1990. "Relationship approach to marketing in service contexts: The marketing and organizational behavior interface," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 20(1), pages 3-11, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. De Clercq, Dirk & Azeem, Muhammad Umer & Haq, Inam Ul & Bouckenooghe, Dave, 2020. "The stress-reducing effect of coworker support on turnover intentions: Moderation by political ineptness and despotic leadership," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 12-24.
    2. Usman, Muhammad & Khalid, Adeel & Saeed, Munazza & Shafique, Shoaib & Babalola, Mayowa T. & Ren, Shuang, 2024. "Invigorating the spirit of being adaptive: Examining the role of spiritual leadership in adaptive selling," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).
    3. Zhiming Cheng & Ben Zhe Wang & Lucy Taksa, 2021. "Labour Force Participation and Employment of Humanitarian Migrants: Evidence from the Building a New Life in Australia Longitudinal Data," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 168(4), pages 697-720, February.
    4. Peesker, Karen M. & Kerr, Peter D. & Bolander, Willy & Ryals, Lynette J. & Lister, Jonathan A. & Dover, Howard F., 2022. "Hiring for sales success: The emerging importance of salesperson analytical skills," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 144(C), pages 17-30.
    5. Good, Megan C. & Schwepker, Charles H., 2022. "Business-to-business salespeople and political skill: Relationship building, deviance, and performance," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 32-43.
    6. Jie Li & Wangshuai Wang & Gong Sun & Zhou Jiang & Zhiming Cheng, 2018. "Supervisor–Subordinate Guanxi and Job Satisfaction Among Migrant Workers in China," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 139(1), pages 293-307, August.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jie Li & Wangshuai Wang & Gong Sun & Zhou Jiang & Zhiming Cheng, 2018. "Supervisor–Subordinate Guanxi and Job Satisfaction Among Migrant Workers in China," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 139(1), pages 293-307, August.
    2. Long Zhang & Yulin Deng & Xin Zhang & Enhua Hu, 2016. "Why do Chinese employees build supervisor-subordinate guanxi? A motivational analysis," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 33(3), pages 617-648, September.
    3. Chu, Zhaofang & Feng, Bo & Lai, Fujun, 2018. "Logistics service innovation by third party logistics providers in China: Aligning guanxi and organizational structure," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 291-307.
    4. Isidoro Romero & Zhikun Yu, 2015. "Analyzing the influence of social capital on self-employment: a study of Chinese immigrants," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 54(3), pages 877-899, May.
    5. Yanhan Zhu & Diwan Li, 2016. "Supervisor–subordinate Guanxi violations: Trickle-down effects beyond the Dyad," Asian Business & Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 15(5), pages 399-423, December.
    6. Zejun Ma & Hira Salah ud din Khan & Muhammad Salman Chughtai & Mingxing Li & Bailin Ge & Syed Usman Qadri, 2023. "A Review of Supervisor–Subordinate Guanxi: Current Trends and Future Research," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-15, January.
    7. Long Zhang & Yulin Deng & Qun Wang, 2014. "An Exploratory Study of Chinese Motives for Building Supervisor–Subordinate Guanxi," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 124(4), pages 659-675, November.
    8. Hongjuan Zhang & Rong Han & Liang Wang & Runhui Lin, 2021. "Social capital in China: a systematic literature review," Asian Business & Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 20(1), pages 32-77, February.
    9. Hongjuan Zhang & Rong Han & Liang Wang & Runhui Lin, 0. "Social capital in China: a systematic literature review," Asian Business & Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 0, pages 1-46.
    10. Chu, Zhaofang & Wang, Qiang & Lai, Fujun & Collins, Brian J., 2019. "Managing interdependence: Using Guanxi to cope with supply chain dependency," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 620-631.
    11. Lee, Liane W.Y. & Tang, Yiming & Yip, Leslie S.C. & Sharma, Piyush, 2018. "Managing customer relationships in the emerging markets – guanxi as a driver of Chinese customer loyalty," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 356-365.
    12. Hongjuan Zhang & Liang Wang & Rong Han, 2019. "The China-West divide on social capital: A meta-analysis," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 36(3), pages 745-772, September.
    13. Xing, Yijun & Liu, Yipeng & Tarba, Shlomo Yedidia & Cooper, Cary L., 2016. "Intercultural influences on managing African employees of Chinese firms in Africa: Chinese managers’ HRM practices," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 25(1), pages 28-41.
    14. Wang, Wen & Seifert, Roger, 2017. "Employee referrals: A study of ‘close ties’ and career benefits in China," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 35(4), pages 514-522.
    15. Sven Horak & Markus Taube & Inju Yang & Katja Restel, 2019. "Two not of a kind: Social network theory and informal social networks in East Asia," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 36(2), pages 349-372, June.
    16. Zhiyu Feng & Fong Keng-Highberger & Kai Chi Yam & Xiao-Ping Chen & Hu Li, 2023. "Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing: How and When Machiavellian Leaders Demonstrate Strategic Abuse," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 184(1), pages 255-280, April.
    17. Huihua Chen & Cong Chen & Hujun Li & Jianshe Zhang & Zengke Yang, 2022. "A Simulation Study on the Processes of Intra-Group Informal Interaction Affecting Workers’ Safety Behaviors," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(16), pages 1-17, August.
    18. Yong Han & Zhenglong Peng & Yi Zhu, 2012. "Supervisor–Subordinate Guanxi and Trust in Supervisor: A Qualitative Inquiry in the People’s Republic of China," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 108(3), pages 313-324, July.
    19. Dejin Su & Qixia Du & Dongwon Sohn & Libo Xu, 2017. "Can High-Tech Ventures Benefit from Government Guanxi and Business Guanxi ? The Moderating Effects of Environmental Turbulence," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(1), pages 1-17, January.
    20. Mukhtar, Arshia & Zhu, Ying & Lee, You-il & Bambacas, Mary & Cavusgil, S. Tamer, 2022. "Challenges confronting the ‘One Belt One Road’ initiative: Social networks and cross-cultural adjustment in CPEC projects," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(1).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:141:y:2017:i:3:d:10.1007_s10551-015-2696-z. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.