Time Management, Activity Selection And Sales Performance: A New Way To Reposition The Role Of Management And Salespeople

When considering the roles of management and salespeople at the strategic level of analysis or at the operational level of analysis, we note that often there is no agreement between the objectives determined by management and results obtained by the sales force. To resolve this disparity, we propose to shed light on a major gap that exists in traditional management. This gap deals with the way salespeople perform their role. To date, no previous research has investigated the extent to which the role assigned by management has been modified into the role taken by the salesperson. We propose that when salespeople make choices about their role, distance exists between the role assigned by management and the roles actually performed. Time is a familiar problem which provides a new explanation for the existence of the differences in roles set forth in this gap. We propose that an individual's perspective of time (i.e., monochronic vs. polychronic) explains their time management choices, their activity preferences, and the performance of sales personnel. A better understanding of this concept and its integration into management would reduce the gap between the roles assigned by management and the roles taken by members of the sales force. To begin, we define concepts like prescribed role or exerted role and present how these are used in a major sales organization. Next, we precisely define the notions of time management and time orientation, and how they influence the activities of salespeople. These issues will be investigated in a research project that should have implications for every sales organization. A study in the French banking industry has already started. This investigation will provide tangible results addressing the issues raised here.