Date of Award

5-2022

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Department

Business Administration

Committee Chair

Matt C. Howard, Ph.D.

Abstract

Today’s business environment is very competitive, forcing companies to make additional efforts to develop and keep sustainable advantages. Thus, research aimed at finding ways to increase company performance has become critical. One specific managerial tool, sales coaching, has been hailed by academics and practitioners alike as vital to improving a salesperson’s job performance. With a company’s survival dependent on the success of their salespeople, research on sales coaching is crucial. The purpose of this research is to gain a better understanding of the relationship between sales coaching and a salesperson’s work-related attitudes and behaviors. Using self-determination theory, this research examines how a quality coaching relationship with one’s sales manager influences a salesperson’s sale creativity and job performance. This research uses partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) to investigate the direct, mediated, and moderated relationships among the variables studied using data from 332-salespeople working in the United States. Results suggest that a quality coaching experience does positively influence a salesperson’s sales creativity and job performance. Theoretical and managerial implications as well as directions for future research are provided.

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