Burdening effect of Shariah knowledge and sales performance in Islamic financial institutions: does female salesforce perform better?

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the burdening effect of Shariah knowledge on the sales performance of salesforce in Islamic financial institutions with special reference to gender heterogeneity. Design/methodology/approach A total of 324 responses were collected from salesforce in Islamic financial institutions of Malaysia, and empirical assessment was conducted with the measures of model fit and bootstrapping techniques using partial least square multi-group analysis. Findings Empirical findings indicate that burdening effect is evident among salesforce, and the intensity of burdening effect is relatively lesser in female salesforce compared to male salesforce. Empirical findings suggest that respective authorities of Islamic financial institutions to intensify capacity building for their salesforce, particularly in the area where the Shariah knowledge and nature of underlying Islamic contracts are employed in the financial products. Practical implications There is a significant competitive advantage in preferring more female salesforce to improve the slow growth of the industry that results from burdening effect of Shariah knowledge. Not least of all, it is highly recommended for Islamic financial institutions to provide more training for the male salesforce to overcome the issue of information overload in sales performance. Originality/value While there is ample literature documented that examines the gender effect in conventional sales and marketing discipline, little emphasis has been given to the salesforce in the Islamic finance industry. Further, the findings of this study provide vital implications for the management in formulating crucial policies with respect to the salesforce preference and capacity building in dealing with the burdening effect of peculiar features of the Shariah knowledge in the light of the ongoing slow growth of the Islamic finance industry.

Female consumer entrepreneurship in Asia: capabilities for micro-entrepreneurial success and the role of coaching and training

“…This evidence suggests that high self-efficacy will lead to higher achievement in meeting sales quotas and sales volume set (Peterson, 2020), which thus likely results in better sales performance. Self-efficacy is also suggested to have a mediating role in the relationship between information load and sales performance, and the degree of effect is different among male and female salespeople (Shamsudheen and Mahomed, 2022). This means that gender differences play a role in determining the influence of self-efficacy on sales performance (Bhaskar Reddy and Thomas, 2016).…”