Characteristics of performance appraisals and their impact on sales force satisfaction

Abstract

Sales managers seem to be on a never-ending quest to improve the productivity of their personnel. Contests, commissions, territory redesign, training, sales meetings, travel, and various recognition awards are a few of the methods that have been used to coax performance improvements from a sales force. Although each of these methods of performance enhancement can provide tangible and intangible benefits to the firm, most businesses already use one other method of enhancing sales performance: the performance evaluation (Dubinsky and Barry, 1982). Dubinsky, Skinner, and Whittler (1989) contend that appraisals can be used to determine rewards, provide managerial feedback, help to monitor the effectiveness of human resource management decisions, help to evaluate training and development needs, and provide human resource planning and budgeting information. In the realm of sales management, performance appraisals have been described as the most important factor influencing sales behavior (DeCarlo and Leigh, 1996). Along these lines, Morris, Davis, Allen, Avila, and Chapman (1991, p. 25) argue that "performance appraisals have become one of the sales manager' s most critical responsibilities," with an organization' s success or failure conceivably determined based on the ways in which performance is managed (Mucsyk and Gable, 1987).The purpose of this research is to explore the potential relationship between characteristics of the appraisal process and the resulting level of