Role perceptions of mutually dependent salespeople in the supply chain of a fast-moving consumer goods organisation

M.Comm.A review of literature reveals that salespeople may have misperceptions of their own role and these misperceptions may influence their performance. Selling has also become more complex and scientific in these tough economic times, and more salespeople are involved in selling teams that provide customised solutions to customers’ needs. Salespeople often need to depend on other types of salespeople within the supply chain to be able to successfully perform their own role. Therefore, salespeople may have misperceptions of the roles of other salespeople with whom they work and on whom they depend. These misperceptions may influence the performance of salespersons. Salespeople play an important part in the successful selling of an organisation’s products and the eventual success of the business itself. This study aims to contribute to improving the performance of salespeople by investigating the role perceptions and possible role misperceptions, of mutually dependent Key Account Managers and Sales Agents. Taking into consideration the identified research problem, the primary objective of this study was to investigate the role perceptions of salespeople regarding their own, and their mutually dependent counterparts’ role in the supply chain of a fast-moving consumer goods organisation, and the impact that such perceptions may have on performance. The study employed a mixed method approach to measure the role perceptions of mutually dependent salespeople within the supply chain of a fast-moving consumer goods organisation. The researcher used an exploratory mixed method design. The first phase comprised the collection of qualitative data, and the quantitative phase was then based on the learning’s from the first phase. An exploratory design was ideal for exploring relationships as the study variables were unknown, and a new instrument needed to be developed based on a preliminary qualitative inquiry. Therefore, the research was divided into two phases with the first phase facilitating the design of the instrument for the quantitative second phase of the study. The data collected with the questionnaire was coded, and aside from the normal descriptive statistical analysis such as frequency percentages and standard deviations, hypotheses testing using Pearson product correlations was conducted. For the two smaller groups of respondents a Spearman rank was used, and a Parametric test was employed for the larger group as the variables were normally distributed