An integrative action research (IAR) on the use of effective management communication in implementing sales controls to increase task clarity: The case of University X's outbound sales team

• Main Author: Javellana, Myra Rose O.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2022
• Subjects: Communication in management; Sales force management; Business and Corporate Communications; Sales and Merchandising
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etdm_manorg/110; https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/context/etdm_manorg/article/1129/viewcontent/An_Integrative_Action_Research__IAR__on__The_Use_of_Effective_Man_Redacted.pdf
• Institution: De La Salle University

Because of the technological advancements, many new startup companies are born each year; however, with this high startup birth rate also comes a high mortality rate. And the top reason identified for these failures is cash flow exhaustion, reflected by poor revenue generation. Effective sales teams prevent that from happening. Therefore, many organizations employ several measures to influence sales performance, and one of the most common is sales controls. This action research takes on the role of management communication during the implementation of sales controls within University X's Outbound Sales Team. It is a response to the signs showing a lack of organizational commitment among the team members, which were results of the inadequacy of task clarity, contrary to what sales controls should bring. Two cycles of action research were conducted to achieve the objectives. To determine the root cause, we referred to the sales control frameworks from Challagalla and Shervani (1996) and Joshi and Randall (2001). And in each cycle, we have used a communication practice based on Johlke, Duhan, Howell, & Wilkes' Integrated Model of Sales Manager’s Communication Practices (2000) to improve the sales control implementation for the sales team of University X. For the first cycle, we used the concept of indirect content to break perceptual barriers. It resulted in a better understanding of the controls from the management's perspective. However, we also discovered that one intervention did not suffice to achieve our objective. Therefore, as we transitioned to the second cycle, we incorporated the practice of bi-directional communication. Although the results were not flawless, the attitude of the outbound sales agents of University X towards their output, activity, and capability targets improved based on their remarks. In addition to that, our primary subjects for management communication, my collaborators, improved their communication styles and practices, which continue to help the team. After the two cycles of implementation of sales controls on the outbound sales team of University X and the evaluation of the results, findings in the literature review were strengthened. Therefore, our extrapolation resulted in an integrated framework, illustrating the relationships among the key concepts discussed - sales controls, communication practices, facets of ambiguity, commitment and sales performance. Furthermore, future directions were discussed.