This research aims to facilitate sales personnel and companies in understanding the interrelation of personal branding within sales and how it should be utilized effectively. Thus, the thesis explores how sales personnel develop and communicate their personal brand, and additionally how personal branding relates to social selling in a B2B context. Using a qualitative approach, the researchers conducted semi-structured, in-depth interviews with nine participants to achieve meaningful insights about the topic. The research utilizes a deductive approach and a form of directed analysis where the findings are closely related to the conceptual framework (Figure 1). It was found that authenticity is a major aspect when communicating a personal brand. This is since supporting other salespeople, offering expertise, and creating relationships were essential. Furthermore, findings regarding the development of a personal brand indicated changes in professional and personal life as prominent factors. The discoveries reported that processes such as self-reflection and idea-batching, in which values are at the core of evolving the personal brand, can be beneficial. Moreover, the study identifies how personal branding relates to social selling in a B2B context. The researchers found that personal branding can form the base for successful social selling in terms of the connection between the two concepts. It was indicated that social selling would function as a Pull-strategy when incorporating a strong personal brand. In summary, this thesis offers insightful information on the essential function of personal branding for sales personnel and businesses in the B2B context, elucidating the development and communication of a personal brand and its relationship with social selling.

Salesperson performance has been heavily researched in the marketing literature. Previous research has identified various personality traits, salesperson behaviors, and situational characteristics that affect salesperson performance. Results indicate that no single approach to the study of salesperson performance is sufficient by itself. This study investigated the interactions among personality, situational, and behavioral characteristics of salespeople, and their effect on salesperson performance. Since the adaptive behavior construct has been cited as a key determinant to understanding these interactions, an examination of the adaptive behavior-performance relationship was undertaken. A model of adaptive selling behavior was developed and empirically tested. An analysis of the data suggests that adaptive behavior (e.g., salesperson planning process) affects salesperson performance. ln addition, several of the situational characteristics (i.e., sales position characteristics, customer variables, salesperson-customer relationship, personal resources, and managerial variables), utilized in this study, were found to affect both adaptive behavior (i.e., salesperson planning process and customer interaction) and salesperson performance. The results of this study provide theoretical, methodological, and substantive implications concerning the adaptive behavior to performance relationships. The study concludes with suggested directions for future research. / Ph. D.

by Lau Pak Chuen, Alan. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1997. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves [86-90]). / Questionnaire also in Chinese. / ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS --- p.ii / ABSTRACT --- p.iv / LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS --- p.viii / LIST OF TABLES --- p.ix / Chapter CHAPTER I --- INTRODUCTION / Chapter 1.0 --- Overview --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1 --- Background --- p.1 / Chapter 1.2 --- The Research Objective --- p.5 / Chapter 1.3 --- The Conceptual Model --- p.6 / Chapter 1.4 --- The Research Design --- p.7 / Chapter 1.5 --- Significance of This Study --- p.7 / Chapter 1.6 --- Outline of This Paper --- p.8 / Chapter CHAPTER II --- REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE / Chapter 2.0 --- Overview --- p.10 / Chapter 2.1 --- Review of Relevant Past Studies in Expatriate Job Assignments --- p.10 / Chapter 2.1.1 --- Studies Focusing on Current Expatriate Job Assignments --- p.11 / Chapter 2.1.2 --- Studies Focusing on Future Expatriate Job Assignments --- p.12 / Chapter 2.2 --- Issues That Have Not Yet Been Addressed in the Past Studies --- p.14 / Chapter 2.2.1 --- The Assumed Rationality of Employees' Decisions --- p.14 / Chapter 2.2.2 --- The Lack of Consequences of Willingness to Accept the Expatriate Job Assignment --- p.15 / Chapter 2.2.4 --- The Organization-Specific Nature of the Past Studies --- p.16 / Chapter 2.3 --- Conceptual Framework --- p.17 / Chapter 2.3.1 --- The Theory of Planned Behavior --- p.17 / Predicting Behavior: Intentions and Perceived Behavioral Control --- p.18 / "Predicting Intention: Attitudes, Subjective Norms, Perceived Behavioral Control" --- p.20 / Chapter 2.3.2 --- The Role of Desire in Predicting Intention --- p.23 / Chapter 2.4 --- The Conceptual Model --- p.29 / Chapter 2.5 --- The Causal Relations Among Constructs and Hypothesis --- p.31 / Chapter 2.5.1 --- "The Causal Relations between Salary, Promotional Opportunity, Location and Attitude toward the Expatriate Job Assignment to China" --- p.31 / Chapter 2.5.2 --- The Causal Relations between Approval and Subjective Norm --- p.32 / Chapter 2.5.3 --- The Causal Relations between New Job Opportunity and Perceived Behavioral Control --- p.33 / Chapter 2.5.4 --- The Causal Relations between Desire and Attitude --- p.34 / Chapter 2.5.4 --- The Causal Relations between Desire and Attitude --- p.34 / Chapter 2.5.5 --- "The Causal Relations between Desire, Attitude toward the Expatriate Job Assignment to China, Subjective Norm and Perceived Behavioral Control, and Willingness to Accept the Job Assignment" --- p.35 / Chapter 2.5.6 --- "The Causal Relations between Desire, Attitude toward the Expatriate Job Assignment to China, Subjective Norm and Perceived Behavioral Control, and propensity to Leave" --- p.36 / Chapter 2.5.7 --- The Causal Relations between Willingness to Take the Expatriate Job Assignment and Propensity to Leave the Company --- p.37 / Chapter 2.6 --- Summary --- p.38 / Chapter CHAPTER III --- RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY / Chapter 3.0 --- Overview --- p.39 / Chapter 3.1 --- Research Design --- p.39 / Chapter 3.2 --- The Sample and Sampling Procedure --- p.40 / Chapter 3.3 --- Data Collection Procedures --- p.42 / Chapter 3.4 --- Manipulations --- p.44 / Chapter 3.5 --- Operationalization of Constructs --- p.46 / Chapter 3.6 --- Data Analysis --- p.52 / Chapter 3.6.1 --- Manipulation and Confounding Checks --- p.52 / Chapter 3.6.2 --- Structural Equation Modeling --- p.53 / Chapter 3.7 --- Research Activities --- p.54 / Chapter 3.7.1 --- Focus Group Interview --- p.54 / Chapter 3.7.2 --- Pretest --- p.55 / Chapter 3.7.3 --- The Main Study --- p.55 / Chapter 3.8 --- Summary --- p.56 / Chapter CHAPTER IV --- ANALYSIS AND RESULTS / Chapter 4.0 --- Overview --- p.57 / Chapter 4.1 --- Manipulation and Confounding Checks --- p.57 / Chapter 4.1.1 --- Manipulation Checks --- p.57 / Chapter 4.1.2 --- Confounding Checks --- p.58 / Chapter 4.2 --- The Structural Equation Modeling --- p.59 / Chapter 4.2.1 --- The Original Conceptual Model --- p.60 / Chapter 4.2.1.1 --- The Measurement Model Evaluation --- p.60 / Chapter 4.2.1.2 --- Structural Equation Model Results --- p.62 / Chapter 4.2.2 --- The Modified Conceptual Model --- p.65 / Chapter 4.2.2.1 --- The Measurement Model Evaluation --- p.66 / Chapter 4.2.2.2 --- Structural Equation Model Results --- p.66 / Chapter 4.3 --- Discussion --- p.68 / Chapter 4.3.1 --- Results of the Original Conceptual Model --- p.68 / Chapter 4.3.2 --- Results of the Modified Conceptual Model --- p.70 / Chapter 4.3.3 --- Comparison between the Original Model and the Modified Model --- p.72 / Chapter 4.1 --- Summary --- p.73 / Chapter CHAPTER V --- CONCLUSION / Chapter 5.0 --- Overview --- p.74 / Chapter 5.1 --- Summary of the Research --- p.74 / Chapter 5.2 --- Contributions of the Study --- p.77 / Chapter 5.2.1 --- Theoretical Contributions --- p.77 / Chapter 5.2.2 --- Managerial Implications --- p.79 / Chapter 5.3 --- Limitations of the Study --- p.81 / Chapter 5.4 --- Directions for Future Research --- p.83 / Chapter 5.5 --- Summary --- p.85 / REFERENCES / APPENDIX

This paper is to evaluate the sales program at Arrowhead Credit Union, and make recommendations for enhancing and improving it. This paper provide guidance and direction to assist the Arrowhead Credit Unions transition to a sales focused organization.

This study sought to determine whether a relationship existed between individual salesperson's levels of goal-directed cognition and motivation and their professional success as determined by the percentage of sales goals achieved. Salespersons represented two companies with national sales forces: one from the financial services industry and one from the apparel manufacturing industry. Both groups of salespeople were responsible for complex selling tasks. The skill sets for these professionals included high levels of communication skills, extensive product knowledge, and competitive market knowledge. Survey research, both paper and pencil and online, was conducted using the Hope Scale developed by C. R. Snyder and associates (1991). Hope is defined as a two-dimensional construct of goal-directed thinking: resourcefulness, thoughtful planning to overcome obstacles to goals, and motivation, cognition to sustain momentum toward goal achievement. Theoretically, upon assessing salespersons' Hope scores, organizations would be better prepared to assist those with low Hope Scale Scores (HSS) in one of the two areas. Those with low resourcefulness scores could be trained in cognitive techniques to overcome obstacles to goal achievement. Those with low motivational scores would be identified for further analysis, from a developmental perspective, to better determine what personally initiates and sustains motivation to attain their goals (Snyder, 1991). This study affirmed two of three parts of the hope theory with regard to salespeople. High Hope scores showed significant correlations with high goal achievement, as did one of the subset scores, motivation. The resourcefulness subset score did not correlate significantly with high goal achievement, and also produced low reliability scores.

Efektyvus personalo valdymas galimas tik tada, kai tinkamai suprantama žmogaus poreikių ir vertybių sistema. Šiuo tyrimu siekta išsiaiškinti, kokios motyvacijos priemonės įmonėje panaudojamos efektyviausiai ir kurios aktualiausios darbuotojams. Tyrimo metu apklausus 109 salonų darbuotojus ir regionų vadovus, siekta išsiaiškinti, kurios motyvacijos priemonės labiausiai atitinka darbuotojų lūkesčius, ir kaip motyvaciniai darbuotojų poreikiai priklauso nuo demografinių veiksnių. Atlikus tyrimą nustatyta, kad svarbiausios UAB „Omnitel‘ darbuotojų motyvavimo sistemos problemos yra vadovų įvertinimo stoka, nepakankamos kvalifikacijos kėlimo galimybės, tai, kad atokesniuose regionuose darbuotojai neturi karjeros galimybių. Taip pat kai kurios darbo sąlygos (nuolatinis stresas, darbo programų dažni trikdžiai) kelia darbuotojų nepasitenkinimą darbu. Siekiant išspręsti šias darbuotojų skatinimo problemas, svarbu parinkti optimaliausius darbuotojų valdymo metodus, teisingai paskirstyti darbus, atsižvelgti į individualius darbuotojų poreikius ir savybes. / Effective management of staff may only be when the human needs and values are properly understood. This study aimed to find out what motivates the company to use the most effective methods and which are concentrated in the workers. The study surveys 109 salons staff and regional leaders, sought to clarify the motivation of the most consistent with the expectations of employees, and motivating employees as the needs of demographic factors. The study found that the most important problem of UAB Omnitel’ employee motivation system is the lack of leaders assessment, lack of training opportunities, and the fact that the fringes do not have career opportunities for employees. Also, some operating conditions (constant stress, work programs, frequent interruptions) a workers' dissatisfaction with the work. To remedy these incentive problems, it is important to choose the optimal staff management methods, the fair distribution of work, to take into account the individual needs and characteristics.

Neste trabalho é apresentada uma nova abordagem de algoritmo evolutivo multiobjetivo, denominado MOEA/NSM (do inglês, Multiobjective Evolutionary Algorithm integrating NSGA-II, SPEA2 and MOEA/D features). O algoritmo preserva em geral, características de um algoritmo evolutivo, concentrando qualidades de outras abordagens de sucesso na literatura em uma única abordagem, para que elas trabalhem em conjunto, por meio de subpopulações. O objetivo do estudo foi combinar as principais características dos algoritmos NSGA-II, SPEA2 e MOEA/D, e incluir ainda uma técnica de busca local para melhorar a busca no espaço de objetivos. O algoritmo MOEA/NSM foi comparado às demais abordagens clássicas utilizando 9 datasets para o problema do caixeiro viajante biobjetivo. Além disso, foram realizados experimentos aplicando também a busca local nas abordagens clássicas, resultando em considerável melhora nos resultados para esses algoritmos. A partir das fronteiras de Pareto resultantes dos experimentos, foram aplicadas as métricas de avaliação por Hipervolume, Epsilon (ε), R2, EAF, além do teste de hipótese estatístico Shapiro-Wilk. Os resultados apontaram um melhor desempenho do MOEA/NSM em relação aos demais, mesmo aplicando a busca local nas outras abordagens. Nesse sentido, o MOEA/NSM pode ser considerado um algoritmo que consegue encontrar soluções não denominadas de qualidade, tanto quanto os algoritmos clássicos da literatura. / This work presents a new approach to the multiobjective evolutionary algorithm, called MOEA/NSM (Multiobjective Evolutionary Algorithm integrating NSGA-II, SPEA2 and MOEA/D features). The algorithm preserves, in general, the characteristics of an evolutionary algorithm, concentrating qualities of other approaches of success in the literature in a single approach, so that they work together, through subpopulations. The objective of the study was to combine the main characteristics of the NSGA-II, SPEA2 and MOEA/D algorithms, and also to include a local search technique to improve the objective space search. The MOEA/NSM algorithm was compared to the other classical approaches using 9 datasets for the biobjective traveling salesman problem. In addition, experiments were carried out also applying the local search in the classical approaches, resulting in a considerable improvement in the results for these algorithms. From the Pareto frontiers resulting from experiments, we applied the evaluation metrics by Hypervolume, Epsilon (ε), R2, EAF, in addition to the Shapiro-Wilk statistical hypothesis test. The results showed a better performance of the MOEA/NSM in relation to the others, even applying the local search in the others approaches. In this sense, the MOEA/NSM can be considered an algorithm that is able to find solutions not dominated of quality, as much as the classic algorithms of the literature.

El presente trabajo de investigación, ha permitido identificar los factores que originan la alta rotación del personal de ventas de las tiendas de la empresa Piero, y proponer un portafolio de medidas que tendría que adoptar dicha empresa para reducir la alta rotación de su personal de ventas. La empresa Piero, produce y comercializa prendas de vestir a través de su propia cadena de tiendas ubicadas en la ciudad de Lima y otras provincias del interior del país, siendo una de las empresas más representativas del sector retail. Por ello, considero que la metodología y los resultados de la presente investigación pueden servir de referencia para que otras empresas del rubro traten de establecer los factores de rotación de su personal o adopten las medidas que se proponen para reducir dicha rotación. La presente investigación se basa en un tipo de estudio descriptivo, toda vez que trata de analizar los factores que motivan las renuncias voluntarias del personal de ventas de la empresa PIERO. También, corresponde al tipo de investigación aplicada, en la medida que los resultados del presente trabajo servirán para proponer un conjunto de políticas orientadas a reducir la alta tasa de rotación. / Trabajo de investigación

In this study twenty-two commercial real estate salespeople were randomly assigned to one of four experimental conditions: (1) pretest, training, posttest; (2) pretest, no training, posttest; (3) no pretest, training, posttest; (4) no pretest, no training, posttest. The training groups participated in a monitored aerobics training program designed by the Institute for Aerobics Research, Dallas, Texas. In conclusion, it appears that an improvement in employee cardiorespiratory fitness does not necessarily lead to an improvement in job satisfaction or job performance. It is important to note, however, several possible explanations for these results. First, the pretest scores for the Job Descriptive Index were already quite high indicating there was not much room for improvement on posttest scores. Secondly, with regard to performance scores the; small number of subjects may have contributed to the lack of statistical significance. The study had a 46 percent subject loss rate. Thirdly, it would have been more useful to have had subjects who earned approximately the same amount or, at least, did not have the enormous differences in earnings found in this study. Finally, it is suggested that commissions be watched for more than one sales cycle. By incorporating these changes, future studies will have a better chance of determining whether employee fitness affects employee performance or employee satisfaction.

This research explores the relationship between personality traits, Psychological Capital and job performance amongst sales employees within an Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) sector in South Africa. The study was conducted through quantitative research. The study used the Basic Traits Inventory short form (BTI) to measure personality traits; the Psychological Capital questionnaire (PCQ) to measure the Psychological Capital; and the Job Performance questionnaire (JBQ) to measure individual performance. A biographical questionnaire was also used. The questionnaires were administered to a population of 145 sales employees, 85 of whom were based in the company’s Johannesburg office, with the rest dispersed in the company’s Cape Town, Durban, Port Elizabeth, Bloemfontein, wider Free State and Mpumalanga offices. In view of the fact that the sample was small, 100% of the population was included in the study. A theoretical relationship between the constructs was determined and an empirical study provided evidence of the degree of relationship that existed between them. The results reveal significant relationships to exist between some sub-scales; however, statistical significance could not be reached for some correlations. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / M. Com. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)