Organizational Climate and Job Satisfaction in the Salesforce

Author(s): Gilbert A. Churchill, Jr., Neil M. Ford, Orville C. Walker and Jr.
Source: Journal of Marketing Research, Vol. 13, No. 4 (Nov., 1976), pp. 323-332
Published by: American Marketing Association
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3151014
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 GILBERTA. CHURCHILL,JR., NEIL M. FORD, and ORVILLEC. WALKER, JR.*

This report concerns the impact of several organizational climate variables

on the job satisfaction of a cross-section of industrial salesmen. To gain greater
insight into how climate affects salemen's feelings about their jobs, the
relationships between each climate variable and each of seven components
of job satisfaction also are examined. Finally, the managerial implications
of the findings are explored, and actions that might lead to improvements
in salesforce morale are discussed.

Climate
Organizational and Job Satisfaction
in the Salesforce
I I g

INTRODUCTION negative relationship between satisfaction and job

Though it is naive to think that happy workers are
invariably productive workers, much research evi-
dence collected from a variety of occupations suggests
that a worker's satisfaction does influence his job
behavior. Some of the most consistent findings of
this research are:
1. A negativerelationshipbetween job satisfactionand
job turnover;dissatisfied workers are more likely
to quit and look for other jobs.
2. A negativerelationshipbetween job satisfactionand
absenteeism.
3. A negativerelationshipbetween job satisfactionand
accidents on the job, although it is unclear which
factor causes the other.
4. In a majority of studies, a positive relationship
between satisfactionandjob performance.But there
is much controversy over whetherhigh satisfaction
causes good performance,good performanceleads
to satisfactionwith the job, or both satisfactionand
performanceare determinedby other factors [11,
12, 25, 27].
Although these research findings are drawn from
other occupations, they suggest that low morale and
discontent among salesmen can cause major problems
for sales and marketing managers. The consistent
*GilbertChurchill
and Neil Fordare Professorsof Marketing,
Universityof Wisconsin, Madison. OrvilleWalkeris Professor of
Marketing,University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. The authors
gratefullyacknowledgethe financialsupportprovidedby the Mar-
ketingScience Institute,The Universityof Wisconsin,and Univer-
sity of Minnesota.
323
turnover is particularly critical for sales managers
because estimates of the cost of recruiting and training
a new salesman averaged $8,700 in one study, and
may range as high as $50,000 [28, p. 143]. Also, though
the exact nature of the relationship is still open to
question, there may be a positive connection between
salesforce morale and sales productivity.
Satisfaction and Discontent Among Salesmen
A previous study by the authors found substantial
dissatisfaction among salesmen in a broad cross-sec-
tion of industrial goods firms. More interestingly, the
study found that salesmen tend to be most dissatisfied
with those aspects of their jobs which are under the
most direct control of management. The salesmen were
most discontent with company policies and field
support (e.g., sales promotion, sales training programs,
etc.), pay, promotion and advancement, and their
supervisors. In contrast, they were relatively satisfied
with the general nature of the sales job, their fellow
workers, and their customers [9].
These findings suggest that although low morale
may be causing problems for many sales managers,
it is not a problem beyond their control. Management
may be able to improve salesforce morale directly
by modifying company policies and procedures gov-
erning salesman compensation, promotions, sales
training, and so forth.
Organizational Climate
Many studies of other occupations suggest,
however, that job satisfaction cannot be explained

Journal of Marketing Research

Vol. XIII (November 1976), 323-32

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324
entirely by such direct causes as the company's pay
andpromotionpractices. A person's job attitudesalso
are influenced by a broad range of organizational
characteristicsand social relationshipswhich consti-
tute the individual's work environment. Many such
variablesare discussed elsewhere in publishedreviews
of the job satisfaction literature[11, 12, 25, 27].
In industrialpsychology many of the organizational
and social variables which constitute a worker's job
environment often are grouped within a construct
called "organizationalclimate." Several comprehen-
sive review articles [14, 16, 17] clearly show that
organizationalclimate has been defined and measured
in a variety of ways. The most common view of
climate, however, is that it represents the worker's
perceptionsof his objective work situation, including
the characteristicsof the organizationhe works for
and the nature of his relationshipswith other people
while doing his job. Thus, climate is conceptually
distinct from, and either causes or moderates, the
worker's affective evaluationsand attitudes concern-
ing his job and his work environment(i.e., job satis-
faction). This perceptualdefinition of organizational
climate is adheredto throughoutthis study.
The reviews of organizationalclimate research sug-
gest that many studies have been beset by a variety
of methodologicalproblems. However, a substantial
body of evidence from a variety of occupations con-
sistently shows that job satisfaction varies with a
worker's perceptions of his company's climate [5,
10, 18, 22, 26]. Unfortunately,the findings of these
studies cannot be generalized to the salesman's job
because it has been demonstrated that "a climate
conducive to one function in an organizationmay be
incongruentfor another in terms of job satisfaction
and/or performance" [5, p. 235].
OBJECTIVES
The purposeof this report is to examine the impact
of several perceived organizationalclimate variables
on the job satisfactionof a cross-section of industrial
salesmen. To gain greater insight into how climate
affects salesmen's feelings about their jobs, the rela-
tionships between each climate variable and each of
seven components of job satisfaction also are exam-
ined. Finally, the managerialimplicationsof the find-
ings are explored and actions that might lead to
improvementsin salesforce morale are discussed.
VARIABLESAND HYPOTHESES
An examinationby Campbellet al. [2] found that
four factors are common in most measures of per-
ceived organizationalclimate: (1) the amount of au-
tonomy given the individual in performinghis job,
(2) the amount of structureimposed upon a position
and the person who occupies it, (3) reward orienta-
tion-management's philosophy concerning how to
motivateemployees, and (4)the natureof interpersonal
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JOURNALOF MARKETINGRESEARCH,NOVEMBER1976
relationships-the amount of warmth, conflict, etc.,
in relationsamong employees and their supervisors.
The seven climate variablesexamined in this study
are consistent with the four factors. However, these
variables were also specifically selected and defined
to reflect the unique characterof the salesman's job
and to provide meaningfuland actionableimplications
for sales managers.
SupervisoryVariables
The "style" that managersin an organizationfollow
in supervising their subordinates can have a broad
impact on the amount of autonomy the subordinates
have in doing their job, how structuredtheir activities
are, and the kind of relationshipsthey have with their
superiors. Therefore, the measures of organizational
climate include three supervisory variables: (1) the
closeness of supervision, (2) the amount of influence
the salesmanhas in determiningsupervisorystandards,
and (3) the frequency of communicationbetween sales
managerand salesman.
Closeness of supervision. One major aspect of
supervisory style is simply the amount of supervision
given to the employee; how closely his job activities
are structured, monitored, and directed. In many
occupationsclose supervisionhas been shown to have
a negative impact on a worker's job satisfaction. It
reduces his autonomy. The workerfeels that the boss
is "breathingdown his neck" [7, 19, 20]. In contrast,
one study of employees in research organizations
suggests that workers whose jobs are nonroutineand
unstructuredare happiest when their superiorssuper-
vise them relativelyclosely and help provide structure
to their work [15].
The field salesman'sjob is less structuredand gives
him more autonomythan most other occupations. He
often faces nonroutine situations and customer de-
mands. Consequently,the salesman is likely to desire
relatively close supervision in order to obtain some
direction and support in meeting the demands of his
job.
Salesmen who are supervised relatively closely are
likely to feel their supervisors are concerned about
their work and are trying to help them do a good
job. Consequently,they are likely to be satisfied with
their supervisors.
Closely supervised salesmen also are apt to have
a better understandingand appreciationof the policies
andproceduresthey are expected to follow in carrying
out their jobs. Thus, they are likely to be more
comfortablewith their jobs and more tolerant of the
company policies that affect them.
Finally, it is reasonable to expect that closely
supervised salesmen will have a more complete
knowledgeof how theirperformanceis being evaluated
by their superiorsfor purposes of compensationand
promotion.Consequently,they may be more inclined
to view their company's pay and promotionpractices
ORGANIZATIONALCLIMATEAND JOB SATISFACTIONIN THE SALESFORCE
as fair, or at least understandable.
Given the foregoing expectations, the hypothesized
relationshipbetween closeness of supervision and a
salesman's job satisfaction can be summarized as
follows.
H : The more closely the salesman believes his per-
formanceis supervised,the greaterthe salesman's
overall job satisfaction.
Influencein determiningstandards. In some firms,
the standardsby which employees are supervised and
evaluatedare determinedunilaterallyby management.
Otherfirms follow a more participativeapproachand
allow the employees to have an input in determining
the standardsused in controllingand evaluatingtheir
job performance.
Proponentsof participativemanagementargue that
employees who feel they have an influence in deter-
miningcompanypolicies and standardswill have more
favorableopinionsof those policies, of theirsuperiors,
and of the standards used in determining their
compensationand promotions. Though the empirical
evidence is somewhat mixed, these propositionshave
received support from several studies [2, 4, 20].
Therefore, the hypothesized relationshipbetween the
salesman's influence over supervisory standardsand
his job satisfaction can be stated as follows.
H2: The greater the influence the salesman believes
he has in determiningthe standardsby which his
performance is supervised and evaluated, the
greaterthe salesman's overall job satisfaction.
Frequency of communication. A third element of
supervisorystyle is the frequency of communication
betweenthe sales managerandhis salesmen. The more
frequent the communication-whether through face-
to-face meetings, telephone conversations, or written
letters and memoranda-the more likely the salesman
is to understandand appreciate his supervisor's de-
mands and his company's policies and procedures,
particularly those concerning his evaluation,
compensation, and promotion.
Communicationis also a two-wayprocess. The more
frequentthe communicationbetweenthe salesmanand
his superiors, the more likely it is that he will feel
that he has an input into policy decisions affecting
his job. Therefore, the following summaryhypothesis
is proposed.
H3: The more frequent the communicationbetween
a salesmanand his sales manager,the greater the
salesman's overall job satisfaction.
AuthorityStructure
The authoritystructureof a firm and the salesman's
position within that structure obviously can have a
major impact on the salesman's autonomy and the
numberof restrictionsplaced on his job performance.
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325
One variable that reflects how the firm's authority
structureaffects the salesmanis the numberof depart-
ments in the firm that can approve or reject a sale,
modify the terms of a sale, or influencethe salesman's
activities in carryingout his job.
The empirical evidence concerning the effects of
multipleauthorityon workermoraleand performance
is reviewed extensively elsewhere [6, ch. 13]. The
literaturecan be summarizedand appliedto the sales-
man in the following way: the larger the number of
people and/or departmentsthat can influence a sales-
man's activities, the less autonomy he has to do his
job as he thinks it should be done. He is likely to
view company policies as overly restrictive. He is
also likely to receive inconsistent demands from
various superiorswithin his company. Consequently,
the salesman may be dissatisfied with company poli-
cies, supervision, and perhaps the job itself. In view
of these arguments,the following summaryhypothesis
is proposed.
H4: The greater the number of organizationdepart-
ments the salesman perceives as affecting his
activities, the lower the salesman's overall job
satisfaction.
InnovativenessDemandedof the Salesman
As was mentioned,the salesman'sjob often requires
him to produce innovative solutions to nonroutine
problems. Some sales jobs, of course, demand more
innovativeness than others. The person who sells
engineered systems designed to customer specifi-
cations is more likely to face unusual situations than
one sellingmore standardizedproducts.All successful
salesmen, however, must display some creativity in
matching available offerings with customer needs,
developing sales presentations,and other activities.
Though the demand for innovativeness is inherent
in the job, the impactof thatdemandon the salesman's
well-beingand performanceis influencedby company
policies and management actions. Managementcan
improve the salesman's ability to cope with unusual
situations by providingready access to relevant in-
formation(e.g., throughthe use of portablecomputer
terminals,etc.), sufficient technicalbackup, adequate
and continuingtrainingprograms,and other support.
In other words, true innovativeness is demanded of
the salesmanonly when (1) he faces a unique, nonrou-
tine situation and (2) the company has not provided
him with sufficient guidelines, information, support,
or trainingto know how to cope with it.
Viewed in this way, the demandfor innovativeness
can have a negative impact on the salesman's well-
being. The salesman is likely to be uncertainof how
to do his job effectively and to lose confidence in
his ability to perform. As a consequence, he may
become negative towardthe job itself and pessimistic
about his chances for promotion.
The salesman also may feel that he has been set
326
adrift by his company superiors without sufficient
support or guidance to help him resolve the unusual
problemshe encountersin the field. Thus, he is likely
to be dissatisfied with both his supervisor and with
his company's policies and support.
Individualsalesmen may respond differently to the
demands for innovativeness imposed by their jobs.
Several studies suggest that both personality and
subculturalvariables moderate the way workers re-
spond to increasedcomplexity and autonomy in their
jobs [1, 13, 29]. In general, however, the relationship
between innovativenessand job satisfactionis expect-
ed to be as follows.
H5: The greater the amount of innovativeness the
salesman feels is required of him in performing
his job, the lower the salesman's overall job
satisfaction.
Interpersonal Variables
The content of the salesman's job-the activities
he is supposed to perform and the way he should
performthem-is defined largelyby the expectations
and demands of other people who are affected by
and have a vested interest in the way he performs
his job. In the salesman's case, some of these people
(role partners) are members of his own firm, such
as his fellow salesmen, his supervisor,the production
manager, and the credit manager. Others occupy
positions outside the organization, such as custom-
ers and family members.
Uncertaintyabout what these various role partners
expect him to do or how they will evaluate his
performancecan have a negative impact both on the
salesman's ability to do his job and on his self-confi-
dence and morale. Similarly,if he receives conflicting
demands from various role partners he becomes a
'"man in the middle." He is likely to experience
psychological stress and low morale. Ambiguity and
conflict, then, are two aspects of the salesman's
relationswith other people on the job which can have
a critical impact on his job satisfaction.
Role ambiguity. A salesmanexperiences role ambi-
guity when he does not feel he has the necessary
informationto perform his job adequately; when he
is uncertain about what his role partners expect of
him, how to act to satisfy those expectations, or how
his ultimateperformancewill be evaluated. In studies
of workers in other occupations, this kind of perceived
ambiguity has been found to be associated positively
with feelings of anxiety and to be related negatively
to job satisfaction [19, p. 72-95; 24].
When a salesman experiences a relatively high
degree of role ambiguity, therefore, one would expect
him to be less satisfied with his job. He is also likely
to hold his role partners responsible for the ambiguity
and anxiety. He may believe that they have done
an inadequate job of communicating their expectations
and demands, or that their policies and procedures
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JOURNALOF MARKETINGRESEARCH,NOVEMBER1976
are not defined very clearly or applied consistently.
Consequently, he may be dissatisfied with his
company'spolicies, his supervisor,his fellow workers,
and his customers.
Finally, his uncertaintyabout what is expected of
him and how his performancewill be evaluated may
makehim pessimisticabout his chances for promotion
or a pay increase. Thus, salesmen who suffer role
ambiguityare likely to be dissatisfied with their organ-
ization's pay and promotionpolicies.
All of the foregoing argumentsare summarizedin
the following hypothesis.
H6: The greaterthe degreeof role ambiguityperceived
by the salesman, the lower the salesman'soverall
job satisfaction.
Role conflict. Perceived role conflict occurs when
a salesmanbelieves that the expectationsand demands
of two or more of his role partnersare incompatible
and that he cannot simultaneously satisfy all the
demandsbeing madeof him. Otherstudieshave argued
that salesmen are particularlysusceptible to this kind
of conflict because they occupy a position at the
boundry between their firm and their customers'
organizations.Consequently, they must try to satisfy
the often inconsistent demands of people in two
independentorganizations[23, 30].
This kind of conflict can producegreat anxiety and
emotional turmoil for the salesman, as it does for
workers in other occupations [12, 19, p. 55-71]. He
may conclude that no matter what he does someone
will be upset with him. One result may be disillusion-
ment with the job itself.
The salesman may hold his role partners at fault
for creating the conflicts in which he finds himself.
Salesmen'sfrequentchargethat theircompany superi-
ors and supervisors "don't know what things are like
out in the market" suggests that there is some incon-
sistency between their company's policies and their
customer'sdemands.The salesmanalso may consider
some of his customer's demands unreasonable. As
a consequence, salesmenwho experienceconsiderable
role conflict are likely to be dissatisfied with their
supervisors, their company's policies, and their cus-
tomers.
One of the most disconcerting things about role
conflict is that no matterhow the salesman performs
his job, one or more of his role partners will be
displeased. To the extent that those role partners
controlor influence his compensationand his chances
for promotion,the salesman who faces great conflict
may become pessimistic about his ability to attain
better pay or future promotionswithin his firm.
The overall relationshipbetween role conflict and
job satisfaction, then, can be summarizedas follows.
H7: The greater the role conflict perceived by the
salesman, the lower the salesman's overall job
satisfaction.
ORGANIZATIONALCLIMATE
AND JOB SATISFACTIONIN THE SALESFORCE
Experienceas a ModeratingVariable
The relationshipbetween organizationalclimate and
job satisfaction may be moderatedby the salesman's
years of experienceon the job. In general,one expects
to find a positive relationshipbetween experience and
job satisfaction for two reasons. First, satisfaction
influencesjob tenure. Salesmenwho are very unhappy
with their jobs are likely to quit and work for another
firm or to seek another profession. Consequently,
salesmen who have been working at the same job
in the same firm for many years are likely to be those
who are relatively satisfied.
Second, experience on the job influences satisfac-
tion. As the salesman gains experience he may learn
to overcome or cope more effectively with some of
the disconcerting aspects of his work environment.
Experiencedsalesmen, for example, are likely to have
a more thorough understandingof their jobs, their
company's policies, and their customers. They are
less likely to have feelings of ambiguityor to need
close supervision and frequent communicationwith
their superiors. They are more likely to understand
companypolicies, includingcompensationand promo-
tion criteria, and to know how to operate effectively
withinthose policies. In short, the experienced sales-
man is less likely to suffer the uncertainties and
anxieties that cause dissatisfaction among those with
less time on the job. Therefore, a final hypothesis
is presentedto cover the moderatingeffects of experi-
ence.
H8: The longer the time a salesman has spent in his
currentposition, the higherthe salesman's overall
job satisfaction.
METHOD
The Sample
The foregoing hypotheses were tested with data
obtainedby mail questionnairesfrom a sample of 479
industrialsalesmen drawnfrom 10 companiesin seven
different industries. All the firms are manufacturers
of relatively technical industrialequipment and ma-
terials, ranging from computers and machine tools
to cleaning supplies. An introductoryletter from the
sales managerin each firm and two followup letters
from the experimenterswere used to encourage par-
ticipation.In connection with measuringthe reliability
of the instruments,each salesmanreceived two ques-
tionnaires with equivalent but different questions.
Completedsets of questionnaireswere received from
265 salesmen for a response rate of 55%. It should
be noted, however, that an additional 30% of the
salesmen in the sample returned either the first or
the second questionnaire, but not both. Though the
responses of these individualscould not be included
in the data used in the study, a comparisonof their
responses (including their demographic charac-
teristics) with those of the salesmen who completed
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327
both questionnaires did not show any systematic
differences.
Data Collection Instruments
As was mentioned,organizationalclimateis defined
in this study as the salesman's perceptions of the
objective characteristicsof his organizationand the
nature of his relationships with other people while
doing his job. The salesman's job satisfaction is
defined as his affective feelings or attitudes toward
his job, his organization,and his work environment.
This conceptual distinction is reflected in the instru-
ments used to measurejob satisfactionandthe various
components of perceived organizationalclimate.
Job satisfaction was measured with a scale devel-
oped by the authors specifically for industrialsales-
men. It consists of 95 statementsindicatingsatisfaction
or dissatisfaction with specific aspects of the sales-
man's job and work environment.Each statement is
presented with a five-point scale ranging from
"strongly agree" to "strongly disagree."
The satisfaction scale has been factor analyzed and
the 95 items are grouped into seven satisfaction com-
ponents: (1) the job itself (e.g., satisfaction with the
general nature of the sales job, opportunities for
accomplishmentand growth,etc.), (2) fellow workers,
(3) supervision,(4) companypolicies and support(e.g.,
companybenefits, sales training,promotionalsupport,
competence of management,etc.), (5) pay, (6) promo-
tion and advancement, and (7) customers. The scale
produced scores for each salesman on each of the
seven components. The component scores were
summed to obtain a total satisfaction score for the
salesman. A more complete description of this satis-
faction scale, includingsampleitems and an evaluation
of its reliabilityand validity, has been published [3].
The role conflict and ambiguityperceived by the
salesman were measured by the INDSALES scale,
which uses a Likert type of format to discover the
number and magnitude of conflicts perceived by a
salesmanamongthe expectations of his role partners.
It also measures the ambiguityfelt by the salesman
concerningthe expectations of each role partner.The
predictorvariables "closeness of supervision," "in-
fluence in determiningthe standardsof supervision,"
and "innovativenessrequiredby the job" were meas-
ured by similarLikert scales that were developed on
the basis of previous research. The INDSALES scale
and the procedures used in developing it, as well as
many of the other scales used, are described in more
detail in [8].
The "number of departmentsaffecting the sales-
man's job" was measuredby presentingthe salesman
with a checklist of departments and asking him to
indicate the ones that had some influence over his
activities.
"Frequency of communicationwith the sales man-
ager" was measured with a set of multiple choice
328 JOURNALOF MARKETINGRESEARCH,NOVEMBER1976

questions concerning the frequency of face-to-face,
telephone, and written communication.The sum of
these three frequency scores was used as a measure
of total frequency of contact.
RESULTS
Multicollinearity
Some of the variablesused to define organizational
climate, such as closeness of supervision, communi-
cations frequency, and ambiguity, might appear to
be interrelated. Substantial multicollinearityamong
these variableswould negateone's abilityto treatthem
as separate variablesfor purposes of analysis. There-
fore, multicollinearitywas examinedby the construc-
tion of a pairwisecorrelationmatrixincludingall eight
independentvariables as well as overall job satisfac-
tion. This matrixis presented in Table 1.
As Table 2 indicates, closeness of supervision and
the salesman's influence over supervisory standards
bear a significant positive relationshipto his overall
job satisfaction. In contrast, the innovativeness re-
quired of him and the ambiguity and conflict he
experiences are negatively related to his satisfaction.
These findings support hypotheses 1, 2, 5, 6, and
7.
The dataalso show a significantrelationshipbetween
the salesman's time in his position and his overall
job satisfaction. This relationship,however, is a nega-
tive one, just the opposite of the prediction in H8.
The possible reasons for this unexpected finding are
explored in the next section.
Finally, the predictions in H3 and H4 concerning
the impact of the number of departmentsaffecting
the salesman's activities and the frequency of his
communications with his sales manager were not

Table 1
MATRIXOF PREDICTOR
PAIRWISECORRELATION AND JOB SATISFACTION
VARIABLES

Variables Xi X2 X3 X4 X5 X6 X7 X8 X9
X, Closeness of
supervision 1.000
X2 Influenceover
standards -.069 1.000
X3 Amount of
communication .270 -.108 1.000
X4 Number of
departments .131 .029 .053 1.000
X^ Innovativeness .010 .088 -.104 .218 1.000
X6 Ambiguity -.189 -.257 -.011 .039 .003 1.000
X7 Conflict -.018 .007 -.038 -.017 .011 .098 1.000
X8 Time in position -.174 .093 -.278 -.077 .135 -.177 -.123 1.000
X9 Satisfaction .316 .405 .167 .008 -.137 -.359 -.263 -.111 1.000

Negative relationshipsbetween role ambiguityand
the two supervisoryvariablesof closeness of supervi-
sion and influence over standards are among the
strongest correlationsshown in Table 1. This finding
is not surprisingbecause the authors have discussed
these relationshipselsewhere [31]. These relationships
are not very substantial,however, as the two supervi-
sory variables together with time in position are
capableof explainingonly about 13%of the variation
in role ambiguityacross salesmen [31, p. 37].
Overall, Table 1 indicates that there is relatively
littlemulticollinearityamongthe independentvariables
in this study. In the following analysis, therefore, they
are treated as separate and distinct aspects of organi-
zational climate.
Impact on OverallJob Satisfaction
A stepwise multiple regression analysis was used
to examinethe impactof each of the predictorvariables
on the total job satisfaction scores of the salesmen
in the sample. Table 2 presents the beta coefficients
and t-values for the least-squaressolution.
supportedby the data. These two variables failed to
enter the least squaressolutionat a statisticallysignifi-
cant level.
Overall, Table 2 shows that the organizationalcli-
mate variables studied explain about 42% of the
variationin overall job satisfaction across salesmen.
Impact on Componentsof Job Satisfaction
To understandmore fully how the climate variables
affect job satisfaction, additionalstepwise regression
analyses were run for each of the seven components
of job satisfaction. The stepwise solutions for each
of the satisfaction components are summarized in
Table 3.
Closeness of supervision. Table 3 indicates that, as
predictedin the rationalefor H , closeness of supervi-
sion is related positively to a salesman's satisfaction
with the job itself, supervision,company policies and
support,and promotionand advancement.These find-
ings seem to support the idea that many salesmen
feel they have too much autonomy on the job. They
are happierwith their job and their supervisor when

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ORGANIZATIONALCLIMATE
AND JOB SATISFACTIONIN THE SALESFORCE 329

Table 2 salesman's satisfactionwith his pay. This findingmay

STEPWISEREGRESSIONRESULTSFOR TOTALJOB reflect the fact that the sales managerdoes not always
SATISFACTION have a majorrole in determiningthe salesman's pay,
particularlyif he is compensated largely by commis-
Predictorvariables Beta coefficients t-values sion.
Influencein determiningstandards. The salesman's
Xi Closeness of
supervision .282 5.69a perception that he has influence in determiningthe
X2 Influenceover standardsby which his performanceis supervisedand
standards .408 8.13 a evaluated has the most pervasive impact on the com-
Amountof
X3
communication - n.s.
ponents of satisfaction of all the climate variables
X4 Numberof examined. Table 3 shows that this variable is related
departments - n.s. positively to all of the components of satisfaction
X5 Innovativeness -.154 -3.13a except "customers." This finding suggests that when
X6 Ambiguity -.192 -3.79a the salesmanfeels he has an influenceover the policies
X7 Conflict -.256 -5.35a and proceduresfollowed by his firm, he understands
X8 Time in position -.828 -2.69b
R2 = .424 and accepts them more fully and, consequently, he
aSignificantat a = .001 level.
is likely to be happierboth with the policies themselves
bSignificantat a = .01 level. and with the other membersof his firm who develop,
n.s. = Not significant. administer,and implementthem.
Frequencyof communication. Unlike the other two
they feel their performance is being watched and supervisory variables, the frequency of communi-
directed relatively closely. As a consequence of this cation with sales managersis related significantly to
close contact with the supervisor,these salesmen also only two components of salesmen's job satisfaction.
have a better understandingof and appreciationfor Thisoutcome suggeststhatthe substanceof the contact
company policies and promotional criteria. Conse- between a salesman and his supervisoris much more
quently, they express more satisfaction with these critical to his satisfaction and well-being than the
aspects of their jobs as well. frequency with which that contact occurs.
Contrary to expectations, however, there is no Unexpectedly, Table 3 shows that the frequency
relationshipbetween closeness of supervisionand the of contact between a salesman and his supervisor is

Table 3
STEPWISEREGRESSIONRESULTSFOR EACH COMPONENTOF JOB SATISFACTION-BETA COEFFICIENTSAND
t-VALUESa

Job satisfactioncomponents
JS4 JS6
JS, JS2 Company Promotion
Predictor Thejob Fellow JS3 policies JS5 and JS7
variables itself workers Supervision and support Pay advancement Customers
X, Closeness .186 .458 .208 .169
of supervision (3.19)b - (8.99)b (3.97) - (3.19)b -
X2 Influence .273 .229 .319 .328 .203 .351
over standards (4.63)b (3.78)b (6.18)b (6.04)b (3.46)" (6.61)b
X3 Amountof 1.320 -.690
communication - (4.72) -b (-2.58)c
X4 Numberof
departments - - -
-.202 -.118 -.109
Xs5 Innovativeness - - (-3.96)b (-2.30)d (-2.07)d
X6 Ambiguity -.188 -.193 -.157 -.159 - .378
(-3.16)b (-3.22)b - (-2.88)c (-2.74)c - (6.75)b
X7 Conflict -.116 -.322 -.281 -.111
(-2.28)d (-6.26) - (-5.35)b
*Tie- in- (-1.99)d
X8 Time in
position -.738 -1.112 -1.715
(-2.07) -d - - (-3.06)c (-5.11)b
R2 .187 .112 .332 .324 .193 .292 .183
at-valuesare in parentheses.
"Significant at .001 level.
cSignificantat .01 level.
dSignificantat .05 level.

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330
related negatively to the salesman's satisfaction with
his customers. This finding may be explained by the
fact that communicationis a two-way process; sales-
men initiate communicationsas well as receive them.
Apparentlysalesmen are more likely to communicate
with their supervisors when they face difficult and
demandingcustomers than when their relationships
with customers are smooth and uneventful.
Number of departmentsinfluencingthe salesman.
Contraryto the predictions made in the development
of H4, the numberof departmentsthat the salesman
feels can influence or control his job activities is a
variable that does not significantlyaffect any of the
seven componentsof his job satisfaction. Apparently
the principleof "unity of command" is not a critical
factor for maintaininggood morale within the sales-
force.
Innovativenessrequiredof thesalesman. The impact
of the amountof innovativenessdemandedof salesmen
upon the components of job satisfaction is largely
as predicted in the rationale for H5. Salesmen who
feel that they must often find their own solutions
to nonroutine problems seem to feel that they are
not receiving adequate preparationor support from
their company and their supervisors. Consequently,
they tend to be less satisfied with supervision and
with company policies and support. These salesmen
are also less confident of their abilityto performtheir
jobs to the satisfactionof theirsuperiorsand therefore
tend to be more pessimistic about their chances for
promotion.
It is interestingto note, however, that the demand
for innovativenessdoes not have a significantnegative
impact on satisfaction with the general nature of the
sales job. Most salesmen seem to regardthe challenge
of nonroutine problems as a natural, perhaps even
a desirable, aspect of their job. But they do want
guidance and support from their company superiors
in meeting such challenges.
Role ambiguity. As expected, the salesman who is
uncertainabout what is expected of him on the job,
how to satisfy the expectations, and how his perform-
ance will be evaluated is more likely to be dissatisfied
with the job itself than the salesman who does not
feel such ambiguity.
The salesman appears to blame company manage-
ment, his fellow workers in the firm, and especially
his customersfor not helpinghim to understandmore
clearly what they expect of him. Thus, there is a
negativerelationshipbetween ambiguityand satisfac-
tion with company policies, fellow workers, and cus-
tomers.
Interestingly,ambiguitydoes not significantlyaffect
salesmen's satisfaction with supervision.This finding
suggests that most salesmen do not perceive their
immediate supervisor as a major source of their
feelings of uncertainty.It helps to explain why pre-
vious studies have shown that supervisory style and
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JOURNALOF MARKETINGRESEARCH,NOVEMBER1976
frequencyof communicationwith the supervisorhave
relativelylittleimpacton the totalambiguitya salesman
experiences. He is most uncertainabout the expecta-
tions of his other role partners,such as his customers.
Role conflict. Contraryto the expectations stated
in supportof H7, perceptions of role conflict do not
have a significantnegative effect on salesmen's satis-
faction with the nature of the sales job itself. As
was the case with the demand for innovativeness,
most salesmen do not feel that conflict necessarily
negates the inherentsatisfactionsfound in their work.
As expected, however, salesmen do blametheir role
partners for making incompatible demands and for
beinginsensitive to the other demandsand constraints
being placed upon them. Consequently, perceptions
of conflict have a negative effect upon salesmen's
satisfaction with supervisors, company policies, and
customers. Also as expected, salesmen who experi-
ence relatively great conflict appear to become less
confident of their ability to satisfy their superiors'
expectations and consequently are more pessimistic
about their chances for promotionand advancement.
Timein position. The data in Table 3, togetherwith
an examinationof the raw data, suggest some possible
explanations for the negative relationshipfound be-
tween the amount of time a salesman has been in
his job and his job satisfaction.
A cross-tabulationof total satisfaction scores by
time in position for all respondents shows that, on
the average, the most satisfied salesmen are those
who have held their jobs for two years or less. The
least satisfied salesmen are those who have been in
theirpresent positions for between five and 15 years.
There is some indication that the true relationship
between experience and satisfaction may be curvilin-
ear, with salesmen having more than 15 years on the
job also being relatively satisfied. However, the
number of salesmen in the sample with more than
15 years of experience was too small to test this
hypothesis conclusively.
The data in Table 3 show that experience is related
negatively to three components of satisfaction: the
job itself, pay, and promotion and advancement.
Experiencedoes not have a significantimpact on the
salesman's satisfaction with company policies,
supervision,fellow workers, or customers.
These findings suggest at least two possible expla-
nationsfor the negative effect of experience on satis-
faction. First, many people may enter industrialsales
with expectations of eventual promotion into sales
or marketingmanagement.If such a promotion fails
to materialize after about five years, the salesman
may become disillusioned. He is likely to be particu-
larly critical of his company's promotion practices
and criteria and increasingly pessimistic about his
chances for ever making it into a management position.
He also may become less satisfied with selling as
a job because he viewed it as a stepping stone to
 AND JOB SATISFACTIONIN THE SALESFORCE
ORGANIZATIONALCLIMATE
other positions rather than a career in itself.
A second and perhaps related reason for increasing
job dissatisfaction among experienced salesmen may
be a lack of adequate recognition-particularly in the
form of financial compensation and promotion to
better territories-for salesmen who have been on
the job for a relatively long period. In many occupa-
tions seniority is reflected directly in pay schedules
and fringe benefits. Most sales compensation plans,
however, do not reward experience except to the
extent that it helps the salesman make more sales
and commissions.
CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS
One conclusion suggested by this study is that
organizational climate is an important determinant of
salesforce morale. More than 40% of the variation
in total job satisfaction among salesmen is explained
by the seven climate variables examined, even when
the effects of time on the job are excluded. Thus,
the sales manager who is concerned about the job
satisfaction of his salesforce should pay as much
attention to the general manner in which company
policies and practices are developed, administered,
and controlled as he does to his salesmen's feelings
about the specific policies and practices themselves.
The managerial implications of these findings,
however, must be approached with caution. The sales-
men's perceptions of organizational climate were
measured. Such perceptions may not always be con-
sistent with objective reality, and changes made by
management in supervisory style may not always
produce corresponding changes in workers' percep-
tions of the organization's climate.
Another problem in developing the mangerial im-
plications of these findings is that climate as defined
herein is only partially under the control of a firm's
managers. The most controllable elements of climate
include the supervisory and organizational variables.
They can be referred to as the "managerial climate."
The "interpersonal climate" affecting the salesman,
however, is to some extent beyond management's
control.
Managerial Climate
The managerial climate includes the closeness of
supervision, the amount of participation granted sales-
men in determining supervisory standards, the fre-
quency of communication between salesmen and their
supervisors, the number of departments affecting sales
activities, and the innovativeness demanded of the
salesmen.
One conclusion to be drawn from this study is that
the highly autonomous and nonroutine nature of the
sales job differentiates it from most other nonmana-
gerial positions in a firm. Consequently, industrial
salesmen often are happier when management provides
them with relatively high levels of structure, direction,
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331
and support in carrying out their jobs.
The findings suggest several specific managerial
implications.
1. Salesmen tend to be more satisfied with their jobs
when they perceive that their immediatesupervisor
closely directs and monitorstheir activities.
2. Job satisfaction,however, does not seem to require
frequentcontact between sales managersand sales-
men. Perhapsit is the substanceof the contact rather
thanits frequencythat is importantto the salesman's
morale.
3. Salesmengenerallyare more satisfiedwith theirjobs
when managementprovides them with adequate
assistanceand support-in the form of information,
technicalbackup, training,etc.-to help them cope
with the nonroutineproblemsand unusualdemands
they encounteron the job.
4. When the salesman perceives that he is an active
participantin determiningthe companypolicies and
standardsthat affect him, he tends to be happier
with those policies and standardsas well as with
the other membersof his firm who administerand
implementthem.
5. Salesmenappearable to accept authorityand direc-
tion from a numberof different departmentswithin
theircompanieswithouta significantnegativeeffect
on theirjob satisfaction.Unity of command,in other
words, does not appear to be critical for good
salesforce morale.
There may be limits to the amount of direction,
support, and structure that salesmen will find desir-
able. If carried to extremes, for example, close
supervision might so reduce the salesman's autonomy
that he will feel overly restricted and become dissatis-
fied with his supervisor as well as many other aspects
of his job. Within the range of observations included
in this study, however, satisfaction increases as sales-
men are given greater support and direction.
Interpersonal Climate
A final conclusion is that the nature of the relation-
ships between a salesman and his role partners-his
organizational superiors, his customers, family
members, and others-also has an effect on his job
satisfaction. When the salesman is uncertain about
what his role partners expect him to do or how they
will evaluate his performance, he is likely to suffer
some anxiety and dissatisfaction. Similarly, when he
feels his role partners are making demands of him
that are incompatible and impossible to satisfy, he
is likely to experience anxiety, stress, and dissatis-
faction.
Unfortunately, the authors' previous work has
shown that management can do little to reduce the
ambiguity and conflict salesmen experience. The man-
agerial climate variables discussed are capable of
explaining only about 2% of the variation in perceived
conflict across salesmen, and about 13%of the varia-
tion in ambiguity [31]. Much of the ambiguity and
332
conflict experienced by a salesman, then, appears to
originate with people outside his organization and there
is relatively little managment can do about it.
Though managers may not be able to moderate the
salesmen's perceptions of ambiguity and conflict, they
may be able to influence the ways salesmen cope
with and attempt to resolve these interpersonal prob-
lems. Sympathetic and supportive supervision and
appropriate training programs, for example, might help
reduce the salesman's anxiety over ambiguity and
conflict and, consequently, the dissatisfaction that
results.
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