Skip to main content
Log in

A longitudinal assessment of change in sales force turnover

  • Published:
Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The utility of salespeople’s job stress, perceived fairness, job satisfaction, thoughts of quitting, job comparison, and intention to quit for differentiating individuals who remained in the job from those who left was investigated by using a discriminant model, to anlayze data from two points in time. A model that employed residualized gain scores fromn=96 salespeople, was evaluated as were separate discriminant models for both data points.

Change in salespeoples’ intention to quit discriminated effectively between sales force leavers and stayers. Intention to quit at the second time period was useful for classifying leavers and stayers. While the study design may account to some extent for the findings, these findings cast doubt upon the utility ofchanges in sales job incumbents’ job stress, job satisfaction, thoughts of quitting and job comparison predictors of voluntary turnover.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Arnold, H.J., and D.C. Feldman. 1982. “Multivariate Analysis of the Determinants of Job Turnover.”Journal of Applied Psychology 67 (June): 350–360.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beehr, Terry A., and John E. Newman. 1978. “Job Stress, Employee Health, and Organizational Effectiveness: A Facet Analysis, Model, and Literature Review.”Personnel Psychology 31: 665–699.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bernardin, H. John. 1977. “The Relationship of Personality Variables to Organizational Withdrawal.”Personnel Psychology 30: 17–27.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bluedorn, Allen C. 1982. “A Unified Model of Turnover from Organizations.”Human Relations 35 (February): 135–153.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carmines, E.G., and J.P. McIver. 1981. “Analyzing Models with Unobserved Variables.” InSocial Measurement: Current Issues. G.W. Bohrnstedt and E.F. Borgatta, eds. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cotton, John L., and Jeffrey M. Tuttle. 1986. “Employee Turnover: A Meta-Analysis and Review with Implications for Research.”Academy of Management Review 11: 55–70.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crask, Melvin R., and William D. Perreault, Jr. 1977. “Validation of Discriminant Analysis in Marketing Research.”Journal of Marketing Research, 24: 60–68.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cronbach, Lee J., and Lita Furby. 1970. “How We Should Measure Change—Or Should We?”Psychological Bulletin 74: 68–80.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dillon, W.R. 1979. “The Performance of the Linear Discriminant Function in Nonoptimal Situations and the Estimation of Classification Error Rates: A Review of Recent Findings.”Journal of Marketing Research 16 (August): 370–381.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dittrich, John E., and Michael R. Carrell. 1979. “Organizational Equity Perceptions, Employee Job Satisfaction, and Departmental Absence and Turnover Rates.”Organizational Behavior and Human Performance 24: 29–40.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dubinsky, A.J., and M. Levy. 1989. “Influence of Organizational Fairness on Work Outcomes of Retail Salespeople.”Journal of Retailing 65 (Summer): 221–252.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dunham, Randall B., and Jeanne B. Herman. 1975. “Development of a Female Faces Scale for Measuring Job Satisfaction.”Journal of Applied Psychology 60: 629–631.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fulk, J., A.P. Brief, and S.H. Barr. 1985. “Trust-in- Supervisor and Perceived Fairness and Accuracy of Performance Evaluations.”Journal of Business Research 13: 301–313.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Futrell, Charles M., and A. Parasuraman. 1984. “The Relationship of Satisfaction and Performance to Sales Force Turnover.”Journal of Marketing 48 (Fall): 33–40.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goodman, Paul S., and Abraham Friedman. 1971. “An Examination of Adam’s Theory of Inequity.”Administrative Science Quarterly 16: 271–288.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hayduck, L.A. 1987.Structural Equation Modeling with LISREL: Essentials and Advances. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hom, Peter, and Charles L. Hulin. 1981. “A Competitive Test of the Prediction of Reenlistment by Several Models.”Journal of Applied Psychology 66 (June): 23–29.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hom, Peter, Rodger W. Grifleth, and C. Louise Sellaro. 1984. “The Validity of Mobley’s (1977) Model of Employee Turnover.”Organizational Behavior and Human Performance 34 (October): 141–174.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hom, Peter, A.J. Kinicki, and D. Domm. 1990. “Confirmatory Validation of A Theory of Employee Turnover.” Working paper, Arizona State University.

  • House, R.J., and J.R. Rizzo. 1972. “Role Conflict and Ambiguity as Critical Variables in a Model of Organizational Behavior.”Organizational Behavior and Human Performance 7: 467–505.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huseman, R.C., J.D. Hatfield, and E.W. Miles. 1987. “A New Perspective on Equity Theory: The Equity Sensitivity Construct.”Academy of Management Journal.

  • Ilgen, Daniel R., Delbert M. Nebeker, and Robert D. Pritchard. 1981. “Expectancy Theory Measures: An Empirical Comparison in an Experimental Simulation.”Organizational Behavior and Human Performance 28: 189–223.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ivancevich, John M., and Michael T. Matteson. 1987. “Organizational Level Stress Management Interventions: A Review and Recommendations.” InJob Stress: From Theory to Suggestion, pp. 229–248. J.M. Ivancevich and D.C. Ganster, eds. San Francisco: Howarth Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ivancevich, John M., Michael T. Matteson, and C. Preston. 1982. “Occupational Stress, Type A Behavior, and Physical Well Being.”Academy of Management Journal 25: 373–391.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johnston, Mark W., and Charles M. Futrell. 1989. “Functional Salesforce Turnover: An Empirical Investigation into the Positive Effects of Turnover,”Journal of Business Research.

  • Johnston, Mark W., Charles M. Futtrell, A. Parasuraman, and J.K. Sager. 1988. “Performance and Job Satisfaction Effects on Salesperson Turnover: A Replication and Extension.”Journal of Business Research 16: 67–83.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johnston, Mark W., Charles M. Futtrell, P. “Rajan” Varadarajan, and Jeffrey K. Sager. 1987. “The Relationship Between Organizational Commitment, Job Satisfaction, and Turnover Among New Salespeople.”Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management 7: 29–38.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jolson, Marvin A., Alan J. Dubinsky, and Rolph E. Anderson. 1987. “Correlates and Determinants of Sales Force Tenure: An Exploratory Study,”Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management 7 (November): 29–38.

    Google Scholar 

  • Klecka, W.R. 1975. “Discriminant Analysis.” InSPSS: Statistical Package for the Social Sciences. Second edition. N.H. Nie, C.H. Hull, J.G. Jenkins, K. Steinbrenner, and D.H. Bent, eds. New York: McGraw-Hill.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kraut, A.I. 1975. “Predicting Turnover of Employees from Measured Job Attitudes.”Organizational Behavior and Human Performance 13 (April): 233–243.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lee, T.W., and R.T. Mowday. 1987. “Voluntarily Leaving an Organization: An Empirical Investigation of Steers and Mowday’s Model of Turnover.”Academy of Management Journal 30: 721–743.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Locke, Edwin A. 1976. “The Nature and Causes of Job Satisfaction.” InHandbook of Industrial and Organizational Psychology. Marvin D. Dunnette, ed. New York: John Wiley & Sons.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lord, F.M. 1963. “Elementary Models for Measuring Change.” InProblems in Measuring Change. C.W. Harris, ed. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lucas, George, A. Parasuraman, Robert A. Davis, and Ben M. Enis. 1987. “An Empirical Study of Salesforce Turnover.”Journal of Marketing 51 (July): 34–59.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martin, T.N. 1980. “Modeling the Turnover Process.”Journal of Management Studies 17 (October): 261–274.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Matsui, Tamao, Makato Kagawa, Jun Nagamatsu, and Yoshie Ohtsuka. 1977. “Validity of Expectancy Theory as a Within- Person Behavioral Choice Model for Sales Activities.”Journal of Applied Psychology 6 (December): 764–767.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miller, H.E., R. Katerberg, and C.L. Hulin. 1979. “Evaluation of the Mobley, Horner, and Hollingsworth Model of Employee Turnover.”Journal of Applied Psychology 64 (October): 509–517.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mitchel, James O. 1981. “The Effect of Intention, Tenure, Personal, and Organizational Variables on Managerial Turnover.”Academy of Management Journal 24: 742–751.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mobley, W.H. 1977. “Intermediate Linkages in the Relationship Between Job Satisfaction and Employee Turnover.”Journal of Applied Psychology 62 (April): 237–240.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mobley, W.H. 1982. “Some Unanswered Questions in Turnover and Withdrawal Research.”Academy of Management Review 7 (January): 111–116.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mobley, W.H., S.O. Horner, and A.T. Hollingsworth. 1978. “An Evaluation of Precursors of Hospital Employee Turnover.”Journal of Applied Psychology 63: 408–414.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mobley, W.H., R.W. Griffeth, H.H. Hand, and B.M. Meglino. 1979. “Review and Conceptual Analysis of the Employee Turnover Process.”Psychological Bulletin 86: 493–522.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Morrison, D.G. 1969. “On the Interpretation of Discriminant Analysis.”Journal of Marketing Research 6 (May): 156–163.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Motowidlo, S. J. 1983. “Predicting Sales Turnover from Pay Satisfaction and Expectation.”Journal of Applied Psychology 68: 484–488.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mowday, Richard T. 1987. “Equity Theory Predictions of Behavior in Organizations.” InMotivation and Work Behavior. Richard M. Steers and Lyman W. Porter, eds. New York: McGraw-Hill.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mowday, Richard T., C.S. Koberg, and A.W. McArthur. 1984. “The Psychology of the Withdrawal Process: A Cross-Validational Test of Mobley’s Intermediate Linkages Model of Turnover in Two Samples.”Academy of Management Journal 27 (March): 79–94.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Newman, J. 1974. “Predicting Absenteeism and Turnover: A Field Comparison of Fishbein’s Model and Traditional Job Attitude Measures.”Journal of Applied Psychology 59: 610–615.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nunnally, J.C. 1978.Psychometric Theory. 2nd Edition. New York: McGraw-Hill.

    Google Scholar 

  • Parasuraman, A., and Charles Futrell. 1983. “Demographics, Job Satisfaction, and Propensity to Leave of Industrial Salesmen.”Journal of Business Research 11 (March): 33–48.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Price, J.L. 1977.The Study of Turnover. Ames, IA: Iowa State University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sager, J.K., P.R. Varadarajan, and C.M. Futrell. 1988. “Understanding Salesperson Turnover: A Partial Evaluation of Mobley’s Turnover Process Model.”Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management 8: (May): 20–35.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schneider, J. 1987. “The People Make the Place.”Personnel Psychology 40 (Autumn): 437–453.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sheridan, J.E. 1985. “A Catastrophe Model of Employee Withdrawal Leading to Low Job Performance, High Absenteeism, and Job Turnover During the First Year of Employment.”Academy of Management Journal 28: 88–109.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sheridan, J.E., and M.A. Abelson. 1983. “Cusp Catastrophe Model of Employee Turnover.”Academy of Management Journal 26: 418–436.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Steel, Robert P., and Nestor K. Ovalle, 2d. 1984. “A Review and Meta-Analysis of Research on the Relationship Between Behavioral Intentions and Employee Turnover.”Journal of Applied Psychology 69: 673–686.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Steers, Richard M., and R. Mowday. 1981. “Employee Turnover and Postdecision Accommodation Processes.” InResearch in Organizational Behavior, Vol. 3. L. Cummings and B. Staw, eds. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Steffy, Brian D., and Andrew J. Grimes. 1986. “A Critical Theory of Organizational Science.”Academy of Management Review 11 (April): 322–336.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vroom, Victor H. 1964.Work and Motivation. New York: John Wiley & Sons.

    Google Scholar 

  • Walsh, J.P., S.J. Ashford, and T.H. Hill. 1985. “Feedback Obstruction: The Influence of the Information Environment on Employee Turnover Intentions.”Human Relations 38: 23–46.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wanous, John P. 1980.Organizational Entry: Recruitment, Selection, and Socialization of Newcomers. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Williamson, N.C. 1983. “A Method for Determining the Causes of Salesperson Turnover.”Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management 3: 26–35.

    Google Scholar 

  • Youngblood, Stuart A., W.H. Mobley, and B.M. Meglino. 1983. “A Longitudinal Analysis of the Turnover Process.”Journal of Applied Psychology 68: 507–516.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Sager, J.K. A longitudinal assessment of change in sales force turnover. JAMS 19, 25–36 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02723421

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02723421

Keywords

Navigation