Improving salespeople's trust in the organization, moral judgment and performance through transformational leadership

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to determine if transformational leadership has an effect on business‐to‐business salespeople's trust in the organization, whether trust in the organization affects moral judgment and if moral judgment in turn affects salesperson performance, specifically “world‐class” sales performance. Design/methodology/approach – Through the utilization of a national survey of 345 business‐to‐business salespeople, this study explored linkages between transformational leadership, trust in the organization, moral judgment and world class sales performance using structural equation modeling. Findings – Results suggest that transformational leadership can be used to influence sales performance through trust in the organization and salesperson moral judgment. Originality/value – The paper furthers the understanding of transformational leadership and its impact on salespeople. The interaction of three variables (transformational leadership, trust in the organization, and the moral judgment of the salesperson) and their ability to relate to world class sales performance provide an interesting strategic guide for sales organizations, as well as a meaningful set of managerial tools that can assist in constructing a performance driven sales organization. These constructs have not been simultaneously investigated prior to this research.