The impact of perceived sales manager characteristics on salespeople's willingness to cooperate

Cooperation assumes an increasingly important role in sales research and is recognized as a critical aspect of organizational success. In most organizations, the sales force has been considered as a key agent in this success. It is also found that high level of cooperation between employees and their managers result in efficient operations in which work is conducted smoothly. Therefore, if a sales organization is to run smoothly and be successful there must be cooperation between salespeople and their managers. This study investigates the impacts whether the trust and commitment on cooperation is contingent on manager characteristics. The underlying model recognizes that characteristics of partners in a relationship impact the psychological ties that motivate them to maintain the relationship. The model examines specific characteristics of integrity, dependability, competence, and consideration, as they impact the trust and the commitment that salespeople have in their managers. It is proposed that sales managers' characteristics impact the willingness of their salespeople to cooperate with them. An on-line survey was conducted to collect data from a sample of industrial salespeople working in a business-to-business setting. The results revealed that manager integrity, dependability, and consideration have a direct relationship with salespeople's trust in their manager and commitment to their manager. It was also found that manager consideration, salespeople's trust in their manager, and salespeople's commitment to their manager had a direct relationship.