The efficiency of motor industry sales people has not changed over the past 20years, despite a R23.8 billion injection over the past 7 years. Making use ofpersonality traits to identify a suitable employee limits the true nature and potentialof an employee candidate. Given that the working environment has evolved into apredominantly teamwork based environment, emphasis has now been placed onthe ability individuals have to work within groups, and the dynamics thereof. Threeof the main elements that need to be considered are contextual performance, job fitand supervisor fit. There is another element that still needs to be considered, as itdirectly affects the motivational elements of team work and employee performance,namely psychological contracts. All four elements and their relevance in new motorvehicle sales for entry level brands have been tested in an attempt to create anindicator to increase efficiency from sales people.
The methodology used is directly related to determining the greatest relevanceeach element has in relation to sales performance. In essence, correlationsbetween one and many elements have formed the basis for this research. Threequantitative analysis techniques have been used namely t-test, regression analysisand correlation matrix. A cronbachs alfa will be used to cross check the results.The data was collected via the respective brands own Area Managers on astandard and anonymous questionnaire (annexure 9.2) designed with theinfluenced from various research all outlined below in the questionnaire section. A focus group with sales people was run to ensure intended understanding andinterpretation of the questions asked in the questionnaire.
There were limited results, with only two of the null hypothesis being rejected.Contextual performance resulted in the strongest regression, even though itcontained a weak correlation. Person-Organisation fit was statistically significant inboth statistical analysis, t-test and regression analysis. The correlation matrixunveiled a strong correlation amongst three of the four dimensions, especiallybetween Person-Organisation fit and psychological contract. In conclusion,statistically the research showed contextual performance and person-organisationfit to be useful in supplementing a conventional interview process, to indicatepotential sales performance. In practice, this research has enabled organisationswithin the motor industry and alike, a more specific method of identifying moreeffective sales people at the time of interview, than before.
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Please cite as follows:
Camacho, M 2008, Creating an indicator for effective sales people on new entry level vehicle sales, MBA dissertation, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, viewed yymmdd < http://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-04232010-132752/ >
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