Details
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 121-138 |
| Number of pages | 18 |
| Journal | Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management |
| Volume | 42 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| Early online date | 2 Feb 2022 |
| Publication status | Published - 2022 |
Abstract
The growing digitization puts more pressure on brick-and-mortar businesses in the retail sector by creating new and more complex customer demands that increase the need for cooperative and trustful exchange relationships between supervisors and salespeople. A promising approach to tackle these challenges lies in implementing less hierarchical leadership structures. While sharing leadership on the team level gains traction among practitioners as a viable form of horizontal leadership, research provides little evidence on the conditions and mechanisms that enable a shared leadership work environment for retail salespeople. Especially the role of formal leaders in such a transition remains unclear. To fill this void, we followed a two-study design. We conducted a large-scale survey with 1,527 salespeople of a German fashion retailer to analyze how formal leadership contributes to the existence of a less hierarchically structured work environment for retail salespeople. Our multiple mediation analysis provides in-depth and context-sensitive insights into conditions and mechanisms that facilitate a shared leadership environment. A subsequent online-based scenario experiment confirms that transformational leadership is a driver for a shared leadership environment. We contribute to the literature by showing that transformational leadership matters not only in business-to-business (B2B) settings but also in traditionally more transactional business-to-consumer (B2C) retail sales settings to create a shared leadership environment.
Keywords
- retail salespeople, role perceptions, sales management, Shared leadership environment, transformational leadership
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Business, Management and Accounting(all)
- Business and International Management
- Business, Management and Accounting(all)
- Marketing
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In: Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, Vol. 42, No. 2, 2022, p. 121-138.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Toward a shared leadership environment
T2 - insights into retail salespeople’s work environment
AU - van der Berg, Alexandra Martina
AU - Foege, Johann Nils
AU - Nüesch, Stephan
PY - 2022
Y1 - 2022
N2 - The growing digitization puts more pressure on brick-and-mortar businesses in the retail sector by creating new and more complex customer demands that increase the need for cooperative and trustful exchange relationships between supervisors and salespeople. A promising approach to tackle these challenges lies in implementing less hierarchical leadership structures. While sharing leadership on the team level gains traction among practitioners as a viable form of horizontal leadership, research provides little evidence on the conditions and mechanisms that enable a shared leadership work environment for retail salespeople. Especially the role of formal leaders in such a transition remains unclear. To fill this void, we followed a two-study design. We conducted a large-scale survey with 1,527 salespeople of a German fashion retailer to analyze how formal leadership contributes to the existence of a less hierarchically structured work environment for retail salespeople. Our multiple mediation analysis provides in-depth and context-sensitive insights into conditions and mechanisms that facilitate a shared leadership environment. A subsequent online-based scenario experiment confirms that transformational leadership is a driver for a shared leadership environment. We contribute to the literature by showing that transformational leadership matters not only in business-to-business (B2B) settings but also in traditionally more transactional business-to-consumer (B2C) retail sales settings to create a shared leadership environment.
AB - The growing digitization puts more pressure on brick-and-mortar businesses in the retail sector by creating new and more complex customer demands that increase the need for cooperative and trustful exchange relationships between supervisors and salespeople. A promising approach to tackle these challenges lies in implementing less hierarchical leadership structures. While sharing leadership on the team level gains traction among practitioners as a viable form of horizontal leadership, research provides little evidence on the conditions and mechanisms that enable a shared leadership work environment for retail salespeople. Especially the role of formal leaders in such a transition remains unclear. To fill this void, we followed a two-study design. We conducted a large-scale survey with 1,527 salespeople of a German fashion retailer to analyze how formal leadership contributes to the existence of a less hierarchically structured work environment for retail salespeople. Our multiple mediation analysis provides in-depth and context-sensitive insights into conditions and mechanisms that facilitate a shared leadership environment. A subsequent online-based scenario experiment confirms that transformational leadership is a driver for a shared leadership environment. We contribute to the literature by showing that transformational leadership matters not only in business-to-business (B2B) settings but also in traditionally more transactional business-to-consumer (B2C) retail sales settings to create a shared leadership environment.
KW - retail salespeople
KW - role perceptions
KW - sales management
KW - Shared leadership environment
KW - transformational leadership
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85124318714&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/08853134.2021.2017295
DO - 10.1080/08853134.2021.2017295
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85124318714
VL - 42
SP - 121
EP - 138
JO - Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management
JF - Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management
SN - 0885-3134
IS - 2
ER -