Date of Award

Summer 2000

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Business Administration (DBA)

Department

Marketing and Analysis

First Advisor

Gene Brown

Abstract

This dissertation examined the notion that firm control systems for managers and salespeople might impact the degree to which market oriented and customer oriented strategies are implemented throughout a firm's activities. In other words, the firm's control systems might facilitate or mitigate the execution of these particular strategies. This dissertation empirically addressed this concern by examining the impact of the management control system on the level of firm market orientation, and the impact of the salesperson control system on both salesperson customer orientation and the level of firm market orientation. In addition, it replicated previous research by testing the relationship between firm market orientation and salesperson customer orientation.

In order to examine the hypothesized relationships, questionnaires were sent to sales professionals who were randomly selected from a consumer mailing list. Consequently, 250 questionnaires were returned, resulting in a 16.45% response rate. The primary method of data analysis was ordinary least squares regression.

In general, this study provided empirical support for the relationship between control systems for managers and salespeople and the implementation of market oriented and customer oriented strategies. Specifically, the results of this study suggest that (1) reliance on market-based control factors for managers is positively related to the level of firm market orientation, (2) reliance on behavior-based control for salespeople is positively related to the level of firm market orientation, and (3) firm market orientation is positively related to the level of salesperson customer orientation. A final result was that (4) reliance on behavior-based control for salespeople was not related to the level of salesperson customer orientation.

This dissertation extended previous research by directly testing the relationship between salesperson control systems and salesperson customer orientation, offering some clarification of the relationship between managerial control systems and firm market orientation, and introducing theory and empirically examining the relationship between salesperson control systems and firm market orientation. The findings reported in this dissertation suggest several managerial implications which are discussed in the final chapter. In addition, suggestions for future research are offered.

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