Sales managers' performance and social capital: The impact of an advice network

Abstract

The aim of this study is to research a sales manager's social network and demonstrate that sales managers who are central in closure structures of an advice network achieve high sales performance. Considering the results obtained and the discussion provided in the hypotheses presentation, we argue that sales managers must have accurate perceptions of their network. Two different networks were analyzed: friendship and advice; and we also considered two different views of network structure that claim to make an impact on performance and, to explore this claim, we examined whether sales managers, in order to improve sales performance, develop either a highly cohesive network or one containing structural holes. Census data was collected from over 500 personnel of an agricultural input retailer with 23 divisions. Estimates from a sample of 101 sales managers demonstrated, in the advice network, how important a highly cohesive structure is to a sales manager's performance. These results suggest that firms should encourage contacts among their personnel to disseminate and share technical and commercial information. By stimulating cohesive structures of contacts for the purpose of receiving advice, firms create an environment for sales managers to develop relationships of trust in which social norms prevail. © 2009 Brazilian Administration Review.