Person-Supervisor Fit in Sales: An Application of Self-Determination Theory: An Abstract

Abstract

As social beings, we strive to fit into our environment (Kaplan 1983), and this phenomenon extends into organizational environments. In the context of sales, person-supervisor (P-S) fit is critical as salespeople’s livelihood depends substantially on sales managers (Strutton et al. 1993). Linking the decisive factors that align salespeople with their managers and organizations relies on understanding the basic motivations of the individuals. Accordingly, in this research, utilizing self-determination theory (SDT), we present antecedents for P-S fit and show how in turn P-S fit decreases turnover intention. SDT supports the importance of social contextual conditions (relatedness, competence, and autonomy) that foster the intrinsic motivation to internalize and integrate values and behavioral regulation of the environment (Deci and Ryan 1985). It emphasizes that these conditions can develop healthy engagement with the individual’s environment (Ryan and Deci 2000). Accordingly, we propose that in sales management context, trust (H1a) and opportunism (H1b), positive feedback (H2), and decentralization (H3) correspond to the SDT conditions of relatedness, competence, and autonomy, respectively, and hence influence P-S fit. In addition, employees were found to be more satisfied and committed and have less turnover intention when they have congruent values with their managers and organizations (Meglino et al. 1989; Verquer et al. 2003), thus P-S fit expected to be negatively related to turnover intention (H4). We conducted a survey with 398 salespeople (μage=37; μtenure=7.3; 21% female). All measures were adapted from the extant literature. Using SEM, the overall model showed an acceptable fit (CFI >.90, TLI >.90, RMSEA