Abstract
The study proposes and tests an integrated model of salesperson turnover. The model is developed by combining aspects of five existing models of employee turnover: the Price (1977) model; the commitment model of Porter et al. (1974); the Mobley (1977) model; the Bluedorn (1982a) model; and the Jackofsky (1984) model. Aspects of salesperson behavior important to researchers and firms alike have been integrated in the model: tenure, performance, five dimensions of job satisfaction, organizational commitment, comparison of a perceived alternative job with the present job, and intention to quit/stay. Data from 120 salespeople employed by a consumer goods manufacturer is used to test the linkages in the proposed turnover model. The ability of the model variables to classify salespeople as being stayers or leavers is assessed using discriminant analysis. The analyses suggest that intention to leave is the primary predictor of turnover for the sample of salespersons tested. Tenure is weakly related to turnover. Performance of salespeople is positively related to organizational commitment, as is satisfaction with work and with co-workers. Organizational commitment is negatively related to intention to quit. Hence, higher-performing salespeople who are more committed to the organization are less likely to intend to quit. The results of the study are indicative of a potentially critical role for performance and organizational commitment in the turnover of salespersons. Additional research is necessary before conclusions can be drawn as to the efficacy of commitment and performance as predictors of salesperson turnover. Future research that tests alternate models of the salesperson turnover process using a variety of salesperson samples will be necessary to refine and substantiate a model of the turnover process of sales personnel.
Sager, Jeffrey Kenneth (1986). Towards a managerial model of salespeople's turnover behavior : development and testing of a turnover model using consumer goods sales force data. Texas A&M University. Texas A&M University. Libraries. Available electronically from
https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /DISSERTATIONS -448578.