Leadership substitutes as moderators of sales supervisory behavior

Abstract

Previous research has found that a sales manager's supervisory behavior can influence salespeople's job attitudes and behaviors. A unique feature of many sales jobs that may reduce the impact sales managers have on sales personnel is that salespeople usually work alone. Researchers in organizational behavior have identified a variety of substitutes for leadership (which are comprised of individual, task, and organizational characteristics) that may serve to moderate the influence of a leader and thus offer guidance and support to subordinates beyond that which their manager can provide. Hierarchical multiple regression revealed that selected characteristics interact with a sales manager's leader behavior in influencing salespeople's job satisfaction.