RT Journal Article
T1 Servant leadership, proactive work behavior, and performance overall rating: Testing a multilevel model of moderated mediation
A1 Varela González, José Antonio
A1 Bande Vilela, María Belén
A1 Río Araújo, María Luisa del
A1 Jaramillo, Fernando
K1 Proactive behaviour
K1 Servant leadership
K1 Performance rating
K1 Customer orientation
K1 Political skill
K1 Salespeople
AB Purpose: The goal of this paper is to investigate whether salesperson proactive behavior mediates the relationship between sales manager servant leadership and salesperson overall performance rating by the sales manager. Moreover, it examines whether salesperson customer orientation and political skill moderate the sales manager servant leadership − salesperson proactive behavior ─ salesperson overall performance. Design/methodology/approach: Empirical analysis is based on dyadic data from 181 industrial salespeople and their sales managers in a range of different industries (including both manufacturing and service industries). To analyze the multilevel moderated mediation process, this investigation uses Multilevel Structural Equation Modeling (MSEM). Findings: Sales manager servant leadership was positively related to salespeople overall performance rating through their proactive behavior except when their customer orientation was low. Moreover, this relationship between sales manager servant leadership and overall performance rating through proactive work behavior was stronger the greater the salespeople consumer orientation and political skill. Research implications: The study suggests that sales manager servant leadership is indirectly related to salesperson overall performance rating through salesperson proactive behavior. The findings also support subsequent research on salesperson values, skills, and behaviors as moderators in the servant leadership – proactive behavior – overall performance rating relationship. Understanding how these salesperson factors interact with sales management leadership to produce organizational outcomes (e.g., stress, engagement, organizational commitment) are questions that sales researchers may wish to pursue via further study. Practical implications: Sales managers should employ servant leadership to stimulate salespeople proactive work behavior. This study clearly indicates the salespeople need to adopt customer orientation and to have political skill. Hence, sales managers need to try to improve the customer orientation and the political skill of their salespeople through selection procedures or training programs. Originality/value: The relationship between sales manager servant leadership and salesperson overall performance through proactive work behavior has not been addressed and tested in the literature to date
PB Taylor and Francis
YR 2019
FD 2019
LK https://hdl.handle.net/10347/39087
UL https://hdl.handle.net/10347/39087
LA eng
NO This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Journal of Business-to-Business Marketing on 19 Apr 2019, available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/1051712X.2019.1603417
NO Research reported in this publication was supported by Dirección Xeral de I+D of Xunta de Galicia under award number 2010/PX078.
DS Minerva
RD 28 abr 2026