Sale Force Automation Systems: The Correspondence Between The Perception Of Productivity Gains And The Perception Of Management Control Among Salespeople

Abstract

Sales force automation (SFA) technologies have many apparent benefits, but the adoption of SFA systems often fails because the sales force holds poor perceptions of these technologies. Understanding how these perceptions affect adoption of SFA systems is important because negative perceptions held by the sales force can often adversely influence the successful adoption and implementation of such systems. This paper examines how the sales force’s perceptions of productivity gains resulting from the adoption of an SFA system can be affected by their corresponding perception of the SFA system as a tool employed by upper-level management to more closely manage the activities of the sales force. The results are based on a national survey of 1,657 salespeople. The findings indicate a negative relationship between salespeople’s perceptions of the potential gains associated with the adoption of an SFA system and their corresponding perception of the use of the system by upper-level management to more closely manage the activities of the sales force.