Adaptive Selling Behavior, Cultural Intelligence, and Cultural Sensitivity as Predictors of Sales Performance on International Sales Representative

Authors

Ricardo Galeano Rojas, Florida International UniversityFollow

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree

Doctor of Business Administration

Major/Program

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First Advisor's Name

Manjul Gupta

First Advisor's Committee Title

Committee chair

Second Advisor's Name

Mido Chang

Second Advisor's Committee Title

Committee member

Third Advisor's Name

Amin Shoja

Third Advisor's Committee Title

Committee member

Fourth Advisor's Name

Mark Thibodeau

Fourth Advisor's Committee Title

Committee member

Keywords

international business, organizational behavior and theory, sales and merchandising

Date of Defense

6-8-2023

Abstract

This study identifies factors influencing sales representative performance in a cross-cultural business environment. The hypotheses were developed based on cognitive resource, goal, and performance theories. The model integrates constructs directly related to the research and investigates the contribution of adaptive selling behaviors, cultural intelligence, and cultural sensitivity in the sales performance of USA salespeople working in cross-cultural environments.

Data for this study were collected from a cross-sectional sample of sales representatives in the US. A web-based survey through Qualtrics was distributed to participants through amazon mechanical Turk (MTurk). Data from 220 responders were collected and analyzed using regression analysis. The results of this study showed how cultural intelligence and cultural sensitivity impact sales representative performance in a cross-cultural environment. The results showed that cultural intelligence and cultural sensitivity are significantly related to sales performance. For instance, the positive relationship between cultural intelligence on sales performance showed that when salespeople perform their duties in cross-cultural environments, they require a high level of cultural intelligence to increase their performance. Conversely, the negative relationship between cultural sensitivity and sales performance demonstrated that with higher cultural sensitivity, sales performance decreases, indicating that when salespeople perform their duties in cross-cultural environments, cultural sensitivity may become uncomfortable.

This research showed the importance of hiring salespeople to understand cultural differences. Furthermore, this study emphasized that organizations require preparing and providing practical management methods that can impact the sale performance of their sales representatives that perform their duties in cross-cultural environments. This study improved our understanding regarding the importance of salespeople’s performance by revealing the cultural factors that impact sales performance for those that perform their duties in cross-cultural environments. This study expands on the literature by introducing cultural intelligence and cultural sensitivity as antecedent factors influencing salespeople's sales performance in cross-cultural settings.

Identifier

FIDC011179

Recommended Citation

Galeano Rojas, Ricardo, "Adaptive Selling Behavior, Cultural Intelligence, and Cultural Sensitivity as Predictors of Sales Performance on International Sales Representative" (2023). FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 5385.
https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/5385