The Impacts of Age and Gender on A Sales Person in the John Lewis Partnership - Research Paper Example

The Impacts of Age and Gender on A Sales Person in the John Lewis Partnership Abstract This research investigates the relevance of age and gender in the efficiency of sales persons in the John Lewis Partnership. The essence of this scrutiny is to discover if gender and age play an important role in determining the level of performance of an individual working as a sales person in the store. In order to detect this, 300 regular patrons to 10 John Lewis Partnership stores are randomly provided with open questionnaires to express their experiences at the stores when served by sales persons of different ages and genders. Their responses are tabulated and analysed using simple statistical analytic tools. These outcomes are properly discussed, and an appropriate conclusion is provided. Introduction Diversity of the workforce is a common feature in any modern business organisation. Gender and age are two widely seen diversity factors the workforce in almost all functions of business activity in an organisation. The diverse nature of the work force and the impact of each of the components of diversity on the business activities have invoked the interest of researchers. Sales is the revenue generating business activity of a business organisation, and this study evaluates whether there is any impact of gender and age on the business activity of a sales person and the manner in which these two factors influence the performance and commitment of a sales person in the focused environment of the John Lewis Partnership, which has a democratic style of functioning. The study was conducted in the department stores of the John Lewis Partnership. The John Lewis Partnership is the largest department store retailer in the United Kingdom with 29 department stores. Their permanent staff strength is 69,000. They are also partners of the business organisation and own the company and share in the profits. In 2008 the John Lewis Partnership had a total turnover of 6.9 billion pounds. The John Lewis Partnership has an innovative way of organisational structure and style of functioning that causes it to be driven by its permanent staff (John Lewis Partnership, 2009). Research Question/Hypothesis The main research question for this study is, does gender and age matter as a sales person in the John Lewis Partnership? Are there any differences in the performance and commitment between male and female members of the sales force at the John Lewis Partnership? Do their ages have an appreciable impact on their experience, maturity and commitment to their job behaviours as parts of the sales force at the John Lewis Partnership? Literature Review The world of sales has witnessed a rapid increase in the number of women entering it, which has resulted in questions being raised on the impact of gender in a modern sales setting. The critical issues in evaluating the impact of gender on the sales force lies in whether there are attitudinal and behavioural differences between the male and female members of a sales force. The evaluation of the presence of such differences in a Fortune 500 international service organisation demonstrated the presence of significant differences between male and female members of the sales force with respect to behaviour and attitudes, which had an impact on their commitment and performance (Moncrief et al, 2000). The presence of women in industrial sales has also increased significantly. Many companies have the impression of separate training and motivation needs based on gender and, as a result, have separate training and motivation programs based on gender. The evaluation of the differences related to gender in an industrial sales force with regard to job satisfaction, organizational commitment, role conflict, role ambiguity, and performance demonstrated that there were significant differences only in the three aspects of role conflict, role ambiguity and customer-oriented selling. Women were found to have lower levels of role conflict and role ambiguity and higher levels of customer-oriented selling, which enabled them to perform better than men (Sigauw & Honeycutt, 1995). Ladik et al 2002 investigated the relationship between performance, job satisfaction, commitment and loyalty among 1042 sales persons across 61 different companies. For both male and female sales persons job satisfaction was a strong influencing factor on loyalty to the business organisation. Another important finding of the study was that high performing women showed greater commitment and loyalty to the organization, while high performing salesmen showed less loyalty to the business organization and were more likely to leave the company unlike high performing sales women (Ladik et al, 2002). The evaluation of perceptions from the buyers’ perspectives (from both male and female buyers) on sales performance, buyer trust of the salesperson, similarity to the buyer, product expertise, adaptive selling ability, and sales presentation ability shows that buyers rate males better in performance dimensions and selling behaviour and hence were likely to get better prices on the sales, but the buyers found no difference between male and female salespersons on the overall interaction in the selling process. This evaluation also suggests that buyers apply different assessment criteria to male and female sales persons, tending to have higher criterion for male sales persons. This may be the reason for equating the overall sales interaction for men and women, even though in the performance and behaviour in the selling process, salesmen are rated better by the buyers (Dion, Easterling & Javalgi, 1997). Marital status has an impact on the performance, commitment and job satisfaction of sales people, with this impact being felt more severely by female sales people than male sales people. Family-work conflict is experienced more by married female sales people than by their male counterparts, which has a negative impact on their performance and commitment that gets translated into lack of job satisfaction (Boles, Wood & Johnson, 2003). Though the differences in gender of the sales force and its impact on several dimension of functioning and performance of the sales force has been the focus of many studies, clear positions on the impact of differences in gender have not been clearly established. While some studies provide evidence of variance in performance and commitment between males and females in a sales force, other studies have found minimal variance between males and females in a sales force and some studies have even suggested greater similarities than variances between males and females in a sales force, making it difficult to establish a clear cut position. A possible reason for this mixture of findings could be because most of the seminal studies on women in a sales force occurred more than two decades ago, when women were starting to find their place in a sales force and the circumstances that women faced in their work was different from what it is today. Circumstances have changed in some of the selling situations, which may lessen the influence of gender differences in these selling situations (Pullins, Reid & Plank, 2006). Customer satisfaction is the key to enhanced sales performance due to its link to the development of a relationship between the customer and the sales person. Trust is the key element in the development of this relationship. Customers are more prone to develop trust in sales persons, when the interaction continues over a period of time, and the maturity demonstrated by the sales person in the relationship (Jap, 2001). The analysis of performance of a sales force demonstrates that age has an impact on the performance of a sales person. In general, it is found that sales persons between the age of twenty-five and thirty-five demonstrate the best performance. Education also has a role to play in the performance of sales persons. An education level ranging from high school to college graduate is found to be the best education level in a sales person for maximum performance. A certain degree of education assists the sales person in the activities associated with selling, but too high an education level is found to be a hindrance to the required sales activities for good performance. Hence the optimal educational qualifications that contribute towards performance in a sales person is between high school and college graduate (Spiro, 2003). Universe of the Study The study is concentrated and limited to the department stores of the John Lewis Partnership in the United Kingdom. Sample Size Ten department stores of the John Lewis Partnership were randomly selected as sites of the study. This random selection means that any of 29 department stores has an equal opportunity to be a part of the study. In each of the selected department stores thirty participants, who are regular patrons of the department stores are recruited for the study, again on a random basis, which means any of the regular patrons has an equal opportunity to be a part of the study. The thirty participants are further classified into age groups of 25-35, 35-50 and above 50, with ten participants in each of these age groups from each of the ten department stores. The total sample size is 300 (N=300). Random selection is employed to reduce the impact of bias on the study (Riordan, 2005). A large sample size has been selected to make the sample more representative of the cross section of the customers of the John Lewis Partnership and thereby increase the validity and reliability of the study (Royer & Zarlowski, 2001). Methodology This study uses a mixed methodology through the use of an inductive and deductive framework to find answers to the research question of the study. The reason for the combination of inductive and deductive frameworks lies in making use of the advantages of both. Many of the problems that management research explores are done more effectively through the combination of inductive and deductive methods. The inductive method is better suited for the use and interpretation of qualitative data, while the deductive method has more emphasis on measurement and therefore is better suited for use in quantitative data and the interpretation of quantitative data (Lancaster, 2005). The study employs a mixed methodology by collecting both qualitative and quantitative data. The qualitative data will be secondary data as compiled through a literature review and will make up the body of knowledge on the subject of the impact of gender on sales force. From the analysis of the secondary resources the study discovers some themes that can be used to design the questionnaire for providing the quantitative primary data. The study has chosen to use the questionnaire method to acquire the required quantitative data for the purposes of the study. Questionnaires are one of the effective means to get quantitative data and is popularly used in many research studies, because of the limited constraints it puts the research team in and the utility of the data received through it. The study prefers to use an open questionnaire over a closed questionnaire. In an open questionnaire there is greater structure, which allows for probing in depth to remove the disadvantage of receiving superficial data, as in the case of a closed questionnaire (Easterby-Smith, Thorpe & Lowe, 2004). The questionnaires are supplied to the participants of the study during their regular visits to the selected department stores of the John Lewis Partnership. The choice is based on how long they have been patronising the stores. One year was the minimum period of consideration; which means the chosen participant had visited the store for at least 50 times in the months preceding this study. Results/Outcomes The results obtained from the quantitative research are computed and tabulated below: Table 1: Salespersons’ Qualities and Participant’s Responses Quality 25-35 years old/No. 35-50 years old/No. 50+ years old/No. Better performance (male) 10 10 5 Better performance (female) 5 10 15 Competitive price (male) 15 10 15 Competitive price (female) 10 5 10 Loyalty (male) 5 10 5 Loyalty (female) 10 20 15 Sales Presentation (male) 15 5 5 Sales Presentation (female) 15 15 15 Customer satisfaction (male) 10 5 5 Customer presentation (female) 5 10 10 Total 100 100 100 Note: It is the average number of participants’ responses are expressed above. The table above contains some interesting results: While 10% of participants in the age brackets of 25-35 years and 35-50 years respectively believe that male salespersons offer better performance than their female counterparts, only 5% of participants in the age bracket of 50 + years believed that male salespersons should be considered to have put in a better performance. Interestingly, all the ages agreed that female salespersons are better sales presenters, and most of the participants also supported the fact that female salespersons show more loyalty to the company than the males. This would have been responsible for the reason why female salespersons have poor rating when it came to offering competitive prices to customers. Figure 1: The Bar Chart Showing the percentages of the Combined Salespersons’ Qualities (male and female) Discussion The results above strongly support the research hypothesis that gender and age may play a significant role in determining the efficiency of a sales person in the John Lewis Partnership. Younger customers (25-35 years old) are naturally attracted to young male salespersons; this may be as a result of their handsomeness or the law of natural attraction that younger people often magnetize one another. On the other hand, older customers prefer talking with matured and female salespersons. It is a fact that older female salespersons tend to be more patient and attentive to the complaints of their customers. Male salespersons are slow to engage in hard haggling, this is why they soon concede with the customers when it came to offering competitive prices to the customers. However, the organisational structure in the John Lewis Partnership is quite democratic; and this image is reflected to all the customers that came to their stores (Morgan, 1986). Every sales person in the John Lewis Partnership understands the objectives of the company, and they work cooperatively together to achieve these goals (Handy, 1999). The partnership all the sales persons at the John Lewis enjoys is purely based on the knowledge that they will all share the gains of their hard, successful efforts. Limitations The study acknowledges that there is a limitation in the knowledge and skills in the use of advanced statistical tools like SPSS. This limitations mean that simple statistical tools like classification, tabulation, averages, percentages and bar charts are employed for the statistical analysis of the data. Lack of use of advanced statistical means that analysis did not consider complex issues like correlation and the deficits in the understanding of all the aspect of the data collected. Only one third of the department stores is covered by the study, nor are any of the other activities of the John Lewis Partnership covered by the study. The study would have liked to increase the sample size to enhance the scope of the study, to increase reliability and validity of the study, but time constraints and resources of manpower and finance are the main problems that have led to limits in size and scope of the study. Ethical Considerations Some ethics issues are considered in the course of this research: they are outlined as follows: 1. Administrative sanction from the institution and permission from the John Lewis Partnership were received before starting the study and applying the questionnaire respectively. 2. The business organizations were clearly informed about the nature and purpose of the study, while taking the permission. 3. Since human volunteers were needed for a part of the study, the nature and purposes of the study were explained to the prospective volunteers and their consent received in writing prior to their participation. The consent process consisted of answering any questions that they have and providing clarifications when necessary. 4. Professional ethics as a researcher were maintained at all times during the study. 5. Data collected were for academic purposes only. 6. Data were collected in such a manner as to ensure confidentiality of the business organizations. 7. At the end of the study the data sheets were handed over to the administrative authorities for safe keeping or destruction. Conclusion The current changes in the working environment have given women the opportunity to work in places that have been known to be traditionally male territories. However, some other factors still stand in the way of women as they carry out their duties. At the John Lewis Partnership, age and gender still matter to the teem of customers that visit the chain every day. Younger customers prefer male salespersons, so also middle aged customers. Although, older customers still prefer female sales persons because they could receive enough commitment from female sales persons. References Boles, S. J., Wood, J. A. & Johnson, J. 2003,’ INTERRELATIONSHIPS OF ROLE CONFLICT, ROLE AMBIGUITY, AND WORK-FAMILY CONFLICT WITH DIFFERENT FACETS OF JOB SATISFACTION AND THE MODERATING EFFECTS OF GENDER’, Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, vol.23, no.2, pp.99-113. Dion, P. A., Easterling, D. & Javalgi, R. 1997, ‘Women in the business-to-business salesforce: Some differences in performance factors’, Industrial Marketing Management, vol.26, no.5, pp.447-357. 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