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To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpe.2008.12.017 Byline: Laia Ferrer, Rafael Pastor, Alberto Garcia-Villoria Keywords: OR application; Vehicle routing problem; Traveling salesman problem; Case study Abstract: In this paper, we present a procedure for designing the routes for the salespeople that work for the commercial network of a home video company. The commercial area is divided into different zones and each salesperson is assigned to one of them, working and having independent routes from the others. The company wanted to generate salespeople's routes for a commercial cycle, which is usually one month long. The commercial cycle has the following main features: each customer has to be visited a specific number of times (from 1 to 5); and two-day routes are possible when the customers are located far from the salesperson's residence. After the set of routes is generated, each salesperson assigns his/her own routes to each working day, taking into account local holidays, national meetings and other unforeseen events. The objective function is to minimize the weighted sum of the travel time plus overtime penalties. In less than one month, an ad hoc procedure was designed, coded and calibrated. The company has qualified the routes as very satisfactory and the tool is now used by the commercial network management to: reassign customers, assign new customers and vary the number of visits to the customers. Author Affiliation: IOC Research Institute, Technical University of Catalonia, Avenue Diagonal 647, p11, 08028 Barcelona, Spain Article History: Received 15 November 2006; Accepted 19 December 2008

A sample of 312 salespeople from diverse industries was used to develop a model that examined the influence of salesperson need for achievement and sales manager positive leader reward behavior on several key organizational outcomes. The organizational outcome variables examined were goal acceptance, sales performance, and organizational commitment. The results suggest that a salesperson's need for achievement may lead to higher performance, but not necessarily commitment to the organization. However, positive leader reward behavior may strengthen a salesperson's organizational commitment. The findings, along with suggestions for sales managers, are discussed., All too often, organizations fail to develop long-term relationships with their salespeople because of employee perceptions that the organization is not genuinely concerned with the welfare of the salespeople. Consequently, [...]

'When a salesperson fails, it is almost always management's fault.' Failure is measured by the termination (voluntary or otherwise) of the salesperson or by the failure of the salesperson to reach expected goals or standards such as quota, forecast, or other measures of productivity. When a salesperson fails, either the wrong person was hired, or if the right person was hired, he or she was improperly managed. The analyses of several realistic mini-cases illustrate the attachment of managerial blame to each example of salesperson failure. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)

This article, first, synthesizes three theoretical approaches to salesforce control systems and, second, examines the effect of the control mechanisms on key consequence variables. More specifically, the manuscript develops a comprehensive model of salesforce control by integrating key constructs from three alternative theories: organization theory, agency theory, and transaction cost analysis. The constructs are (1) outcome observability from organizational theory, (2) behavior observability from agency theory, (3) transaction-specific assets (TSA) from transaction cost analysis, and (4) task programmability or environmental/task uncertainty, a key construct in all three theories. In addition, the study examines the effects of controls on certain consequence variables: salesperson-customer relationships and salespersons' motivation and organizational commitment. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)

Imagination and Mission Excellence combined to challenge delegates. THE BRIEF While Ian Beer, head of training and development at multi-product manufacturer 3M, says the business is doing very well, he [...]

You might say that a customer reference program is the secret weapon in a salesperson's arsenal. Commonly used in enterprise B2B marketing, these programs are designed to jumpstart sales cycles. [...]