The use of sales technology by salespeople as an information source and stimulant for intrapreneurship

Abstract

Digitization has changed the role of salespeople and, consequently, the dynamics of their operations at the interface between the supplier and the customer. Currently, a salesperson is often called upon to solve customer queries, which implies taking on the role of intrapreneur to internally create a solution. This study contributes to the literature by filling a gap regarding intrapreneurial salespeople and their uses of sales technology. This research focuses on the intrapreneurship of salespeople and explicitly investigates its antecedents. The structural equation modelling technique has been chosen as it is considered to be the most appropriate one for the analysis. Research data from 565 Portuguese salespeople reveals that their use of sales technology influences their intrapreneurship behaviour thanks to information systems. Last of all, this study adds invaluable knowledge to the literature, gives valuable insight to sales managers and proposes future lines of research.