Sales Management As An Entrepreneurial Activity

This article approaches entrepreneurship as an organizational phenomenon which has both attitudinal and behavioral components. It is argued that organizational entrepreneurship has relevance for all levels of the corporate hierarchy, and for most functional areas in a business. Results are reported of a survey directed at managers from a cross-section of firms regarding the role of entrepreneurship within the sales function. The findings indicate that factors viewed as most critical for success in sales also tend to be associated with entrepreneurship. Areas within sales where entrepreneurship is especially applicable include strategy development, recruitment, salesforce motivation, and design of compensation programs. Leading obstacles to entrepreneurship are identified, and managerial implications are drawn. Based on the results, a research agenda is proposed.Entrepreneurship has been the focus of much recent attention by academics and practitioners. The resurgence in interest has been driven, in part, ...