Examining Gender Differences in Field Sales Organizations

The rapid increase of women in the sales world has brought about debates on the role of gender in contemporary sales organizations. The key question is whether gender differences, in and of themselves, create different attitudinal and behavioral relationships. A small but expanding stream of research and the expanded participation of women in many lines of business question whether the traditional position of differences based on gender is valid today. A conceptual basis is developed in support of no differences based on gender and hypotheses are developed to test this premise across several constructs that have been found important in sales management research. This research examines a Fortune 500 international service organization with a sales force that is gender balanced. The results indicate few significant differences between genders. A gender classification scheme is proposed based on a gender balance in the sales force and customer base. Results are discussed and compared to previous studies.