Bouncing back and adapting to change: managers’ resilience, skills and pharmaceutical sales team performance
Date
2011
Authors
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Publisher
University of Delaware
Abstract
This thesis explored the relationship between the personal resilience of
pharmaceutical sales managers (District Managers), manager skills and the sales
performance of their teams of sales representatives. The variables included 2009 and
2010 quarterly financial performance against sales targets for each sales district,
manager performance against specific objectives, and annual skills assessment ratings
and performance review ratings, as well as assessed manager resilience from February,
2009 using the Personal Resilience® Questionnaire. The data were analyzed using
four statistical methods: Internal Reliability Analysis, Exploratory Factor Analysis,
Structural Equation Modeling and Correlation Analysis. The analysis demonstrated a
small (2%) but statistically significant relationship between manager resilience, which
was fully mediated by manager skills, and sales team performance. This relationship
was interrupted by a major organizational realignment and restructuring, and was
reestablished after three quarters of relative organizational stability. Implications and
future research possibilities are discussed.