Validating the Vroom-Yetton normative model of leader behavior in field sales force management and measuring the training effect of Telos on the leader behavior of district managers
| dc.contributor.author | Zimmer, Robert John | en |
| dc.contributor.department | Business Administration | en |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2014-03-14T21:10:28Z | en |
| dc.date.adate | 2010-04-13 | en |
| dc.date.available | 2014-03-14T21:10:28Z | en |
| dc.date.issued | 1978 | en |
| dc.date.rdate | 2010-04-13 | en |
| dc.date.sdate | 2010-04-13 | en |
| dc.description.abstract | Statement of the Problem Despite strong evidence that effective leadership by district managers is important for organizational success, there is a void of research dealing with the application of leadership theories and leadership training programs in field sales force management. The dissertation focuses upon validating the Vroom-Yetton Normative Model of Leader Behavior in this area and upon measuring the training effect of Telos which is a leadership training program built around this model. Methodology A purposive sample of forty district managers was taken from two companies. The validation process used to validate the Normative Model was a replication of the process used by Vroom et al. in earlier Studies. Recalled situations provided by the twenty trainees were used. To measure the training effect, the Nonequivalent Control Group design was employed. Two differential measures (gain scores) of leadership behavior were analyzed for both the training and control groups. Results and Conclusions Thirty-five recalled situations were generated in the validation process. From the analysis of these situations, the major finding was that district managers did not significantly increase their chances of having successful decision outcomes result from their use of leader behaviors consistent with the prescriptions of the Normative Model. However, the test results were in the predicted directions. Despite the lack of significance, a probability of .15 indicates the model did quite well in prescribing appropriate leader behaviors to district managers. The major conclusion drawn from the validation process was that the Normative Model appeared to have potential for prescribing leader behaviors to district managers which increase the probability of producing successful decision outcomes. Statistical tests of the two measures used to measure the training effect showed significant changes occurring in the leader behavior of the trained district managers. The average level of participation that trainees would offer to their subordinates changed significantly more than that offered by the control group. On the second measure, trained district managers showed significant improvement in choosing leader behaviors consistent with the feasible set of leader behaviors prescribed by the Normative Model. The major implication was that Telos affected significant learning in the training group. To determine the precise areas of learning, statistical testing of the training group's scores on the set of seven guidelines underlying the model was done. The results indicated that district Managers significantly decreased their number of violations on six of the seven guidelines. The research suggests that the Vroom-Yetton Normative Model of Leader Behavior appears to offer potential to district managers as a tool for improving their leadership effectiveness. Future validation studies are needed to provide empirical evidence to support the model's validity in field sales force management. The results from testing the training effect of Telos indicated that Telos affected Significant changes in the leadership behavior of trained district managers. | en |
| dc.description.degree | Ph. D. | en |
| dc.format.extent | ix, 242 leaves | en |
| dc.format.medium | BTD | en |
| dc.format.mimetype | application/pdf | en |
| dc.identifier.other | etd-04132010-020023 | en |
| dc.identifier.sourceurl | http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/theses/available/etd-04132010-020023/ | en |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/10919/37612 | en |
| dc.language.iso | en | en |
| dc.publisher | Virginia Tech | en |
| dc.relation.haspart | LD5655.V856_1978.Z55.pdf | en |
| dc.relation.isformatof | OCLC# 40341758 | en |
| dc.rights | In Copyright | en |
| dc.rights.uri | http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ | en |
| dc.subject.lcc | LD5655.V856 1978.Z55 | en |
| dc.title | Validating the Vroom-Yetton normative model of leader behavior in field sales force management and measuring the training effect of Telos on the leader behavior of district managers | en |
| dc.type | Dissertation | en |
| dc.type.dcmitype | Text | en |
| thesis.degree.discipline | Business Administration | en |
| thesis.degree.grantor | Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University | en |
| thesis.degree.level | doctoral | en |
| thesis.degree.name | Ph. D. | en |
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