What Are They Looking for? Exploring the Motivation of Sales Staff in Beijing

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Ding, Xiaoyi (2011) What Are They Looking for? Exploring the Motivation of Sales Staff in Beijing. [Dissertation (University of Nottingham only)] (Unpublished)

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Abstract

Among business practitioners, it is a conventional wisdom that motivating sales staff is essential for any organisation aspiring to succeed. However, the process of motivating is complicated because of the diversity of individual’s needs. Besides, differences in culture may lead to different job attribute preferences across countries. Based on the content theories on motivation, this paper explores the non-financial motivational factors on sales staff in China. This study also illustrates how Chinese cultural heritages, specifically Confucius ideology have affected the needs and the job attribute preferences of sales staff in modern Chinese societies. In addition, the dissertation provides information on the relationships between leadership styles and work motivation among the Chinese sales staff.

The findings of this dissertation are based on a qualitative research, in which 20 semi-structured interviews were conducted with sales staff from three companies in Beijing. The study revealed both compliances and discrepancies with traditional perceptions of Chinese employees’ work motivation derived from Hofstede’s cultural dimensions as well as Confucianism studies. This indicates that Chinese sales staff’s work motivations are undergoing changes with the development of economy.

The sales staff have played a revenue-producing role in enterprises, therefore, it is important for management to understand how to motivate them. Furthermore, China is emerging as one of the dominant economic powers in the world, a thorough understanding of Chinese employees’ needs and job attribute preferences is important for management researchers and international business practitioners to enhance managerial efficiency in China.

Item Type: Dissertation (University of Nottingham only)
Depositing User: EP, Services
Date Deposited: 25 Apr 2012 13:29
Last Modified: 23 Jan 2018 16:13
URI: https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/id/eprint/25134

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