Informal Organizational Controls: A Typology and Measurement Model
(A2019-8510)

AUTHORS

Stacey Malek, Grenoble Ecole de Management; Shikhar Sarin, The University of Waikato; Bernard Jaworski, Claremont Granduate University

KEYWORDS

Informal; Control; Scales

ABSTRACT

Informal organizational controls (i.e., employee-driven values, norms, and objectives) play an important role in the behavior and performance of salespeople. Despite this, current measures fail to capture the full dimensionality (information, rewards, and punishments) of informal control types (self, social, and cultural). This has precluded our theoretical understanding of how informal controls influence salespeople. This research takes initial steps to remedy by: developing a 3x3 typology of informal controls, examining informal controls from an organizational identity perspective, and applying a multi-method (28 qualitative interviews, 78 surveys) approach to developing and validating a measurement model. Results suggest that the nine informal control scales developed in this research demonstrate good psychometric properties.

REFERENCES

The Sales Education Foundation