Sales Management Control Research—Synthesis and an Agenda For Future Research

Abstract

Management control in sales and marketing has received substantial attention by researchers during the past decade, demonstrating the importance of the topic for researchers and managers. Research initiatives concerning management control have differed in terms of conceptualization of the control construct and the construct’s antecedents and consequences. Synthesizing the various management control research initiatives is essential in guiding the development of an agenda for future research. We address several crucial managerial and research questions concerning consensus in the conceptualization of sales management control, identify relevant antecedents to control strategy choices, and consider the extent to which management control strategy choices affect salesperson, sales manager, and organizational consequences. We synthesize for the first time in this research stream the key findings of the main studies conducted to date to clarify consistency and inconsistency for both managers and researchers. Gui...