A Longitudinal Assessment of the Impact of Selected Organizational Influences on Salespeople's Organizational Commitment during Early Employment

Abstract

To examine the antecedents and consequences of the development of salespeople's organizational commitment during early employment, the authors conducted a longitudinal study. The study focused on how changes in three key antecedents (leadership behavior, role stress, and job satisfaction) influence the development of commitment and how changes in commitment, in turn, affect turnover intentions and behavior. Results suggest that role ambiguity and job satisfaction (but not leadership behavior) are significant contributors to the development of organizational commitment during early employment. The results also show that organizational commitment influences turnover through its significant impact on propensity to leave.