Chapter 3 Research hypothesis and methodology
3.1 Theoretical Framework
The conceptual framework that guided this study is shown in Figure 1. After studied over past relevant research, this study aims to explore a salesperson’s (namely the financial officers working at the Wealth Management Banking Services) perceived quota difficulty and its impact on his/her customer orientation and on the individual’s job satisfaction and turnover intention.
Figure 1: Conceptual Model of the effect of perceived quota difficulty, customer orientation, job satisfaction and turnover intention.
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Customer Orientation
Turnover Intention
Job Satisfaction Perceived
Quota Difficulty
Mediator
Based on the abovementioned research objective and relevant literature review, the purpose of this research is to explore the following hypothesis:
H1-a: Salespeople’s perceived quota difficulty will have impact on his/her customer orientation
H1-b: Once salespeople’s perceived quota difficulty increases, it will have negative effect on his/her customer orientation
H2-a: Salespeople’s perceived quota difficulty will have impact on his/her job satisfaction
H2-b: Once salespeople’s perceived quota difficulty increases, it will have negative effect on his/her job satisfaction
H3-a: Salespeople’s customer orientation will have impact on his/her job satisfaction
H3-b: If salespeople’s customer orientation behavior is stronger, it will have positive effect on his/her job satisfaction
H4-a: Salespeople’s job satisfaction will have impact on his/her turnover intention H4-b: Once salespeople’s job satisfaction increases, it will have negative effect on
his/her turnover intention
H5: Customer orientation may act as a mediator between salespeople’s perceived quota difficulty and job satisfaction
3.2 Method
A survey research method was used to investigate the effect and the relationships among financial advisor’s perceived quota difficulty, customer orientation, job satisfaction and intention to turnover. The use of an employee survey was deemed appropriate to address the proposed researched questions.
3.2.1 Sample and Data Collection
Participants were financial advisors/ personal account officers employed by banks that offer wealth management services. All interviewee are full-time employees and work in Kaohsiung.
Over 250 surveys were distributed to well-known banks that offer wealth management services and have branch offices located in Kaohsiung. Total of 170 surveys were collected, with 8 surveys being unusable. A response rate of 68% was obtained with 3.2% of non-valid survey. This return rate was determined to be acceptable for several reasons. This was an optional questionnaire and the nature of the research questions likely reduced the return rate. As Good and Stone (1995) noted, there are occasions when marketing respondents are asked confidential questions which can be expected to reduce their response rates. Hence, although anonymity is guaranteed, it is reasonable to conclude that the nature of these questions (turnover intention) would discourage some respondents from completing the questionnaire. Additionally, as characterized by previous study, non response is more common when salespeople are used. In our case, personal account officer/
financial advisor are defined as a salesperson position in a bank and bear in mind that this study has no sponsorship nor provided with inducements (Swenson and Herche, 1994).
3.2.1.1. Sample Details
Of the valid questionnaire, participants included 60 males, 102 females.
Approximately 52.5% of the respondents were married. The percentage of participants who fell into the different categories for age included: 4.3% in the 25 age and under group; 28.2% in the 26 to 30 age group; 47.9% in the 31 to 35 age group;
14.1% in the 36 to 40 age group; 4.3% in the 41 to 45 age group; 0.6% in the over 46 age group. The majority of the interviewees have at least university/ college degree (85%). Account Officers’ relevant advising experiences is mostly lies in the 1 to 3 years of experience (45.4%) and 4 to 6 years of experience (20.2%). Their relevant banking experience are much longer than their advisory experience, over 77% have at least 4 years of banking experience. Participants were informed that their individual responses would be confidential and thus not available to anyone at their servicing organizations.
3.2.2 Operationalization of study variables
Measures used in this study were taken from existing measures found in the marketing, business research as well as organizational behavior literature. Few items were adapted slightly to make them more consistent with the banking environment where the study was conducted. Sample items for each measure can be viewed in Appendix I.
Demographics
1. Gender: divided into two groups, male(1) or female (2)
2. Age: based on respondent’s actual age, divided into six age groups, age 25 and under (1); 26 to 30 age group (2); 31 to 35 age group (3); 36 to 40 age group(4);
41 to 45 age group (5) and over 46 age group(6).
3. Marital Status: divided into three categories, married(1), single(2),and others (3) 4. Education Level: divided into four groups, namely, high school and under(1);
college(2); university(3), graduate school(4)
5. Financial Advisory Related Experience: for the purpose of this research, the financial advisory related experience is only relevant to the position the respondent is in, i.e. wealth management service related experiences. Divided into five categories: less than one year (1); 1 to 3 years (2); 4 to 6 years (3); 7to 9
years (4); over 10 years (5)
6. Banking Related Experience: for the purpose of this study, it include all banking experiences both operational and other department experiences and does not exclude previous banking related experiences with other employers. Similar to previous question, it is also divided into five groups: less than one year (1); 1 to 3 years (2); 4 to 6 years (3); 7to 9 years (4); over 10 years (5)
Perceived quota difficulty (QD)
In this study, the focus is only limited to externally assigned quota. Most often, sales quotas are reconsidered to be task goals or performance targets assigned by management team or by sales managers. Unlike self-set performance targets, the externally assigned goals may result two offsetting effects must be considered, i.e. if the managers set the quotas too high, the salesperson may be discouraged and decrease his/her motivation; on the other hand, if goals are set too easy, individuals may not work to their maximum potential.
It was measured with a three-item scale developed by Schwepker Jr. and Good (1999) via discussions with several sales managers and salespeople. Two items used five-point Likert scales ranging from (1) “strongly disagree” to (5) “strongly agree”, while the third asked respondents to assess their chances of achieving their assigned quota on a five-point scale ranging from (1) “under 20% achievement” to (5) “over 80% achievement. After reverse coding items two and three, responses were summated such that higher scores indicate more difficult quotas. Since Schwepker Jr.
and Good (1999)’s questionnaire has already been used and adopted in relevant studies in Taiwan, and has been translated into Mandarin. (Chen, 2002) Hence, this study has adopted the same questionnaire to avoid translation bias and used it as a reference. Higher score for this section signify the individual’s perception of his/her assigned goal as being more difficult.
Customer Orientation (CO)
It was assessed by adapting relevant items from the existing Saxe and Weitz (1982) SOCO scale (selling orientation-customer orientation scale). All four questions used five-point Likert scales ranging from (1) “strongly disagree” to (5)
“strongly agree”. Adaptations to the customer orientation scale such as those proposed in the study are reported in prior published researches (e.g. Brown et al., 2002; Cravens et al., 1993). Higher score for this question stands for the salespeople’s favorable customer orientation. The Saxe and Weitz (1982) SOCO scale questionnaire has been widely used and adopted in relevant studies in Taiwan, and has been translated into Mandarin Chinese (Chu, 2002). Hence, the same questionnaire has been adopted in this study to avoid translation bias and used it as a reference.
Job Satisfaction (JS)
It was derived from the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ) short form.
This form consists of 20 items from the long-form MSQ that best represent each of the 20 scales. Factor analysis of the 20 items resulted in two factors—Intrinsic (JSI) and Extrinsic (JSE) Satisfaction. Scores on these two factors plus a General (JSG) Satisfaction score may be obtained. All 20 questions used a five-point Likert scale ranging from (1) “strongly disagree” to (5) “strongly agree”. The higher the score, the more satisfied the respondent is related his/her existing job. The Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ) short form has been widely used and adopted in relevant studies in Taiwan, and has been translated into Mandarin Chinese (Yu, 2001).
Hence, the same questionnaire has been adopted to avoid translation bias and used it as a reference.
Of the twenty questions related to job satisfaction, they are divided into three subgroups namely: intrinsic job satisfaction, extrinsic job satisfaction and general job satisfaction. The questions corresponding to the three subsections are as follow:
Factor 1: Intrinsic Job Satisfaction (Questions: 1,2,3,4,7,8,9,10,11,15,16,20) JS1 Being able to keep busy all the time.
JS2 The chance to work alone on the job.
JS3 The chance to do different things from time to time JS4 The chance to be “somebody” in the community.
JS7 Being able to do things that don’t go against my conscience . JS8 The way my job provides for steady employment
JS9 The chance to do things for other people.
JS10 The chance to tell people what to do.
JS11 The chance to do something that makes use of my abilities JS15 The freedom to use my own judgment
JS16 The chance to try my own methods of doing the job JS20 The feeling of accomplishment I get from the job.
Factor 2: Extrinsic Job Satisfaction (Questions: 5,6,12,13,14,19) JS5 The way my boss handles his/her workers.
JS6 The competence of my supervisor in making decisions.
JS12 The way company policies are put into practice JS13 My pay and the amount of work I do.
JS14 The chances for advancement on this job JS19 The praise I get for doing a good job
Factor 3: General Job Satisfaction (Sum all 20 questions together) JS17 The working conditions
JS18 The way my co-workers get along with each other
Turnover Intention (TI)
It was measured with four items from the literature (Horn & Griffeth, 1995;
Mowday, Koberg, & McArthur, 1984). Propensity to leave was assessed using a four item instrument (Lyons, 1971). Subjects were asked to rate their intention that
they would quit the existing job or change work units in the near future. Anchor points on 5-point Likert item scales ranging from (1) “strongly disagree” to (5)
“strongly agree”, with higher scores signify stronger intention to resign from existing job. The turnover intention questionnaire has been widely used and adopted in relevant studies in Taiwan, and has been translated into Mandarin Chinese (Hsueh, 2002). Hence, the same questionnaire has been adopted to avoid translation bias and used it as a reference.
3.2.3 Measure and Analysis assessment
Upon completion of questionnaire collection, the data obtained from the questionnaire has been coded and organized in accordance with the sequence of research structure. By using SPSS statistical software as the analyzing tool to conduct the following analysis:
1. Reliability test: conducted to all variables under survey, Cronbach’s alpha value will be used to testify data’s reliability.
2. Descriptive Statistics for all variables
3. Analysis of Variance: using one-way Anova to test the difference demographic variables’ variance with respect to each of the variables under research, namely, perceived quota difficulty, customer orientation, job satisfaction and turnover intention. Pot hoc tests, like Scheffe’s test will be used to further understand whether difference among groups were significant.
4. Correlation Analysis: by utilizing Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation to analyze the relationship between perceived quota difficulty, customer orientation, job satisfaction and turnover intention.
5. Regression Analysis: used to analyze the causal relationship between independent and dependent variables. Lastly, using stepwise regression to test the significance of the mediator factor.
Chapter 4: Measure Assessment Results
4.1 Reliability Test
Prior to conduct any further study, reliability of the measures was assessed by using the coefficient alpha. Cronbach’s alpha is a measure of a scale’s internal consistency, also known as scale reliability coefficient. It assesses the reliability of a rating scale by summarizing the responses which attempt to measure some underlying factor. Nunnally (1967) recommended a Cronbach’s alpha equal to or greater than 0.6 as the minimum value sufficient for research purpose. Cronbach (1951) recommended an alpha equal to or greater than 0.7. Since all scales under test have a Chronbach’s alpha greater than 0.7 except for the perceived quota (QD) scale only achieved a coefficient alpha of 0.6339, however it is still acceptable by Nunnally, and thus the overall scales have satisfactory reliability. Refer to table 4-1~4-5 for each factor under study.
Table 4-1: Perceived Quota Difficulty Reliability Test (n=162)
Question Cronbach’s α
1. I believe my assigned quota is very difficult 2. It is easy for me to achieve my assigned quota 3. The chance of me achieving my assigned quota is %
0.6339
Table 4-2: Customer Orientation Reliability Test (n=162)
Question Cronbach’s α
1. I try to determine how I can best help my customers solve their problems or achieve desired goals.
2. I spend much of my time listening and discussing with my customers about their needs.
3. Regarding service related questions, I will try my best to find the right solution and which best fit my customers.
4. I always present the customers with a realistic picture of what my firm’s products and services can do and meet their expectations.
0.8464
Table 4-3: Selling Orientation Reliability Test (n=162)
Question Cronbach’s α
1. It is acceptable for me that by manipulating my customer’s weakness to close a deal.
2. It is acceptable for me that if I am not sure a product/service is right for a customer, I will still apply pressure to get him to buy.
3. It is acceptable for me to persuade a customer to buy even prior to understand his/her needs.
4. It is acceptable for me to stretch the truth in describing a product to a customer.
0.6599
Table 4-4: Job Satisfaction Reliability Test (n=162)
Question Cronbach’s α
Factor 1: Intrinsic Job Satisfaction
JS1 Being able to keep busy all the time.
JS2 The chance to work alone on the job.
JS3 The chance to do different things from time to time JS4 The chance to be “somebody” in the community.
JS7 Being able to do things that don’t go against my conscience.
JS8 The way my job provides for steady employment JS9 The chance to do things for other people.
JS10 The chance to tell people what to do.
JS11 The chance to do something that makes use of my abilities
JS15 The freedom to use my own judgment
JS16 The chance to try my own methods of doing the job JS20 The feeling of accomplishment I get from the job.
0.7291
Table 4-4: Job Satisfaction Reliability Test (n=162) (continued)
Question Cronbach’s α
Factor 2: Extrinsic Job Satisfaction
JS5 The way my boss handles his/her workers.
JS6 The competence of my supervisor in making decisions.
JS12 The way company policies are put into practice JS13 My pay and the amount of work I do.
JS14 The chances for advancement on this job JS19 The praise I get for doing a good job
0.8060
Factor 3: General Job Satisfaction JS17 The working conditions
JS18 The way my co-workers get along with each other
0.5760
Overall Job Satisfaction
(Add All 20 Questions together)
0.8287
Table 4-5: Turnover Intention Reliability Test (n=162)
Question Cronbach’s α
1. I often contemplate quitting my job.
2. I often seeking other positions within my organizations or seek other employment.
3. According to my situation and qualification, it is highly likely I can find a suitable job within my organization or from other companies.
4. I plan quitting my existing job.
0.7447
4.2 Descriptive Statistics
4.2.1 Sample demographic data analysis
Of the valid questionnaire, on the gender aspect, participants included 60 males, 102 females; which means that in the banking industry, customer service related jobs are dominated by females for they are more keen on offering closer customer relationship management. Approximately 52.5% of the respondents were married, which demonstrated about equal number of married and unmarried workers. The percentage of participants who fell into the different categories of age groups included:
4.3% in the 25 age and under group; 28.2% in the 26 to 30 age group; 47.9% in the 31 to 35 age group; 14.1% in the 36 to 40 age group; 4.3% in the 41 to 45 age group;
0.6% in the over 46 age group. Overall speaking, the average working age is about 30~40 age group, which is in their best productivity stage of working cycle. The majority of the interviewees have at least university/ college degree (85%). This signified college/university graduate degree has become the minimum entry requirement for joining such position. Account officers’ relevant advising experiences mostly rested in the 1 to 3 years of experience (45.4%) and 4 to 6 years of experience (20.2%) category. Their relevant banking experience are much longer than their advisory experience, over 77% have at least 4 years of banking experience.
This result is quite fair that since wealth management related services is just in its early phase, it would be normal to have respondents having not too many years of related advisory experience; however, when questioned about their relevant banking experience, this clearly showed that those salespeople joined the wealth management services have been servicing in the banking industry for a while and it is likely that they were assigned or voluntarily transferred from other departments of their servicing banks.
Table 4-6: Sample data demographic descriptive statistics
Personal Variables Frequency Percentage
Male 60 37.0%
4.2.2 Perceived quota difficulty data analysis
Referring to Table 4-7: Perceived Quota Difficulty Summary, most of the respondents agree that their perceived sales quota are little difficult to achieve. As for question number three, the average achievement rate is slightly under 60%.
Table 4-7: Perceived Quota Difficulty Summary
Question Mean Standard
Deviation I believe my assigned quota is very difficult 3.2037 0.8856 It is easy for me to achieve my assigned quota (R) 3.1975 0.8254 The chance of me achieving my assigned quota is%(R) 2.1543 1.0430 Overall Perceived Quota Difficulty 2.6759 0.7851 Note: (R) stands for reverse coding the corresponding questions
4.2.3 Customer Orientation data analysis
Referring to Table 4-8: Customer-orientation data summary, the majority of the account officers fully agree on their customer oriented behavior, namely helping their customers to achieve their desired objectives, spending time discussing with their customers regarding their needs, finding the right solutions as well as providing a realistic view of the services rendered and meeting customer’s expectations.
Table 4-8: Customer-orientation data summary
Question Mean Standard
Deviation I try to determine how I can best help my customers
solve their problems or achieve desired goals.
4.0988 0.6326
I spend much of my time listening and discussing with my customers about their needs.
4.2469 0.6505
Regarding service related questions, I will try my best to find the right solution and which best fit my customers.
4.2901 0.6174
I always present the customers with a realistic picture of what my firm’s products and services can do and meet their expectations.
4.1358 0.6054
Overall Customer Orientation 4.1929 0.5185
4.2.4 Job satisfaction data analysis
Refer to table 4-9, item JS 13 “my pay and the amount of work I do”, and JS14
“the chances for advancement on this job” have the lowest mean for the 20 questions answered; which means that among the various aspects related to job satisfaction, the respondents are least satisfied with their pay relative to the amount of work they do as well as lacking of opportunities for advancements in this job. Following the two items, respondents seem also slightly uncomfortable with the way company policies are put into practice, the competence of supervisor in making decisions and the way their job provides for steady employment. Perhaps this was due to local banks’
inexperience with the wealth management sector and resulted more frequent policy changes as well as related department managers lacking relevant experience and the nature of sales related positions offer less job security.
On the other hand, employees are more satisfied with their working conditions, getting along well with co-workers, the opportunities to do different things from time to time and the chance of doing things for other people. This can be contributed to the fact that the wealth management department in banks are usually better furnished
and since the job has much close interaction with customers and the nature of their
and since the job has much close interaction with customers and the nature of their