Thursday, April 20th, 2023
Embracing all generations in the workplace
This paper has been adapted from the author’s Masters project and discusses how leaders can best cultivate “superpowers” that are applicable to multi-generational organisations and teams. When exploring the different generations, I came across many different descriptions and definitions. To avoid confusion, I have decided to use the definition from Purdue University: The aim of my research has been to…
Thursday, April 20th, 2023
War on attrition
How can effective coaching support the retention of employees within an organisation? The challenge of employee retention and continued commitment to an organisation has no straightforward documented resolution. A key responsibility of any business is to keep its employees happy and motivated, retain them in the company, but also to ensure they make best use of their individual talents. O’Reilly…
Friday, September 30th, 2022
Focus on storytelling
When a group of non-native English speakers wanted to hone their English writing and speaking skills, they joined a programme exploring a range of literary genres via the work of a cross-section of authors. We set these business leaders the task of recounting their most memorable sales experiences in the Journal. In this special feature, we explore the rationale behind…
Monday, April 26th, 2021
Do millennials have a chance?
The theme of my research is to explore the extent to which companies need to adapt and change to cater to a multi-generational workforce, define what the distinct differences really are using facts data, and in the process also draw out similarities. I will look at how stereotypes and unconscious bias skew realities, responses and attitudes. My research seeks to…
Thursday, May 28th, 2020
2020 Q1 Research Review – edited by Jeremy Noad
The research review aims to help readers keep up to date with recently published research on sales-related topics. The review highlights short abstracts of academically peer-reviewed research. This selection of published research is from a range of academic journals. In this edition, the abstracts include three themes that focus on sales performance, customer management, and sales behavioural studies. Sales Performance…
Tuesday, May 26th, 2020
Moving from “I” to “We”
How a relationship-based group coaching model can improve performance. As a salesperson and subsequent sales leader with more than two decades of experience, on-the-job learning has provided me with valuable insights and business management skills. However, given the rapidly evolving business environment, I realised the need to embark upon a continuous learning path. On learning about the SAP Master’s programme,…
Tuesday, May 26th, 2020
Cross-cultural sales into China
This study, adapted from a 2018 University of Portsmouth Business School MA Sales Management dissertation, explores the adaptive sales model and its suitability for cross-cultural sales into China. The author was surprised at the lack of cross-cultural awareness and understanding in global sales and communication, with even established exporting enterprises lacking an ability to fully engage and communicate effectively with…
Tuesday, June 25th, 2019
Courage and curiosity
Nilgün Atasoy’s wide experience, open mindset and empathetic approach have opened doors in her career. Nilgün Atasoy specialises in expanding horizons. From her multicultural upbringing to her progression in the traditionally male-dominated technology sector, to her trailblazing role as one of SAP’s first female salespeople in the Middle East and a pioneering woman sales manager in Eastern Europe, she has…
Tuesday, June 25th, 2019
Blazing the trail for women sales leaders in technology
Dutch ICT Woman of the Year, Monic van Aarle is a sales director working with a diverse range of SAP’s customers in the Netherlands. Monic van Aarle has been working at SAP for 15 years and in sales for a total of 37 years – which stacks up to a significant amount of experience. Starting her career in marketing, she…
Thursday, May 17th, 2018
How gender-balanced teams boost performance
Academic research has found that reducing gender imbalance in sales teams improves performance. The authors of a paper in Industrial Marketing Management suggest that there is evidence that the addition of women to all-male sales teams should positively impact team performance by: reducing the average turnover rate of high performers within the team; enhancing relational skills, organisational citizenship behaviours, and…
Thursday, May 17th, 2018
Prioritizing diverse perspectives
Here’s how both women and men can help sales organizations achieve gender equality to build success. Most industry outsiders I encounter view our industry as a corporate boys’ club. It’s a common misperception that sales has a shortage of women. In fact, the sales industry as a whole is almost evenly split on gender lines, with women making up 49…
Monday, March 26th, 2018
Moving customers beyond bias
SAP’s D&I strategy seeks to build a more inclusive workforce and better business results. SAP is in an industry where the pace of innovation separates the winners from the losers, and a greater variety of insights and experiences leads to new ideas and innovations. We recognised this need and embarked on a strategy to ensure we were drawing on and…
Sunday, March 25th, 2018
The many dimensions of diversity
If, as many successful scale-ups are, we are on a mission to challenge the status quo and to get our prospective customers to think differently about their critical business issues, we would be wise to ensure that we are accommodating diverse perspectives and experiences within our own organisations. I’m not talking about the demographic dimensions of diversity – of age,…
Sunday, March 25th, 2018
With diversity comes great story responsibility
Diversity brings the risk of fragmentation, but the best companies are able to project a single voice by telling a consistently engaging story. Today, an employee base with diverse experiences, skills and perspectives is one of your biggest organizational strengths. But like many good things, a diverse talent pool, for all the brainpower and energy and dynamism it adds to…
Sunday, March 25th, 2018
Unconscious bias in employment
Unconscious bias in business is apparent across…
Tuesday, March 13th, 2018
The diversity advantage
Despite evidence that diversifying leadership teams can increase both innovation and revenue, many organisations are struggling to make it a reality – and few appear to be making visible progress. What are leaders in this space doing differently and what are the critical interventions that work to drive tangible impacts? We report on the D&I findings from Consalia’s 12th annual…
Monday, March 12th, 2018
D&I snapshot
Delegates at Consalia’s 12th Global Sales Transformation conference in Singapore on 19 September 2017 offered their collective thoughts on the state of diversity and inclusion today, and where it is headed in the future. FOR MORE INFORMATION +
Monday, March 5th, 2018
Hear my voice: lessons in inclusive leadership
For Samantha Wessels diversity and inclusion is a business imperative. Here she explains why she is passionate about getting more women into sales and specifically into technology. If you haven’t mastered operations you’re going to suffer. Effective sales operations is an essential component for effective sales management. Sales is at the forefront of the organisation, and can drive organisational transformation…
Saturday, January 30th, 2016
2015 European Women in Sales Awards
On 3 December the results were announced…
Saturday, January 30th, 2016
Unfinished Business
Unfinished Business: Women, Men, Work, Family, Anne-Marie Slaughter, Oneworld, October 2015 Anne-Marie Slaughter argues why women (and men) can’t have it all. She looks at the hurdles women face in the workplace and sets out her vision for true equality between men and women with an action plan on how to get there. +