TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP AND ITS IMPACT ON SALES FORCE MORAL JUDGMENT

Sales research often notes the critical role of sales managers in providing interface between the firm and the salesperson while cultivating sales performance in highly competitive marketplaces. In such a stressful environment, reports of unethical behaviors (results, causes, effects, etc.) continue to plague the profession. In this context, the purpose of this study was to examine the role of a chiefly unexplored quality of sales managers, transformational leadership, and its affect on the moral judgment of the sales force. In a study of 345 business-to-business salespeople, it was found that transformational leadership has an indirect effect on moral judgment as well as direct effects on supervisory capability orientation and the trust of the salesperson in the manager. Managerial and research implications are also offered as part of the paper.