2. Theory and hypotheses2.1. Experienced job meaningfulnessExperienced meaningfulness is the belief that a person is doing “something that counts” in her “own system of values” (Hackman & Oldham, 1980, p. 73). Such beliefs can develop when the employee thinks the firm performs ethical actions. This credence occurs because ethical firms communicate to employees how their actions contribute to socially responsible goals. Piccolo et al. (2010) assert that ethical leadership gives meaning to work activities by “[making] salient to followers the purpose, morality, and ethicality of work” (p. 262). Organizations with business practices driven by a “doing the right thing” philosophy enhance task significance and work meaning by clarifying employee contribution to moral ideals and higher order goals. Under such conditions, employees believe that the organizational values are in line with their own values—making the job meaningful (Weeks, Loe, Chonko, Martinez, & Wakefield, 2006). Studies consistently indicate that ethical climate influences employee's attitudes (DeConinck, 2010). Therefore we hypothesize:H1. Ethical climate is positively related to experienced meaningfulness.Wang and Netemeyer (2002) defined customer demandingness as a salesperson's belief that customers have high expectations about prod- ucts and services offerings. Employees enjoy jobs that provide them with opportunities to learn and apply new skills—satisfying their job growth needs. Pink (2011) asserts that employees are driven towards interesting, challenging, and absorbing jobs and are intrinsically motivated by “becoming better and better at something that matters” (Pink, 2011, p. 79). Salespeople will perceive demands from customers as challenging and motivating since they provide salespeople with opportunities for new learning and personal advancement. The above discussion suggests:H2. Customer demandingness is positively related to experienced meaningfulness.2.2. Felt stressThe National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health define stress as “harmful physical and emotional responses that occur when the requirements of the job do not match the capabilities, re- sources, or needs of the worker.” Felt stress stimulates feeling of tension and pressure when faced with work demands. These feelings are linked to numerous factors, including role stress (e.g., Boles, Johnston, & Hair, 1997) and work–family conflict (e.g., Netemeyer, Maxham, & Pullig, 2005).Goolsby (1992) proposed a Stress Theory (ST) for boundary spanning positions. ST states that boundary spanning employees are affected by two critical stressors, ethical demands and customer demands. Levy and Dubinsky (1983) note that salespeople face multiple ethical dilemmas that can result in “increased levels of job- related tension, frustration, and anxiety, all of which can lead to lower job performance and higher turnover” (p. 48). Numerous studies demonstrate that ethics play an important role in stress perceptions (Evans, McFarland, Dietz, & Jaramillo, 2012) such as role conflict and role ambiguity (Mulki, Jaramillo, & Locander, 2008). Therefore, we hypothesize that:H3. Ethical climate is negatively related to felt stress.
Goolsby (1992) posits that meeting customer needs creates stressful job demands. This occurs because customer–salesperson relationships are often asymmetrical; customers have little regard for a salesperson's needs while the salesperson is expected to provide high levels of satisfaction to the customer. Jaramillo and Mulki (2008) argue that serving demanding customers puts additional pressure on salespeople in terms of increased effort and workload. Increased workload is a source of stress in sales settings.
Researchers have also distinguished between hindrance stressors and challenge stressors (Cavanaugh, Boswell, Roehling, & Boudreau,
2000). Hindrance stressors restrain personal development and work related accomplishments while challenge stressors promote employee growth and work achievement. Hindrance stressors are composed of situational constraints like role ambiguity and job in- security. Challenge stressors include work volume, time pressure, job scope, and increased responsibility. This distinction is important because hindrance stressors result in negative emotions/attitudes while challenge stressors lead to higher levels of job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and reduced turnover (Podsakoff, LePine, & LePine, 2007).
However, Podsakoff et al. (2007) indicate that challenge and hindrance stressors are associated with higher levels of employee burnout and tension. Employees view challenging job demands as desirable and satisfying because they create opportunities for personal growth. Yet, job challenges can be stressful by placing high demands on the employee. Challenge stress is associated with desirable work outcomes yet still is individually straining (Boswell, Olson-Buchanan, & LePine, 2004; Pink, 2011). Therefore:
H4. Customer demandingness is positively related to felt stress.
This study posits that job involvement also influences relationships between customer demandingness and felt stress. Job involvement is the extent a salesperson values the job and is associated with the amount of personal equity invested in the sales position (Holmes & Srivastava, 2002). Salespeople with a high level of job involvement care about their positions and perceive them to be an important aspect of their lives—enhancing their self-image (Brown & Leigh, 1996). Brown (1996) demonstrates that job involvement is related to perceptions of personal growth and job satisfaction. Therefore, job involvement may buffer the negative impact of customer demands on stress. Salespeople with high levels of job involvement are less affected by customer demands because they see job demands as opportunities for personal development and growth.
H5. Job involvement moderates the relationship between customer demandingness and felt stress. This relationship is weaker at higher levels of job involvement.
Salespeople serving demanding customers may also feel accom- plished and thus willing to put forth greater job effort (Thakor & Joshi, 2005) and learning effort (Wang & Netemeyer, 2002). Jaramillo and Mulki (2008) found that salespeople work harder and smarter when they perceive customers as demanding. Customer demandingness leads to higher levels of effort and superior performance.
Customer demandingness is likely to be associated with job demands, pressure, time urgency and high workload, which are challenge stressors (Cavanaugh et al., 2000). LePine, Podsakoff, and LePine (2005) show that challenge stressors are positively related to job performance. They argue that this relationship occurs because challenge stressors motivate employees to perform at higher levels. This is consistent with findings in sales contest research which shows that perceived con- test difficulty is related to effort (Poujol, Fournier, & Tanner, 2011). Therefore, we hypothesize:
H6. Customer demandingness is positively related to job performance.
Knoop (1994) proposes that individuals develop strain when they expend effort on meaningless tasks. Performing unimportant activities is stressful because they underutilize employee skills (Hoyt & Gerloff, 1999). Conversely, employees report lower stress levels when they be- lieve that their jobs are important (Jex, 1998). Similarly, Low, Cravens, Grant, and Moncrief (2001) show that salespeople who perceive intrinsic value in the job in terms of meaning, recognition, and achievement experience less stress. We hypothesize:
H7. Experienced meaningfulness is negatively related to felt stress.
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