Does salesperson bricolage matter in fostering service-sales ambidexterity in B2B markets? A perspective through the sales management control system

Abstract

In today's dynamic industrial market, the adoption of a bricolage strategy combined with ambidextrous behavior has emerged as a crucial approach for firms striving to maintain competitiveness. Despite the paramount importance, the questions regarding how bricolage is strengthened and how it enhances salesforce ambidexterity have yet to be answered. This research aims to develop an integrated model for the relationships among salesforce control system, salesperson bricolage, service-sales ambidexterity and value co-creation in B2B context. The study also explored how customer demandingness and empowerment climate moderate the relationship between salesperson bricolage and service-sales ambidexterity (SSAM). A sample of 321 business-to-business (B2B) salespeople served as a sample for our survey. The results demonstrate that the joint effect of behavior-based control and outcome-based control has a significant positive effect on salesperson bricolage. The study findings also demonstrate a positive and significant linkage between salesperson bricolage and SSAM, which further positively leads to value co-creation. Moreover, the empowerment climate positively moderates the relationship between salesperson bricolage and SSAM. In last, customer demandingness negatively moderates the connection between salesperson bricolage and SSAM. This research contributes to advancing our understanding of how a bricolage strategy plays a role in fostering salesforce ambidexterity in the B2B context.