@prefix vivo: . @prefix edm: . @prefix ns0: . @prefix dcterms: . @prefix skos: . vivo:departmentOrSchool "Business, Sauder School of"@en ; edm:dataProvider "DSpace"@en ; ns0:degreeCampus "UBCV"@en ; dcterms:creator "Abbott, George Henry"@en ; dcterms:issued "2011-05-31T17:01:24Z"@en, "1969"@en ; vivo:relatedDegree "Master of Science in Business - MScB"@en ; ns0:degreeGrantor "University of British Columbia"@en ; dcterms:description """The purpose of this thesis was to develop a profile of the typical British Columbia sales executive; his background, his present personal and business status, his duties and responsibilities, and his aspirations. The thesis also examines characteristics of the companies for which the sales managers worked. These characteristics include: the type of goods sold, size in terms of gross sales, growth prospects, and the standardization of certain procedures such as salesmen evaluation and job descriptions. Certain areas were developed to compare individual sales executive statistics and company statistics with a similar study undertaken in 1960. This identified changes which took place and trends which are developing. The investigation was essentially statistical and the data gathered was obtained through the use of an involved questionnaire. The questionnaire was mailed to sales executives of public companies which had sales offices in British Columbia. The cooperation of the respondents was most satisfactory and resulted in a questionnaire return of over 68 percent. The average sales executive of the study was 45 years old, and employed in a branch office of a consumer goods company whose aggregate sales were over $15,000,000. He was born in an urban area of well educated white collar parents. He is much better educated than the average Canadian. Although this thesis concludes that the level of formal education has very little bearing on level of income, it does establish that education is becoming a more important factor in the selection and promotion of sales executives. Average incomes were relatively high, averaging about $15,000 including bonuses and commissions. The vast majority of sales managers were married and had somewhat larger families than the Canadian average. They owned their homes and valued them well in excess of the British Columbia average. The study indicated a disproportionate increase in incomes of these sales managers as compared to the 1960 study. There are indications that there has been an upgrading of personnel which has consequently led to the higher income levels. The companies involved in this study posted a rapid rate of growth over the six year period. Sales volume expanded dramatically. The proportion of branch offices increased and over 20 percent of the branch office respondents were in positions created within the previous five years. Almost one half of the respondents were involved with the training of new salesmen. Less than one third of the companies maintained a formal programme for this function. Formal salesmen evaluation systems were standard procedure in slightly over one half of the companies, and job descriptions for sales managers and salesmen were the rule rather than the exception. The typical sales executive was involved in a wide range of activities but found directing the sales force, training salesmen, and personal selling the most time consuming as well as the most important of his responsibilities. He has a wider direct span of control than his 1960 counterpart but conversely has responsibility for fewer indirect and non-sales staff. Despite the higher than average educational level for the group as a whole, the average sales manager did not have a university education and began his career in his late teens. He has been quite stable in terms of inter-company changes as his experience has been largely gained with his present employer. All indications are that the typical sales manager has achieved his present position through promotions in the sales end of the business."""@en ; edm:aggregatedCHO "https://circle.library.ubc.ca/rest/handle/2429/34999?expand=metadata"@en ; skos:note "A PROFILE OF BRITISH COLUMBIA SALES MANAGERS by GEORGE HENRY ABBOTT B.Comm., U n i v e r s i t y of Saskatchewan, 1956 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION i n the Department of Commerce and Business A d m i n i s t r a t i o n We accept t h i s t h e s i s as conforming to the r e q u i r e d standard THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA A p r i l , 1969 In p r e s e n t i n g t h i s t h e s i s i n p a r t i a l f u l f i l m e n t of the requirements f o r an advanced degree at the U n i v e r s i t y of B r i t i s h Columbia, I agree that the L i b r a r y s h a l l make i t f r e e l y a v a i l a b l e f o r reference and study. I f u r t h e r agree that permission f o r extensive copying of t h i s t h e s i s f o r s c h o l a r l y purposes may be granted by the Head of my Department or by h i s r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s . I t i s understood that copying or p u b l i c a t i o n of t h i s t h e s i s f o r f i n a n c i a l gain s h a l l not be allowed without my w r i t t e n permission. Department The U n i v e r s i t y of B r i t i s h Columbia Vancouver 8, B.C., Canada i i ABSTRACT The purpose of t h i s t h e s i s was to develop a p r o f i l e of the t y p i c a l B r i t i s h Columbia sales executive; h i s background, his present personal and business status, h i s duties and r e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s , and hi s a s p i r a t i o n s . The t h e s i s also examines c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s of the companies for which the sales managers worked. These c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s include: the type of goods sold, size i n terms of gross sales, growth prospects, and the standardization of c e r t a i n procedures such as salesmen evalu-ation and job d e s c r i p t i o n s . Certain areas were developed to compare i n d i v i d u a l sales execu-t i v e s t a t i s t i c s and company s t a t i s t i c s with a s i m i l a r study undertaken i n i 9 6 0 . This i d e n t i f i e d changes which took place and trends which are developing. The i n v e s t i g a t i o n was e s s e n t i a l l y s t a t i s t i c a l and the data gathered was obtained through the use of an involved questionnaire. The questionnaire was mailed to sales executives of public companies which had sales o f f i c e s i n B r i t i s h Columbia. The cooperation of the respondents was most s a t i s f a c t o r y and r e s u l t e d i n a questionnaire return of over 68 percent. The average sales executive of the study was 45 years old, and employed i n a branch o f f i c e of a consumer goods company whose aggregate sales were over $ 1 5 , 0 0 0 , 0 0 0 . He was born i n an urban area of well educated white c o l l a r parents. He i s much better i i i educated than the average Canadian. Although t h i s t h e s i s concludes that the l e v e l of formal education has very l i t t l e b e a r i n g on l e v e l of income, i t does e s t a b l i s h t h a t education i s becoming a more important f a c t o r i n the s e l e c t i o n and promotion of s a l e s executives. Average incomes were r e l a t i v e l y high, averaging about $15,000 i n c l u d i n g bonuses and commissions. The vast m a j o r i t y of s a l e s managers were married and had somewhat l a r g e r f a m i l i e s than the Canadian average. They owned t h e i r homes and valued them w e l l i n excess of the B r i t i s h Columbia average. The study i n d i c a t e d a d i s p r o p o r t i o n a t e increase i n incomes of these s a l e s managers as compared to the i960 study. There are i n d i -c a t i o n s that there has been an upgrading of personnel which has consequently l e d to the higher income l e v e l s . The companies i n v o l v e d i n t h i s study posted a r a p i d r a t e of growth over the s i x year p e r i o d . Sales volume expanded d r a m a t i c a l l y . The p r o p o r t i o n of branch o f f i c e s increased and over 20 percent of the branch o f f i c e respondents were i n p o s i t i o n s created w i t h i n the previous f i v e years. Almost one h a l f of the respondents were i n v o l v e d w i t h the t r a i n i n g of new salesmen. Less than one t h i r d of the companies main-t a i n e d a formal programme f o r t h i s f u n c t i o n . Formal salesmen e v a l u -a t i o n systems were standard procedure i n s l i g h t l y over one h a l f of the companies, and job d e s c r i p t i o n s f o r s a l e s managers and salesmen were the r u l e r a t h e r than the exception. The t y p i c a l s a l e s executive was i n v o l v e d i n a wide range of a c t i v i t i e s but found d i r e c t i n g the s a l e s f o r c e , t r a i n i n g salesmen, and personal s e l l i n g the most time consuming as w e l l as the most important of h i s r e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s . He has a wider d i r e c t span of c o n t r o l than h i s i960 counterpart but conversely has r e s p o n s i b i l i t y f o r fewer i n d i r e c t and non-sales s t a f f . Despite the higher than average educational l e v e l f o r the group as a whole, the average s a l e s manager d i d not have a u n i v e r s i t y education and began h i s career i n h i s l a t e teens. He has been q u i t e s t a b l e i n terms of inter-company changes as h i s experience has been l a r g e l y gained w i t h h i s present employer. A l l i n d i c a t i o n s are that the t y p i c a l s a l e s manager has achieved h i s present p o s i t i o n through promotions i n the s a l e s end of the business. V TABLE OP CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I . INTRODUCTION 1 Purposes of the Study 4 Importance of the Study 5 Scope of the Study 6 D e f i n i t i o n s of Terms Used i n the Study 7 L i m i t a t i o n s of the Study 9 Organization of the Rest of the Thesis 11 I I . THE QUESTIONNAIRE AND SAMPLE DESIGN 14 I n t r o d u c t i o n . . 14 The Questionnaire 14 C l a s s i f i c a t i o n Data . 15 S o c i a l O r i g i n 15 Formal E d u c a t i o n a l Background 15 Career P a t t e r n 15 Present Status 15 Duties and R e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s 16 S e l e c t i o n of the Sample 16 I I I . A PERSONAL PROFILE OF THE TYPICAL BRITISH COLUMBIA SALES EXECUTIVE 19 Purpose 19 B a s i c C h a r a c t e r i s t i c s 19 Type of Company and Type of O f f i c e . . . . . 19 v i CHAPTER , PAGE Age 21 S i z e of Company 25 Age Comparisons 27 S o c i a l O r i g i n of B r i t i s h Columbia Sales Executive 29 Regions of B i r t h . . . . 29 S i z e of B i r t h p l a c e 34 Occupation and Education of Respondents' Fathers 35 Personal C h a r a c t e r i s t i c s 39 M a r i t a l Status and Family S i z e 39 Hobbies - Teenage and Present 42 Level of Education 46 E d u c a t i o n a l comparison w i t h i 9 6 0 study 46 E d u c a t i o n a l comparison w i t h United States counterparts 4 8 Who gets higher education 51 Source of funds f o r u n i v e r s i t y expenses.... 53 M i l i t a r y S e r v i c e 55 Present Status 56 Income •• 56 M o b i l i t y 58 Home Ownership... 61 P r o v i n c i a l P o l i t i c a l A f f i l i a t i o n 63 IV. COMPANY CHARACTERISTICS 67 I n t r o d u c t i o n . . . . . 1 67 v i i CHAPTER PAGE Growth C h a r a c t e r i s t i c s 67 Number of Firms Reporting 67 Head O f f i c e Versus Branch O f f i c e 67 T o t a l Annual Sales - A l l Companies..... 71 Annual s a l e s of B r i t i s h Columbia based companies 73 Branch o f f i c e s a l e s volume 75 Newly Created P o s i t i o n s 77 F o r m a l i z a t i o n of Sales Executive R e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s 79 Formal Salesmen E v a l u a t i o n Programmes 85 Formal Job D e s c r i p t i o n s 87 V. BUSINESS ACTIVITIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF BRITISH COLUMBIA SALES EXECUTIVES 89 I n t r o d u c t i o n 89 O f f i c i a l T i t l e s 89 Respondents' Job T i t l e s 89 Who Respondents Are Responsible To 9 ° Job R e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s 92 On-The-Job A c t i v i t i e s 94 T r a i n i n g company salesmen........ $6 Personal s e l l i n g 97 D i r e c t i n g and c o n t r o l l i n g the s a l e s f o r c e . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 Spans of C o n t r o l 101 T r a v e l l i n g 105 v i i i CHAPTER PAGE VI . CAREER PATTERNS AND PROSPECTS OP BRITISH COLUMBIA SALES EXECUTIVES 107 I n t r o d u c t i o n . . . . . .*..... 107 P r o g r e s s i o n Data 108 I n i t i a l Occupations 108 F i r s t job - t h i r d job st u d i e s 108 Company and p o s i t i o n m o b i l i t y 111 How lon g has i t taken 112 Present Companies.... 114 Age when h i r e d by present company 114 Age present p o s i t i o n achieved 116 Importance of sa l e s experience and f a m i l y connections. 118 The Influence of Education on Achievement Time 121 Education's i n f l u e n c e on respondents' f i r s t and t h i r d jobs 122 Time taken to reach present p o s i t i o n . . . . . . . . . . 123 Who gets the newly created p o s i t i o n s 124 S o c i a l Factors Influence on Achievement Time 125 Fathers' occupation and respondents' f i r s t job 125 S i z e of b i r t h p l a c e i n f l u e n c e on respondents' achieve-ments........ 127 Promotion Prospects and Expectations 127 i x CHAPTER P A G E V I I . INCOME STUDIES 131 I n t r o d u c t i o n . . . • 131 T o t a l Annual Income 131 Annual Income • 131 Income by company type 132 Form of Income... • • • 133 S t r a i g h t s a l a r y f o r most 133 Commissions and bonuses p l a y a r o l e 134 L i b e r a l expense accounts 136 The Influence of Age and Education on Income 136 The Influence of Other Fac t o r s on Income 140 Years w i t h present company 141'-Years i n present p o s i t i o n . . . . 142 Number of p o s i t i o n s h e l d 142 Number of companies worked f o r 143 Spans of c o n t r o l 144 Amount of t r a v e l time.... 146 T o t a l company s a l e s . . . . . . 147 V I I I . SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS 149 I n t r o d u c t i o n 149 B a s i c C h a r a c t e r i s t i c s 150 S o c i a l O r i g i n s 150 Education 152 X CHAPTER PAGE Personal C h a r a c t e r i s t i c s 154 Family and Home 154 Hobbies 155 P o l i t i c s 156 M i l i t a r y S e r v i c e 1 56 Company C h a r a c t e r i s t i c s 1 56 Growth 156 F o r m a l i z a t i o n of Sales Executive R e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s 158 Business A c t i v i t i e s . . . . . . . •• 160 Job R e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s 160 Spans of C o n t r o l 161 Career P a t t e r n s and Prospects 162 Achievement 162 Education's Influence on Achievement 163 Promotion Prospects........ 164 Income Studies . . . . . • . . . . . . • • * . . 1 6 5 Annual Income • 165 F a c t o r s Which Influence Income 166 Education and age 166 Rapid Growth 166 BIBLIOGRAPHY 167 APPENDIX A. The Questionnaire 172 APPENDIX B. Career P a t t e r n Tables 182 APPENDIX C. Income Tables 201 x i LIST OF TABLES TABLE PAGE I . D i s t r i b u t i o n of Respondents By P r i n c i p l e Type of Goods S o l d and By O f f i c e Type 20 I I . D i s t r i b u t i o n of Respondents By Age 22 I I I . Percentage D i s t r i b u t i o n of Respondents' Ages C l a s s i f i e d By O f f i c e Type 23 IV. Percentage D i s t r i b u t i o n of Respondents' Ages C l a s s i f i e d By Company Type.... 23 V. D i s t r i b u t i o n of Responses By T o t a l Company D o l l a r Sales Volume..... 26 V I . D i s t r i b u t i o n of Branch O f f i c e Annual D o l l a r Sales Volume. ' 26 V I I . D i s t r i b u t i o n of Head O f f i c e Annual D o l l a r Sales Volume ( B r i t i s h Columbia Based Companies) 27 V I I I . D i s t r i b u t i o n of Respondents By Country of B i r t h and Province of B i r t h - 1966 and i 9 6 0 30 IX. P r o d u c t i v i t y R a t i o of the Various Canadian Provinces -1966 - i 9 6 0 33 X. Percentage D i s t r i b u t i o n of Respondents By S i z e of B i r t h -place - 1966 and i 9 6 0 35 X I . Respondents' Fathers' Occupation and U n i v e r s i t y Education L e v e l Compared t o General Population 37 x i i TABLE PAGE-X I I . Percentage D i s t r i b u t i o n of Respondents' M a r i t a l S t a t u s , S i z e of Family Respondents Came From and Number of C h i l d r e n Respondents Have 40 X I I I . Comparison of Respondents' Family S i z e With N a t i o n a l and P r o v i n c i a l Averages 41 XIV. Percentage D i s t r i b u t i o n Comparison of Respondents' Teenage and Present Hobbies 43 XV. Percentage D i s t r i b u t i o n of 1966 and 19 6 O Respondents By Level of Education Compared to Le v e l of Education of Male Population 20 Years of Age and Over 47 XVI. Percentage D i s t r i b u t i o n of E d u c a t i o n a l Level Achieved C l a s s i f i e d By the Type of Company 50 XVII. Percentage D i s t r i b u t i o n of E d u c a t i o n a l Level Achieved C l a s s i f i e d By Respondents' Fathers' Occupations 52 X V I I I . Sources of Funds While at U n i v e r s i t y and Extent to Which Sources Were Used 54 XIX. Percentage D i s t r i b u t i o n of Respondents I n d i c a t i n g M i l i t a r y S e r v i c e , By Branch of S e r v i c e , Number of Years i n the S e r v i c e and Status at Discharge. 55 XX. D i s t r i b u t i o n of Respondents By T o t a l Annual Income -1966 and 1960 57 XXI. Percentage D i s t r i b u t i o n of Respondents Changing Residence Over the Last Ten Years 59 x i i i TABLE PAGE XXII. Percentage Distribution of Respondents' Changes In Residence Which Were Due to Company Transfers 60 XXIII. Respondents' Home Ownership and Valuation (1966) Compared to 1961 Census Data..... 62 XXIV. Percentage Distribution of Respondents' Provincial P o l i t i c a l A f f i l i a t i o n Compared to Popular Vote Results In the 1966 Provincial and the 19^5 Federal Elections 64 XXV. Percentage Distribution of Provincial P o l i t i c a l A f f i l i a t i o n Classified By Company Type 65 XXVI. Classification of Total Responses By Company Type -1960 - 1966 6 8 XXVII. Percentage Distribution of Head and Branch Offices Classified By Company Type - 1966 and i 9 6 0 70 XXVIII. Percentage Distribution of Total Annual Sales - 1966 and 1960 - Classified By Company Type 72 XXIX. Percentage Distribution of Total Annual Sales of B.C. Based Companies - 1966 and i 9 6 0 Classified By Company Type - 1966 74 XXX. Percentage Distribution of Branch Office Sales - 1966 and 1960 Classified By Company Type - 1966 76 XXXI. Percentage Response of Newly Created Positions Classified By Company Type 7 8 XIV TABLE PAGE XXXII. Percentage D i s t r i b u t i o n of the R e s p o n s i b i l i t y f o r T r a i n i n g New Company Salesmen C l a s s i f i e d by Company Type 80 XXXIII. Percentage D i s t r i b u t i o n of the R e s p o n s i b i l i t y f o r T r a i n i n g Company Salesmen C l a s s i f i e d By O f f i c e Type.... 84 XXXIV. Percentage Response of Formal Job D e s c r i p t i o n s C l a s s i f i e d By Company Type 88 XXXV. Percentage D i s t r i b u t i o n of O f f i c i a l Job T i t l e s C l a s s i f i e d By Company Type 91 XXXVI. Percentage D i s t r i b u t i o n of O f f i c i a l T i t l e s of the Persons To Whom Respondents Are D i r e c t l y Responsible C l a s s i f i e d By Company Type 93 XXXVII. Percentage Response f o r Business A c t i v i t i e s Engaged In By Respondents, Those Considered Most Important and Those Considered Most Time Consuming 95 XXXVIII. Respondents' Span of Co n t r o l and I n d i r e c t Personnel R e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s C l a s s i f i e d By Company Type - 1966 and i 9 6 0 (Percentage of Responses) 103 XXXIX. Percentage D i s t r i b u t i o n of Amount of T r a v e l Time Away From Home C l a s s i f i e d By Company Type 105 XL. Type of Business Experience Considered Most Important In A c h i e v i n g Present P o s i t i o n s C l a s s i f i e d By Company Type 119 XV TABLE PAGE XLI. Respondents' Promotion Expectations In T h e i r Present P o s i t i o n s and the Promotion of the Former Holders of These P o s i t i o n s By Company Type 128 X L I I . Comparison of Income Ranges, U n i v e r s i t y Education and Age (Percentage of Response) 137 X L I I I . Percentage D i s t r i b u t i o n of Income Levels C l a s s i f i e d By Number of Employees D i r e c t l y Responsible For 145 XLIV. Percentage D i s t r i b u t i o n of Income Levels C l a s s i f i e d By Number of Employees D i r e c t l y and I n d i r e c t l y Responsible For 145 XLV. Age at Which Respondents Obtained T h e i r F i r s t Job C l a s s i f i e d By Company Type 183 XLVI. C l a s s i f i c a t i o n and Comparison of Respondents' F i r s t and T h i r d Jobs (Percentage Response) 184 XLVII. Respondents' F i r s t and T h i r d Jobs C l a s s i f i e d By Company Type (Percentage Response) 1 85 X L V I I I . T o t a l Number of Companies Respondents Have Worked For C l a s s i f i e d By Company Type 1 86 XLIX. T o t a l Number of P o s i t i o n s Respondents Have Held In A l l Companies C l a s s i f i e d By Company Type 187 L. Number of Years Required to Reach Present P o s i t i o n C l a s s i f i e d By Company Type 188 L I . Respondents' Ages When H i r e d By T h e i r Present Companies C l a s s i f i e d By Company Type 1 89 x v i TABLE PAGE L I I . Age at Which Respondents Achieved T h e i r Present P o s i t i o n C l a s s i f i e d By Company Type 190 L I I I . Number of P o s i t i o n s Respondents Have Held In T h e i r Present Company C l a s s i f i e d By Company Type... 191 LIV. Number of Years Respondents Have Been In T h e i r Present P o s i t i o n C l a s s i f i e d By Company Type 192 LV. S i z e of Respondents' Present Companies C l a s s i f i e d By Education Received 193 LVI. Respondents' F i r s t Jobs C l a s s i f i e d By Le v e l of Education Received 194 L V I I . Respondents' T h i r d Jobs C l a s s i f i e d By Le v e l of Education Achieved 195 L V I I I . Years Respondents Required t o Achieve Present P o s i t i o n C l a s s i f i e d By Le v e l of Education 196 LIX. The Occupations of Respondents* Fathers C l a s s i f i e d By Respondents F i r s t Jobs.. 197 LX. Number of Years Required to Reach Present P o s i t i o n C l a s s i f i e d By Respondents' Fathers' Occupations (Percentage Response) 198 LXI. .Number of Years Required to Reach Present P o s i t i o n C l a s s i f i e d By S i z e of Respondents' B i r t h p l a c e (Percentage Response)....... 199 x v i i TABLE PAGE L X I I . Respondents' Promotion Expectations By T i t l e C l a s s i f i e d By Company Type 200 L X I I I . Percentage D i s t r i b u t i o n of Respondents' T o t a l Annual Income C l a s s i f i e d By Company Type 202 LXIV. Form of Compensation C l a s s i f i e d By Company Type 203 LXV. Extent of Commision In T o t a l Annual Income C l a s s i f i e d By Company Type (Combination S a l a r y and Commission Respondents Only) 204 LXVI. Extent to Which Bonuses Form a Part of Respondents' T o t a l Annual Income C l a s s i f i e d By Company Type 205 LXVII. Percentage D i s t r i b u t i o n of Income Levels C l a s s i f i e d By Number of Years w i t h Present Company 206 L X V I I I . Percentage D i s t r i b u t i o n of Income Levels C l a s s i f i e d By Number of Years i n Present P o s i t i o n 207 LXIX. Percentage D i s t r i b u t i o n of Income Levels C l a s s i f i e d By Number of P o s i t i o n s Held In A l l Companies..... 208 LXX. Percentage D i s t r i b u t i o n of Income Levels C l a s s i f i e d By Number of P o s i t i o n s Held In Present Company 209 LXXI. Percentage D i s t r i b u t i o n of Income Levels C l a s s i f i e d By Number of Companies Worked For 210 LXXII. Percentage D i s t r i b u t i o n of Income Levels C l a s s i f i e d By Amount of T r a v e l Time 211 L X X I I I . Percentage D i s t r i b u t i o n of Income Levels C l a s s i f i e d By T o t a l Company Sales 212 x v i i i ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The w r i t e r acknowledges the help of the people who made t h i s study p o s s i b l e . Mr. James B. Warren, Chairman of the Marketing D i v i s i o n of the F a c u l t y of Commerce and Business A d m i n i s t r a t i o n was the t h e s i s a d v i s o r and was instrumental i n the choice of t h i s work. He provided the p a t i e n t d i r e c t i o n and encouragement needed to complete the t a s k . Mr. A. Fowler and Miss G. S t a r k y of the U.B.C. Computing Centre were extremely h e l p f u l i n programming and pro c e s s i n g the data. S p e c i a l thanks are due the respondents who gave t h e i r time to the q u e s t i o n n a i r e and without whose cooperation the study could not have been c a r r i e d out. CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION In the exciting changing world of business the nature of sales management' is changing. There has been increased interest in the role of marketing management within the business enterprise. An awareness of the need for greater customer orientation has led business firms to adopt the \"marketing concept\" and recognize the need to adjust to their changing environments. Although advertising, publ ic i ty and sales promotion seem r e l a -t ive ly more important to the layman because of their almost over-whelming visual impact, for most firms personal se l l ing represents the major element of their programme. Personal contact has always been the major means of bringing buyer and sel ler together in the market place. The success of the se l l ing operation - which determines the success of the firm - depends s ignif icantly on the effectiveness of i t s salesmen. The effectiveness of the firm's salesmen depends on the effectiveness of their managers. The salesman's primary responsibi l i ty i s generating sales revenue but today's salesman is l i k e l y to perform many other marketing functions including product and technical service for his customers. Our economy has evolved from a se l ler ' s market through the \"hard se l l\" market, typical of the years when the vast quantities of products 2 coming off the production lines had to be moved; to the buyer's market of today where customers demand that the salesman help them define and solve a wide range of problems. The broadening responsibi l i ty of salesmen has placed new and more demanding responsibi l i t ies on the sales manager. No longer can yesterday's \"supersalesman\" be expected to have the training and talent necessary to carry out the new demands placed on him. The role of the sales executive, both at home office and in the f i e l d , i s more important and more demanding than ever before. Moreover, i t i s changing and becoming even more demanding. The focus is no longer limited to se l l ing , recruit ing and training - i t now includes broad responsibi l i t ies in the company's marketing programme, i t s market re -search, promotion, product and customer development. In many cases the increasing importance of the sales executive has been reflected in his t i t l e ; Vice President of Sales, Vice President in Charge of Marketing, or perhaps as this thesis w i l l show, Marketing Manager. There has been a great deal written about the small group of power-ful leaders who order and control great business hierarchies; chairmen of the board, presidents, vice presidents who compose top management. 1 These writings have studied executive development, the act iv i t ies 1 What Makes An Executive? Report of a Round Table oh Executive Potential and Performance: New York, Columbia University Press, 1955-3 2 of top management, and the careers of business leaders and the forces that made them leaders.\"^ However, there i s a real lack of writings and studies on the men below these levels, the men who report d irect ly to the top men, the men who are actively involved in seeing that the orders and directives are carried out. These are the men this thesis focuses i t s attention on. More part icularly , this study is concerned with Br i t i sh Columbia sales executives. It presents the findings of extensive research in a broad spectrum of sales executives' backgrounds, the companies they work for, their job opportunities and responsibi l i t ies , and their personal achievements. The careers of sales executives, their private l ives , and what they are thought to be, have become the material of legend and modern theatre. The popular mind has transformed them into symbols and stereotypes. Contemporary novels sometimes describe what these men are believed to be as persons; the hail-fel low, well-met who does a l l his business on the golf course or in the coctai l lounge; the sales manager whose concern for his salesmen is l imited to the sales volume they can generate. This thesis w i l l be directed toward presenting an objective Earner, L.W. and Abegglen, J . , Big Business Leaders in America, Harper Brothers, New York, 1955* \"^Randal, Clarence B . , The Executive in Transition, McGraw H i l l Book Company, New York, 1967• 4 view applicable to today. It attempts to provide an insight into the type of person who i s a sales executive today and provide meaning to the term \"sales executive.\" I. PURPOSES OP THE STUDY This thesis generally discusses the background of British Columbia sales executives. Specifically, i t has the following objectives: 1. To present a profile of the typical B.C. sales executive; his background, his present personal and business status, and his duties and responsibilities. 2. To present characteristics of the companies the sales executives work for; their size, types of goods sold, growth prospects, and the extent to which they have formalized essential areas such as job descriptions and salesmen evaluation. 3. To make significant comparisons with a similar study conducted in i 9 6 0 and with the findings of other studies and writings in applicable areas. 4. To give meaning to the term \"sales executive\" and a f u l l understanding of i t s significance, both economically and socially. 5. To inform and warn British Columbia companies, as distinct from out-of-province based companies, that they are not 5 taking f u l l advantage of Br i t i sh Columbia's rapid growth and expanding opportunities. In f u l f i l l i n g these objectives the study w i l l provide answers to questions of the following nature: What are the education and experience qualif ications for achieving sales executive positions? Are there significant differences among industries and among firms in the same industry but of different size? Are there any particular types of individual backgrounds that predominate in today's sales executives? Does there appear to be any particular characteristics of a positive nature that can be identif ied and considered in evalu-ating potential candidates for sales executive positions? These questions and many others w i l l be considered in depth in the establish-ment of the typical profi le of sales executives in Br i t i sh Columbia. II . IMPORTANCE OP THE STUDY This study is important because, at present, the knowledge of sales executive development has been inadequate to offer clear-cut answers to the questions with which this f i e l d has been f i l l e d , par-t i c u l a r l y in an area such as B r i t i s h Columbia where most of our major development i s yet to come and where, for the most part, decisions and choices of existing sales executive personnel have been made by managements far removed from the local scene. Naturally, the best this study can do i s draw tentative con-clusions that w i l l provide a basis for evaluating current practices in sales executive development and at the same time prepare a 6 foundation for further research. The results of this study should be of value to new firms set-t ing up sales organizations in Br i t i sh Columbia and to existing firms considering change or expansion. It i s also hoped that certain guidelines can be established for the selection of the right individu-als to ensure as much as possible, the success of programmes. Certainly, this study w i l l serve to establish the sales executive as a professional and his position as one v i t a l l y important to the success of any company. III . SCOPE OP THE STUDY This study began in 1966 when questionnaires were mailed to a group of sales executives in Br i t i sh Columbia. The questionnaire was designed to help provide an understanding of the position \"sales executive\" and the man who holds that posit ion. Where possible, results are compared with a similar study undertaken through the Faculty of Commerce and Business Administration, University of ^ 4 Bri t i sh Columbia by H.D. Butterworth in I96O. This study is based, in large part, on the study undertaken by Mr. Butterworth. Much of the value of this study l ies in determining whether or not significant changes have taken place during the interim ^H. Douglas Butterworth, \"A Profi le of the Typical Br i t i sh Columbia Sales Manager,\" A Graduating Essay presented to the Faculty of Commerce and Business Administration, University of Br i t i sh Columbia, i 9 6 0 . 7 period. Some interesting new data for evaluation and analysis have also been obtained. In addition, although the comparisons may not be part icularly va l id , the findings of a number of American publica-t ion and Industry association sponsored studies w i l l be presented where applicable. The questionnaires were mailed to 2 1 4 sales managers or persons of equivalent responsibi l i ty in B r i t i s h Columbia. The response was extremely high; 146 responses out of 214 responses so l ic i ted , a return of over 68 percent. The companies selected for this thesis were \"Industrials\" which 5 were l i s ted in the Financial Post Survey of Industrials - 1 9 6 6 . These included companies and their subsidiaries in the following class i f icat ions: 1. Beverage companies. 2. Chemical and a l l i e d product companies. 3. Construction companies. 4. E l e c t r i c a l equipment companies. 5. Foodstuff companies. 6. Iron and steel companies. 7. Merchandising companies. 8. M i l l i n g and grain companies. 9. Non-ferrous metal companies. 10. O i l and pipeline companies. 1 1 . Pulp and paper companies. 12. Textile companies. 1 3 . Transportation companies. A. DEFINITIONS OF TERMS USED IN THE STUDY For the purpose of this study the preceding classif ications The Financial Post Survey of Industrials - 1966, Mclean Hunter, Toronto, I960T 8 of companies have been grouped under the following four major c l a s s i -f icat ions. These classif ications generally c lass i fy the companies by-principle types of products sold. 1 . Consumer Goods Those goods intended for household or personal use of the ultimate consumer. 2. Industrial Goods Those goods destined for use in producing other goods or services. 3. Combination Consumer Goods and Industrial Goods Those goods sold by companies serving both the industrial and consumer markets. (Throughout this report this c lass i f icat ion w i l l be referred to as simply \"combination goods.\") 4. Service Industry Services rather than products, such as offered by trans-portation companies, dry cleaners, etc. Other terms which w i l l be used and which help to establish the frame of reference of this study follow. 5. Executive An \"executive\" i s a re lat ive ly high member of the manage-ment family whose work is largely in the area of decision making and policy formulation. His capacity is such that his judgement, perspective, and s k i l l in properly delegating responsibi l i ty w i l l weigh heavily in the long term success or fai lure of the business. 6. Occupational Succession Occupational succession is the ordered p r o c e s s „ b y which individuals succeed each other in occupations. Leland Doan, Executive L i f e , Doubleday and Company, Inc., Garden City , New York, 1956, p. 19. 7 W.L. Warner and J . C . Abegglen, Occupational Mobility in Business and Industry, Minneapolis, University of Minnesota Press, 1952, p. 4. 7 . Productivity The ratio of the respondents to the total sample divided by the ratio of the same c r i t e r i a to the total Canadian population for the time period under consideration.8 8 . Sales Manager The executive responsible for the planning, direction, and control of the se l l ing act iv i t ies of a business organiza-t ion, especially the act iv i t ies of the salesmen themselves.^ 9 . B .C. The term Br i t i sh Columbia i s used repeatedly throughout the study. For the purposes of brevity and layout, the abbreviation B .C. w i l l be used when necessary or when repetition is too great. B. LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY This thesis is concerned with Br i t i sh Columbia sales executives only. There i s no attempt to expand the findings to a Canada-wide basis even though many of the firms included in the survey have head offices outside Br i t i sh Columbia. There are two basic reasons for th i l imitation; the fact that a Canada-wide survey would have been too large an undertaking, and secondly, i t was felt that Br i t i sh Columbia sales executives could very well d i f fer in many characteristics from sales executives in other parts of Canada. These differences would probably arise as a result of the desirable l i v i n g conditions in Br i t i sh Columbia which tends to influence the choice of many people F.W. Taussig and C.S. Joslyn, American Business Leaders, The MacMillan Company, New York, 1 9 3 2 , p. 84 and H.D. Butterworth, op. c i t . , p. 6 . 9 D . J . Clark and B.A. Gottfried, Dictionary of Business and Finance, New York, Cromwell, 1957 , p. 3 1 2 . 10 in their career decisions. The author knows several people personally who have taken lesser positions to come to Br i t i sh Columbia and who have passed up or given up better positions in order to remain i n , or 10 come back to, Br i t i sh Columbia. The study has a bui l t in l imitation in the sample selection which was restricted to firms l i s ted in the Financial Post Survey of Industrials . This was a deliberate decision in order to eliminate the majority of smaller firms which exist in Br i t i sh Columbia and which would tend to bias the results . Unfortunately, this method also eliminated very large firms from the survey; firms which operate in Br i t i sh Columbia but which do not have their shares traded on the Canadian Stock Exchanges and consequently do not appear in the Financial Post Survey. Other limitations of the study are as follows: 1 . This is primarily a s ta t i s t i ca l summary. No attempt was made to interview the respondents personally, or in depth, to determine the \"whys\" of the findings. The factual data provides a basis for interpretation by the writer. This w i l l raise the poss ib i l i ty of controversy. 2 . Generally, mail questionnaires have a low response due to lack of interest or because the questionnaire did not arrive on the intended respondent's desk. This was over-. come by addressing the questionnaire personally to the ^ F o r a very interesting discussion on the attractiveness and lure of the Br i t i sh Columbia environment, see Pat Annesley's special report, \"Everything's S l id ing Into B . C . , \" Marketing, March 1 0 , 1969, pp. 2 0 - 2 4 . p. 3 0 . 11 to the named recipient and including a covering letter which w i l l be discussed in Chapter II . 3 . The questionnaire was long and required a considerable effort on the part of the respondent to answer f u l l y . Those who took the time may or may not be representative of the universe, however, this i s considered unlikely due to the high response. 4 . \"No replies\" were not considered serious enough in any question to invalidate the entire questionnaire. As a result , there are a number of these recorded throughout the study. The number of non-replies, in no case, are large enough to cast any doubts on the overall findings. Non-replies are typica l ly less than two percent in any individual tabular presentation. In bivariate tables i t is possible to have non-replies in one or two questionnaires in the ver t ica l c lass i f icat ion and non-replies in additional questionnaires in the horizontal c lass i f i cat ion . Where this happens, a l l the offending questionnaires are eliminated from the presentation (as many as four in some cases), and the calculations based on the remaining que st i onnai re s. IV. ORGANIZATION OP THE REST OF THE THESIS The remainder of the thesis is organized in the following manner. Chapter II w i l l be devoted to the questionnaire used in 12 the study along with a f u l l explanation of the questionnaire i t s e l f and the procedures involved. Chapter III w i l l deal with the character-i s t i c s of the individual respondents and develop a personal profi le of the typical sales executive. Each area in this chapter w i l l be preceded by a short synopsis which expresses the typical characteris-t i c s of the sample as a whole. Where the results between the four major classi f icat ions dif fer s ignif icantly, further discussion w i l l be presented so that meaningful comparisons can be made. This chapter w i l l also present data where i t appears that significant changes have taken place in comparison with Mr. Butterworth's i 9 6 0 study. Chapter IV w i l l deal with the characteristics of the companies involved in this study. Growth characteristics, sales volumes, and formalization of selected., procedures w i l l be presented and discussed. Particular emphasis w i l l be placed on comparisons with the i 9 6 0 company data in order to demonstrate the rapid growth characteristic of this period. Chapter V is concerned with the business act iv i t ies and responsibi l i t ies of Br i t i sh Columbia sales executives, their job t i t l e s , to whom responsible, spans of control, and actual job responsibi l i t ies . Chapter VI involves i t s e l f with the career patterns of the respondents to date and speculates on the future prospects of these respondents. It discusses job patterns, company and job mobility, the influence of various factors such as education and social origin on their achievement times, and closes with considered opinions on their future promotional prospects and the prospects of future sales executives. Chapter VII deals with the respondents' incomes and the form of their income. This chapter also c r i t i c a l l y analyzes some of the factors normally expected to influence income. Chapter VIII, the concluding chapter, summarizes the findings of Chapters III to VII and presents a f inal look at the profi le of the typical Br i t i sh Columbia sales executive today. CHAPTER II THE QUESTIONNAIRE AND SAMPLE DESIGN I . INTRODUCTION The typical B.C. sales executive is 45 years old, earns $ 1 5 , 0 0 0 per year, and is employed by a company se l l ing consumer goods. He owns his own home and has 2 . 4 children. The above data are essentially s ta t i s t i ca l averages. There is no one of the respondents who matches the s ta t i s t i ca l averages ex-actly, and there are many who vary from the norms established, but there are some characteristics which hold generally true for sales executives i n Br i t i sh Columbia. The questionnaire used in this study was designed to identify those characterist ics . A brief explanation of the questionnaire follows. II . THE QUESTIONNAIRE The questionnaire was six pages long and contained 39 individual 11 questions. It was divided into six parts: Class i f icat ion Data, Social Origins, Formal Educational Background, Career Pattern, Present Status, and Duties and Responsibil i t ies . A brief explanation of each of these sections and the questions contained w i l l be presented here. 11 The complete questionnaire i s reproduced in Appendix A, pages 1 7 2 t o l 8 0 . The questionnaire was based on the 27 questions of Butter-worth's study and; Warner and Abegglen, op. c i t . , pp. 2 4 2 - 2 4 5 , and Tausig and Joslyn, op. c i t . , p. 1 4 . 15 Class i f icat ion Data. This section was designed to establish the characteristics of the respondent's company, type of goods sold, size of company, and whether i t was a branch or head office operation. This section also indicates the age c lass i f icat ion of the respondent. Social Origin. Questions on place and size of place of b ir th , occupation of the respondent's father, size of the family group, and the respondent's hobbies as a teenager were included in this section. Formal Educational Background. This section contained specific questions to determine the level of education received, means of financing university education, and subject matter considered most useful in the respondent's career. Career Pattern. Included in this section was a request for a complete job history of the respondent. The questions also sought answers to in ter - and i n t r a - company changes, length of service in present company, number of years in present position, and types of positions held, e tc . . Present Status. Examples of questions asked in this section which established the present status of the sales executive today were: Is he married? How many children does he have? Does he own his own home and what value does he place on i t? What is his income? Duties and Responsibil i t ies . This is the f ina l section. An attempt was made to determine the present duties and responsibi l i t ies of the respondent. Typical questions were: What does the sales executive do? What is his t i t l e Where w i l l the next step in his career take him? How much time away from home does his job require of him? III . SELECTION OP THE SAMPLE The questionnaire was mailed to 2 1 4 sales managers or persons of equivalent responsibi l i ty in Br i t i sh Columbia. The original mailing l i s t was compiled by cross checking a l l the industrial firms l i s t ed in the Financial Post Survey with the telephone directories of the major Br i t i sh Columbia centers. This identif ied the firms which had offices in Br i t i sh Columbia. The next step was to insure that those firms which received a questionnaire had a local sales organization within the frame of reference of this study. This was accomplished by checking the l i s t of firms that had been obtained at this point with Contacts Business 12 Reference Book. This i s a publication and service of Contacts Influential International Incorporated. This very comprehensive publication is continually updated and is available to business firms on a subscription basis or through the Vancouver Public Library. 17 In many instances this publication indicated that certain firms should be eliminated because they did not have an acceptable sales organization. In a great number of instances i t also identif ied the holders of various positions within the company. Where doubt s t i l l existed or where the names of executives who should receive the questionnaire were s t i l l unknown, a telephone c a l l to the firm in question was made. A few brief questions to the receptionist were usually a l l that was required. This procedure was well worth the effort for i t insured that almost a l l of the questionnaires returned were usable. In fact, only two of the responses were discarded because they did not f i t the original frame of reference. The questionnaire was long. It would require a major effort on the part of a busy recipient to take the time to f i l l i t out fu l l y and careful ly . Normally, one would expect a very poor return under these circumstances. To overcome this inert ia a covering letter was 13 sent with the questionnaire. This covering letter was sent out under the signature of Professor J . B . Warren, Chairman of the Marketing Division of the Faculty of Commerce and Business Adminis-trat ion of the University of Br i t i sh Columbia. This letter added prestige and importance to the questionnaire. While explaining the importance of the study, the covering letter also included a promise to send a summary of the findings to a l l For the complete text of the letter see Appendix A, page 17 ;2. 18 recipients of the questionnaire. The f ina l effort made to ensure a good response was a personal telephone contact. Approximately three weeks after the questionnaire was mailed, each of the intended recipients was phoned to confirm that they had received the questionnaire. I f by some chance the questionnaire had not been received, permission to send a duplicate was requested. Those who had answered the questionnaire were thanked while those who had not answered were asked i f they would take the time. This f ina l effort helped increase the returns as was evident from returns after the telephone follow-up. During the telephone follow-up i t was discovered that in a number of cases the named recipient was no longer with the company or had been transferred. The new holder of that position usually expressed interest and willingness to cooperate and a new questionnaire was m a i l e d . ^ This follow-up was important because i t increased returns by several percentage points and also insured that the summaries would go to the proper individuals. In several cases i t also eliminated some firms or offices from the study due to changed conditions such as the closing of an office or a company reorganization that eliminated the posit ion. 1A Additional questionnaires (as a result of this situation) and duplicate questionnaires, where for some reason the original had not been received or was misplaced, were not added to the total figure of questionnaires mailed. 19 CHAPTER III A PERSONAL PROFILE OF THE TYPICAL BRITISH COLUMBIA SALES EXECUTIVE I. PURPOSE It i s the purpose of this chapter to present the basic character-i s t i c s that w i l l present a personal profi le of the typical Br i t i sh Columbia sales executive today. Many of the basic findings presented in this chapter w i l l be used as control data throughout the rest of the thesis. In addition, comparisons w i l l be made with the personal characteristics of Mr. Butterworth's typical sales executive of i 9 6 0 wherever significant changes in the character of the respondent's seems to have taken place. Comparisons w i l l also be made between the four groups of respondents representing the four different c l a s s i f i -cations of companies included in this study. I I . BASIC CHARACTERISTICS The typical B.C. sales executive i s 45 years o ld . He i s employed by a con-sumer goods company in a branch office of his company. The annual sales of his company are over $ 1 5 , 0 0 0 , 0 0 0 while the sales of the branch for which he i s responsible are under $ 5 , 0 0 0 , 0 0 0 . Type of Company and Type of Office The 146 respondents were c lass i f ied into four groups depending 20 on the principle type of products with which they were involved. These four groups were: consumer goods, industrial goods, a combination of consumer and industrial goods, and services. Table I presents the numerical and percentage response in these four categories. This table also c lass i f ies the respondents as head office or branch office sales executives. TABLE I DISTRIBUTION OF RESPONDENTS BY PRINCIPLE TYPE OF GOODS SOLD AND BY OFFICE TYPE PRODUCT TYPE Total Response No. % OFFICE TYPE HEAD BRANCH No. % No. t Consumer Industrial Combination Service 4 8 3 2 . 9 43 2 9 . 5 41 2 8 . 0 14 9 . 6 12 7 8 8 2 5 . 0 1 6 . 3 1 9 . 5 57 .1 36 36 33 6 7 5 - 0 8 3 . 7 8 O . 5 4 2 . 9 Totals 146 1 0 0 . 0 35 2 4 . 0 111 7 6 . 0 The number of responses from the \"goods\" sales executives (as dist inct from services) were f a i r l y evenly distributed. Consumer goods, i n -dustr ia l , and combination respondents accounted for approximately 33 percent, 30 percent, and 28 percent of the total responses respective-ly , while service industry responses accounted for less than 10 per-cent. Assuming that approximately one half of the combination group of respondents are involved with consumer goods i t becomes readily 21 apparent that consumer sales dominate in this study. Table I also demonstrates that branch office sales executives outnumber head office executives by better than three to one. This would appear reasonable considering B . C . ' s relative youth in Canada's industrial development. The branch office operations are primarily branches of Eastern Canadian companies. The service industry presents a reversal from the general trend with head office responses s l ight ly outnumbering branch office responses. It would seem that the larger companies headquartered outside Br i t i sh Columbia have taken consider-ably less interest in the areas covered by service than they have taken in industrial and consumer sales. However, Chapter IV w i l l introduce this subject again and w i l l demonstrate that even in the service industry growth prospects are attracting more and more of the larger eastern companies. Age The respondents were grouped into five age categories which are presented in Table II . It w i l l be noted that the bulk of the respondents f a l l into the 40 to 49 age grouping and that i f the average age of the respondents were calculated i t would f a l l into the same grouping; approximately 45 years of age. It i s readily determined that over 71 percent of the respondents are over 40 years of age. The average age of 45 indicates that experience plays a major role in achieving sales executive positions. Forty-four percent of 22 the respondents were in the modal class of 40 to 49 a^ d. 27 percent were aged f i f t y or more. TABLE II DISTRIBUTION OF RESPONDENTS BY AGE AGE NUMBER PERCENTAGE Under 30 1 . 7 30 - 34 12 8 . 2 35 - 39 29 1 9 . 9 40 - 49 64 4 3 . 8 50 and over 40 2 7 . 4 Totals 146 1 0 0 . 0 The B.C. based companies' sales executives were older than their out-of-province counterparts. This i s established in Tables III and IV where the respondents' ages are c lass i f ied by office type and by company type. Note that in Table III , 37 .1 percent of the head office sales executives are aged f i f t y or more while only 24»3 percent of the branch office respondents were in this age group. Table III establishes the fact that sales executives of Br i t i sh Columbia^based companies are older than their counterparts in out-of-province companies. Table IV - 1 confirms this conclusion by class i fying the responses by company type. Here i t w i l l be noted that the industrial c lass i f icat ion which has the highest percentage of branch offices (see Table I) has TABLE III PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTION OP RESPONDENTS* AGES CLASSIFIED BY OFFICE TYPE AGE OFFICE TYPE Head Office Branch Office 1o Under 30 . 0 . 9 30 - 39 2 5 . 8 2 8 . 8 40 - 49 3 7 . 1 4 6 . 0 50 and over 3 7 . 1 2 4 - 3 Totals 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 TABLE IV PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTION OF RESPONDENTS' AGES CLASSIFIED BY COMPANY TYPE AGE COMPANY TYPE ,; Consumer Industrial Combination Service % % % ; Under 30 . 0 2 . 3 . 0 . 0 30 - 39 27.1 2 7 . 9 2 9 . 3 2 8 . 6 40 - 49 4 1 . 7 4 8 . 8 4 3 . 9 3 5 . 7 50 and over 3 1 . 2 2 1 . 0 2 6 . 8 3 5 . 7 Totals 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 24 the lowest percentage (21 percent) of respondents over f i f t y years of age. Combination goods, with the second highest incidence of branch offices, follows the pattern set with the second lowest percentage (26.8 percent) of respondents over f i f t y . The same pattern holds true for consumer goods and service companies, in that order. The immediate question which i s raised i s : Why, in a young, dynamic province such as Br i t i sh Columbia, should the sales executives of home grown companies be demonstrably older than the sales executives of companies which are established elsewhere? Perhaps i t i s because most firms have a tendency to test their personnel in branch offices and move them into head office positions after gaining experience and demonstrating their a b i l i t y to handle the added responsibi l i ty of head office decisions. However, i t i s not fe l t that this adequately explains the situation. It is a hypothesis of this thesis that Br i t i sh Columbia companies are lagging in their efforts to capitalize on the tremendous potential of B.C. and that the above observations are only the f i r s t of several confirming observations which w i l l be presented throughout the thesis . Apart from this question there are other observations. The B .C. sales executive tends to be older than his counterparts in the United States. Printers Ink reports that the average United States sales executive i s l i k e l y to be in his late th ir t i es or early 1 5 forties with the median age f a l l i n g in the 35 to 44 age bracket. \"How Average is the Average U.S. Sales Executive,\" Chicago 25 Industrial Marketing found the average industrial sales manager was 16 almost 42 years old, while Sales Management found the typical sales 17 executive with his 45^h birthday almost on him. Size of Company Several c r i t e r i a could have been used to determine the size of the respondent's company such as capital assets, total assets, number of employees, and share of market. It was fe l t however, that total annual sales would be the most useful measure as well as probably being the one measure that most respondents would have easy access to. Table V presents the total distribution of responses in terms of total annual sales. Almost 35.percent of the responses were in the $ 5 0 , 0 0 0 , 0 0 0 and over sales c lass i f i cat ion . An addition 24 percent of the responses indicated sales of over $ 1 5 , 0 0 0 , 0 0 0 so that almost 60 percent of the respondents worked for companies whose annual sales were over $ 1 5 , 0 0 0 , 0 0 0 . Since over 75 percent of the respondents worked in branch offices of their companies, a look at the sales volume recorded for branch offices i s in order. Table VI presents the annual sales volumes Survey, Printers Ink, v . 267 (April 17 , 1 9 5 9 ) , P»94« 16 H. Jay Bullen, \"An Intimate Look at Today's Industrial Sales Manager,\" Special Report, Industrial Marketing, v. 45 (November, 1 9 6 0 ) , p. 4 2 . 17 P. Salisbury, \"Profile of the Typical Sales Executive,\" Sales Management, v . 84 (February 1 9 , i 9 6 0 ) , p. 3 3 . TABLE V DISTRIBUTION OP RESPONSES BY TOTAL COMPANY DOLLAR SALES VOLUME TOTAL ANNUAL SALES $ NUMBER PERCENT Less than 1 , 0 0 0 , 0 0 0 4 2 . 7 1 , 0 0 0 , 0 0 0 - 4 , 9 9 9 , 9 9 9 19 1 3 . 0 5 , 0 0 0 , 0 0 0 - 1 4 , 9 9 9 , 9 9 9 34 2 3 . 3 1 5 , 0 0 0 , 0 0 0 - 4 9 , 9 9 9 , 9 9 9 35 2 4 . 0 5 0 , 0 0 0 , 0 0 0 and over 51 3 4 . 9 No reply- 3 2.1 Totals 146 1 0 0 . 0 TABLE VI DISTRIBUTION OF BRANCH OFFICE ANNUAL DOLLAR SALES VOLUME BRANCH ANNUAL SALES NUMBER PERCENT Less than 2 5 0 , 0 0 0 4 3 . 6 2 5 0 , 0 0 0 . - 9 9 9 , 9 9 9 17 1 5 . 3 1 , 0 0 0 , 0 0 0 - 4 , 9 9 9 , 9 9 9 49 4 4 . 1 5 , 0 0 0 , 0 0 0 and over 39 3 5 . 1 No reply 2 1 .9 Totals 111 1 0 0 . 0 indicated by the branch office respondents for their respective branches. Sixty three percent of the responses indicated sales volume of under $ 5 , 0 0 0 , 0 0 0 . The modal class was $ 1 , 0 0 0 , 0 0 0 to $ 4 , 9 9 9 , 9 9 9 with 44 percent of branch office responses. Thirty-f ive of the respondents were in head offices of their companies. These are B .C. based companies. Table VII presents the annual sales of these loca l ly based companies. A comparison of this table with Table V on page 26 readily demonstrates that B.C. based companies are generally not as large as their out-of-province counter-part s. TABLE VII DISTRIBUTION OP HEAD OFFICE ANNUAL DOLLAR SALES VOLUME (BRITISH COLUMBIA BASED COMPANIES) HEAD OFFICE ANNUAL SALES $ NUMBER PERCENT Less than $ 1 , 0 0 0 , 0 0 0 2 5-7 1 , 0 0 0 , 0 0 0 - 4 , 9 9 9 , 9 9 9 9 2 5 . 8 5 , 0 0 0 , 0 0 0 - 1 4 , 9 9 9 , 9 9 9 12 3 4 . 3 1 5 , 0 0 0 , 0 0 0 - 4 9 , 9 9 9 , 9 9 9 6 17.1 5 0 , 0 0 0 , 0 0 0 and over 6 17.1 Totals 35 1 0 0 . 0 Age Comparisons That age and experience play a major role in achieving sales executive positions has been firmly demonstrated. The only significant variation between the 1966 and the i 9 6 0 results is a s l ight ly greater emphasis on under 30 respondents in the i 9 6 0 study, which recorded 3 . 6 percent compared to the 1966 results of less than one percent. This was balanced by a lower percentage of 1966 respondents in the 30 to 39 age category. More s ignif icantly however, i t was found that the head office respondents of the current study are considerably older than the comparable respondents of the i 9 6 0 study. This i s demon-strated in the following figures: The average age of a l l respondents has remained very much the same over the six year period and so i t is d i f f i c u l t to determine whether or not age is a more important determinant in achieving sales executive positions now than i t was in i 9 6 0 . It i s also d i f f i c u l t to determine what part a b i l i t y plays in this achievement other than to say that a b i l i t y and experience are closely related. But, i t does seem evident that the out-of-province companies are more inclined to give responsibi l i ty to the younger man while the B.C. based company i s more incl ined to reward age. When B.C. based companies compound this situation with an ever increasing dependence on age and ex-perience in sales executive promotions, as was just demonstrated, i t behooves them to recognize the p i t f a l l s . 1960 1966 Respondents under 40 40 - 49 50 and over 37.1/O 37.1/° 2 5 . 6 $ 29 III . SOCIAL ORIGINS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA SALES EXECUTIVES The typical B.C. sales executive was ,born in Canada in an urban area. His father was a white c o l -lar worker and had attained a higher level of education than the average Canadian. Regions of Birth As would be expected the majority of respondents were born in Canada: 80 .1 percent. The balance were almost entirely of United Kingdom orig in . There was a significant drop in United States born respondents in comparison to the i 9 6 0 study. In that study nine percent of the respondents were United States born. The current study revealed only s l ight ly over one percent United States born respondents while the Canadian proportion remained re lat ive ly the same and the difference was made up by a substantial increase in United Kingdom born respondents. Table Vlllpresents region of b ir th data and compares the recent results with those of the i 9 6 0 study. Why was there such a large decrease in the proportion of United States born respondents? This is probably explained by United States companies putting more emphasis on staffing with Canadian nationals, a trend which has been evident in a number of larger companies. In addition, there has been a large influx of United Kingdom immigration since World War II which would account for the r i s ing proportion of sales executives born in the United Kingdom. TABLE V I I I DISTRIBUTION OP. RESPONDENTS BY COUNTRY OP BIRTH AND PROVINCE OF BIRTH - 1966 and i 9 6 0 COUNTRY OF BIRTH No. 1966 STUDY % 1960 STUDY % Canada 117 8 0 . 1 8 2 . 0 U n i t e d States 2 1 .4 9 . 0 Other 27 1 8 . 5 9 . 0 T o t a l s 1 t l 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 PROVINCE OP BIRTH No. 1966 STUDY % 1960 STUDY % B r i t i s h Columbia 37 3 1 . 6 3 4 . 4 A l b e r t a 15 1 2 . 8 16 .7 Saskatchewan 14 1 2 . 0 8 . 9 Manitoba 15 1 2 . 8 1 2 . 2 Ontario 27 23 .1 21.1 Quebec 4 3 . 4 5 . 6 Maritimes 2 1.7 1.1 No r e p l y 3 2 . 6 T o t a l s T1.7- 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 31 An interesting aspect uncovered in the study concerns the r i s ing proportion of United Kingdom born respondents. Eighteen percent of the sales executives were born in the United Kingdom while the i 9 6 0 census indicates that only 5«3 percent of Canada's population at that 18 time were born in the Br i t i sh Isles. This high productivity of the United Kingdom in providing sales executive talent to Canadian business i s worthy of more study. Are there identif iable psychological and sociological factors within those who immigrate to this country that can be used to predict sales executive success? If there are, a major advance in sales executive selection can be envisaged. Not unexpectedly, Br i t i sh Columbia heads the f i e l d as a provider of B .C. sales executives - with Ontario the second major contributor. Ontario i s expected to be a major contributor because of two major factors: i t s large population base and the heavy industrial izat ion of the province with the resultant expansion by the major industrial firms into Br i t i sh Columbia. In the matter of province of b ir th , there is a change from i 9 6 0 that is interesting. Br i t i sh Columbia has dropped almost three percent as a contributor of sales executives while Saskatchewan has increased, as a contributor, by s l ight ly over three percent. Canada Year Book J_9_66, Dominion Bureau of Stat i s t ics , Handbook and Library Divis ion, Queen's Printer and Controller of Stationary, Ottawa, Canada, 1 9 6 6 , Table 15 , p. 2 0 2 . 32 Absolute percentages can be misleading in this case. In order to calculate the proportional contribution of each province as a contributor of Br i t i sh Columbia sales executives, Table IX adjusts the percentage of contribution to the distribution of Canadian popu-lat ion by province at the approximate time of the respondents' b irths . This leads to a productivity factor for each of the provinces. Where the productivity ratio i s greater than one, i t means that the province has produced .'a greater proportion of B.C. sales executives than would be expected on the basis of population only. As Table IX demonstrates, Br i t i sh Columbia ranks highest with a ratio of 5*2 : 1; Alberta i s second with a ratio of 1.9 • 1; and Saskatchewan and Manitoba are t ied for th ird with 1.8 : 1. Comparison with i 9 6 0 also demonstrates the increasing proportion of Saskatchewan born respondents, primarily at the expense of Alberta and Br i t i sh Columbia. The attractiveness of Br i t i sh Columbia's climate and the close proximity of the provinces would account for th i s . It has been hypothesized that a region.';s productivity of business leaders closely paral lels i t s industrial development, standard of 19 l i v i n g , and level of education. If this can be extended to include sales executives, then an anomoly exists. It w i l l be generally con-ceded that levels in a l l three categories are increasing; then why Warner and Abegglen, op. c i t . , p. 7 2 . 33 TABLE IX PRODUCTIVITY RATIO OP THE VARIOUS CANADIAN PROVINCES - 1966 - 1960 PROVINCE PERCENT OF RESPONDENTS 1966 PERCENT OF TO-TAL POPULATION 1 9 2 1 * PRODUCTIVITY 1966 RATIO 1960 B r i t i s h Columbia 31 . 6 6 . 0 5 . 2 5 . 6 A l b e r t a 1 2 . 8 6 . 7 1 .9 2 . 5 Saskatchewan 1 2 . 0 8 . 6 1 . 8 1 . 0 Manitoba 1 2 . 8 6 . 8 1 . 8 1 . 8 Ontario 23.1 3 3 . 4 . 6 . 6 Quebec 3 . 4 2 6 . 9 .1 . 3 Maritimes 1.7 1 1 . 4 .1 . 2 Yukon and North West T e r r i t o r i e s . 2 No Reply- 2 . 6 T o t a l s 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 Source: Derived from Canada Year Book 1 9 6 3 - 6 4 , Dominion Bureau of S t a t i s t i c s , Queen's P r i n t e r and C o n t r o l l e r of S t a t i o n a r y , Ottawa, Canada, 1 9 6 4 , Table 1, p. 1 5 8 . 34 has the productivity ratio of Br i t i sh Columbia declined. Even though the decline is less than one half of one percent some concern should be expressed for i t is the direction of the change with which we should be concerned. Further explanation w i l l be presented in Chapter IV where the increasing industrial izat ion of Br i t i sh Columbia i s attributed to the faster growth of out-of-province firms as compared to B.C. based companies. Size of Birthplace The typical sales executive was born in an urban area, i . e . one of over 5»000 population. This would not seem to be a significant fact today but, when real iz ing that in 1921 (the year in which our typical sales executive was born) over sixty percent of Canada's 20 population was rura l , i t does become signif icant. Fewer than 27 percent of the respondents were born in a rural (under 5»000 popu-lation) area. This is almost equal to the percentage of respondents born in metro areas of over 2 0 0 , 0 0 0 which accounted for only about 12 percent of Canada's population in 1 9 2 9 . This means that the over 2 0 0 , 0 0 0 population areas were highly productive in yielding Br i t i sh Columbia sales executives. The areas of between 5»000 and 1 9 9 , 0 0 0 population accounts for 43 percent' of the respondents while representing 26 percent of the population. These areas, while being more productive 20 Sixty-two percent of Canada's population were resident in rura l , or less than 5 , 0 0 0 population areas in 1 9 2 1 . Canada Year Book - 1951 ; King's Printer and Controller of Stationary, Ottawa, Canada, 1 9 5 1 , Tables 1 and 2 , p. 1 2 2 . than rural areas were not so productive as the over 2 0 0 , 0 0 0 population areas. Table X presents size of birthplace data and compares the recent results to those of the i 9 6 0 study. It should be noted here that the age classi f icat ions of respondents were in step with popu-lat ion growth of urban areas. The younger the respondent, the more l i k e l y he was born in a larger urban area. TABLE X PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTION OP RESPONDENTS BY SIZE OP BIRTHPLACE - 1966 and i 9 6 0 1966 1960 SIZE OF BIRTHPLACE STUDY STUDY % % Rural or less than 5,000 2 6 . 7 3 0 . 0 5 , 0 0 0 - 2 4 , 9 9 9 15.1 1 0 . 0 2 5 , 0 0 0 - 9 9 , 9 9 9 1 6 . 4 2 1 . 8 1 0 0 , 0 0 0 - 1 9 9 , 9 9 9 1 1 . 6 1 0 . 0 2 0 0 , 0 0 0 and over 2 8 . 8 2 8 . 2 No reply 1 . 0 Totals 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 Occupation and Education of Respondents' Fathers The respondents' fathers' occupations and educational level w i l l now be considered. Because of the wide variety of responses as to occupation, i t was. not possible to arrive at a specific typical background for the respondents. Generally, however, the typical sales executive's father was a businessman. Table XI reclassif ies 36 the responses to fathers' occupation according to census c l a s s i f i c a -tions and compares them to 1951 labor force s ta t i s t i c s . In addition, this table compares the incidence of university education among the respondents' fathers to the incidence of university education in the male population of Canada in 1921. The labor force s tat i s t ics of 1951 were used in preference to 1921 s tat i s t ics (the year the typical sales executive was born) because i t was fe l t that 1921 s ta t i s t ics might be misleading due to the r e l a -tive youth of the respondents' fathers at that time and their natural progression in their careers. The proc l iv i ty of the respondents to respond with their fathers' highest level of attainment is consistent with the choice of 1951 as a comparison year. Table XI l i s t s proprietary and managerial as one c lass i f icat ion for ease in comparison with census data. The 34«9 percent representing this group is a composite of owners of a business (primarily a small business), 19*2 percent; and business executives, 17.7 percent. Although i t would seem that the major supplier of sales executives was the blue col lar group of workers with almost 29 percent of the to ta l , i t soon becomes apparent that from a productivity ratio point of view the group of small businessmen and the business executive group are far more important suppliers of today's Br i t i sh Columbia sales executives. The productivity ratios are as follows: Proprietary and managerial 4.7 1 Professional 1.1 1 Salesmen 1.1 1 37 TABLE XI RESPONDENTS' FATHERS' OCCUPATION AND UNIVERSITY EDUCATION LEVEL COMPARED TO GENERAL POPULATION FATHERS' OCCUPATIONS OCCUPATIONAL DISTRIBUTION OF CANADA'S LAgOR FORCE IN 1951 Percentage Percentage Proprietary and Managerial - Owners of a business - Business executive 1 9 . 2 1 1 5 . 7 3 3 4 . 9 7 ' 4 Professional 8 . 2 7 . 3 Salesmen 6 . 9 6 .0 Other white collar 1 3 . 7 2 2 . 4 Agricultural 7 . 5 16.7 Blue collar 2 8 . 8 4 0 . 2 Totals 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 FATHERS' UNIVERSITY EDUCATION PERCENTAGE OF CANADA'S MALE POPULATION WITH UNIVERSITY EDUCATION IN 1 9 2 1 * * Percentage Percentage Attended university -did not graduate 1 1 . 0 2.6 Attended university -graduated 1 0 . 3 2 . 9 *Source: Derived from Canada One Hundred 1 8 6 7-1 9 6 7t Canada Yearbook, Library Division, Dominion Bureau of Statistics, Ottawa, p. 2 8 1 . **Source: Derived from Canada One Hundred 1867-1967, Canada Yearbook, Library Division, Dominion Bureau of Statistics, Ottawa, p. 2 8 5 . 38 Other white co l lar .6 : 1 Agricultural .4 : 1 Blue co l lar .7 : 1 Table XI also presents educational level comparisons at the university level with the general population. The educational back-ground of the typical Br i t i sh Columbia sales executive is far above that of the general population. Over 21 percent of the respondents' fathers attended and/or graduated from university. This is s ignif icant-ly higher than the 1921 male population average of 5 » 5 percent. The-data presented here would lead to the conclusion that occupational background has a positive bearing on a successful career in sales,-however, this would be a presumptuous conclusion without f i r s t having data on a l l those entering sales and who have not gained sales executive positions within the companies represented. It may be that the business group has a higher success factor but i t i s also very l i k e l y that there is a reluctance for sons of blue co l lar workers to enter sales and as a result this group i s inadequately represented from the start or conversely, that there i s a predilection for sons of the proprietary and managerial group to look on sales as a means of rapid achievement of monetary and personal rewards. Unfor-tunately, this study does not provide the data necessary to answer this question. This should provide an area of very productive research. IV. PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS 39 The typical B .C. sales executive is married and has two children. He comes from a family of four children. As a teenager he was an active individual . He i s s t i l l active hut in his present hobbies there is far less emphasis on team sports than when he was in his teens. He has a high school education and has spent some time in mil i tary service. Marital Status and Family Size The typical B .C. sales executive is def initely a family man. Of the 146 respondents, 141 were married, 133 had children and 116 had two or more children. Only three of the respondents were single and only two indicated divorce or separation. Table XII presents data on the respondents' marital status, number of children in their fathers' families, and number of children the respondents have. Table XII demonstrates that the respondents tend to have smaller families than their parents had. However, both their parents and they themselves-have larger than average families, as revealed in Table XIII. The average number of children the respondents have is 2.4 which i s s l ight ly higher than the i 9 6 0 results of 2 . 1 . It i s also considerably higher than the Canadian national average of 1.9 children and the Br i t i sh Columbia average of 1.6 children per family. The same higher than average reslationships hold true for the respondents' fathers' families. TABLE X I I PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTION OP RESPONDENTS' MARITAL STATUS, SIZE OP FAMILY RESPONDENTS CAME FROM AND NUMBER OP CHILDREN RESPONDENTS HAVE MARITAL STATUS Percentage Married 9 6 . 6 S i n g l e 2.1 Divorced or Separated 1.3 T o t a l 1 0 0 . 0 FAMILY SIZE RESPONDENTS' FATHERS' FAMILY RESPONDENTS' OWN FAMILY Percentage Percentage No c h i l d r e n _ 8 . 2 One c h i l d 8 . 2 1 1 . 6 Two c h i l d r e n 2 7 . 4 3 3 . 6 Three c h i l d r e n 1 7 . 8 3 0 . 1 Pour c h i l d r e n 2 8 . 8 9 . 6 F i v e c h i l d r e n 5 . 5 4 . 8 S i x or more 1 2 . 3 2.1 T o t a l s 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 41 TABLE XIII COMPARISON OP RESPONDENTS' FAMILY SIZE WITH NATIONAL AND PROVINCIAL AVERAGES Average number of Average number of children in family- children respondents respondents came from 3 . 6 have 2 . 4 Canadian average Canadian average number of children number of children in 1 9 2 1 * 2 . 6 in 1 9 6 6 * * 1 .9 B.C. average number B.C. average number of children in 1921 1.9 of children in 1 9 6 6 * * 1.6 ^Source: Census of Canada 1 9 2 1 , Families by Size: Population, V o l . I l l , Table 16 , p. 5 5 , Dominion Bureau of Stat i s t ics , King's Print er, Ottawa. **Source: Census of Canada, 1 9 6 1 , Families by Size; Catalogue 9 3 - 5 1 4 , V o l . II , Part I , Table 4 3 , Page 4 3 - 1 , Dominion Bureau of Stat i s t ics , Ottawa. Hobbies - Teenage and Present Is there any correlation between teenage hobbies and a later choice of a career in sales? The questionnaire simply asked for the respondent's two main hobbies as a teenager. The responses were c lass i f ied and are presented in Table XIV. The terms \"active\" and \"passive\" class i fy the amount of physic exertion required in the individual hobbies. For example, football would be c lass i f ied active and playing cards as passive. The terms \"individual\" and \"team\".refer to the nature of the sports or hobbies Did they involve active team participation such as baseball, which would be c lass i f ied as team, or did they involve the p i t t ing of one individual's s k i l l against another's, such as tennis or boxing? The c lass i f icat ion \"a l l sports\" i s included for recording those respondents who simply answered sports or a l l sports and thus could not be c lass i f i ed . Table XIV also compares the responses to those of the i 9 6 0 study. As a teenager the typical sales executive of today was quite an active individual . I f the category of \"a l l sports\" is included in the active group, over 70 percent of the respondents were active participants as contrasted to less than 30 percent indicating a preference for non-athletic hobbies or act iv i t ies such as reading, music, and col lect ing. In addition to being active, the typical sales executive had a definite tendency toward being an individual is t , i . e . a preference 43 TABLE XIV PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTION COMPARISON OP RESPONDENTS' TEENAGE AND PRESENT HOBBIES HOBBIES PRESENT ACTIVITIES TEENAGE ACTIVITIES 1966 1960 1966 1960 A c t i v e team sports 4.1 6 . 3 3 0 . 8 1 2 . 2 A c t i v e i n d i v i d u a l s p o r t s 5 9 . 6 5 7 . 7 2 6 . 0 3 4 . 1 Passive team games 0 . 0 1.7 0 . 0 0 . 0 Passive i n d i v i d u a l games 1 4 . 4 8 . 3 1 4 . 4 1 0 . 6 A l l s p o rts 2.1 6 . 3 1 4 . 4 2 5 . 0 Reading and music 2 . 7 7 . 4 4 . 8 9 . 0 Others 2 . 4 1 1 . 6 3 . 4 3 . 5 None 1 4 . 7 . 7 6 . 2 5 . 6 T o t a l s 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 for act iv i t ies which did not require the support of team members. This indiv idual i s t ic tendency was not nearly so pronounced as in the 1960 study. Almost 31 percent of the present respondents engaged in team sports compared to only s l ight ly over 12 percent of the i 9 6 0 respondents. This raises a question. Is there a growing tendency for companies to look for or promote those sales people and sales executives who demonstrate their a b i l i t y to contribute to and guide team effort? The captain of the hockey team or the quarterback of the football team w i l l probably make a better sales executive than the . tennis player or the track star. The captain and the quarterback have the a b i l i t y to lead and guide team members toward a common goal and they have demonstrated that a b i l i t y . A l l work and no play does not make a last ingly successful sales executive. Table XIV also presents the present sources of relaxa-t ion of the sales executives. As would be expected, the present hobbies have changed from those which they engaged in in their teens. However, they have remained primarily of an active kind. The real change i s in the nature of the hobbies. Team sports which made up 31 percent of teenage hobbies dropped to 4 percent in adult years. The greatest majority of present act iv i t ies are of a kind which the respondent can engage in by himself. This i s probably due to the d i f f i c u l t y in getting sufficient men together (men who in a l l l ikelihood have family and job commitments) at specific places and times to form teams. There seems to be a narrowing of interest in act iv i t ies for those respondents who engaged in a l l sports. The percentage of response in this category dropped from over 14 percent to 2 percent. This indicates that the wide interest of youth has been reduced to a few well-defined ac t iv i t i e s . The pressures of the job and perhaps age seems to have taken i t s t o l l of spare-time ac t iv i t i e s . Almost 15 percent of the respondents engaged in no hobbies. This is in sharp contrast to the i 9 6 0 study where less than one percent of the respondents had no hobbies. There i s no adequate explanation for this but i t may be the result of the growing pressures of the job during the last six years which have seen a major growth-in business and sales volume. This aspect w i l l be discussed in Chapter IV. This study speaks of the average or typical sales executive primarily and the tendency i s to begin stereotyping these gentlemen. Just to keep the record straight and to show that they are individuals a complete l i s t of the hobbies indicated and the number of responses for each of them follows. Note that the only rea l ly typical act iv i ty i s golf, which i s not too surprising. ACTIVITY RESPONSE ACTIVITY RESPONSE Reading Boating Curling Clubs Golfing Gardening Music Swimming 135 32 21 19 19 11 9 8 skiing Woodwork Hunting Fishing Hiking, skating, water and snow Spectator sports Bridge and chess 35 25 16 10 9 7 46 ACTIVITY RESPONSE ACTIVITY RESPONSE Tennis Plying Art Dancing Photography 6 5 3 2 1 Numismatics and philately Stock market Model railroads 6 2 1 A very interesting cross section of act iv i t ies i s represented in the above group and a wide variety of individual pursuits are demonstrated on the part of our so-called typical sales executives. Level of Education To what extent i s formal education real ly necessary in order to become a successful sales executive? How much does B .C. industry penalize those who lack formal education? These questions are of major significance in this study because formal education at the university level has become increasingly important in our way of l i f e . Modern industry has become so specialized that generally speaking, executives must have a considerable amount of education (formal or otherwise) in order to perform in the highly competitive market place. Not only that, the recruit ing of potential executives by most larger companies has been increasingly restricted to the university campus. Table XV presents the educational achievement of the respondents and compares their educational level with that of the i 9 6 0 study and with the educational level of the male population of Canada for corresponding age groups as of February, 19^5• Educational comparisons with 196O study. Although the recent study shows a s l ight ly lower level of university education than the 47 TABLE XV PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTION OP 1966 AND i 9 6 0 RESPONDENTS BY LEVEL OF EDUCATION COMPARED TO LEVEL OF EDUCATION OF MALE POPULATION 20 YEARS OF AGE AND OVER CANADA, FEBRUARY, 1965 HIGHEST LEVEL OF EDUCATION ACHIEVED NUMBER ALL RESPONDENTS 1966- i960 CANADA, ^FEBRUARY, 1965 AGE 1966 1o 35-44 % 45-54 Grade School 5 3 . 4 1.8 4 2 . 8 50.2 High School 82 56.2 55.6 46 .0 40.3 Some U n i v e r s i t y 18 12.3 13.6 4 . 5 4 . 0 Unde rgraduat e Degree 34 23.3 25.4 6.7 5.6 Post Graduate Degree 3 2.1 3 .6 — — No r e p l y 4 2.7 - - -T o t a l s - 146 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 •Source: Canada One Hundred 1867-1967, op. c i t . , p. 285. 48 i 9 6 0 study, there i s no significant difference between the educational levels of the two studies. Both however, are considerably higher than the general population educational attainment, part icularly at the grade and high school l eve l . Fifty-seven percent of Canada's male population aged 35 \"to 4 4 and 50 percent of the male population aged 4 5 to 54 have gone beyond grade school. Compare this to the recent study where almost 94 percent of the respondents had gone beyond grade school. Only 11 percent of the same Canadian group aged 35 to 4 4 have gone beyond high school compared to almost 38 percent of the current respondents. Educational comparison with United States counterparts. Although the respondents of this study have a generally higher level of educa-t ion than the general population, their level of education does not come up to the educational levels established in the previously mentioned United States studies. The Industrial Marketing Survey l i s t ed the following: The Printers Ink Study also demonstrated a higher level of education; 43 percent holding a college degree and another 36 percent with some 22 college training. Post graduate degrees College graduate Some college High school 1 4 . 4 % 5 0 . 4 $ 2 8 . 8 / 0 Industrial Marketing, op. c i t . , p. 4 1 • Printers Ink, op. c i t . , p. 95* Although the i 9 6 0 and the 1966 studies show no indication of an upgrading in educational requirements needed to achieve sales execu-tive positions, i t would appear obvious that this is the coming trend. Educational requirements are r i s ing throughout industry and the sales and marketing divisions are no exceptions. As Br i t i sh Columbia develops and competition becomes keener, more and more emphasis w i l l be placed on university education. The industrial goods respondents have achieved a higher level of education than any of the other three company c lass i f icat ions . This i s demonstrated in Table XVI. Table XVI reveals that undergraduate degrees are held by 37*2 percent of the industrial goods respondents. This is almost twice as high as that recorded for combination goods category where 19*5 per-cent of the respondents hold an undergraduate degree. Only 16.7 percent of the consumer and 1 4 . 3 percent of the service respondents hold an undergraduate degree. By far the greatest majority of those receiving university degrees attended the University of Br i t i sh Columbia. Forty percent of the degrees were in Science and Engineering, 40 percent in Business, and 18 percent in Arts . The predominance of Science and Engineering degrees, and the high incidence of degree holders in the industrial c lass i f icat ion leads to the conclusion that industrial companies look primarily for this type of degree. Combination goods, which rank second in incidence of degrees, follow this pattern since approximately one half of these respondents are concerned with 50 TABLE XVI PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTION OP EDUCATIONAL LEVEL ACHIEVED CLASSIFIED BY THE TYPE OF COMPANY HIGHEST LEVEL OF EDUCATION ACHIEVED TYPE OF COMPANY Consumer I n d u s t r i a l '* Combination Se r v i c e % Grade school 4 . 2 4 . 7 2 . 5 . 0 High school 62 . 5 4 1 . 9 5 8 . 5 7 1 . 4 Some un i v e r s i t y - 12 . 5 9 . 3 1 4 . 6 1 4 . 3 Undergraduate degree 1 6 . 7 3 7 . 2 1 9 - 5 1 4 . 3 Post graduate degree 2 .1 2 . 3 2 . 4 . 0 No Reply 2 . 0 4 . 6 2 . 4 . 0 T o t a l s 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 51 industrial sales. One half of the Business degrees were held by consumer goods respondents, 25 percent by industrial respondents, 20 percent by combination respondents, and the balance by service respondents. Who gets higher educations? Table XVII presents the level of education achieved by fathers' occupation. The son of a business executive i s more l i k e l y to persevere and complete his programme of university studies than any of the other groups of fathers' occupations ( 3 3 . 3 percent), with the blue col lar occupations ranking second ( 2 6 . 8 percent), and salesmen ranking th ird ( 2 5 . 0 percent). The sons of farmers are least l i k e l y to consider a university education with only 20 percent of this group even starting university* Almost 32 percent of the blue col lar group of sons started university; only 5 percent of this group did not complete their undertaking; 3 7 . 5 percent of both the salesmens' and business executives' sons started university, and 40 percent or more of each of business owner, pro-fessional and government employees' sons started university. Farming and government service occupations are f a i r l y safe and secure. Perhaps this has some long term affects on the need for personal achievement demonstrated by the sons of men in these occupations and would explain the lower than average propensity to complete university. At the other extreme we have business executives and salesmen who are probably driving types of personalities and this may have been i n s t i l l e d in their children. The sons of blue TABLE XVII PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTION\"OFEDUCATIONAL LEVEL ACHIEVED CLASSIFIED.BY. RESPONDENTS' FATHERS'.OCCUPATIONS . EDUCATIONAL LEVEL OCCUPATION OF RESPONDENTS* FATHERS Government $ Farmer Professional Business Owner Business Executive % Salesman % Blue Collar $ Other Grade School . 0 . 0 . 0 3 . 5 . 0 . 0 7 . 3 . 0 High School 57.1 8 0 . 0 4 0 . 0 5 5 - 2 5 8 . 3 6 2 . 5 6 1 . 0 3 3 . 3 University -No Degree 2 8 . 6 1 0 . 0 2 0 . 0 2 4 . 1 4 . 2 1 2 . 5 4 . 9 . 0 University -Degree 1 4 . 3 . 0 1 0 . 0 2 0 . 0 1 7 . 2 3 3 . 3 2 5 . 0 2 6 . 8 6 6 . 7 Post Graduate Degree . 0 2 0 . 0 . 0 4 . 2 . 0 . 0 . 0 Totals 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 VJl IV) col lar workers would equate a university education with the way out of the l imited opportunities of their fathers' occupations. This is a l l speculation of course, and indicates a separate area of research. Another area of information not presented in tabular form is the distribution of university degrees by age groups. It was found that the 30 to 39 age group, which accounted for 28 percent of the respondents, accounted for 3 2 . 4 percent of the degrees held. The 40 to 49 age group, while accounting for 44 percent of the respondents, accounted for 59*5 percent of the degrees held. This is quite sur-pris ing . If university education i s becoming more important in the business scene then you would certainly expect that the younger sales executives would have a higher incidence of degrees than the older group. This study indicates just the opposite. Again, the only explanation that can be offered i s that this apparent anomoly is a direct result of rapid business expansion (to be discussed in Chapter IV) and the urgent need to find sales executive calibre whether or not they have a university degree. Source of funds for university expenses. An excellent test of in i t i a t ive and drive is the degree to which an individual w i l l extend himself to attend university. It is not d i f f i cu l t i f parents are reasonably well off and can support the cost of seeing their children through university and providing the children are wi l l ing to accept this assistance. However, many parents cannot support such an expenditure completely and many sons are too independent to accept 54 this help even i f i t were available. Table XVIII w i l l indicate the source of funds for those respondents who attended university. TABLE XVIII SOURCES OP FUNDS WHILE AT UNIVERSITY AND EXTENT TO WHICH SOURCES WERE USED ( 5 5 RESPONDENTS ONLY) SOURCE OF FUNDS NUMBER WHO USED THIS SOURCE EXTENT TO WHICH SOURCES WERE USED TOTALS Less than 25f* 25-49/o 50-74/o Over 75/o Parents Help 40 2 0 . 0 2 0 . 0 3 7 . 5 2 2 . 5 1 0 0 . 0 Gifts 4 . 0 . 0 2 5 . 0 7 5 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 Scholarships 5 2 0 . 0 2 0 . 0 . 0 8 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 Work 46 1 5 . 2 8 . 0 3 2 . 6 4 3 . 5 1 0 0 . 0 Working was the major source of funds at university as Table XVIII indicates followed closely by parents help. Of the 55 respon-dents who attended university, 46 depended on work to some extent. Forty of the respondents depended on their parents help to some extent also but to a considerably lesser degree. Work was the major con-tributor of the needed funds. Of those who worked for their funds, 4 3 • 5 percent depended almost completely on this source while only 2 2 . 5 percent of those who used parents assistance depended as heavily on that source. Ini t iat ive and drive, compatible with assuming sales executive responsibi l i t ies , have been firmly established. 55 Military Service The majority of respondents spent some time in the armed services during their careers. Most of the respondents served in the Air Force. The majority of those respondents who were in the services spent less than five years and age relationships indicate that most of the service was war-time. Leadership a b i l i t y required of a sales executive i s borne out by the fact that 61.5 percent of those who served were commissioned officers when they received their discharge. Table XIX presents armed service data. TABLE XIX • PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTION OF RESPONDENTS INDICATING MILITARY SERVICE, BY BRANCH OF SERVICE, NUMBER OF YEARS IN THE SERVICE AND STATUS AT DISCHARGE RESPONDENT'S BRANCH OF NUMBER OF YEARS SPENT STATUS AT DISCHARGE FROM SERVICE IN THE SERVICES SERVICES Army 1 9 . 9 Less than 5 years 3 9 . 8 Commissioned officer 34«9 Navy 1 0 . 3 5 to 9 years 1 7 . 8 Non-commissioned 2 2 . 7 Airforce 2 7 . 4 Did not Did not Did not serve 4 2 . 4 serve 4 2 . 4 serve 4 2 . 4 Total 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 V. PRESENT STATUS 56 The typical B .C. sales executive earns $ 1 5 , 0 0 0 per year. He has changed his residence twice in the last ten years; one of those changes was the result of a com-pany transfer, the other a per-sonal decision. He owns his own home and values i t at $ 3 0 , 0 0 0 . He leans toward the Liberal party in provincial p o l i t i c a l a f f i l i a t i o n . Income The average income of the respondents was $ 1 5 , 0 0 0 . This i s s ignif icantly higher than the results of the i 9 6 0 study. Table XX w i l l prove very interesting. Annual income is total income of the respondents including stock options, bonuses, and commissions. The modal income range was $ 1 2 , 0 0 0 to $ 1 7 , 9 9 9 , (over 53 percent of the repl ies ) . I f the average income were calculated, i t would f a l l within this range, approximately $ 1 5 , 0 0 0 . The incomes reported range widely from under $ 8 , 0 0 0 to over $ 3 0 , 0 0 0 annually. A significant increase in income levels of sales executives is readily apparent, when comparing the i 9 6 0 and the 1966 percentages. The number of respondents reporting income under $ 8 , 0 0 0 has dropped from 11 percent to 2 percent. The next income range of $ 8 , 0 0 0 to $ 1 1 , 9 9 9 shows an even greater decrease in the number of responses -almost 24 percent. Those receiving from $ 1 2 , 0 0 0 to $ 1 7 , 9 9 9 more than doubled percentage-wise. 57 TABLE XX DISTRIBUTION OP RESPONDENTS BY TOTAL ANNUAL INCOME - 1966 and i960 1966 1960 lo TOTAL NUMBER OP PERCENTAGE OP PERCENTAGE OF CHANGE ANNUAL INCOME RESPONDENTS RESPONDENTS RESPONDENTS 196O-66 $ Under 8 , 0 0 0 3 \".2.1 11.1 - 9 . 0 8 , 0 0 0 - 11,999 37 25.3 49.1 -23 .8 1 2 , 0 0 0 - 17,999 78 53.4 2 3 . 2 3 0 . 2 18 ,000 - 24,999 18 12.3 1 2 . 0 . 3 25 ,000 - 29,999 5 3.4 ) • 9 f 4 .6 3 0 , 0 0 0 and over 3 2.1 J No r e p l y 2 1 .4 T o t a l s 146 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 5 8 It is apparent that a substantial upgrading of the lower income levels has taken place over the six year period under review. The higher income ranges (over $ 2 5 » 0 0 0 ) on the other hand, have remained re lat ive ly stable with only a slight increase in responses recorded. The increase in level of compensation for the lower level sales executives i s not surprising in view of recent studies by the Dartnell 2 3 Corporation. This publishing firm reports Canadian salesmen's earnings up dramatically over the last 10 years and i t is natural to expect that their managers' earnings would have gone up in propor-t ion . The lack of apparent increase for the upper levels of income is not so readily explained. Additional dollars may not be considered as important in these upper levels of income and recognition may be expressed in other terms; better pension funds, stock options, more l ibera l expense accounts, longer vacations, etc. Mobil ity Seventy-two percent of the respondents had changed residence during the last ten years with the number of changes ranging from one to more than six. Table XXI presents data on the total number of residence changes. This includes changes due to company transfers and changes which were the result of personal decisions. The average number of changes for a l l respondents was two, but \"U.S. Salesmen Earn More, But Canadians Are Catching Up,\" Marketing, March 1 0 , 1 9 6 9 , p. 1 . TABLE XXI PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTION OP RESPONDENTS CHANGING RESIDENCE OVER THE LAST TEN YEARS TOTAL CHANGES IN RESIDENCE PERCENTAGE No changes i n residence 2 8 . 1 1 change 1 9 . 2 2 changes 13.1 3 changes 1 5 . 9 4 changes 1 0 . 4 5 changes 6 . 3 6 or more changes 7 . 0 T o t a l 1 0 0 . 0 60 i f only those respondents who actually changed residence are considered the average rises to three. As mentioned, some of the changes were personal decisions. Table XXII presents data on changes in residence which were a direct result of company transfers. TABLEZXXII PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTION OF RESPONDENTS' CHANGES IN RESIDENCE WHICH WERE DUE TO COMPANY TRANSFERS CHANGES IN RESIDENCE DUE TO COMPANY TRANSFER PERCENTAGE No changes 5 2 . 8 1 change 1 2 . 3 2 changes 1 3 . 7 3 changes 1 2 . 3 4 changes 4.1 5 changes 2.1 6 or more changes 2 . 7 Total 1 0 0 . 0 Just under one-half (47«2 percent) of the respondents changed residence due to company transfers. These respondents represent 70 percent of a l l those who actually changed residence. This is positive evidence of a relative s tab i l i ty on the part of the typical B .C. sales executive. He has a definite tendency to stay in one location unless a company transfer necessitates a change. A further examination of data was undertaken in order to determine whether any particular company type might shift i t s sales executives around any more than the others. Consumer, industrial and combination companies were very similar in the number of executives' transfers. The service industry was the only varient and i t proved extremely stable in this respect. A l l respondents recorded at least 174 actual changes in residence as a result of company transfers. Of this total the service industry, representing 9«6 percent of the respondents, accounted for only 7«5 percent of the total changes in residence. No service industry respondent changed residence more than three times in the last 10 years. Home Ownership Home ownership was the accepted trend. Over 85% of the respon-dents owned their homes. Fewer than 15 percent rented. This is a very high home ownership and low rental average as indicated in Table XXIII which presents the study findings and compares them to the 1961 Census Housing Characterist ics. This census data reports that 59«1 percent of B .C. family dwellings are owner occupied whereas the sales executives of this study report a home ownership ratio, of 84.9 per-cent - s ignif icantly higher than the general population achievement. Table XXIII also presents home valuation data. Not only do the respondents have a very high degree of home ownership, they own a higher-than-average quality home. The 1961 Census data reports that the median value of B.C. urban homes was $11,744; the median value of homes in metropolitan Vancouver was $13»757• Despite the increase in TABLE XXIII RESPONDENTS* HOME OWNERSHIP AND VALUATION ( 1 9 6 6 ) COMPARED TO 1961 CENSUS DATA RESPONDENTS' TYPE OP RESIDENCE 1961 CENSUS* HOUSING CHARACTERISTICS Percentage Nati o n a l B.C. 1o Vancouver % Own home Own apartment 8 4 . 9 1 . 0 Owner occupied 6 5 . 6 59.1 56.6 Rent home Rent apartment Rent duplex 3 . 5 9 . 6 1 . 0 Tenant occupied 3 4 * 4 4 0 . 9 4 3 . 3 T o t a l s 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 RESPONDENTS' VALUATION OF RESIDENCE i Less than 1 0 , 0 0 0 1 0 , 0 0 0 - 1 9 , 9 9 9 2 0 , 0 0 0 - 2 4 , 9 9 9 2 5 , 0 0 0 - 3 4 , 9 9 9 3 5 , 0 0 0 - 4 4 , 9 9 9 Over 4 5 , 0 0 0 No r e p l y T o t a l Percentage . 0 9 . 6 2 2 . 6 3 5 . 6 11 .7 6 . 2 1 4 . 3 1 0 0 . 0 N a t i o n a l B.C. Vancouver Median value of homes $ 1 1 , 0 2 1 $ 1 1 , 7 4 4 $ 1 3 , 7 5 7 •Source: Census of Canada 1 9 6 1 , Values and Rents, Catalogue 9 3 -5 2 8 , V o l . I I , Part I I , Table 6 0 , Page 6 0 - 1. Dominion Bureau of S t a t i s t i c s , Ottawa. real estate values between 1961 and 1 9 6 6 , the median values would s t i l l be well under $ 2 0 , 0 0 0 in 1 9 6 6 . In comparison, almost 90 percent of the respondents valued their homes in excess of $ 2 0 , 0 0 0 ; 6 8 . 9 percent in excess of $ 2 5 , 0 0 0 . Provincial P o l i t i c a l A f f i l i a t i o n The typical B .C. sales executive leans toward the Liberal party in provincial p o l i t i c a l a f f i l i a t i o n . Table XXIV compares the respon-dents provincial p o l i t i c a l a f f i l i a t i o n with the popular vote results of recent Federal and Provincial elections. P o l i t i c a l a f f i l i a t i o n is a personal aspect of the individual's l i f e but i s generally influenced by his position and occupation. This i s firmly demonstrated in Table XXIV. The typical sales executive i s not social is t (one percent responded N.D.P.) nor would this be ex-pected. His concern i s -primari ly with management and business problems and what is good for his company and business prospects, as a whole. His point of view would not l i e with the laborer and working class people from which the N.D.P. draws i t s support. One might have expected a closer relationship to the Social Credit party than was indicated since Social Credit is presumably the party of \"free enterprise\" but apparently the respondents' interest is in Canada as a whole and not just Br i t i sh Columbia. This is indicated by a closer overall relationship to federal election than to the provincial election results . The explanation most probably l i e s in the fact that most respondents are employed in branch 64 TABLE XXIV PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTION OP RESPONDENTS' PROVINCIAL POLITICAL AFFILIATION COMPARED TO POPULAR VOTE RESULTS IN THE 1966 PROVINCIAL AND THE 1965 FEDERAL ELECTIONS POLITICAL PARTY PERCENT RESPONSE 1966 PROVINCIAL ELECTION* 1965 FEDERAL ELECTION** S o c i a l C r e d i t 2 7 . 0 4 5 . 6 3 . 6 L i b e r a l 3 6 . 0 2 0 . 2 4 0 . 2 Progressive Conservative 1 1 . 0 -@ 3 2 . 4 New Democratic . 1 . 0 -« 3 3 . 6 1 7 . 9 Other 1 . 0 . 6 5-9 Undecided 2 2 . 0 No r e p l y 2 . 0 T o t a l s 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 *Source: Statement of Votes General E l e c t i on, September 12 , 1966 and B y - e l e c t i o n Cariboo, November 2 8 , 1966: Queen's P r i n t e r , November 2 o , 1 9 6 6 . **Source: CANADA; General E l e c t i o n November 2 7 , 1 9 6 5 : C h i e f E l e c t o r a l O f f i c e r ^ i 9 6 0 , Queen's P r i n t e r , Ottawa. ®Provincial Progressive Conservative vote i n c l u d e d i n \"Other\" (independent, Conservative, and Communist). offices of nation wide firms which accounts for p o l i t i c a l views more closely attuned to federal policies than those of the average B .C. c i t izen who is concerned with his own province and i t s problems. This was confirmed by comparing responses of the individual company c lass i f icat ions . Industrial and combination goods respondents were strongly Liberal (both over 41 percent). Consumer goods respondents were f a r i l y evenly divided between Social Credit and Liberal (33 arid 31 percent respectively), and service industry respondents were pre-dominantly Social Credit . Table XXV presents the actual responses c lass i f ied by company type. TABLE XXV PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTION OP PROVINCIAL POLITICAL AFFILIATION.CLASSIFIED BY COMPANY TYPE. PROVINCIAL POLITICAL AFFILIATION COMPANY TYPE Consumer % Industrial Combination i Service $ 1 Social Credit 3 3 . 3 2 3 . 3 2 2 . 0 2 8 . 6 Liberal 3 1 . 3 4 1 . 9 4 1 . 5 2 1 . 4 Progressive Conservative 1 0 . 4 9 . 3 1 4 . 6 7.1 New Democratic . 0 . 0 2 . 4 . 0 Other . 0 2 . 3 . 0 . 0 Undecided 2 2 . 9 2 0 . 9 1 4 . 6 4 2 . 9 No reply 2.1 2 . 3 4 . 9 . 0 Totals 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 With the exception of the service industry the undecided vote was low which indicates firm p o l i t i c a l convictions on the part of the majority of the respondents. The conservative vote is low in comparison to the federal s tat i s t ics which i t was determined most closely represented the respondents p o l i t i c a l a f f i l i a t i o n . This must be the result of a transfer to the Social Credit vote by those who would normally vote Progressive Conservative federally. 67 CHAPTER IV COMPANY CHARACTERISTICS I . INTRODUCTION This chapter w i l l be concerned with discussing the characteris-t i cs of the companies involved in this study. A comparison of findings of the i 9 6 0 and recent studies w i l l be made with particular emphasis on the growth patterns over the six year period. The growing industrial izat ion of Br i t i sh Columbia w i l l also be demonstrated. F ina l ly , the chapter w i l l take a c r i t i c a l look at the extent to which the companies represented have formalized v i t a l procedures in the matters of sales training, salesmen evaluation, and job descriptions. I I . GROWTH CHARACTERISTICS A l l four company groups are growing but the industrial group of companies i s far out-pacing the other three c lass i f icat ions . The major demonstration of growth is found in the establishment of branch offices by firms headquartered outside Br i t i sh Columbia. Significant increases in sales have been posted by a l l four groups of companies but these sales increases appear to be confined to the out-of-province companies while the B.C. based companies remained re lat ive ly stable. Number of Firms Reporting Table XXVI compares the distribution of responses by company 68 type between i 9 6 0 and 1 9 6 6 . Bear in mind that the two studies are taken from essentially the same base. TABLE XXVI CLASSIFICATION OF TOTAL RESPONSES BY COMPANY TYPE - i 9 6 0 and 1966 TYPE OF 1966 1960 COMPANY Number Percent Number Percent Consumer 48 3 2 . 9 42 3 8 . 2 Industrial 43 2 9 . 4 27 2 4 . 6 Combination 41 2 8 . 1 32 2 9 . 0 Service 14 9 . 6 9 8 . 2 Totals 146 1 0 0 . 0 110 1 0 0 . 0 The f i r s t impression gained is that Br i t i sh Columbia is becoming more industr ial ized. While responses from each of the four c l a s s i f i -cations increased in absolute numbers, the industrial c lass i f icat ion was the only one to show a significant percentage increase; from 2 4 . 6 to 29 .4» almost 5 percent. This increase was at the expense of the consumer goods c lass i f icat ion which declined over five percent. The combination and service industry both remained re lat ive ly stable. Head Office Versus Branch Office The increase in industrial opportunities is evident and expected when projects such as the Peace River Power Development are considered. The next obvious question must be: Who is taking advantage of these opportunities? Table XXVII answers this question by comparing head office and branch office responses in the two studies. The f i r s t part of Table XXVII i s interesting in the following respect. The 1966 \"study recorded 146 responses, 36 more than the i 9 6 0 study. The entire increase in responses is accounted for in the branch office c lass i f icat ion while head office responses remained at 35« The result i s a percentage decline of head office representation in this study from 3 1 . 8 percent to 2 4 . 0 percent, a decline of almost 8 percent. Out-of-prbvince companies are establishing branches in Br i t i sh Columbia at a f a i r l y rapid pace. With Br i t i sh Columbia's rapid growth and great potential , this i s not surprising. What is surprising i s the apparent lack of similar growth on the part of Br i t i sh Columbia based companies. It is not the purpose of this report to express alarm over the poss ib i l i ty of a takeover of Br i t i sh Columbia's business opportunities by outside business interests because the development 24 of the province is very much dependent on outside capi ta l , but certainly, one would hope that Br i t i sh Columbia business interests w i l l one day be able to at least slow down, i f not reverse this trend. The second part of Table XXVII shows which company types are taking advantage of Br i t i sh Columbia's growth - the industrial group. The increase in industrial act iv i ty in Br i t i sh Columbia has already been established. The increase of 17 percent over i 9 6 0 in the branch office responses further confirms i t and identif ies out-of-province ^^Kaiser Coal Ltd . provides an excellent example with their pur-chase of Crows Nest Pass- coal\", properties from Crows Nest Industries in 1968 and the subsequent 15 year contract they negotiated to export 50 mil l ion tons of coal to Japan. 70 TABLE XXVII PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTION OP HEAD AND BRANCH OFFICES CLASSIFIED BY COMPANY TYPE - 1966 AND i 9 6 0 OFFICE TYPE TOTAL RESPONSE 1966 Number Percent 1960 Number Percent Head o f f i c e Branch o f f i c e T o t a l s 35 111 146 2 4 . 0 76.0 1 0 0 . 0 35 75 110 3 1 . 7 6 8 . 3 1 0 0 . 0 OFFICE TYPE TOTAL RESPONS] 3 CLASSIFIED BY COMPANY TYPE Consumer Ind u s t r i a l - . Combination S e r v i c e 1966 1o 1960 $ 1966 1960 * 1966 $ 1960 1o 1966 % 1960 - f Head o f f i c e Branch o f f i c e T o t a l s 2 5 . 0 75-0 1 0 0 . 0 1 9 . 5 8 0 . 5 1 0 0 . 0 16.3 83.7 1 0 0 . 0 3 3 . 3 66.7 1 0 0 . 0 19.5 8 O . 5 1 0 0 . 0 37.5 6 2 . 5 1 0 0 . 0 57.1 4 2 . 9 1 0 0 . 0 6 6 . 7 3 3 . 3 1 0 0 . 0 71 companies as the major participants. The combination responses, approximately half of which are industr ia l , posted an 18 percent increase in branch office responses. Consumer goods companies provide a slight reversal in the trend of out-of-province company domination of the growth scene. Head office responses in this category increased from 19•5 percent in 196O to 2 5 . 0 percent in 1966. Total Annual Sales - A l l Companies There has been a substantial increase in sales volume recorded by the companies represented in this study. Table XXVIII compares the 1966 and i 9 6 0 percentage distribution of responses in terms of total annual sales and class i f ies the 1966 sales volume by company type. As demonstrated in Table,XXVIII, there has been a substantial growth in the size of the companies the respondents represent. In the i 9 6 0 study, 53»7 percent of the respondents worked for companies whose annual sales were under $ 1 5 , 0 0 0 , 0 0 0 . This dropped to 39»0 percent in the current study. Each of the three sales classif ications under $ 1 5 , 0 0 0 , 0 0 0 followed this same trend while both classif ications over $ 1 5 , 0 0 0 , 0 0 0 produced an absolute and a percentage increase in responses over the i 9 6 0 study. A breakdown of sales by company c lass i f icat ion for the i 9 6 0 data is not available for this and the two tables following. 72 TABLE XXVIII PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTION OP TOTAL ANNUAL SALES - 1966 AND i 9 6 0 - CLASSIFIED BY COMPANY TYPE 1966 TOTAL ANNUAL SALES TOTAL 1966 RESPONSE 1960 COMPANY TYPE $ to 1o Consumer % I n d u s t r i a l % Combination % Service Less than 1 , 0 0 0 , 6 6 6 2.1 6 . 4 4 . 2 0 . 0 0 . 0 1 4 . 3 1 , 0 0 0 , 0 0 0 -4 , 9 9 9 , 9 9 9 1 3 . 0 19.1 1 2 . 5 1 6 . 3 9 . 8 1 4 . 3 5 , 0 0 0 , 0 0 0 -1 4 , 9 9 9 , 9 9 9 2 3 . 3 2 8 . 2 2 2 . 9 3 0 . 2 9 . 8 4 2 . 9 1 5 , 0 0 0 , 0 0 0 -4 9 , 9 9 9 , 9 9 9 2 4 . 0 2 0 . 0 2 9 . 2 2 3 . 3 2 4 . 4 7.1 5 0 , 0 0 0 , 0 0 0 and over 3 4 . 9 2 5 . 4 2 7 . 1 2 7 . 9 5 6 . 1 2 1 . 4 No r e p l y 2.1 • 9 4 .1 2 . 3 . 0 Totals 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 Table XXVIII also c lass i f ied the 1966 sales responses by company type. Some interesting aspects of company sales volume appear. Con-sumer good and service industry companies are represented in a l l of the sales volume classes. There are no industrial or combination companies reporting sales under $ 1 , 0 0 0 , 0 0 0 . Combination companies are barely represented below $ 1 5 , 0 0 0 , 0 0 0 sales volume and they record the largest sales volumes. Over 56 percent of the combination respondents reported their company sales as over $ 5 0 , 0 0 0 , 0 0 0 compared to only 2 7 . 9 and 27 .1 percent respectively for industrial and consumer respondents. This heavy representation of combination responses in the very large sales classes is easi ly explained - their total sales are a combination of consumer and industrial sales and are, in effect, the equivalent of two companies' sales volumes being combined as one. Rather surprising was the large representation ( 2 1 . 4 percent) of service industry responses in the $ 5 0 , 0 0 0 , 0 0 0 and over sales class. The service industry seems to be one of extremes - many small companies (far more than any of the other three company c l a s s i f i -cations) and some very large ones. Annual sales of Br i t i sh Columbia based companies. The B.C. based companies are represented in the head office responses. Con-sidering the overall growth demonstrated, the results for head office companies are rather disappointing; Table XXIX compares the 1966 and i 9 6 0 sales volumes of these companies and class i f ies the 74 TABLE XXIX PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTION OP TOTAL ANNUAL SALES OP B.C. BASED COMPANIES - 1966. AND i 9 6 0 CLASSIFIED BY COMPANY TYPE - 1966 TOTAL ANNUAL SALES TOTAL RESPONSES 1966 1960 COMPANY TYPE - 1966 $ fo Consumer I n d u s t r i a l fo Combination fo S e r v i c e f Less than 1 , 0 0 0 , 0 0 0 5 . 7 8 . 6 0 . 0 0 . 0 0 . 0 2 5 . 0 1 , 0 0 0 , 0 0 0 -4 , 9 9 9 , 9 9 9 2 5 . 8 2 0 . 0 3 3 . 3 1 4 . 3 2 5 . 0 2 5 . 0 5 , 0 0 0 , 0 0 0 -1 4 , 9 9 9 , 9 9 9 3 4 . 3 3 4 . 3 4 1 . 7 4 2 . 9 1 2 . 5 3 7 . 5 1 5 , 0 0 0 , 0 0 0 -4 9 , 9 9 9 , 9 9 9 17.1 1 4 . 2 8 . 3 1 4 . 3 3 7 . 5 1 2 . 5 5 0 , 0 0 0 , 0 0 0 and over 17.1 2 0 . 0 1 6 . 7 2 8 . 5 2 5 . 0 . 0 No r e p l y . 0 2 . 9 . 0 . 0 . 0 . 0 T o t a l s 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 75 1966 responses by company type. Table XXIX readily establishes that the typical sales executive of Br i t i sh Columbia based companies works for a company whose sales range between $ 5 , 0 0 0 , 0 0 0 and $ 1 4 , 9 9 9 , 9 9 9 . This is almost exactly the same as the i 9 6 0 study. The only significant change i s the 5*8 percent increase in responses in the $ 1 , 0 0 0 , 0 0 0 to $ 4 , 9 9 9 , 9 9 9 sales category and the 2 . 9 percent\"decrease in the under $ 1 , 0 0 0 , 0 0 0 sales category. A higher percentage of responses were recorded in the $ 5 , 0 0 0 , 0 0 0 to $ 1 4 , 9 9 9 , 9 9 9 sales category by the current respondents but an equiva-lent percentage loss was recorded in the $ 5 0 , 0 0 0 , 0 0 0 and over sales class . The company c lass i f icat ion data shows consumer goods heavily represented in the $ 5 , 0 0 0 , 0 0 0 to $ 1 4 , 9 9 9 , 9 9 9 sales category ( 4 1 . 7 percent) as are the industrial goods companies ( 4 2 . 9 percent). True to form, the combination goods companies are more heavily represented in the larger sales class of over $ 1 5 , 0 0 0 , 0 0 0 . Branch office sales volumes. Branch offices are primarily branch offices of companies based outside Br i t i sh Columbia. Here again a substantial increase in sales over the six year period is demonstrated. Over 79 percent of the current branch office operations reported sales over $ 1 , 0 0 0 , 0 0 0 compared to 6 5 . 4 percent for the similar group of branch offices in the i 9 6 0 study. Table XXX w i l l need no further explanation. The growth demonstrated over the six year period has been 76 TABLE XXX PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTION OP BRANCH OFFICE SALES - 1966 AND i 9 6 0 CLASSIFIED BY COMPANY TYPE - 1966 BRANCH ANNUAL SALES TOTAL RESPONSES 1966 1960 COMPANY TYPE - 1966 $ % Consumer fo I n d u s t r i a l * Combination Se r v i c e fo Less than 2 5 0 , 0 0 0 3 . 6 1 0 . 6 8 . 3 2 . 8 0 . 0 0 . 0 2 5 0 , 0 0 0 -9 9 9 , 9 9 9 1 5 . 3 2 2 . 7 11.1 2 5 . 0 6.1 3 3 . 3 1 , 0 0 0 , 0 0 0 -4 , 9 9 9 , 9 9 9 4 4 . 2 4 5 . 4 4 7 . 2 4 1 . 6 4 8 . 5 1 6 . 7 5 , 0 0 0 , 0 0 0 and over 3 5 . 1 2 0 . 0 3 0 . 6 2 7 . 8 4 5 - 4 5 0 . 0 No r e p l y 1 . 8 1 .3 2 . 8 2 . 8 . 0 . 0 T o t a l s 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 amazing. Increasing industrial izat ion, increasing consumer and service operations, and substantial increases in sales volumes by most of the segments of this study have been observed. More to the point, this means rapidly increasing opportunities for those interested in sales executive careers and for those already embarked on such careers. A further ramification of this rapid growth w i l l be discussed in Chapter VII when the influence of education on income w i l l be discussed and where i t i s argued that the companies involved in this study have had to lower their educational requirements in order to f i l l sales executive positions. Newly Created Positions \"Has your present position been created within the last five years?\" Although redundant now, the purpose of this question was to determine whether or not any significant growth and/or decentraliza-tion of companies could be identi f ied. The results did show a s ignif -icant growth. Almost 20 percent of the respondents indicated that they were in a position that did not exist five years previously. Table XXXI presents the response to the above question. The pattern of new positions was evident in a l l the four company c lass i f icat ions . Almost 23 percent of the consumer goods respondents were in new positions followed closely by combination goods respondents with 22 percent. Industrial goods responses were high also although previous findings would have indicated a much larger percentage. The service industry shows a much smaller growth 7 8 TABLE XXXI PERCENTAGE RESPONSE OP NEWLY CREATED POSITIONS CLASSIFIED BY COMPANY TYPE POSITION CREATED WITHIN THE PAST FIVE YEARS ALL RESPONDENTS COMPANY TYPE % , Consumer $ I n d u s t r i a l % Combination % Service i Yes 19-9 2 2 . 9 1 8 . 6 2 2 . 0 7.1 No 7 9 . 4 7 7 . 1 7 9 . 1 7 8 . 0 9 2 . 9 No reply- . 7 . 0 2 . 3 . 0 . 0 T o t a l s 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 i n o p p o r t u n i t i e s w i t h a minor 7 percent of the respondents i n newly-created p o s i t i o n s . The growth demonstrated i s g r a t i f y i n g and i n d i c a t e s good o p p o r t u n i t i e s f o r advancement f o r s a l e s career minded men. - i A word of c a u t i o n i s i n order. The m a j o r i t y of new p o s i t i o n s c reated were found i n branch o f f i c e operations as the f o l l o w i n g summary demonstrates: 5 were Head o f f i c e respondents: 2 consumer 1 i n d u s t r i a l 1 combination 1 s e r v i c e 24 were Branch o f f i c e respondents: 8 consumer 9 i n d u s t r i a l 7 combination 0 s e r v i c e I I I . FORMALIZATION OF SALES EXECUTIVE RESPONSIBILITIES Primary r e s p o n s i b i l i t y f o r t r a i n i n g new company salesmen l i e s w i t h the s a l e s executive. The t y p i c a l s a l e s executive's company maintains a formal salesmen e v a l u a t i o n pro-gramme and formal job d e s c r i p t i o n s f o r h i s own and f o r company salesmen. Formal Sales T r a i n i n g Programmes The primary r e s p o n s i b i l i t y f o r t r a i n i n g new company salesmen l i e s w i t h the s a l e s e x e c u t i v e . This i s demonstrated i n Table XXXII. The d i s t u r b i n g part of Table XXXII i s that 4 5 - 2 percent of a l l the respondents were a c t i v e l y i n v o l v e d i n the i n i t i a l t r a i n i n g of new salesmen while only 2 8 . 1 percent i n d i c a t e d a formal company 80 TABLE XXXII PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTION OP THE RESPONSIBILITY FOR TRAINING NEW COMPANY SALESMEN CLASSIFIED BY COMPANY TYPE WHO TRAINS SALESMEN? CONSUMER GOODS fo INDUSTRIAL GOODS fo COMBINATION GOODS fo SERVICE INDUSTRY f TOTAL RESPONSES % Respondent 5 8 . 3 4 8 . 8 26 . 8 4 2 . 9 45.2 Subordinate 1 8 . 8 1 4 . 0 36.6 28.6 23.3 Formal company-t r a i n i n g program 20 . 8 3 0 . 2 36.6 21 . 4 28.1 No r e p l y 2.1 7 . 0 .0 7.1 3 . 4 T o t a l s 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 81 training program to handle this responsibi l i ty . Certainly the sales executive has a major responsibi l i ty in training where special problems exist due to the type of product, the industry or the customer, but this type of training should be one-the-job training when the sales-man is actually in the f i e l d and producing for the company. The i n i t i a l training task can be formalized and taken out of his hands. This would be part icularly important in companies where there i s a high turnover of salesmen or where the complexities of the product or industry require long training periods. Considering the age of specialization in which these companies carry on their business, one would suspect that formal company training programs w i l l grow. They w i l l have to. Sales executive talent is too d i f f i c u l t to find and too valuable to waste on tasks that can be delegated to f u l l time staffs . Some companies have adopted formal sales training programs and thus released their sales executives to more productive tasks. Product and technical knowledge are usually the f i r s t training sessions attended by the new recruit to a company's sales staff. It has been recently suggested that programmed learning w i l l help tra in salesmenfaster, better, and more economically, while emancipating f i e l d sales management from the chores of rote indoctrination of new 26 men in product and technical knowledge. The results have been J . Porter Henry, J r . , \"Can Machines Teach Salesmen to Sell?\" Sales Management, 89 (July 2 0 , 1 9 6 2 ) , pp. 3 8 - 3 9 , 9 5 - 1 0 3 . 82 scattered but often spectacular, and warrant far more serious consid-eration by sales executives than has been given to this date. Even i f the results can be just i f i ed only oh the basis of releasing valuable sales executive time they would be well worth investigating. Combination and industrial goods companies are well ahead of the consumer and service industry respondents in the use of formal sales training programmes. This is natural since these companies are the largest of the four groups and are mainly branches of eastern companies where competition has forced earl ier recognition of the need for professionally trained people. However they should not feel complacent. They s t i l l have a long way to go. Consumer and service industry respondents w i l l have to become much more concerned in this area. In the competitive world of today i t is no longer sufficient to send a man out with a catalogue and a price l i s t . He needs sound training. The necessity for sound training by competent full-t ime sales trainers or sales training directors is amply covered in sales manage-27 ment manuals. What salesmen are trained is also important. John 28 M. Prey stresses the need for sound training in salesmanship i t s e l f . 29 Mayer and Greenberg, marketing consultants, stress the need for proper selection techniques to ensure that the formal training programmes 27 See Handbook of Sales Training, Prentice-Hall , Inc. , New York, 1 9 5 1 . 28 John M. Prey, \"Missing Ingredient in Sales Training,\" Harvard Business Review, 33 (November-December 1955)» PP* 1 2 6 - 1 3 2 . 29 ^David Mayer and Herbert M. Greenberg, 1'What Makes a Good are a success. They hypothesize that many formal training programmes are scrapped \"because results have been disappointing when, in fact, the programme was excellent but the men being trained should not have been selected for se l l ing positions in the f i r s t place. Table XXXIII further c lass i f ies company performace in salesmen training procedures by giving a Branch and Head office breakdown of data. Branch office operations have a slight edge in the use of formal company programmes. This would be explained by the fact that B r i t i s h Columbia companies are generally smaller operations that the corresponding companies which maintain branches in this province. Thus a va l id assumption would be that the branch office operations, being a part of large out-of-province companies which are better able f inancial ly to support centralized training f a c i l i t i e s for a l l branches, should score considerably higher than B .C. based companies in this regard. In actual fact the difference (25*7 percent of head office and 2 8 . 8 percent branch offices with formal company training programmes) is quite small. This speaks very highly of the relative sophistication of B.C. based companies. Part icularly noticeable in Table XXXIII is that branch office sales executives assume more responsibi l i ty for i n i t i a l training than head office sales executives ( 4 7 * 8 percent versus 37•1 percent) and conversely, make considerably less use of subordinates for i n i t i a l training (19•8 percent versus 3 4 . 3 percent). Salesman,',' Harvard Business Review, 42 (July-August 1964) f PP. 1 1 9 - 1 2 5 . TABLE XXXIII PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTION OF THE RESPONSIBILITY FOR TRAINING COMPANY . . SALESMEN CLASSIFIED BY.OFFICE TYPE. WHO TRAINS COMPANY TYPE SALESMEN TOTAL CONSUMER INDUSTRIAL .COMBINATION SERVICE Head O f f i c e i Branch O f f i c e $ Head O f f i c e . i Branch O f f i c e ' 56 Head -O f f i c e 'Branch O f f i c e Head O f f i c e 1o Branch O f f i c e 1o Head O f f i c e 1o Branch O f f i c e 1o Respondent 3 7 . 1 4 7 . 8 5 0 . 0 61 .1 4 2 . 8 5 0 . 0 1 2 . 5 3 0 . 3 3 7 - 5 5 0 . 0 Subordinate 3 4 . 3 1 9 . 8 1 6 . 7 1 9 . 4 2 8 . 6 11.1 5 0 . 0 3 3 . 3 5 0 . 0 . 0 Formal company t r a i n i n g program 2 5 . 7 2 8 . 8 3 3 . 3 1 6 . 7 2 8 . 6 3 0 . 6 3 7 . 5 3 6 . 4 . 0 5 0 . 0 No r e p l y 2 . 9 3 . 6 . 0 2 . 8 . 0 , 8 . 3 . 0 : . 0 1 2 . 5 . 0 T o t a l s 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 . 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 The fact that head office sales executives place more responsi-b i l i t y on subordinates than branch office sales executives in the i n i t i a l training of new salesmen is probably due to branch office operations being typica l ly smaller than their head office counterpart and thus less l i k e l y to have subordinates on staff capable of assuming this responsibi l i ty . In considering the individual company classif ications the general pattern is one of less emphasis on subordinates taking on the responsibi l i ty of training new salesmen in branch office operations than in head office operations, however, the consumer goods companies proved to be an exception to this pattern. Whereas consumer head office operations are well above average in the use of formal training programmes, the branch office operations are well below average. It would appear that the use of subordinates for training i s a stop gap measure pending the establishment of, or making use of, formal programmes. Formal Salesmen Evaluation Programmes The majority of the companies of this study maintain formal evaluation programmes for company salesmen. The questionnaire response from a l l respondents was: 55*5 percent - yes, 4 3 . 1 percent no, and 1 .4 percent - no reply. Following i s a ranking of the four groups of companies in response to this question with a breakdown between head office and branch office repl ies . Combination goods total replies 7 3 . 2 $ Head office 6 2 . 5 % Branch office 7 5 . 7 % Service industry total replies 5 7 . 1 % Head office 3 7 . 5 % Branch office 8 3 . 3 % Consumer goods total repl ies . 5 0 * 0 % Head office 41 .7% Branch office 5 2 . 8 % _ Industrial goods total replies 4 4 . 2 % Head office 2 8 . 6 % Branch o f f i c e . . . . . 4 7 . 2 % Combination goods companies were outstanding in the area of salesmen evaluation. It i s surprising to find the industrial companies at the bottom of the l i s t . Perhaps with their personnel selection procedures and the heavy emphasis on university graduates, i t i s fe l t that evaluation programmes are not part icularly necessary. If this is the attitude i t i s one which should be seriously questioned. The above ranking c lear ly demonstrates the leading role taken by the larger out-of-province companies in the matter of salesmen evaluation. Without exception, branch offices are well ahead of their head office counterparts. The most l i k e l y explanation again is that the greater sophistication of these companies which have established branches in Br i t i sh Columbia i s due to the impetus of keener competition which they face and the f inancial advantage which comes from considerably larger sales bases than Br i t i sh Columbia companies. 87 Formal Job Descriptions The importance of job descriptions l i es in matching jobs and individuals . The job description sets forth the objectives, duties, relationships, and results expected of a person in a given job. Without a job description there is no objective measuring device for determining the individual's capabil ity in his position nor for assessing his performance or probable performance in a more advanced posit ion. The size of these companies and the competitive markets in which they operate demands a sophisticated means of determining the type of individual and the talents required of that individual for each one of the positions considered in this study. Formal job descriptions seem to be a firmly established pro-cedure in a l l the companies represented in this study. Only 2 3 . 3 percent of a l l respondents indicated that there were no formal job descriptions in their company. Over 64 percent indicated a formal job description for their own position; 58 percent, a job description for their immediate subordinate, and 65 percent, a formal job description for company salesmen. Considering the individual company types, combination goods companies are again well above average. Industrial goods companies are also above the average in each of the three categories of job descriptions. Both the consumer goods and service industry companies can find room for improvement. Table XXXIV compares the average responses on this question with the responses for the four types of companies. 88 TABLE XXXIV PERCENTAGE RESPONSE OP FORMAL JOB DESCRIPTIONS CLASSIFIED BY COMPANY TYPE FORMAL JOB DESCRIPTIONS FOR CONSUMER GOODS INDUSTRIAL GOODS. % COMBINATION GOODS 1o SERVICE INDUSTRY TOTAL RESPONSE % Respondent 6 2 . 5 6 5 . 1 7 8 . 1 2 8 . 6 6 4 . 4 Immediate subordinate 5 0 . 0 6 2 . 8 6 8 . 3 4 2 . 9 5 8 . 2 Company salesmen 5 4 . 2 6 7 . 4 7 3 . 2 7 1 . 4 6 5 . 1 No job d e s c r i p t i o n 2 5 . 0 2 5 . 6 17.1 2 8 . 6 2 3 . 3 89 CHAPTER V BUSINESS ACTIVITIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF BRITISH COLUMBIA SALES EXECUTIVES I . INTRODUCTION This chapter provides a d e s c r i p t i o n and a n a l y s i s of the B.C. sal e s executive's on-the-job a c t i v i t i e s , h i s o f f i c i a l t i t l e , to whom he i s r e s p o n s i b l e , and the number of employees f o r whom he i s d i r e c t l y and i n d i r e c t l y r e s p o n s i b l e . I I . OFFICIAL TITLES The t y p i c a l B.C. sal e s executive bears the t i t l e of Regional, Western, D i v i s i o n , P r o v i n c i a l , or B.C. Sales Manager. He i s r e s p o n s i b l e to the V i c e President or General Manager of h i s company. Respondents' Job T i t l e s There was a wide v a r i e t y of t i t l e s given i n response to the question of present o f f i c i a l t i t l e . The 146 respondents responded w i t h 44 d i f f e r e n t job t i t l e s , many the r e s u l t of s p e c i a l i z e d respon-s i b i l i t i e s w i t h i n the company; f o r example, \"Marine Manager\" or \"Sales Manager - Household.\" There were al s o many combinations of t i t l e s such as Sales and Marketing Manager, General F i e l d Manager, and Western Regional Sales Manager. I t was d i f f i c u l t to c l a s s i f y these t i t l e s meaningfully but s i x c a t e g o r i e s were f i n a l l y e s t a b l i s h e d 90 which represent f a i r l y accurately the different types of t i t l e s held. The largest number of responses contained the designations regional, western, divis ion, provincial , zone or B.C. in the t i t l e . These t i t l e s a l l signify responsibi l i ty for a f a i r l y large area, probably covering the province of Br i t i sh Columbia at a minimum and some perhaps extending to Alberta and Saskatchewan. The other classi f icat ions cannot be ignored however. The breakdown of responses are c lass i f ied by company type and reproduced in Table XXXV. The term others is a general c lass i f icat ion which covers those t i t l e s that could not be conveniently c lass i f i ed . There is considerable variation among the four groups of companies. The industrial respondents lean heavily toward Dis tr ic t or Branch sales manager t i t l e s which gives the connotation that they are responsible for smaller terr i tor ies than the consumer and service respondents, where the Regional, e tc . , sales manager t i t l e s pre-dominate. The combination respondents were the most d i f f i cu l t to c lass i fy and have, by far, the greatest number of responses c lass i f ied in the \"others\" group. This is due to the more specialized termin-ology used in this group to distinguish between the industrial and consumer sales which these companies are engaged i n . Who Respondents Are Responsible To The majority of the respondents (38.4 percent) are responsible to the Vice President or General Manager of their respective companies. A smaller group (18.5 percent) are responsible to the 91 TABLE XXXV PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTION OP OFFICIAL JOB TITLES CLASSIFIED BY COMPANY TYPE JOB TITLE TOTAL RESPONSE COMPANY TYPE Consumer $ I n d u s t r i a l Combination 1° Service 1o P r e s i d e n t , V i c e President and General Manager 6 . 2 1 0 . 4 4 . 6 . 0 1 4 . 3 General Sales Man-ager and N a t i o n a l Sales Manager 7 - 5 6 . 2 7 . 0 7 -3 1 4 . 3 Regional, Pro-v i n c i a l , Western, D i v i s i o n , Zone and B.C. Sales Manager 2 6 . 7 3 1 . 2 1 8 . 6 2 6 . 8 3 5 . 7 D i s t r i c t or Branch Sales Manager 21.1 1 8 . 8 3 7 . 2 1 2 . 2 7.1 Sales Manager 1 9 . 9 1 8 . 8 2 0 . 9 2 2 . 0 1 4 . 3 Others* 1 7 . 8 1 4 . 6 . 11 .7 3 1 . 7 1 4 . 3 T o t a l s 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 *Includes one \"No Reply.\" 92 General Sales Manager. This same pattern is f a i r l y consistent through-out the four company groups. Table XXXVI presents data on who respon-dents report to c lass i f ied by company type. As the table indicates there was more consistency in the t i t l e s given in answer to this question than in the question requesting their own t i t l e s . This made i s far easier to c lass i fy the responses. The pattern established in this table is considerably more consistent than that of the preceding analysis. A l l four groups of respondents reported predominantly to the Vice President or General Manager of their respective companies. The range of responses in this category was from a low of 3 2 . 6 percent for industrial respon-dents to a high of 43*7 percent for consumer respondents. With the exception of the combination group of respondents, the general or national sales manager was the next t i t l e most commonly reported to. This table is far more effective in establishing the relative level in the business hierarchy of the respondents than Table XXXV (page 9 1 ) . III . JOB RESPONSIBILITIES The typical B.C. sales executive engages in a very wide range of act iv i t ies on the job. He considers directing and con-t r o l l i n g the sales force, training sales-men, and personal se l l ing , in that order, the most important act iv i t ies of his position. He also spends most of his time on these same three ac t iv i t i e s . He is d irect ly responsible for five to nine employees and indirect ly responsible (through subordinates) for between ten and twenty-four employees. He spends approximately 15 percent of his time trave l l ing away from his home. 93 TABLE XXXVI PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTION OF OFFICIAL TITLES OF THE PERSONS TO WHOM RESPONDENTS ARE DIRECTLY RESPONSIBLE CLASSIFIED BY COMPANY TYPE OFFICIAL TITLE TOTAL RESPONSE COMPANY TYPE # Consumer % I n d u s t r i a l fo' Combination fo Service fo President 17 1 1 . 6 1 2 . 5 1 3 . 9 7 . 3 1 4 . 3 V i c e P r e s i d e n t and General Manager 56 3 8 . 4 4 3 . 7 3 2 . 6 3 6 . 6 4 2 . 9 General Sales Manager or N a t i o n a l Sales Manager 27 1 8 . 5 1 4 . 6 2 3 . 3 17.1 2 1 . 4 Regional, D i v i s -i o n a l , Western 01 B.C. Sales Manager 19 1 3 . 0 1 2 . 5 1 1 . 6 17-1 7.1 Others* 27 1 8 . 5 1 6 . 7 1 8 . 6 2 1 . 9 1 4 . 3 T o t a l s 146 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 ^Includes two \"No r e p l i e s . \" 94 On-The-Job Act iv i t i es The questionnaire l i s ted thirteen sets of duties that might normally be associated with a sales executive's responsibi l i t ies . The l i s t was by no means complete and no doubt most sales executives could easi ly add many more responsibi l i t ies to this l i s t . However, the l i s t does represent the type of business involvement these men must face day by day. Table XXXVII recreates the l i s t with the frequency of response to each l i s ted ac t iv i ty . The respondents were also asked to check the three act iv i t ies they considered the most important and the three they considered the most time consuming . The three act iv i t i es with the heaviest response in each category are indicated by an asterisk. Most of the sales executives responding were involved in most of the act iv i t ies l i s t ed . The only act iv i t ies with a frequency of response under 75 percent are: establishing sales quotas for individual salesmen, establishing price policy and establishing credit pol icy. Although both pric ing and credit are legitimate concerns of the sales executive because of their impact on the sales performance of his terr i tor ies and salesmen, their company wide impact on per-formance makes i t readily understandable why the ultimate responsi-b i l i t y w i l l l i e with the specialists and higher placed executives. Setting sales quotas for individual salesmen w i l l usually be left to the sales manager d irect ly concerned after the sales executive has established the branch quota. 95 TABLE XXXVII PERCENTAGE RESPONSE FOR BUSINESS ACTIVITIES ENGAGED IN BY RESPONDENTS, THOSE CONSIDERED MOST IMPORTANT AND THOSE CONSIDERED MOST TIME CONSUMING BUSINESS ACTIVITIES RESPONDENTS INVOLVED CONSIDERED MOST IMPORTANT CONSIDERED MOST TIME CONSUMING i Personal S e l l i n g 8 2 . 2 * 3 9 - 7 *39«7 R e c r u i t i n g Salesmen 7 9 - 5 \"19 .9 4 . 8 T r a i n i n g Salesmen 8 4 . 3 * 4 3 . 8 * 3 0 . 8 D i r e c t i n g and C o n t r o l l i n g Sales Force 9 1 . 8 * 7 2 . 6 * 5 8 . 9 S a l e s F o r e c a s t i n g 9 3 . 8 2 7 . 4 2 1 . 2 E s t a b l i s h i n g Sales Quotas - branch - salesmen 7 8 . 1 5 8 . 2 3 . 4 . 0 2 . 7 . 0 S a l a r y Determination 7 9 . 5 2 . 7 . 7 Expense Account C o n t r o l 8 7 . 7 4 .1 4 . 8 P l a n n i n g Sales Promotions 8 2 . 2 3 0 . 8 2 1 . 9 I n t r o d u c i n g New Products 7 6 . 7 1 4 . 4 1 1 . 0 E s t a b l i s h i n g P r i c i n g P o l i c y 5 5 . 5 26 . 0 1 3 . 0 E s t a b l i s h i n g C r e d i t P o l i c y 3 7 . 0 6 . 9 6 . 2 *The three a c t i v i t i e s w i t h highest frequency of responses. The three most important duties are so l id ly established. In order of relative importance they were found to be: Directing and control l ing the sales force 72.6% Training salesmen. .43• 8% Personal se l l ing 39• 7% The three most time consuming act iv i t ies were the same three although their order was altered sonewhat with personal se l l ing displacing training salesmen in second place. Training company salesmen. Training salesmen is a large part of the sales executive's job. This would include both the training of new salesmen and continuing on-the-job training for salesmen after their i n i t i a l training programmes. Chapter IV discussed the i n i t i a l training of new salesmen and the des irabi l i ty of having i t carried out by full-time people. I n i t i a l training i s normally concerned with technical and product knowledge. In this chapter we are concerned with after- i n i t i a l tra ining. A f t e r - i n i t i a l training would normally include two fundamental aspects: market information and customer characteristics, and se l l ing techniques and sales basics. The se l l ing techniques and \"how to se l l\" sales basics can and should be i n i t i a l l y the respon-s i b i l i t y of trained personnel. The sales executive's major respon-s i b i l i t y would be one of follow-up and reinforcement, through on-the-job training, which includes making f i e l d sales ca l l s with the salesmen. Market information and customer characteristics would include making sure that the individual salesmen know who their customers and prospects are, how they use his product or service, how often repeat purchases are normally made, various product applications, buying patterns, prospect habits and idiosyncrasies, and competitive products and practices. This i s not information that is given just to new salesmen in a t err i tory . It must be continuing, keeping the salesmen abreast of trends, product developments, new applications, competitive strategy changes, economic fluctuations and new prospect and customer develop-ments. The information would come from marketing research studies, competitive analysis, sa les-cal l reports, basic marketing programmes and plans, business publications, and annual audits of the company's marketing operations. This does not sound l ike se l l ing and i t is not supposed to . We are not discussing salesmen. We are discussing sales executives or sales managers with the emphasis on executive and managing. Personal se l l ing . With over 82 percent of the respondents i n -volved in se l l ing there i s no question of i t s importance in the sales executive's overall responsibi l i t ies . But what are the respondents' thoughts on being involved in se l l ing themselves? This study made no provision for an answer to this question but a survey carried out by For a very well thought out and well presented discussion on the question of sales managers \"doing\" versus managing, see Raymond 0 . Loen, Management Consultant, \"Sales Managers Must Manage,\" Harvard Business Review, 42 (May-June, 1 9 6 4 ) , pp. 1 0 7 - 1 1 4 . 31 Industrial Distribution provides some interesting highlights. In that survey, 83 percent of the respondents believed that they should not be responsible for any accounts, yet 40 percent (considerably below the 82 percent of this study) handled accounts personally, and 35 percent spent more than 50 percent of their time in the f i e l d . There was a broad difference in views about the role the sales managers should play in the se l l ing effort in the abovementioned study. On the one hand (the minority), some of the sales managers fe l t their toughest job was getting out from under paperwork to spend more time in the f i e l d . This group dis l iked or even resented paper-work and irksome chores that kept them from the f i e l d . The majority however, fe l t that they should not handle accounts and expressed 32 views such as the following: A sales manager should teach, train and direct his sales force. This can be, and i s , a fulltime job. Handling accounts narrows his perspective. Sales manager is unable (without penalty) to provide the service, follow-through and on the spot attention so often required. Handling accounts reduces sales managers overall effectiveness for general sales supervision. Main job w i l l be neglected. With a l l accounts assigned to salesmen, salesmen become more responsible, sales managers more f lex ible . Sales manager should be a manager, not a super salesman. 31 George L . Bottari (Ass. E d . ) , \"How Do Sales Managers Spend Their Time?\" Industrial Distribution, 49 (January, 1 9 5 9 5 , PP« 8 4 -8 8 . 3 2 I b i d . , p. 8 5 . Sales manager won't have time to handle accounts i f he properly assumes his other responsibi l i t ies . The sales manager who handles his own accounts loses the f l e x i -b i l i t y he needs to do his job. An overwhelming weight of opinion against the sales executive being involved in personal se l l ing! Directing and control l ing the sales force. This act iv i ty is naturally one of the most important duties of the sales executive because this , essentially, is his job. The sales manager's job is the plan, plead, inspire and prod One aspect of directing and control l ing the sales force is fie work with salesmen to help them improve their effectiveness. This could also be considered part of training but goes much further. Fifty-eight percent of the Industrial Management respondents wanted to spend more time inihe f i e l d with their salesmen. They gave the 3 4 following just i f icat ions: 1. To evaluate the service we are giving. 2. To give customers a feeling of importance. 3 . To meet key account personnel. 4 . To set up lunches and entertainment. 5 . To help show salesmen how to s e l l . 6. To help salesmen meet customer brass. 7 . To straighten out product problems. 8. To handle customer gripes and complaints. 3 3 'Bottari, op. c i t . , p. 86. 34-'Bottari, op. c i t . , p. 86. 100 9. To check on salesmen's work habits. 1 0 . To observe salesmens sales techniques. 1 1 . To help get more orders. Sales forecasting, sales quotas, planning sales promotions, introducing new products, and establishing pricing policies a l l rate f a i r l y well on the most important act iv i t ies scale of the respondents. They should rate higher. They should be among the most important phases of a sales executive's job. The establishment of marketing policies and objectives are the most significant areas of business today and the areas where there is the most need for improve-ment. A sales manager's broad responsibi l i t ies involve producing additional sales prof i t . To do this he must; (a) establish marketing pol icies and objectives. (b) plan the marketing campaign. (c) work with the sales force to see that these objectives are met. (d) keep direct se l l ing expense in proper relationship to profits produced. (Sales without profits are pointless.) Perhaps our typical sales executive should take a long close look at what he does, eliminate as much as possible his personal se l l ing ac t iv i t i e s , try to eliminate routine tasks, standardize procedures and make the time available for more thinking, more planning, and more creative development of long-range sales policies and objectives. He should pay more attention to providing the infor-mation which w i l l keep his salesmen abreast of customer and competitive 101 developments. Raymond 0 . Loen, Management Consultant, feels that almost any manager today can talk the language of managing in terms of planning, directing, and control l ing, but that the test of being an effective manager is rea l ly to understand managing well enough to practice i t in day-to-day responsibi l i t ies . He feels that today's sales manager often exemplifies this problem of managing by doing, and the result 35 i s that they do not manage effectively. Spans of Control The direct span of control (number of employees direct ly respon-sible for) appears to be expanding s ignif icantly . The i 9 6 0 study recorded 74*6 percent of the respondents direct ly responsible for fewer than ten employees and the remaining 2 5 . 4 percent responsible for more than ten employees. In comparison, the 1966 study finds only 53«4 percent of the respondents responsible for fewer than ten employees while the percentage of those responsible for ten or more increased from 2 5 . 4 percent to 45»9 percent. This trend holds true for each of the four groups of companies with the exception of the service industry. In this instance there has been no substantial change. The most dramatic example of an increase in the direct span of control i s in the industrial group of companies. Seven percent of the i 9 6 0 industrial respondents were d irect ly responsible for more Loen, op. c i t . , p. 1 0 8 . 102 than ten employees. This increased to 37•2 in the 1966 study. When considering responsibi l i ty for employees both direct ly , and indirect ly through subordinates, a different picture emerges. Here i t appears that the span of control is decreasing. The current study records only 4 0 . 4 percent of the respondents responsible for more than 25 employees whereas the 1960 study recorded 51«9 percent of i t s respondents with responsibi l i ty for more than 25 employees. Table XXXVIII presents the current findings on spans of control and compares them to the i 9 6 0 study. The f i r s t part of the table represents the number of employees reporting direct ly to the sales manager and the second part, the total number of employees under his control and direction whether reporting direct ly to him or not. The conf l ict ing trends apparent in Table XXXVIII are surprising. The only explanation that can be offered is that there has been a considerable amount of decentralization and opening of new offices result ing in fewer employees per office, or possibly, that more direct sales responsibi l i ty has been given to the current sales executives while re l iev ing them of indirect responsibi l i ty through the establish-ment of larger staff organizations.. Consumer goods sales executives typica l ly have more employees reporting d irect ly to them (16.7 percent with fewer than five employees and 29.1 percent with twenty or more employees) than the other three groups of sales executives, while service industry sales executives have the smallest number of employees ( 4 2 . 9 percent with fewer than five and 2 1 . 4 percent with twenty or more) reporting direct ly to them. 103 TABLE XXXVIII RESPONDENTS' SPAN OP CONTROL AND INDIRECT PERSONNEL RESPONSIBILITIES CLASSIFIED BY COMPANY TYPE -1966 AND 1960 (PERCENTAGE OF RESPONSES) DIRECT SPAN OF CONTROL AVERAGE 1966 1960 1o fo CONSUMER 1966 i 9 6 0 io io INDUSTRIAL 1966 1960 $ % COMBINATION 1966 1960 - % % ..SERVICE 1966 i 9 6 0 i i Less than 5 5 \" : 9 10 - 19 20 - 39 Over 40 No reply-Totals 2 5 . 3 3 2 . 8 2 8 . 1 4 1 . 8 2 4 . 0 1 3 . 6 1 7 * 8 1 1 . 8 4 .1 . 7 1 6 . 7 2 3 . 8 27.1 4 7 . 6 27.1 19.1 2 2 . 9 9 - 5 . 6 . 2 3 7 . 2 5 3 . 6 2 5 . 6 3 9 . 3 2 3 . 3 7.1 1 1 - 6 . 0 2 . 3 17.1 3 4 . 4 3 6 . 6 3 4 . 4 2 2 . 0 1 2 . 5 1 7 ' 1 1 8 . 7 4 . 9 2 . 4 4 2 . 9 . 0 1 4 . 3 5 5 . 6 2 1 . 4 11.1 2 1 - 4 33.3 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 100.0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 100.0 DIRECT AND INDIRECT SPAN OF CONTROL Less than 10 10 - 24 25 - 74 Over 75 No reply Totals 2 6 . 7 2 4 . 5 3 2 . 2 2 3 . 6 2 7 . 4 3 3 . 7 1 3 . 0 1 8 . 2 . 7 3 1 . 3 2 3 . 8 27.1 2 3 . 8 2 5 . 0 2 8 . 6 1 6 . 7 2 3 . 8 3 4 . 9 3 3 . 3 4 4 . 2 3 7 . 0 1 8 . 6 1 8 . 6 2 . 3 11.1 1 4 . 6 2 5 . 0 3 4 . 2 1 2 . 5 3 4 . 2 5 6 . 2 1 4 . 6 6 . 2 2 . 4 2 1 . 4 . 0 7.1 2 2 . 2 4 2 . 9 2 2 . 2 2 8 . 6 5 5 . 6 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 100.0 , . 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 D 0 . 0 104 This is not unexpected. The service industry is s t i l l capita l iz ing on growth opportunities while the intensive distribution of consumer goods is well established and requires large numbers of salesmen to maintain this distribution structure. With the exception of the service industry another interesting comparison with 1960 is evident. Consumer, industrial and combination companies a l l record significant drops in the number of respondents reporting direct responsibi l i ty-for less than five employees and major increases in each of the categories above five employees. This con-firms the suggestion of growth and more intensive sales efforts part icularly evident in the industrial and combination companies which was introduced in Chapter. IV. The suggestion of fewer indirect ly controlled employees as compared to the 1960 study remains f a i r l y consistent through the four groups of companies. There are exceptions to a completely consistent trend in the combination and service responses for which no adequate explanation i s available. However, these exceptions disappear i f the less than five, and the five to nine classes are combined, and the twenty to thirty-nine and over forty classes are combined. Industrial Distributions' sales managers feel capable of managing a goodly number of salesmen. The average of the companies surveyed in that study was 12.6 outside salesmen and 8 inside salesmen with a range of three to twenty-seven. Most of those respondents 37 thought they could handle 10 or 20 salesmen and a few favored more. 37 Bottari , op. c i t . , p. 8 7 . 105 T r a v e l l i n g In the course of h i s business r e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s , the t y p i c a l s a l e s executive f i n d s h i m s e l f t r a v e l l i n g away from h i s home between ten and twenty-four percent of h i s time; not too d i f f e r e n t from Sales Management's' t y p i c a l s a l e s executive who spends 7 8 percent of h i s time i n h i s home c i t y and 22 percent t r a v e l l i n g - or one day on the road per average week. 3^ Table XXXIX presents t r a v e l time data and compares the four company types i n t h i s r e s p e c t . TABLE XXXIX PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTION OP AMOUNT OP TRAVEL TIME AWAY FROM HOME CLASSIFIED BY COMPANY TYPE ALL TRAVEL TIME RESPONDENTS COMPANY TYPE Consumer I n d u s t r i a l Combination Service % % % % % Less than 10% 2 5 . 3 2 9 . 2 2 5 . 6 2 4 . 4 1 4 . 3 10 - 24% 5 0 . 7 4 3 . 7 5 3 . 5 4 8 . 8 7 1 . 4 25 - 49% 21 .1 2 2 . 9 2 0 . 9 2 2 . 0 1 4 . 3 No r e p l y . 7 . 0 . 0 2 . 4 . 0 T o t a l s 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 AVERAGES 17.7% 1 8 . 5 % 16.6% 18.1% 2 7 . 1 % The s e r v i c e i n d u s t r y r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s appear to be the most t r a v e l l e d s a l e s executives of the four groups, however, the small 3 8 s a l i sbury, o p . c i t . , p. 35« 106 base in the service industry may be presenting a bias. The industrial sales executive does the least amount of travel l ing away from home, which is quite consistent with the previous supposition that this group is responsible for smaller terr i tor ies than the other groups. The consumer and service sales executives, with apparently larger t e r r i t o r i a l responsibi l i t ies , would find i t necessary to spend more time trave l l ing . It would be interesting in any future research, to determine how the sales executives look on travel l ing - as a pleasant r e l i e f from home office tedium or as a necessary ev i l in the performance of their responsibil i t ies? 107 CHAPTER VI CAREER PATTERNS AND PROSPECTS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA SALES EXECUTIVES I . INTRODUCTION The m a j o r i t y of t a b u l a r i n f o r m a t i o n p e r t a i n i n g to t h i s chapter w i l l be found i n Appendix B, pages 182 t o 2 0 0 . This chapter i s con-cerned w i t h the career patterns and prospective advancement of the B.C. s a l e s e x e c u t i v e . The data presented w i l l deal f i r s t w i t h the progression of the s a l e s executives to t h e i r present p o s i t i o n s . I t w i l l i n c l u d e f i r s t and t h i r d job s t u d i e s , ages at which important steps were made, years of experience, number of companies worked f o r , and number of p o s i t i o n s h e l d . The chapter discusses the respondents' e v a l u a t i o n of experience considered most val u a b l e i n advancement and examines the extent of f a m i l y connections w i t h the respondents' present companies. The e f f e c t of education on the career of the s a l e s executives w i l l then be discussed, f o l l o w e d by the e f f e c t of other f a c t o r s such as fathe r s ' occupation, s i z e of b i r t h p l a c e , and age, on t h e i r achievement times. The chapter w i l l c l o s e w i t h a d i s c u s s i o n on the promotional expectations and prospects of the s a l e s executives. 108 II. PROGRESSION DATA The 'typical B.C. sales executive ob-tained his f i r s t job in his teens. This job was as an unskilled worker. He was well launched into a sales career by his third job. He has worked for four companies during his career and has held seven positions within those companies. Excluding military service i t took him 19 years to reach his present position. I n i t i a l Occupations The majority of the respondents obtained their f i r s t full-time job in their late teens, with their early twenties being the next 39 most important time for embarking on the road of independence. The average age of achieving their f i r s t full-timg job for a l l respondents was 1 9 . 6 years. The difference between the four company groups was minor. The only significant variation seems to be between the consumer group average age of 19«5 years and the industrial group average age of 1 9 . 8 years. This difference would be due,primarily, to the higher incidence of university attendance in the industrial group and the natural assumption that many of those who went to University went directly, and necessarily achieved their f i r s t job at a later date, probably in their early twenties. First j o b t h i r d job studies. Very few people find their 7See Appendix B, page 18$, Table XLV, Age at Which Respondents Obtained Their First Jobs Classified by Company Type. 109 niche in their f i r s t jobs and the sales executives of this study were no exception. Generally speaking, the f i r s t job is one which enables the individual to earn money on his own and to achieve some of the things which seem important at that time, i . e . a car, clothes, funds for furthering one's education, etc. Few, however, are satisf ied at this level since the job is normally one that could be achieved with a minimum amount of education and experience and by i t s very nature w i l l not be satisfactory beyond the achievement of these short term goals. By their third job, most people have probably found their interest in l i f e and are prepared to make a career of that particular type of work or (perhaps unfortunately) they have taken on the respon-s i b i l i t i e s of a home and family and find i t d i f f i c u l t , i f not impossible, to change their type of work. How does the typical B.C. sales executive f i t this pattern? Appendix B presents the necessary data by l i s t i n g and comparing the 40 types of f i r s t and third jobs held by the respondents. The occupations l i s ted were so many and so varied that convenient c l a s s i -f ication and presentation necessitated a rather broad c lass i f icat ion, \"Other.\" This c lass i f icat ion includes primarily, jobs of an unskilled c l e r i c a l nature. The greatest majority of the respondents obtained their f i r s t employment in unskil led laborer jobs ( 3 8 . 4 % ) or a variety of unskilled See Appendix B, page \"ffJSfa Table XLVI, Class i f icat ion and Comparison of Respondents' F ir s t and Third Jobs. 110 c l e r i c a l jobs (\"Other,\" 4 3 . 8 % ) . Only 8 . 9 percent started t h e i r careers as a salesman. T y p i c a l l y , the respondents started t h e i r careers i n jobs f a r removed from t h e i r present p o s i t i o n s . The f i r s t jobs offered no i n d i -c a tion of the status they would reach. By t h e i r t h i r d job however, the respondents were well on t h e i r way to t h e i r present p o s i t i o n s . This i s demonstrated by comparing the percentage of sales positions i n the f i r s t job c l a s s i f i c a t i o n ( 8 . 9 percent) to the percentage of sales positions of the t h i r d job c l a s s i f i c a t i o n ( 3 3 . 6 percent salesmen, 4.1 percent sales supervisors or t r a i n e r s , and 8 . 2 percent sales managers). The...majority of those who were c l a s s i f i e d as worker or u n s k i l l e d c l e r i c a l had moved qui c k l y into sales p o s i t i o n s . The movement into sales positions i s p a r t i c u l a r l y evident within the lower l e v e l s of educational achievement which w i l l be analyzed more c r i t i c a l l y l a t e r i n t h i s chapter. The a t t r a c t i o n of a sales career to these i n d i v i d u a l s probably l i e s i n the opportunity available f or a higher l e v e l of income and greater degree of recognition i n a shorter period of time than i s normally available through other types of jobs. In examining responses by company type, i t becomes apparent that the consumer goods respondents are the most single-minded group i n 41 the choice of careers. Close to 3'5 percent of t h e i r f i r s t jobs were as salesmen compared to the average of just under 9 percent f o r a l l the respondents. By t h e i r t h i r d job, 64 percent of the consumer See Appendix B, page 185', Table XLVII, Respondents' F i r s t and T h i r d Jobs C l a s s i f i e d by Company Type. 111 respondents held a sales position compared to the group average of 46 percent. The combination group of respondents are about average in this respect, and industrial respondents below average. Service respondents were much slower than the rest of the respondents in getting into sales as a career. There was no movement into sales positions demonstrated by their third jobs, and 43 percent were s t i l l in unclassifiable positions. Company and position mobility. As a group, the respondents 42 , appeared reasonably stable in their career patterns. Almost 7 ° percent reported being with four or fewer companies. The consumer goods respondents were inclined to change companies more often than their counterparts while the service industry respondents were the least mobile in company changes. The following percentage ranking of those respondents who worked for four or fewer companies highlights the s t a b i l i t y of the respondents: Service industry 7 8 . 6 % Industrial goods 7 2 . 1 % Combination goods 7 0 . 7 % Consumer goods 6 4 . 4 % Does upward progression come faster to those who change companies to better their position, or to those who look for upward movement within their present company? The data gathered failed to answer 4 See Appendix B, page 1<86, Table XLVIII, Total Number of Companies Worked for Classified by Company Type.. 112 this question. 4^ The service industry respondents who worked for the least number of companies on average, also held the least number of positions, while the consumer goods respondents, who worked for the most companies held a slight edge in the number of positions held. The average number of positions held ( a l l respondents) was 6 . 6 ; service industry respondents' average was 6 . 1 , and consumer respondents' average was 6 . 8 . How long has i t taken? Turning now to the length of time taken to reach their present position (including a l l companies but excluding military service) i t was found that the time taken varies by company type. The typical consumer sales executive moved more slowly than his counterparts in the other three company groups ( 1 9 - 6 , years) compared to 19«0» 1 8 . 0 , and 17 .7 years for combination, industrial, and service respondents respectively. Most intriguing i s the fact that only 6 . 2 percent of the consumer respondents had reached their present position within ten years compared to 1 8 . 6 percent of the industrial respondents, 14*6 percent of the combination respondents, and 14*3 percent of the service respondents. The rapid movement of the industrial respondents would be due, in large part, to education and selection procedures. The particularly large group of industrial respondents who achieved their present ^See Appendix B, page 1187), Table XLIX, Total Number of Positions Respondents Have Held in A l l Companies Classified by Company Type. 113 position within ten years is very l i k e l y due to the fast growth in the industrial f i e l d over the past six years which has been demonstrated in Chapter IV. The \"over ten years class\" eliminates this period of rapid growth and the picture normalizes somewhat with very l i t t l e variation demonstrated in the \"11 to 15 years class.\" On the average, 55«5 percent of a l l respondents had reached their present position by their twentieth working year. Consumer goods respondents are typical at this point with 5 6 . 3 percent, industrial goods and service respon-dents were s l ight ly above average with 58 .1 percent and 57 .1 percent respectively, and combination respondents, now t r a i l i n g the f i e ld with 5 1 . 2 percent, having reached their present position by their twentieth 44 year. One of the reasons for the somewhat slower progression of the consumer and combination respondents may be found by referring to 45 the span of control data. There i t was noted that consumer goods companies and presumably the consumer goods portion of combination companies, have larger spans of control and thus more salesmen per sales manager. Since the normal progression of consumer goods sales executives would be through sales, with more fellow employees to compete with, i t might take him longer to reach his present position. The same reasoning would also explain why the service sales executive ^See Appendix B, page t 8 8 , Table L, Number of Years Required to Reach Present Position Classi f ied by Company Type. 4 5 See Table XXXVIII, page;103. 114 seemed to move rapidly. He had less competition. It is suggested however, that the results for the service industry are inconclusive in this regard due to the small sample size. The next section continues the study of progression by examining present company data. The typical B .C. sales executive was 30 years old when hired by his present company. His greatest upward movement has been with his present company where he had held three of his seven positions. He achieved his present position at the age of 39 and has held this position for six years. Sales work has been considered the most valuable asset in the sales executive's progression to his present posit ion. Family connections have not played a part in his achievement. Present Companies The career patterns of the respondents within their present companies is of major interest in this study. Appendix B tables provide the following information: age when hired by present company; number of positions with present company; age when present position was achieved and number of years in that position; and, importance of business experience and family connections in the sales executives' careers. Age when hired by present company. In the examination of i n t r a -firm mobility, the f i r s t area of interest is the stage in their careers at which the sales executives became associated with their present 115 46 companies. The average respondent was 3 0 . 4 years old when he joined his present company. Consumer and combination respondents tended to join their present companies about a year ear l ier than this average, while industrial and service respondents tended to be a year older than the average. The age c lass i f icat ion of between 26 and 35 years was the most important time for joining present companies (37«6 percent of the respondents). The next most important time was the 20 to 25 age c lass i f icat ion with 2 6 . 0 percent of the respondents joining their companies at this period in their l i ves . This i s in sharp contrast to the results of the 1960 study as the following comparison shows: 1960 1966 Percentage of respondents aged 20 - 25 when they joined their present company 3 6 . 3 % 2 6 . 0 % Percentage of respondents aged 26 - 35 when they joined their present company 2 6 . 0 % 3 7 . 6 % The only explanation that can be offered for this seeming reversal is that these positions are becoming more important with the growth in size of the firms represented and that more training and experience is required to achieve them. A corollary to this reasoning is that the rapid expansion of many of the firms necessitated looking outside their ranks for qualif ied personnel to meet their sales personnel requirements and that experience played a major role in their selection. See Appendix B, page 1 8 9 , Table LI , Respondents' Age When Hired by Their Present Companies Classi f ied by Company Type. 116 Sl ight ly over 79 percent of the consumer respondents joined their present companies before they were th ir ty - f ive , compared to 7 5 • 5 percent of the combination respondents, 6 5 . 1 percent of the industrial respondents, and 57«2 percent of the service respondents. The tendency for consumer respondents to join their companies ear l ier than their counterparts is consistent with the generalizations on education and the expanding industrial izat ion of Br i t i sh Columbia. For those interested in sales careers, consumer goods companies pro-vided the best opportunity simply because there were more positions available and less reliance on educational background in order to qualify. Age present position achieved. The age at which the typical respondent obtained his position was 3 8 . 7 years, while the individual averages were 37«7» 3 8 . 0 , 39»0> amd 39»4 years of age for service, 47 industr ia l , consumer, and combination respondents respectively. There are two important comparisons to be made with regard to the above information. F i r s t , is the comparison with the i 9 6 0 study results . Only 25«5 percent of the current respondents had achieved their present position before the age of 36 compared to 8 2 . 5 percent of the i 9 6 0 respondents. This comparison is consistent with the previous finding that the i 9 6 0 respondents joined their companies See Appendix B, page 119-0), Table LII , Age at Which Respondents Achieved Their Present Positions Classi f ied by Company Type. 117 much ear l ier in their careers than the current respondents. The second significant comparison is found when comparing, by-company type, the time lapse between age hired by present company and age at which present position was achieved. The following data summarizes the time lapse by company type: Age Hired By Age Present Number of Present Company Position Achieved Years Taken Consumer Respondents Industrial Respondents Combination Respondents Service Respondents 2 9 . 6 3 9 . 0 9 - 4 3 1 . 2 3 8 . 0 6 . 8 2 9 . 7 3 9 . 4 9-7 3 1 . 7 3 7 . 7 6 . 0 The re lat ive ly rapid movement of the industrial respondents in comparison to the average is again probably due to the rapid expansion in this f i e l d over the past few years. The service respondents moved very rapidly also, due in part to the re lat ive ly small numbers i n -volved. The consumer and combination groups are taking considerably longer to reach their present positions. During the time i t took the respondents to move to their present positions within their companies, they have held two to three other positions. The industrial goods respondents have had the greatest See Appendix B, page l^'t Table LIII , Number of Positions Respondents Have Held in Their Present Company Classi f ied by Company Type. 118 variety of experience with an average of 3.6 positions followed closely by consumer respondents with 3«5 positions. Service industry respon-dents were the lowest in this regard, having held an average of 2.9 positions with their companies. Over 42 percent of the respondents had been in their present position less than four years and a further 24 percent had held their 49 positions less than six years. Consumer and industrial respondents have held their positions the shortest period of time, while the service respondents have the longest tenure in their present positions. Importance of sales experience and family connections. In pro-gressing to their present positions, the respondents fe l t that sales experience was the most important ingredient although there is some variance between the company c lass i f icat ions . Table XL presents the response to the question of what business experience they considered the most valuable to them in achieving their present positions. Sales experience was considered the most important by a l l the respondents, part icularly so by the consumer goods respondents. The industrial respondents ranked sales experience as the most impor-tant but i t s significance was overshadowed by the fact that they put far more emphasis on technical and product knowledge than any of the other respondents. This outcome is what might be expected. Considering the variety and number of consumer goods from which the consumer has a See Appendix B, page i]^ 2» Table LIV, Number of Years Respondents Have Been In Their Present Positions Calss i f ied By Company Type. 119 TABLE XL TYPE OP BUSINESS EXPERIENCE CONSIDERED MOST IMPORTANT IN ACHIEVING PRESENT POSITIONS CLASSIFIED BY COMPANY TYPE TYPE OF TOTAL / BUSINESS EXPERIENCE RESPONSE TYPE OF COMPANY Consumer I n d u s t r i a l Combination Se r v i c e # 1o i 1o fo Sales work 95 6 5 . 1 7 9 . 2 4 8 . 8 6 5 . 8 6 4 . 3 T e c h n i c a l and product knowledge 26 1 7 . 8 1 0 . 4 2 5 . 6 1 9 . 5 1 4 . 3 Other marketing and business 21 1 4 . 4 1 0 . 4 1 8 . 6 1 4 . 7 1 4 . 3 No reply- 4 2 . 7 . 0 7 . 0 . 0 7.1 T o t a l s 146 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 120 choice, i t i s apparent that high sales a b i l i t y w i l l be of f i r s t im-portance. On the other hand, although industrial goods sales positions w i l l require sales ab i l i t y , product and technical knowledge w i l l be absolutely essential . In the industrial f i e l d we are dealing with people who buy with more rational motives and considerations than would be found in consumer sales. The customers for industrial goods w i l l demand technical competence from the people they deal with. Many of the respondents included \"getting along with people\" in conjunction with sales experience. One respondent answered with two words, \"hard work,'.' while another felt that se l l ing l i f e insurance, an intangible, helped him develop the necessary talents for his executive position. Another very interesting comment was made: I am firmly convinced that my R . C . A . F . career did more to edu-.. cate me than any other form of education. Hard work, s tr ic t d isc ip l ine , the desire to win, travel l ing, and learning to get along with others paved the way for my position today. Nepotism was not a factor in achieving sales executive positions. Only five percent of the respondents reported any family connection with their present company. In comparing the individual company classi f icat ions in this respect, the service industry ranked the highest with 14 percent of these respondents reporting family connect-ions with their present company. Combination, industrial and consumer respondents reported 1 0 , 4 , and 2 percent respectively in this regard. Although the re lat ive ly high response for the service industry can be readily explained by smaller family run companies which might be found in this category, there is no apparent explanation for the 10 percent response in the combination group. 121 III . THE INFLUENCE OF EDUCATION ON ACHIEVEMENT TIME Education, part icularly university education, is strongly stressed by the larger companies and has played a positive role in shortening achieve-ment time. It is questionable however, whether university education has paid off at this point in the sales execu-t ive's career. The larger and rapidly expanding companies are more conscious of educational attainment and one can expect that education w i l l play a greater role in the future careers of present and future sales executives. There is a very definite and positive relationship between the size of the firm the respondent works for and the degree of education which he has achieved. The writing is clear; those who aspire to sales executive positions and beyond in the larger companies w i l l need a university education as the f i r s t step. This emphasis on education i s firmly demonstrated in the following summary of 50 findings. Respondents With Respondents With Company Size No University Some University Less than $15,000,000 44.4% 28.8% More than $15,000,000 55.6% 71-2% Totals 100.0% 100.0% For complete table see Appendix B, page 193, Table LV, Size of Respondents' Present Companies Class i f ied By Level of Education Received. 122 When you consider that 59 percent of the companies represented recorded annual sales of over 15 mil l ion dol lars , the strong emphasis placed by the larger companies on education achievement becomes even more apparent. Only 20 percent of the grade school level respondents are represented in this group of larger companies. Over 57 percent of the high school level respondents, 6 2 . 5 percent of the some univer-s i ty leve l , 8 9 . 9 percent of the undergraduate degree level , and a l l of the graduate level of education respondents are represented in the companies which recorded sales over $ 1 5 , 0 0 0 , 0 0 0 . The i 9 6 0 study did not demonstrate this sort of positive re lat ion-ship and i t would appear that formal education is becoming ever-increasingly important to the larger companies. It may even be becoming an \"entrance fee\" to these companies which is in direct contrast to the conclusion of the i 9 6 0 study where i t was hypothesized that'the generation largely represented in that sample could achieve success in the larger companies through performance and without the aid of higher education. Education's influence on respondents' f i r s t and third .jobs. It has already been demonstrated that the respondents have progressed to sales positions at the expense of the worker and \"other\" occupa-tions. The question we are now concerned with is to what extent education has influenced this progression. The higher the level of education the less l i k e l y the typical respondent started his career as an ordinary worker. None of the grade school educational level respondents started their careers in 123 sales, while 7.3 percent of the high school, 11.7 percent of the some university, 9 * 4 percent of the undergraduate, and 66.7 percent of the 51 graduate level respondents did begin in sales. The positive re lat ion-ship falters after f i r s t jobs. In their th ird jobs, grade school respondents stood out. Sixty percent of this group were in a sales position by their th ird job. At this stage they were proportionally just as well represented as respondents with some university and respondents who held graduate level degrees, both of which had a head start . They were far better represented than the high school level graduates' 27.1 percent pene-tration into sales careers and the undergraduate degree holders of which only 28.1 percent were in sales jobs. The high school group of respondents stood out in another respect. Although only 27.1 percent of this group were in sales jobs there was a further 12 percent who had progressed to sales supervisory or sales trainer positions and sales management positions. Wot one of the other educational levels had any representation in these 52 advanced sales positions. Time taken to reach present posit ion. The influence of education in this regard is quite definite. The higher the educational level , the quicker the respondents achieved their present positions. Those See Appendix B, page 1194> Table LVT, Respondents' F ir s t Jobs Class i f ied By Level of Education Received. 52 See Appendix B, page 1 9 5 , Table LVII, Respondents' Third Jobs Class i f ied By Level of Education Received. 124 respondents with a grade school education took 20 years to achieve their present position; those with a high school education, 19.1 years; those with some university, 17•3 years; those with a university degree, 14.1 years; and (the exception which proves the rule?) those 53 with a post graduate education, 19.1.years. Although i t is a fact that advanced education has shortened progression time to present positions and that the larger companies stress the need for university education, i t i s questionable whether a university education has actually paid off at this point in the sales executive's career. The reason for this statement w i l l be clear in Chapter VII when education's rather disappointing influence on income is studied. It has been demonstrated that the larger companies stress university education. It w i l l be demonstrated in the following section that the rapidly expanding companies, which are creating new positions, are primarily interested in personnel with a university education. Prom the monetary standard however, for those who have graduated from university the payoff i s s t i l l to come. Who gets the newly created positions? The creation of new positions within the past five years was discussed in Chapter IV. This section examines those newly created positions in reference to the educational level of those who receive them. The importance of See Appendix B, page 1 9 $ , Table LVIII, Years Respondents Required to Achieve Present Position Classi f ied By Level of Education. education i s firmly demonstrated in the following summary of results . Respondents' Level Percentage of Respondents Who of Education Received Newly Created Positions Grade School . 0 High School 12.2 Some University 33.3 Undergraduate Degree 32.3 Graduate Degree 67.7 IV. SOCIAL FACTORS INFLUENCE ON ACHIEVEMENT TIME This section examines the influence of fathers' occupations and the size of the respondents' place of b ir th on their achievement times. The social origins of the sales executives had a definite influence on the respondents' achievement times, part icularly the occupation of their fathers. The f i r s t aspect of this analysis deals with the relationships established between the respondents' fathers' occupations and the respondents' f i r s t jobs. Fathers' occupations and respondents' f i r s t jobs. The sons of fathers who owned their own business were the most l i k e l y to start d irect ly in a sales career. The incidence of this group starting direct ly in sales was over twice that of the sons of professional men ( 3 8 . 4 percent compared to 15«4 percent) and over three times 54 that of any other occupational group recorded in the study. It would seem that they have a major head start in their careers. 5^See Appendix B, page HI97, Table LIX, The Occupations of Respondents' Fathers Classi f ied By Respondents' F ir s t Jobs. 126 The apparent lead held by the sons of business proprietors over the sons of professional men does not hold up under more c r i t i c a l analy-55 s i s . It i s quite interesting to note the differences. Whereas the sons of business owners were much more inclined to enter sales d irect ly , the sons of professional men achieved their present positions in a shorter period of time; just over 16 years compared to just over 17 years for the sons of business owners. Over 18 percent of the professional background respondents managed to achieve their present position with ten years compared to the group performance in this respect of 13 .4 percent. The sons of business owners and business executives were able to achieve pract ic-a l l y the same outstanding performance. The sons of farmers and salesmen took the longest time to reach their present positions, requiring 2 2 . 0 and 2 1 . 5 years respectively. In addition, both were well under the group average in the a b i l i t y to achieve their present position within ten years. The results of this analysis are very much in l ine with the results obtained by 56 Messrs. Warner and Abegglen in their 1952 study of business leaders. They concluded that the superior results achieved by business and professional men's sons was a result of associations and contacts inherent in these backgrounds. 55 See Appendix B, page 119'&, Table LX, Number of Years Required to Reach Present Position Class i f ied By Fathers' Occupation. 56 Warner and Abegglen, op. c i t . , p. 3 0 . 12 Size of birthplace influence on respondents' achievements. Data gathered attempted to determine whether or not the size of the respondents' birthplace would have any positive influence on the respondents' achievement times. It was hypothesized that the larger the birthplace, the more competitive the youthful and social environ-ment. This would, in turn, lead to a more aggressive desire to achieve and this would manifest i t s e l f in actual achievement. The results were inconclusive since no positive relationship could be established. The fastest movement (16.4 years) came from the group of respondents whose birthplace was of the small c i ty size, i . e . a population of 5,000 to 2 4 , 9 9 9 ' Those who came from the large metropolitan areas took an average of 18 years and those from rural areas (under 5»000) took 2 0 . 4 years, almost the same as those from 57 each of the remaining classi f icat ions of birthplace size. V. PROMOTION PROSPECTS AND EXPECTATIONS The typical sales executive i s optimistic about his promotion prospects within his company. There is some question about these prospects as there is an even chance that he w i l l move on to another company. Table XLI compares the respondents' expectations of promotion within their present companies with what actually happened to the former holder of their present posit ion. The purpose in asking what See Appendix B, page IIC99, Table LXI, Number of Years Required to Reach Present Position Class i f ied By Size of Respondents' Birthplace 12 :8 TABLE XLI RESPONDENTS' PROMOTION EXPECTATIONS IN THEIR PRESENT POSITIONS AND THE PROMOTION EXPERIENCE OF THE FORMER HOLDERS OF THESE POSITIONS BY COMPANY TYPE RESPONDENTS' EXPECTATIONS TOTAL RESPONSE TYPE OF COMPANY # % Consumer I n d u s t r i a l Combination S e r v i c e % Higher p o s i t i o n 98 67.1 7 0 . 8 6 9 - 7 6 8 . 3 4 2 . 9 Same p o s i t i o n -l a r g e r t e r r i -t o r y 14 9 - 6 8 . 3 11 .6 9 - 8 7.1 Retirement 9 6 . 2 4 . 2 4 . 7 7 . 3 1 4 . 3 Not known . 25 17.1 1 6 . 7 1 4 . 0 1 4 . 6 3 5 . 7 T o t a l s 146 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 PROMOTION EX-PERIENCE OF FORMER HOLDER Promoted 61 4 1 . 8 4 5 - 8 3 9 . 5 4 6 . 3 2 1 . 4 * Not promoted 61 4 1 . 8 3 7 . 5 3 7 . 2 4 6 . 3 5 7 . 2 No former holder 16 1 1 . 0 8 . 3 1 8 . 6 2 . 5 2 1 . 4 R e t i r e d - 5 3 . 4 4 . 2 2 . 3 4 . 9 . 0 No r e p l y 3 2 . 0 4 . 2 2 . 3 . 0 . 0 T o t a l s 146 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 *The que s t i o n n a i r e response d i d not s p e c i f i c a l l y i d e n t i f y what happened to those former holders who were not promoted w i t h i n the company. Since-they are not w i t h i n the r e t i r e d category, the assumption i s th a t they have moved on to other companies. 129 happened to the former holder was to determine past experience of where these positions led. Are there rea l ly prospects for promotion within the companies or are these dead-end jobs for their holders. As the f i r s t part of the table demonstrates, the respondents are quite optimistic about their chances for promotion within their companies. Sixty-seven percent expect to achieve a higher position and a further 10 percent expect a larger terr i tory . Only six percent intend to ret ire and 17 percent do not know. Not as much hope can be held out for the respondents when referring to the second part of Table XLI (page 1 2 9 ) . Only 42 percent of the respondents' predecessors were promoted within the company. Forty-two percent were not promoted within the company and presumably moved on to other companies. Past experience does not 58 square with present expectations. Comparing the actual experience of the four industries along with the respondents' own expectations i t appears that the service industry offers the least chance of in-company promotion and combin-ation and industrial companies offer the best chance. Consumer goods sales executives have the highest promotional expectations. Almost 46 percent of this group expects to be promoted to the level of National Sales Manager or above. Combination This statement i s made under the assumption that those who were not promoted moved on to other companies. Although the l ikelihood is considered small, some of the non-promoted may have beentransferred to equivalent positions elsewhere in the company. 130 respondents have the next highest expectations with 36 percent aspiring to that level; industrial respondents are th ird with 26 percent, while 59 service industry respondents seem not too sure of themselves. ^See Appendix B, page 200, Table LXII, Respondents Promotion Expectations By T i t l e Class i f ied By Company Type. CHAPTER VII INCOME STUDIES I . INTRODUCTION This chapter is concerned with the respondents' incomes and the factors affecting their incomes. Section two w i l l deal with annual income \"by company type and is also concerned with the form of income and the extent to which commissions and \"bonuses play a part in total income. Section three w i l l c r i t i c a l l y examine the influence of education and age on the respondents' incomes and section four w i l l examine the relationships between income and such other factors as number of years with the company, size of the company, spans of control, etc. Tables,.of data for this chapter w i l l be found in Appendix C, pages 201 to 212. II . TOTAL ANNUAL INCOME The typical B.C. sales executive earns $15,000 per year, substantially more than his 1960 counterpart. He is paid on a salary basis with no commission. Bonuses play an important role in his total income and he has a l ibera l expense account. Annual Income The respondents' average income has already been established 132 in Chapter III as approximately $ 1 5 , 0 0 0 ; an amount considerably higher than that recorded for the respondents of the i 9 6 0 study. Chapter III did not compare the incomes of the respondents by the type of company they were associated with and this w i l l be dealt with now. Income by company type. Some interesting highlights are re-vealed when examining the incomes of the four groups of respondents.^ With almost 19 percent reporting incomes over $ 1 8 , 0 0 0 the consumer goods sales executives were in a class by themselves. Industrial goods sales executives rank second in this regard with 14 percent of their responses in the over $ 1 8 , 0 0 0 income bracket. Both combination and service industry respondents recorded fewer than ten percent of their responses in the same income group. Offsetting this somewhat is the fact that the consumer goods group of respondents also recorded the highest percentage of under $ 1 2 , 0 0 0 earners, although just barely so. The consumer group recorded 33»3 percent of their respondents with incomes under $ 1 2 , 0 0 0 compared to 3 2 . 2 percent of the combination respondents, 2 1 . 0 percent of the industrial respondents, and 14«3 percent of the service respondents. The industrial and service industry respondents recorded a far heavier concentration of incomes in the modal income range of $ 1 2 , 0 0 0 to $ 1 7 , 9 9 9 ( 6 5 . 1 and 6 4 . 3 percent respectively) than the See Appendix C, Page 2021, Table LXIII, Percentage Distribution of Respondents' Total Annual Income Class i f ied By Company Type. 133 combination and consumer respondents (46.3 and 45«8 percent respective-l y ) . Although the averages w i l l be very approximate due to the large size of the income ranges and the open ended classes,.:a presentation of average incomes by company type should prove interesting: consumer respondents, $ 1 4 , 9 5 0 ? industrial respondents, $ 1 5 , 1 7 5 , combination respondents, $12,260; and service respondents, $16 ,150. Form of Income Salaries, commissions and bonuses are part of the respondents' total income. The extent to which each of these are a part of the total income of the respondents w i l l now be discussed. Straight salary.- for most. The majority ( 6 9 . 8 percent) of the respondents were paid a straight salary. Twenty-six percent received a salary and commission and 3 .4 percent were paid on a straight . . ' . 61 commission basis. Clearly then, the straight salary is the most common form of sales executive compensation with salary and commission running a poor second, and the commission-only basis almost negligible. Industrial 62 Marketing's survey provides an interesting comparison. A great variety of income plans were resported based on variations of commission, bonuses, profit sharing and base salaries in that study. Despite the See Appendix C, page 20331, Table LXIV, Form of Income Classif ied By Company Type. 62 Bullen, op. c i t . , p. 4 2 . 134 various combinations, the majority of those respondents were paid on a straight salary also. Their study however, found that those who received a base salary plus commission had a higher median income than those who received a salary only. This study revealed just the opposite. The average income of the salary-only respondents in this study was s l ight ly higher than the income of those who received both salary and commission. Commissions and bonuses play a ro le . Although salary-only was the dominant form of compensation, i t i s obvious that commissions do play a part in the compensation of some of the respondents. The con-sumer industry makes a greater use of this incentive than the other three c lass i f i cat ion . Over 30 percent of the consumer respondents reported salary and commission compared to the average of 26 percent for a l l respondents. Even more interesting is the fact that over 10 percent of the consumer respondents were paid on a commission-only basis. Thirty-eight of the respondents received salary plus commission.^ The majority of the salary and commission respondents receive between 15 and 24 percent of their income as commission. The consumer group stands out in this comparison in that they are represented in a l l of the categories of commission except one, the 35 to 49 percent income class. Why this should be, i s not understood. The consumer An examination of only those respondents who received salary and commission is presented in Appendix C, page 204, Table LXV, Extent of Commission Incentives In Total Annual Income Classi f ied By Company Type. 135 group also stands out in the fact that 60 percent of this group receiving commission as part of their income, received over 50 percent of their income in commissions. The service industry percentages are ignored in this analysis because only three respondents were represented in salary and commission group. Some companies use bonuses as an incentive to salesmen and sales executives. Generally these bonuses are paid on a basis of performance to or over quota, or on the profit performance of the branch or company. The bonuses are paid annually or semi-annually and are included in the total income of the respondents. Although the majority of respondents did not receive a bonus, 41 percent d id . This is considerably higher than the 26 percent of respondents receiving a commission. No provision was made in the questionnaire to distinguish between those who received bonuses from those who received commission or those who received both. A good number of respondents receiving a bonus probably receive a commission as well . The percentage of sales executives in each of the four company classi f icat ions who received bonuses in addition to their other income and the extent to which these bonuses formed a part of their income 64 was examined with the following results . Just under 32 percent of the combination respondents reported See Appendix C, page 205, Table LXVI, Extent To Which Bonuses Form A Part Of Respondents' Total Annual Income Classi f ied By Company Type. 136 a bonus incentive, the lowest of the four company groups, and 4 6 . 5 percent of the industrial respondents reported a bonus incentive, the highest of the four company groups. Where bonuses did form a part of income the most commonly recorded amount was between 5 and- 14 percent. Three of the company groups f e l l in this modal class. The one exception was the service industry where bonuses seemed to play a more important role, the modal class here being 15 to 24 percent. Liberal expense accounts. The questionnaire l i s t ed the following expenses: company car or car allowance, expense accounts, club and professional organization memberships. As would be expected, most of the companies were quite l ibera l in providing their sales executives with these various expenses. Seventy-five of the respondents ( 5 1 « 4 percent) received a l l three of the l i s ted expense items. A further 36 ( 2 4 . 7 percent) received a car or car allowance and an expense account. With the exception of four respondents who indicated no expenses as l i s ted in the questionnaire, a l l of the balance received at least one or another combination of the three categories of expenses. Of those respondents who received no expenses, two were on a straight commission and the other two were receiving 75 percent of their income on a commission basis. III . THE INFLUENCE OF AGE AND EDUCATION ON INCOME There is a high correlation between age and income up to $ 1 8 , 0 0 0 annually and a weak positive correlation between university education and income. It seems to make very l i t t l e difference income wise whether or not • the respondents graduated from university. 137 An excellent indicator of success in the business world is the individual's level of income. We know that the respondents to this study are successful because they enjoy rather high average incomes, considerably higher than the average income for professional groups such as dentists and doctors. The following analysis attempts to evaluate some of the overt factors that normally are expected to have a bearing on income levels . Table XLII looks at two of the more obvious factors: age and education. TABLE XLII COMPARISON OF INCOME RANGES, UNIVERSITY EDUCATION AND AGE (PERCENTAGE OF RESPONSE)* INCOME TOTAL RANGE RESPONSE EDUCATION AGE Grade Attended Grad-and University Uated Less 40 50 High Did Not Univer- than to and School Graduate s i ty 40 49 over $ 1° % % fo fo Under 1 2 , 0 0 0 21.A 3 1 . 0 2 3 . 5 2 3 . 7 3 8 . 1 2 5 . 0 2 0 . 0 1 2 , 0 0 0 -1 7 , 0 0 0 5 3 . 4 5 1 . 7 5 8 . 9 55.-3 4 5 - 2 5 4 . 7 6 0 . 0 1 8 , 0 0 0 & over 1 7 . 8 1 7 . 3 1 7 . 6 2 1 . 0 1 1 . 9 2 0 . 3 2 0 . 0 No reply 1 .4 Totals 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 *It should be recognized that although l i t t l e positive corre-lat ion- is indicated between education and income, the median age of the respondents ( 4 5 years) would not allow this conclusion to be extrapolated to the present time. It is assumed that more recent years would indicate strong positive correlation due to the increasing requirement of formal education generally to progress up the corporate ladder. 138 For the purposes of Table XLII (page 137) and i t s comparisons, the age groupings have been combined into the following three classes: the modal class of ages 40 to 49 which contains the average age of the respondents and in which the greatest number of respondents appeared, respondents who were older than the modal class, and respondents who were younger than the modal class. Due to the small number of grade school respondents they were combined with those who attended high school to form one c lass i f i cat ion . The table definitely demonstrates the positive relationship between income and age. The under $ 1 2 , 0 0 0 income category contains progressively fewer respondents as age increases; i . e . 38 percent of this group were under forty, 25 percent were between forty and forty-nine, and only 20 percent were over f i f t y . The opposite pattern is demonstrated in the $ 1 2 , 0 0 0 to $ 1 7 , 9 9 9 income category; i . e . as age progresses so does the percentage of respondents earning this income increase. The relationship between income and age falters somewhat in the over $ 1 8 , 0 0 0 income range. A completely positive relationship would have shown more respondents aged 50 or more than the number of respondents between 40 and 49* ^n actual fact, the two age c l a s s i f i -cations have almost exactly the same percentage of responses. It is reasonable to assume that age alone is not sufficient to push the sales executive beyond the $ 1 8 , 0 0 0 income,range. A b i l i t y and past performance w i l l be of prime importance at this stage. In addition, further analysis w i l l indicate that education may be part of the 139 missing ingredient. Table XLII (page 137) also demonstrated that education has some influence on income. This influence is not great and certainly is not as pronounced as the influence of age on income. More .surprising however, i s the fact that education did not have near the influence on income as was demonstrated in the 1960 study. The only explanation that can be offered is that the upgrading of incomes for sales execu-tives demonstrated in Chapter III has been the result of the pressures of growing markets, rapidly increasing business and the opening of new offices. These pressures create the need for competent sales executives and they must be recruited and promoted without reference to whether or not the individual has a university education. In other words, the men are needed, they are needed now, money is no object, and there is no sense in creating a r t i f i c i a l barriers . It is not suggested that this w i l l be a last ing situation. University trained personnel are increasing in numbers and the gap between the university and non-university educated groups w i l l become more pronounced. Another interesting aspect of Table XLII (page 137) i s that i t seems to make very l i t t l e difference whether the respondent graduated from university. Just under 18 percent of those who attended univer-s i ty but did not graduate earned over $ 1 8 , 0 0 0 compared to 21 percent of those who graduated and are earning in this category. The attended university but did not graduate respondent' is almost as l i k e l y to earn over $ 1 8 , 0 0 0 as his counterpart who did complete university and graduate. This is also in sharp contrast to the 1960 140 results where substantial differences in income between those who completed and those who did not complete university were demonstrated. A brief summary of the 1960 results w i l l i l lus tra te : Under $ 8 , 0 0 0 - $ 1 2 , 0 0 0 - $ 1 8 , 0 0 0 $ 8 , 0 0 0 $ 1 1 , 9 9 9 $ 1 7 , 9 9 9 $ 2 4 , 9 9 9 2 5 . 2 % 12 .9% 1 2 . 0 % 15.4% 16.6% 2 2 . 2 % 2 8 . 0 % 3 8 . 4 % Some University University Graduate The only explanation that can be offered is that the rapid ex-pansion of business over the six year period covered by these two studies has forced the participating companies to lower their require-ments in the search for sales executive personnel. This conclusion would be further backed up by one further comparison with the i 9 6 0 study. In that study, 4 2 . 6 percent of the respondents had at least some university ( 1 3 . 6 percent some, 25«4 percent graduated, 3 . 6 percent 65 post graduate). The current study recorded only 3 7 . 7 percent in those same three categories ( 1 2 . 3 percent some, 2 3 . 3 percent graduated, 2.1 percent post graduate). IV. THE INFLUENCE OF OTHER FACTORS ON INCOME To this point in the study, the respondents' remunerations have been considered by type of company employed by,..and by age and income. Let us now consider the relationships between remuneration and such See Table XV, Chapter III , page 4 7 . 141 factors as the number of years the respondents have been with their present companies, the size of their present companies, the number of employees they are responsible for, and the amount of travel time in their positions, to mention a few. Years with present company. Very generally speaking, the longer the association with the company the higher the income of the respon-dent. The relationships are by no means perfect and this would be accounted for by the very able and experienced respondents who changed companies in their recent years; thus there are respondents who have been with their companies less than ten years and who are earning over $ 1 8 , 0 0 0 . On the other hand there appears to be some few respondents who have been with their companies for many years and who are s t i l l earning less than $ 1 2 , 0 0 0 . ^ One point revealed in the preceding analysis was that a great many years with the company i s not tantamount to high incomes. For example; 25 percent of the respondents who have been with their company between 15 and 19 years were earning over $ 1 8 , 0 0 0 while only 5«6 percent of those who had been with their company 20 to 24 years were earning in that range. It would be reasonable to conclude that length of service with a company is being rewarded, but the individual must also have proven himself and his capabi l i t ies . See Appendix C, page 2 0 6 , Table LXVII, Percentage Distribution of Income Levels Class i f ied By Number of Years With Present Company. 142 Years in present posit ion. The relationship in this respect is very positive and i t can he definitely stated that increasing experience within a position leads to higher incomes for carrying out the duties and responsibi l i t ies of that position. Almost without exception, fewer respondents appear in each increasing category of years within present position in the lower income levels (below $ 1 2 , 0 0 0 ) while the opposite relationship exists in the higher income ranges, part icularly 6 7 those above $ 1 8 , 0 0 0 . Other factors w i l l be at work here, factors such as growing volume of sales and increasing responsibi l i ty of larger staff. These and other factors w i l l be discussed shortly. Number of positions held. I f the, number of positions held by the respondents can be equated with experience, then this experience should be recognized in the level of income received by the respondents. There were some positive relationships indicated when comparing the number of positions the respondents held in a l l of their company 6 8 associations and the levels of their income. The positive re lat ion-ships were most apparent in the income levels under $ 1 8 , 0 0 0 and most part icularly apparent within the modal income class of $ 1 2 , 0 0 0 to $ 1 7 , 9 9 9 . The correlation between income and number of positions was stronger within the respondents' present companies than that See Appendix C, page 20'7J, Table LXVIII, Percentage Distribution of Income Levels Class i f ied By Number of Years in Present Position. 6 8 s e e Appendix C, page 2 0 8 , Table LXIX, Percentage Distribution of Income Levels Class i f ied by Number of Positions Held in A l l Companies. 143 69 demonstrated for a l l companies. Again, i t was noted that the modal income class presented the best correlation. The more experience the typical sales executive had within his company (where experience is typif ied by a variety of positions) the more l ikely' that he was in the modal income range. It was demonstrated again that i t takes more than just years of experience or variety of experience to break into the over $18,000 income bracket. Over 21 percent of the respondents who had been in their positions less than four years were earning over $18,000 compared to 1 2 . 5 percent of those in their positions four to six years, and 1 8 . 2 percent who were in their present positions for seven or more years. Number of companies worked for. Is there any evidence that the respondents can increase their incomes s ignif icantly by changing companies or, on the other hand, are' they just as far ahead by sticking with their present company? A positive relationship was manifested for up to nine company 70 associations and in the income ranges below $18 ,000. To progress beyond the \"magic figure\" of $ 1 8 , 0 0 0 i t would seem that a limited number of company associations is the best bet. These are very broad relationships and entai l the grouping of incomes into below and above 69 7See Appendix C, page 209, Table LXX, Percentage Distribution of Income::Levels Class i f ied By Number of Positions Held in Present Company. 70 See Appendix C, page 210, Table LXXI, Percent Distribution of Income Levels Class i f ied By Number of Companies Worked For. 144 $ 1 8 , 0 0 0 . Whether or not this i s r ea l i s t i c is questionable and would most certainly require further research. The writer would hesitate to project these findings into the future. Spans of control . To what extent i s income based on the number of employees the respondents are responsible for? Tables XLIII and XLIV present the necessary data to arrive at the answers to this question by classifying the respondents' incomes by the number of employees they are direct ly , and direct ly and indirect ly , responsible for. Table XLIII deals with direct span of control . By combining the two income classes under $ 1 2 , 0 0 0 i t w i l l be noted that, without exception, the percentage of respondents in each number of employees category decreases as the category size increases. Combining the three income classes over $ 1 8 , 0 0 0 , the opposite relationship (with the exception of the 10 to 19 employees classif ication) occurs. These relationships can be simply expressed by stating that the greater the number of employees the sales executive i s responsible for, the more l i k e l y i t is that he w i l l be in a higher income bracket. There i s strong evidence of a positive correlation between high remuneration and broad spans of direct control. Table XLIV, which presents both direct and indirect spans of control, produces a far more positive correlation than was evidenced in direct spans of control and w i l l need no further explanation. Suffice i t to say, that the greater the responsibil i ty in numbers of 145 TABLE X L I I I PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTION OP INCOME LEVELS CLASSIFIED BY NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES DIRECTLY RESPONSIBLE FOR INCOME LEVEL $ DIRECT SPAN OF CONTROL Less than 5 5 - 9 10 - 19 2 0 - 3 9 40 and over % % Less than 8 , 0 0 0 .'. . 0 2 . 4 5-7 . 0 . 0 8,000-1.-1,999 35 .1 2 6 . 8 2 2 . 9 1 9 . 2 . 0 1 2 , 0 0 0 - 1 7 , 9 9 9 4 8 . 7 4 8 . 8 6 5 . 7 5 3 . 9 6 0 . 0 18 ,000-^24,999 5 . 4 1 7 . 2 5 . 7 2 3 . 1 2 0 . 0 2 5 , 0 0 0 - 2 9 , 9 9 9 8.1 2 . 4 . 0 3 . 8 . 0 Over 3 0 , 0 0 0 2 . 7 2 . 4 . 0 . 0 2 0 . 0 T o t a l s 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 • 1 0 0 . 0 TABLE XLIV PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTION OF INCOME LEVELS CLASSIFIED BY NUMBER OP EMPLOYEES DIRECTLY AND INDIRECTLY RESPONSIBLE FOR INCOME LEVEL DIRECT AND INDIRECT SPAN OF CONTROL Less than 10 1 0 - 2 4 25 - 74 75 and over % % % % Less than 8 , 0 0 0 .-. 2 . 6 4 . 3 . 0 . 0 8,000-1.1\", 999 3 8 . 5 2 3 . 4 2 5 . 0 5 . 6 1 2 , 0 0 0 - 1 7 , 9 9 9 4 6 . 1 5 7 . 5 5 2 . 5 6 6 . 6 18 ,000-^24,999 1 0 . 2 1 0 . 6 1 5 . 0 1 6 . 6 2 5 , 0 0 0 - 2 9 , 9 9 9 2 . 6 2.1 5 . 0 5 . 6 Over 30. ,000 . 0 2.1 2 . 5 5 . 6 T o t a l s 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 146 employees, the higher the sales executive's compensation. Amount of travel time. Chapter V established the extent of trave l l ing the sales executives found necessary in carrying out their job responsibi l i t ies . To be answered now is the question of whether or not this type of responsibi l i ty and the hardships i t brings to family l i f e i s recognized in the incomes received by the responding sales executives. From an analysis of the data, i t was concluded that trave l l ing is necessary and is entrusted to those who have demonstrated 71 their a b i l i t i e s . To explain: for those receiving incomes under $ 1 2 , 0 0 0 , progressively fewer respondents appear as the classes of travel time increase. For those who earn incomes in the modal class of $ 1 2 , 0 0 0 to $ 1 7 , 9 9 9 , the reverse holds true. The more travel l ing their position entails, , the greater l ikelihood of their appearing in this income group. For the income groups over $ 1 8 , 0 0 0 a different pattern manifests i t s e l f . The higher the income range, the less l i k e l y the respondents are doing any extensive trave l l ing . Presumably their higher level of income is consistent with higher positions within the company and these respondents have subordinates available for extensive trave l l ing . The advice to be offered is c lear. If one aspires to a sales executive position but does not enjoy extensive travel l ing , he moves quickly See Appendix C, page 2 1 X ) , Table LXXII, Percentage Distribution of Income Levels Class i f ied by Amount of Travel Time. 147 through the lower hierarchy. Total company sales. The f ina l factor to be considered in the study of income i s the relationship between income levels and total company sales. Newcomer in his 1955 study, concluded that the larger American companies paid their executives somewhat higher salaries than 72 their smaller company counterparts. Although the top executives of the companies are not being considered in this study, there is an excellent cross section of companies represented ranging from small to large and across many industries. It was felt that the same re -lationship would be demonstrated in this study. Unfortunately, the very positive relationship expected did not 73 manifest i t s e l f ; quite the opposite in some cases. For example, 21 percent of the respondents who were associated with companies whose sales are between'one and five mil l ion dol lars, received incomes over $ 1 8 , 0 0 0 compared to only 9 percent of the respondents who were with companies who sales were between five and fifteen mil l ion dol lars . There is no logical explanation for this finding. Moving to the companies whose sales were in the next higher c l a s s i f i -cation (between fifteen and f i f t y mil l ion dollars in sales), the percentage of respondents receiving incomes over $ 1 8 , 0 0 0 jumps to M. Newcomer, The Big Business Executive, New York, Columbia University Press, 1955> p. 1 2 3 . 1 See Appendix C, page 2W, Table LXXIII, Percentage Distribution of Income Levels Class i f ied By Total Company Sales. just under 26 percent and then f a l l s hack to 20 percent for the companies with sales over f i f t y mil l ion dol lars . The modal income range of $12,000 to $17,999'suggests that the best incomes are paid by the companies whose sales are between five mil l ion and f i f t y mil l ion dol lars . 149 CHAPTER V I I I SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS r; INTRODUCTION The o b j e c t i v e s of t h i s study were very broad. The u n d e r l y i n g purpose was e s s e n t i a l l y one of pr e s e n t i n g and examining the p r o f i l e of the t y p i c a l B r i t i s h Columbia s a l e s executive and examining changes that may have taken place since i 9 6 0 when a s i m i l a r study was con-ducted. An adjunct to t h i s was an a n a l y s i s and comparison of company c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s over the s i x year p e r i o d and an a n a l y s i s of other f a c t o r s not i n c l u d e d i n the i 9 6 0 study. Prom t h i s developed a con-cern that out-of-province companies were expanding very r a p i d l y while the B r i t i s h Columbia based companies revealed a r e l a t i v e l y s t a b l e s a l e s volume. These f i n d i n g s d i r e c t e d the a t t e n t i o n of the study to an examination of u n d e r l y i n g causal f a c t o r s which might e x p l a i n the apparent \"back seat\" p o s i t i o n B r i t i s h Columbia companies were t a k i n g i n t h e i r own province's r a p i d growth. The f o l l o w i n g pages of t h i s concluding chapter w i l l attempt to take the reader through the maze of data gathered i n a meaningful and su c c i n c t n a r r a t i v e . The p r e s e n t a t i o n w i l l f o l l o w the chapter headings but bear i n mind that a great deal of the conclusions and a n a l y s i s w i l l draw of m a t e r i a l from other areas. The companies and respondents represented i n t h i s study were 150 l imited to those firms which maintained se l l ing offices in Br i t i sh Columbia and whose shares were traded on the major Canadian stock exchanges. Thirty-three percent of the responses were from consumer goods companies, 29 percent from industrial companies, 28 percent from companies which dealt in both consumer and industrial goods, and 10 percent from companies which offered services rather than products. II . BASIC CHARACTERISTICS The majority ( 7 5 percent) of respondents were employed in a branch office of a company marketing consumer goods. Their average age was 45 years with 43 percent of the respondents in the 40 to 49 years age category. It was established that the branch office sales executives were younger on average than the head office sales executives. Further analysis revealed that branch office responses were, of course, Br i t i sh Columbia based companies. This established the fact that the Br i t i sh Columbia company sales executive is older than his out-of-province company counterpart. It was also established that the head office sales executives were considerably older than the similar group of respondents surveyed in the i 9 6 0 study. This is the f i r s t of several revealing notes of information suggesting ultracon-servatism on the part of the Br i t i sh Columbia based companies. III . SOCIAL ORIGINS The background of the sample was typica l ly Canadian with four 151 out of five of the respondents horn in Canada. Over 56 percent of the respondents were horn in the three western provinces, well over half of these in Br i t i sh Columbia. The f i r s t surprise in comparing this study with the i 9 6 0 study was the v ir tua l elimination of United States born respondents - 9 percent in i 9 6 0 compared to 1 .4 percent in 1 9 6 6 . The United States controlled companies must be placing more emphasis on staffing their Canadian operations with Canadian nationals, a trend much discussed in the press in recent years. Sales executives, born in the United Kingdom, more than doubled in representation from ^.0 percent in i 9 6 0 to 1 8 . 5 percent in 1 9 6 6 . This i s very intriguing since no comparable increase in immigration could be established to account for such an increase. The majority of respondents were born in urban areas.of over 5 , 0 0 0 population with the most productive size of community being the metropolitan areas of over 2 0 0 , 0 0 0 . These areas represented only 12 percent of Canada's population in 1 9 2 1 , yet accounted for 2 8 . 8 percent of the current sales executives. The least productive popu-lat ion area was the rural or less than 5 , 0 0 0 areas which accounted for over 60 percent of Canada's population in 1921 but which produced only 27 percent of the current respondents. Clearly, there are some factors present in the metropolitan environments which encourage individuals to enter sales careers. One of the factors is probably the simple fact of proximity. The majority of sales positions are available in the metro areas and w i l l be f i l l e d by men l i v i n g in these 152 areas. Another factor worthy of mention is that the competitive social environment of metro areas is instrumental in developing the particular drive for achievement and the social ab i l i t i e s necessary to be success-ful in a sales career. An adjunct to the preceding argument i s found in examining the occupations of the respondents' fathers. They were typica l ly business-men. Over 34 percent were business proprietors or business executives, and a further 29 percent held other white co l lar jobs including 9 percent who were professional such as doctors and 8 percent who were salesmen. The incidence of university education in this group of fathers was four times that of the general male population average in 1 9 2 1 . Both the above factors would be considered to have a positive influence on the sons' desire to achieve and would be represented in their actual sales career achievements. The question of why they chose sales remains unanswered and deserves further research. The best this study can do is to speculate that sales offered a chance to achieve more quickly and without the qualifying f i r s t step of a university education. IV. EDUCATION The sales managers represented in this study had achieved a higher level of formal education than the average Canadian. The incidence of high school attendance was greater than that achieved by the general population, and the incidence of university attendance was about four 153 times the general population's achievement. Although the comparison is not va l id , i t i s worth noting that the level of education achieved by the respondents of this study was considerably below the level established by three separate studies carried out with similar American sales executives. What was most surprising about the recent results was that they did not quite reach the level of university education established in the i 9 6 0 study. That study recorded 13•6 percent of the respondents with some university and 2 5 . 4 percent of the respondents with under-graduate degrees compared to 1 2 . 3 percent with some university and 2 3 - 3 percent with undergraduate degrees in this current study. The fact that there was no increase in educational level is assumed to be the result of the rapid growth of the companies involved. This could lead to less emphasis on university education as a qualifying factor in the search for capable personnel. It w i l l be discussed in further detai l later in the chapter. The industrial respondents were the most formally educated. Over 37 percent of this group held undergraduate degrees as compared to 19«5 percent of the combination respondents who had achieved the second highest educational leve l . Only 1 6 . 7 percent of the consumer respondents and 14-3 percent of the service respondents held under-graduate degrees. The degrees obtained were primarily in Science and Engineering ( 4 0 percent), Commerce ( 4 0 percent), and were obtained, for the most part, from the University of Br i t i sh Columbia. This confirms an 154 i n t r o d u c t o r y statement of the t h e s i s that there i s a st r o n g tendency f o r people to remain i n B r i t i s h Columbia despite o p p o r t u n i t i e s elsewhere or to come back to B r i t i s h Columbia i f the opportunity presents i t s e l f . F u r ther c o n f i r m a t i o n of t h i s reasoning may be i n f e r r e d from a very strange s t a t i s t i c ; the f a c t that the 40 to 49 age group accounted f o r 44 percent of the respondents and 5 9 • 5 percent of the undergraduate degrees, compared to the 30 to 39 age group which accounted f o r only 32 , 4 percent of the undergraduate degrees while r e p r e s e n t i n g 28 percent of the respondents. The higher incidence of degrees i n the 40 to 49 age group suggests that e i t h e r these men are not l e a v i n g , or having l e f t , they are now u s i n g t h e i r s e n i o r i t y w i t h t h e i r companies to take advantages of openings o c c u r r i n g i n B r i t i s h Columbia. Logic suggests t h a t the younger group should have a higher incidence of undergraduate degrees. T h i s i s not the case here. They must be f i n d i n g career o p p o r t u n i t i e s outside B r i t i s h Columbia p a r t i c u l a r l y i n the Eastern provinces of Ontario and Quebec. V. PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS Family., and .Home The t y p i c a l s a l e s executive was d e f i n i t e l y a f a m i l y man. Almost without exception the respondents were married and had c h i l d r e n . They came from l a r g e r than average f a m i l i e s and while they tended to have smaller f a m i l i e s than t h e i r fathe r s , they s t i l l had f a m i l i e s l a r g e r than the n a t i o n a l and p r o v i n c i a l averages, 155 Over 85 percent of the respondents owned their home or apart-ment. According to 1961 Census data, this is considerably above the national home ownership ratio of 6 5 . 6 percent and even further above the Vancouver home ownership ratio of 56.6 percent. The value they placed on their homes was high. Almost 90 percent valued their homes in excess of $ 2 0 , 0 0 0 and almost 70 percent placed a value on their homes in excess of $ 2 5 , 0 0 0 . This was in 1966 and the valuation would have to be considerably upgraded in view of the spectacular rise in real estate values in the past three years. The respondents were re lat ive ly stable, having averaged only two changes in residence in the past ten years. One of those changes was the result of a company transfer. Twenty-eight percent of the respondents had not changed their residence at a l l in the past ten years and 19 percent had changed residence only once. Less than one half of the respondents were actually required to change their residence as a result of company transfers. Hobbies The respondents were very active as teenagers. They engaged primarily in individual type sports which pit ts one individual's s k i l l against another as opposed to team sports. However a change in character between the . 1960 and the current respondents was noted. The current respondents were more involved in team sports - 1 2 . 2 percent in i 9 6 0 , 3 0 . 8 percent in 1966 - as opposed to individual sports. The change represented is indicative of an increasing 156 recognition that good executives, sales or otherwise, are those who can work well with others and who can guide their efforts towards a common goal. Po l i t i c s Provincial ly , the respondents were Liberal ly oriented, much more so than the general Br i t i sh Columbia population. Their provincial p o l i t i c a l leanings were more in l ine with federal s tat i s t ics than they were with provincial s tat i s t ics - no doubt influenced by the national flavor of the majority of companies and the concern of the respondents for Canada as a whole, rather than a more limited provincial horizon typical of those who cannot see beyond the Br i t i sh Columbia mountain ranges. Mi l i tary Service The majority of respondents (57*6 percent) spent part of their careers in the war time armed services. Leadership ab i l i t y , necessary for sales executives, was demonstrated early in their careers. Well over one half of the respondents who served were commissioned officers when discharged. VI . COMPANY CHARACTERISTICS Growth Growth in a l l areas, but part icularly in the industrial area, was the predominant characteristic in comparison with i 9 6 0 results . 157 Total response for a l l four company groups increased but the industrial group was the only group that showed a substantial percentage increase in responses - from 2 4 . 6 percent to 29«4 percent - while consumer companies representation dropped percentage wise and combination and service responses remained about the same. The evidence of growth was supported by the increase in branch office responses from 6 9 . 3 percent in i 9 6 0 to 7 6 . 0 percent in 1 9 6 6 . Growth in the industr ia l , combination, and service industries was indicated in this manner. Consumer companies growth appeared to have been achieved by new companies being formed in Br i t i sh Columbia as this was the only group where head office responses increased proportionately over branch office responses. The companies represented recorded substantial increases in sales volumes. Just under 60 percent of the responses were in the $ 1 5 , 0 0 0 , 0 0 0 and over sales category compared to 45 percent in i 9 6 0 . Unfortunately individual company type sales volume was not available in the i 9 6 0 study but i t would be safe to assume that a l l four company groups would have shared in the increased sales. Branch office sales volume, as dist inct from total company sales also increased substantially. Again i t was not possible to compare company type sales volume with i 9 6 0 results but the assumption can be made that a l l four groups of companies would have increased their branch sales volume. The surprising aspect of this area of analysis was the apparent 158 s tab i l i ty of sales of Br i t i sh Columbia based companies. Why their sales should have remained almost the same as they were in 1960 i s a major issue of this thesis. One last note on company growth is sounded by the question of newly created positions within the five years previous to this study. Which companies were growing, was obvious. Twenty-four of the 2 9 new positions were branch office positions and since most of the branch offices were branches of out-of-province companies, i t was clear that our own home based companies were not expanding as rapidly as the out-of-province companies. Br i t i sh Columbia companies are not keeping pace. They are not establishing new branches in Br i t i sh Columbia at the same pace as other companies and their sales volumes are not r i s ing proportionately. There is insufficient information in this study to state categorically that our home based companies are taking a back seat in Br i t i sh Columbia development but there i s certainly enough indication to just i fy further research into this very important area. Formalization of Sales Executive Responsibilities The study examined three areas of importance: formal sales training programmes, formal salesmen evaluation programmes, and formal job descriptions. Formal job descriptions were used by the majority of companies and left l i t t l e room for cr i t i c i sm. The findings indicate vast room for improvement for a l l companies, and part icularly home based companies, in the other two areas. 159 Too many of the sales executives were spending their valuable time in the i n i t i a l training of new salesmen, an area which this writer firmly believes should be delegated to a professional group of trainers . Head offices did not rank too badly in this regard. They made less use of formal sales training programmes than the branch offices, however, they did make greater use of subordinates in this function. The companies which have formal salesmen evaluation programmes presented a very intriguing situation. More than one half of the respondents stated that they maintained one. Not bad, but certainly not good either. There i s plenty of room for improvement. What real ly makes one s i t back and ponder the relative sophistication of Br i t i sh Columbia companies is that fact that, without exception, branch office companies made considerably greater use of formal evaluation programmes than head office companies. Salesman evaluation is a c r i t i c a l area and one that needs a great deal of attention. The only way to carry i t out properly is through well thought out and standardized procedures which evaluate the salesman's performance completely. These two areas, well conceived sales training programmes and continuing formalized evaluation of sales personnel, provide a major potential for bettering company performance. Br i t i sh Columbia com-panies w i l l have to invest in these areas i f they hope to compete on even terms. 160 VI. BUSINESS ACTIVITIES Job Responsibilities The sales executive of this study were involved in a wide range of ac t iv i t i e s . The most important and time consuming were without doubt, directing and control l ing the sales force, personal se l l ing and training salesmen. There can be no quarrel with directing and control l ing the sales force. After a l l , that is their job. This study does, however, take issue with the other two ac t iv i t i e s . Too much of the sales executive's time and effort i s spent on se l l ing and training. Ample evidence has been provided to support the contention that personal se l l ing should not be a part of the sales executive^ responsibi l i ty . That i s what the sales force i s for. The time the sales executive spends on personal se l l ing would be much better spent on overall planning, research, and helping to improve his men's performance. The same reasoning applies to the time spent on training salesmen, part icular ly new salesmen. If this responsibi l i ty can be taken off his agenda, he should be a more effective manager. Directing and control l ing should be followed in importance by such things as establishing objectives and pol ic ies , planning the sales effort and continually searching out better ideas, more ways of giving consumer satisfaction, ways of increasing penetration of existing accounts, and developing new accounts. A l l of this must be done with a c r i t i c a l eye on expenses for additional sales without proportionate increases in profits are of l i t t l e use to the company. This i s a full-t ime job and deserves the f u l l attention of the sales manager or sales executive. After a l l , the sales executive who devotes a l l available time to increasing the effectiveness of his salesmen is worth far more than a sales executive who spends half his time se l l ing and the other half trying to keep up with the administrative details of his posit ion. Spans of Control The current study pointed out the increasing direct span of control of the sales executives. The current study recorded 4 5 * 9 percent of the respondents with direct responsibi l i ty for more than ten employees compared to 2 5 . 4 percent of the i 9 6 0 respondents. The most dramatic increase in direct span of control was in the industrial group. In contrast to direct span of control, the direct and indirect span of control decreased. This could be the result of larger staff organizations taking over former sales executive responsibi l i t ies or i t could be the result of smaller non-selling staff in the increased number of branch off ices. In either case the change is for the better because i t leaves the sales executive more time to carry out his prime responsibi l i ty - directing and control l ing the sales force. At the same time i t allows him to successfully manager more salesmen and achieve a better quality and higher penetration of his markets. It would not be desirable i f the increase in his available time is 162 spent in personal sales. VII . CAREER PATTERNS AND PROSPECTS Achievement The typical sales executive has responsibi l i ty for a f a i r l y large geographical region and a t i t l e to go with i t . A common t i t l e i s Western Sales Manager. The majority of respondents achieved at least a part ia l high school education and embarked on their careers in their late teens. As is quite typical of young men who start work this early in their careers, their jobs were unskil led and often of a temporary nature. A drive to achieve was very evident in this group. Nine percent started in sales positions and a further 37 percent were in sales positions by their th ird job. The consumer goods respondents were far above the average. Sixty-four percent were in sales positions by their th ird job. The service industry respondents were the slow starters with only 21 percent in sales positions by their third job. Although a few of the respondents held a large number of different jobs, as a group the respondents were re lat ive ly stable. Seventy-six percent were with four or fewer companies. In a l l their company associations the respondents held, on average, seven different positions. Three of those positions were with their present companies which indicated a f a i r l y long and successful association with one company. This is also indicative of a propensity for the companies to reward and promote from within rather than seek qualif ied sales 163 executives from outside. The typical respondent joined his present company when he was 30 years old and had achieved his present position by the age of 39* The length of time from i n i t i a l present company association varied considerably among the four company groups. Service industry respondents who were slow starters in sales, took a surprisingly short six years. Industrial respondents took under seven years; a very rapid move which is due, in large part, to a faster growing industry and a higher level of education. Consumer and industrial respondents both took well over 9 years. Comparison with i 9 6 0 provides a d i f f i c u l t to explain phenomenon. The i 9 6 0 respondents joined their present companies much earl ier in their careers than the current respondents. The only explanation that can be offered is that the rapid growth of the firms over the six year period necessitated heavy recruitment of trained salesmen from other companies or industries. This may have involved some \"pirating\" and may also explain the rapid rise in the respondents' average incomes over this same period. Education's Influence on Achievement Formal education proved to be an important factor in length of time taken to achieve present positions. The higher the level of education, the fewer the number of years required on the respondent's part to achieve his present posit ion. This was a general relationship applying to the respondents as a group and was not restricted to any 164 one company \"type, \"but i t was part icularly true in the industrial group of companies. The importance of education in achievement is not so c lear. The larger companies had higher percentages of university graduates, so in this respect a university degree i s deemed important. But where i t should count and where most people evaluate i t s importance, i t did not show up as expected - in the income of the respondents. 'It seemed to make very l i t t l e difference whether the respondent had graduated or just completed some university. In both cases their incomes were very much the same. To i l lus tra te : in the $ 1 2 , 0 0 0 to $ 1 7 , 0 0 0 income category there were 51 »7 percent of the grade and high school level respondents, 5 9 • 9 percent of the some university level respondents, and 55*3 percent of the undergraduate level respondents. In the $ 1 8 , 0 0 0 and over income category the respective percentages were 1 7 . 3 , 1 7 . 6 , and 2 1 . 0 . Can the major investment in a university education be justified? That is a matter of personal assessment and must be made recognizing that the typical respondent s t i l l has 20 years of earnings and pro-motion ahead of him and recognizing also that the emphasis on a university degree is becoming more pronounced. It must be recognized also, that this was an exceptional period and that the 1960 results did show a major influence on income by education. Promotion Prospects Although very optimistic about his promotion prospects, the typical sales executive may very well find his advancement -..through 165 a change in companies. This is the conclusion drawn from the ex-perience of the respondents' predecessors, one half of whom were not promoted within their present company and presumably moved on to other companies. This is a conclusion that must be weighed against the poss ib i l i ty that the preceding six years of active growth may have involved considerable movement between companies so that i t is out of proportion to a period of more normal growth. Perhaps this w i l l prove interesting enough to warrant further research. VIII . INCOME STUDIES Annual Income The average income of the respondents was about $ 1 5 , 0 0 0 , a great deal higher than recorded in the i 9 6 0 study. The factors which may have influenced this rapid rise have been discussed throughout this summary, factors such as rapid expansion and competition for good men. The majority of respondents were paid on a salary basis with about 40 percent of the respondents receiving a bonus as well . This bonus typica l ly ranged between 5 and 14 percent of the respondent's income. Commissions played a lesser role in the incomes of the respondents with about 26 percent receiving this incentive. Where commission was a factor, i t accounted for between 15 and 25 percent of the respondent's income. The consumer group of respondents depended on commissions to a greater extent than the other three company groups as to percentage receiving commission and as a percentage of their income. 166 Liberal expense accounts were the order of the day. Factors Which Influence Income A number of factors were analyzed in this area of the thesis. Education and age. Education's influence was discussed and found wanting, at least at this particular time and for this particular time period. Age had a far greater influence on income than education at this point in the respondents' careers suggesting that experience and years with the company were being rewarded. Other factors were at work also. Rapid Growth. This has been discussed in various areas and would appear to be an important consideration. However, the period under study should not be considered a normal state of a f fa irs . A leve l l ing off of incomes i s a definite poss ib i l i ty . Other Factors. Some positive correlations with incomes up to the $18,000 level were demonstrated by several factors. The number of years the respondents were with their present company had an influence on income. This would indicate that experience and seniority are being rewarded. The same findings were true of the number of years spent in present positions and the number of positions the respondents held in their present and former companies. The greater the responsibil i ty of the respondents as typif ied by spans of control, the higher their incomes. Travel time, a necessary part of the job, was not recognized in income except in the ava i lab i l i ty of l ibera l expense accounts. In the matter of size of company, the results were inconclusive. The larger companies did not necessarily pay higher incomes. BIBLIOGRAPHY 168 BIBLIOGRAPHY A. BOOKS Clark, D . J . and Gottfried, B .A . , Dictionary of Business and Finance. New York: Cromwell, 1957. Davis, Robert T . , Performance and Development of F ie ld Sales Managers. Boston: Division of Research Graduate School of Business Adminis-trat ion, Harvard University, 1957. Davis, Kenneth R. and Webster, Fredrick E . , Sales Force Management. New York: The Ronald Press Company, 1 9 6 8 . . (eds.), Readings in Sales Force Management. New York: The Ronald Press Company, 1968. Doan, Le.land. Executive L i f e . Garden City, New York: Doubleday and Company, Inc., 1952. McClelland, D.C. and others, The Achievement Motive. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, Inc. , 1953. Randal, Clarence B . , The Executive in Transit ion. New York: McGraw-H i l l Book Company,.1967. Stanton, William J . and Buskirk, Richard H . , Management of the Sales Force. (Rev. ed.); Homewood, I l l i n o i s : Richard D. Irwin, Inc. , T9647 Taussig, F.W. and Joslyn, C . S . , American Business Leaders. New York: The MacMillan Company, 1932. Warner, L.W. and Abegglen, J . C . , Occupational Mobility in Business and Industry. Minneapolis, University of Minnisota Press, 1952. . Big Business Leaders in America. New York: Harper Brothers, 1955. Handbook of Sales Training. New York: Prentice H a l l , Inc. , 1951. What makes an Executive? Report of a Round Table on Executive Potential and Performance. 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Canada: General E l e c t i o n November 2 7 , 1965« Ottawa: Queen's P r i n t e r and C o n t r o l l e r of S t a t i o n a r y , 1 9 6 6 . Dominion Bureau of S t a t i s t i c s . Census of Canada 1921 - Volume I I I . Ottawa: Queen's P r i n t e r and C o n t r o l l e r of S t a t i o n a r y , 1 9 2 1 . Dominion Bureau of S t a t i s t i c s . Census of Canada 1961 - Volume I I . Ottawa: Queen's P r i n t e r and C o n t r o l l e r of S t a t i o n a r y , 1 9 6 1 . . . C. PERIODICALS Bergstrom, D.V., \"The R e s p o n s i b i l i t y of Sales Management f o r E f f e c t i v e S e l l i n g , \" S t r e n g t h i n g The Sales Organization, Marketing S e r i e s Number 97? New York: American Management A s s o c i a t i o n , Inc., 1956, pp. 4 3 - 5 2 . B o t t a r i , George L., \"How Do Sales Managers Spend T h e i r Time,\" I n d u s t r i a l D i s t r i b u t i o n , V o l . 4 9 , (January, 1 9 5 9 ) , PP« 8 4 - 8 8 . B u l l e n , H.J., \"An Intimate Look at Today's I n d u s t r i a l Sales Manager,\" I n d u s t r i a l Marketing, V o l . 4 5 , (November, i 9 6 0 ) , pp. 3 9 - 4 5 . B u t l e r , Gordon W., \"New D i r e c t i o n s i n Sales T r a i n i n g , \" E v a l u a t i n g Sales T r a i n i n g Needs and Methods, Marketing S e r i e s Number 8 8 . New York: American Management A s s o c i a t i o n , Inc., 1 9 5 3 , pp. 3 - 6 . Demott, Ric h a r d H., \"Broadening R e s p o n s i b i l i t y of the Marketing Exe c u t i v e , \" Changing Patt e r n s i n D i s t r i b u t i o n , Marketing S e r i e s Number 8 3 . New York: American Management A s s o c i a t i o n , 1951» PP« 3 - 9 * 170 Dodge, H.W., \"The E s s e n t i a l Common Denominators f o r S u c c e s s f u l Sales Management,\" E s s e n t i a l s of S u c c e s s f u l Sales Management, Marketing S e r i e s Number 8 1 . N e w York: American Management A s s o c i a t i o n , Inc., 1951, PP. 3-9-Doscher, Pen K., \"The Duties and R e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s of the Vi c e President of Sales,\". Marketing, (August 28, 1 9 5 4 ) , pp. 7-10. . \" C o n t r o l l i n g the Workload of the Sales C h i e f , \" B l u e p r i n t f o r An E f f e c t i v e Marketing Program, Marketing S e r i e s Number 9 1 • New York: American Management A s s o c i a t i o n , Inc., 1954, PP« 1 8 - 3 0 . Pranks, Howard L., \" C o n t r o l l i n g the Expenses of the F i e l d Sales Force,\" The Sales Department Looks at Costs, Marketing S e r i e s Number 9 0 . New York:, American Management A s s o c i a t i o n , Inc., 1953, pp. 1 2 - 2 1 . Frey, John M., \" M i s s i n g Ingredient i n Sales T r a i n i n g , \" Harvard Business Review, V o l . 33 (November - December, 1955) pp. 1 2 6 - 1 3 2 . H a l l , Noble., \" S e t t i n g Standards to Improve Sales Performance,\" R a t i n g and Developing the Sales Force, Marketing S e r i e s Number 84. New York: American Management A s s o c i a t i o n , Inc., 1952, pp. 3 - 1 3 . Loen, Raymond 0., \"Sales Managers Must Manage,\" Harvard Business Review, V o l . 42 (May - June, 1 9 6 4 ) , pp. 107-r114. Lund, Gerald L., \"Requirements of a Good Sales Management T r a i n i n g Program,\" E v a l u a t i n g Sales T r a i n i n g Needs and Methods, Marketing. S e r i e s Number 8 8 . New York: American Management A s s o c i a t i o n , Inc., 1953, pp. 6-11. Machauer, W i l l i a m V., \"A P r a c t i c a l Program f o r Developing Sales E x e c u t i v e s , \" Rating.and Developing the Sales Force, Marketing S e r i e s Number 84. New York: American Management A s s o c i a t i o n , Inc., 1952, pp. 3 - 1 3 . Mayer, David and Greenberg, Herbert M., \"What Makes a Good Salesman?\" Harvard Business Review, V o l . 42 (July-August, 1 9 6 4 ) , pp. 119-125* Morgan, W i l l i s E., \"The Supervisor's R e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s i n Trainingx Salesmen,\" E v a l u a t i n g Sales T r a i n i n g Needs and Methods, Marketing S e r i e s Number New York: American Management A s s o c i a t i o n , Inc., 1953, PP. 1 1 - 1 5 . P o r t e r , J . Henry J r . , \"Can Machines Teach Salesmen to S e l l ? \" Sales Management, V o l . 89 ( J u l y 20, 1 9 6 2 ) , pp. 3 8 - 3 9 , 9 5 - 1 0 3 . . Rados, W i l l i a m . , \"The Coach Has No S u b s t i t u t e , \" Sales Management, (March 20, 1 9 6 4 ) , pp. 3 9 - 4 2 . 171 S a l i s b u r y , P h i l i p . , \" P r o f i l e of the T y p i c a l Sales E x e c u t i v e , \" Sales Management, (February 1 9 , i 9 6 0 ) , pp. 3 3 - 3 9 , 1 2 2 - 1 2 4 . Woodward, Harry., \"The T r a v e l 1 i n g e s t Man i n the World,\" Sales Management, (February 2 1 , 1 9 6 4 ), pp. 3 2 - 3 6 . Wrightnour, W i l l i a m F., \" E v a l u a t i n g Your Sales T r a i n i n g Approach,\" Strengthening the Sales Organization, Marketing S e r i e s Number 97* New York: American Management A s s o c i a t i o n , Inc., 1952, pp. 2 4 - 3 2 . . \" A p p r a i s i n g Your F i e l d Sales Force,\" R a t i n g and Developing the. Sales Force, Marketing S e r i e s Number 8 4 . New York: American Management A s s o c i a t i o n , Inc., 1 9 5 2 , pp. 3 - 1 3 . The F i n a n c i a l Post Survey of I n d u s t r i a l s ^ 1 9 6 6 . Toronto: McLean Hunter, 1966. \"How Average i s the Average U.S. Sales E x e c u t i v e ? \" Chicago Survey, P r i n t e r s Ink, Volume 2 6 7 , ( A p r i l 17 , 1959) P« 9 4 . D. UNPUBLISHED MATERIALS Butterworth, Harold Douglas. \"The P r o f i l e of a T y p i c a l B r i t i s h Columbia Sales Manager, \" Unpublished Graduating Essay, The U n i v e r s i t y of B r i t i s h Columbia, Vancouver, 1 9 6 1 . APPENDIX A THE QUESTIONNAIRE THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA VANCOUVER 8, CANADA FACULTY OF COMMERCE AND BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION February 22*, 1966 Dear Mr* Sales Manager: Over the years several interesting and informative research studies have been conducted in examining top executives in industry. Very l i t t l e , however, has \"been done in examining the sales executive. There are, no doubt, a great many people interested in the \"profile of the typical sales manager\", a profile which will, in part, explain how and why the sales manager attained his position. A number of years ago we undertook a research study of over 200 sales managers in British Columbia. Sufficient time has now elapsed where some interesting comparisons can be made between the results of that study and this one which is now underway. You are being requested as one of the sales managers, selected through statistical sampling procedures to assist us in compiling this ''sales manager profile.\" Although much of the information requested is of a personal nature, there is no way of identifying the questionnaires and so your response will remain completely anonymous. It is hoped, therefore, that you will have no hesitancy in completing the questions in f u l l . The information that you give to us wil l be most sincerely appreciated and we request that you find a few minutes of time from your \"busy schedule to f i l l out the acconjanying questionnaire and return i t in the self-addressed, stamped envelope that has \"been enclosed. It is our intention to summarize this study and to mail a copy to each of the participating sales managers in the study. We are asking for 100% response so as to increase the study's statistical validity. It is regrettable that i t is necessary to use this mimeographed message rather than a personal letter but you will recognize that the drafting of over two hundred letters is a very sizable task. Looking forward to your early reply. I am, Yours very truly, James B. Warren Associate Professor and Chairman Division of Marketing 174 CONFIDENTIAL Faculty of Commerce and Business Administration Marketing Division The University of Br i t i sh Columbia THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA — A STUDY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA SALES MANAGERS CLASSIFICATION DATA: 1. Indicate the principal type of product which your company markets (check one only) Consumer goods- • b. Industrial goods ~' c. Combination of consumer and industrial ^ d. Service ~' e. Other (please specify) 2. Indicate whether your office i s : a. The head office of your company-b. A branch or regional office of your company 3. What is your present age category? (Please check one.) Under 30 30-34 35-39 40-49 50 or more 4. What is the approximate total annual sales of your company? Less than $500,000 D $500,000 - $999,999 H $1,000,000 - $4,999,999 $5,000,000 - $14,999,999 $15,000,000 - $49,999,999-$50,000,000 and over • • • • If you are a branch or regional sales manager, please indicate the estimated annual sales of your branch or region. Less than $250,000 D $250,000 - $999,999 3 $1,000,000 - $4,999,999 ° $5,000,000 and over 175 B. SOCIAL ORIGINS: 1. (a) Indicate the place of your birth. Canada E! Province U.S.A. D State Other (please specify) WWllUUf mn (b) What was the approximate size of your birthplace at the time of your birth? Rural or less than 5 , 0 0 0 • 0 5 , 0 0 0 . - \" 2 4 , 9 9 9 n 2 5 , 0 0 0 - 9 9 , 9 9 9 L J 1 0 0 , 0 0 0 - 199,999 U 2 0 0 , 0 0 0 and over (or a suburb of a cit y this size-)- ^ 2 . Indicate the principal occupation of your father during your childhood. Government service (including military) • Parmer ~' Professional - self employed (e.g. doctor, lawyer, etc.)-p! Owner - small business rr Owner - large business Minor executive Salesman ~-Blue collar (up to and including foreman) — Other (please specify) 3. How many brothers and sisters, i f any, did you have? (please circle) 1 2 3 4 5 6 or more 4 . Indicate your two main hobbies as a teenager. Please be specific. None D ' 5 . Bid your father attend university or college? Y e s — ^ No—^ • • Did your father graduate from university or college? Y e s — N o — 176 C. FORMAL EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND: 1. Please indicate your academic history below. Name and Location Years in Degree ob-of Institution Attendance Majors tained, i f From To any Grade School High School University University Post Grad. Other Please specify 2. If you attended college or university, please indicate the per-centage of your expenses obtained by: a. parents assistance ^ % b. gifts and/or loans ^ % c. scholarships ^ % 3 . Please write in the space below the subject matter of your formal education which you consider the most valuable to you in achieving your present position, (i.e. Liberal Arts, Economics, Business Administration, etc.) 4. Please write in the space below the subject matter of your formal education which you consider particularly valuable to you in your present position. (i.e. Economics, Mathematics, History, English, etc.) 177 D. CAREER PATTERN: 1 . (a) Were you ever in the mil i tary service? Yes D No D (b) If yes: What service ___________________________ What branch of that service Number of years in the service ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ Rank at discharge 2 . (a) Indicate your job history (by position) since your f i r s t full-time job. Include both changes in companies and changes in position within companies. Position held (please be Date (Year) specific)(Start with your position f i r s t position) obtained Check here i f this position indicates a Number of years change in company you held position (b) Indicate the age at which you commenced the f i r s t job l i s ted above. (c) Indicate the age at which you obtained your present posit ion. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 3. Has your father (or your wife's father) had any connection with the company in which you now hold your position? Yes D No ° 178 4 . Indicate the type of job experience that you consider the most valuable to you in progressing to your present position ( i . e . Technical, Sales, Personnel). 5» Has your present position been created within the last five years Yes D No D 6 . Was the former holder of your present position promoted within, your company? Yes D No D PRESENT STATUS: 1. Marital status (check one) married ^ single ^ divorced or separated ^ 2 . Please indicate the number of children you have ( c i rc l e ) . 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 or more 3 . (a) You reside in (check one) an apartment ^ a house ^ other (please specify) Owned D Rented a (b) I f residence is owned, please indicate i t s present market value under $ 1 0 , 0 0 0 D $ 1 0 , 0 0 0 - $ 1 9 , 9 9 9 ° $ 2 0 , 0 0 0 - $ 2 4 , 9 9 9 -$ 2 5 , 0 0 0 - $ 3 4 , 9 9 9 ° $ 3 5 , 0 0 0 - $ 4 4 , 9 9 9 ^ $ 4 5 , 0 0 0 and over U 179 4 . (a) Indicate the number of times during the last ten years that you have changed your residence (please c i r c l e ) . 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 or more (b) How many of these changes were a direct result of transfers within a company (please c i r c l e ) . 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 or more 5 . Please indicate your present provincial p o l i t i c a l a f f i l i a t i o n . Social Credit D N.D.P. 0 Liberal • Q Other Q Conservative ^ Undecided ^ 6 . Lis t your present hobbies (please be specif ic) . None — D 7 . Indicate your present total yearly income - (total income to include the value of stock options, bonuses and commissions in addition to regular salary). (a) Under $ 8 , 0 0 0 - • $ 8 , 0 0 0 - $ 1 1 , 9 9 9 S $ 1 2 , 0 0 0 - $ 1 7 , 9 9 9 ^ $ 1 8 , 0 0 0 - $ 2 4 , 9 9 9 — k \" $ 2 5 , 0 0 0 - $ 2 9 , 9 9 9 n $ 3 0 , 0 0 0 and over L J (b) What is the form of your compensation? (Please check one) Straight salary ^ Combination salary and commission rr Straight commission (c) If your answer to (b) was combination salary and commission, what percentage of your income is commission? % 180 (d) If bonuses form a part of your total income, indicate the approximate percentage amount. Less than 5% ^ 5% _ 14/ • 1 5% - 24% Over 25% U 8 . Does your company provide you with: W n company car or car allowance expense account - ^ ^ club and professional organization memberships— , ^ ^ P. DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES: 1 . What i s your present o f f i c i a l t i t l e? 2 . What is the t i t l e of the person to whom you report or are direct ly responsible? 3 . (a) How many employees do you have direct ly reporting to you? Salesmen Employees other than salesmen (b) How many employees do you control direct ly; or indirect ly through subordinates (including the subordinates)? 4 . Indicate the approximate amount of business travel time away from your place of residence: Less than 10% •• ^ 10% - 24% ^ 25% - 50% Over 50% u 5. Indicate whether or not the following act iv i t ies are a part of your position: Yes No Personal se l l ing zl ~~ Recruiting salesmen - ~r jrj Training salesmen ~r Directing and control l ing the sales force n !r Sales forecasting „ br Establishing sales quotas - for your branch or region— „ - for individual salesmen — 1 8 1 5. (continued...) Salary determination Expense account control Planning sales promotions— Introducing new products Establishing pric ing policy-Establishing credit policy— Yes No • • • • • • • • • • • • 6. Prom the above l i s t ed act iv i t ies (the yes checks of question 5)» indicate the three that you consider the most important to your posit ion. D 2) 3) ; 7. Please check those three act iv i t ies of question 5 which entai l the greatest amount of your time expenditure. 8. Is the i n i t i a l training of new salesmen primarily carried out by -(please check one) _ yourself a subordinate ^ formal company training program—^ 9« Do you maintain a formal salesman evaluation program? Yes 0 No a 1 0 . Under.normal conditions your next promotion w i l l carry you to what position? 1 1 . Does your company maintain a formal (written) job description for: Yes No your position Q Q your immediate subordinate Q Q company salesmen • Q Q APPENDIX B CAREER PATTERN TABLES 183 TABLE XLV AGE AT WHICH RESPONDENTS OBTAINED THEIR FIRST JOB CLASSIFIED BY COMPANY TYPE AGE TOTAL RESPONSE COMPANY TYPE (percentage response) # Consumer I n d u s t r i a l Combination Service Less than 16 11 7 . 5 1 0 . 4 9 . 3 4 . 8 . 0 16 - 19 67 4 5 - 9 5 0 . 0 3 7 . 2 4 8 . 8 5 0 . 0 20 - 23 41 2 8 . 1 1 8 . 8 3 4 . 9 3 1 . 7 2 8 . 6 24 - 27 20 1 3 . 7 1 8 . 8 1 1 . 6 9 . 8 1 4 . 3 No r e p l y 7 4 . 8 2 . 0 7 . 0 4 . 9 7.1 T o t a l s 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 Average age at which respondents obtained t h e i r f i r s t job 1 9 . 6 1 9 . 5 1 9 . 8 1 9 . 6 1 9 . 9 TABLE XLVI CLASSIFICATION AND\"COMPARISON OF RESPONDENTS' . . .FIRST AND THIRD JOBS (PERCENTAGE RESPONSE) TYPE OF JOB FIRST JOB THIRD JOB Worker 3 8 . 4 8 . 9 Salesman 8 . 0 3 3 . 6 Sales s u p e r v i s o r or t r a i n e r . 0 4.1 Sales manager . 0 8 . 2 Foreman . 7 8 . 9 Engineer 2 . 7 4 .1 P r o f e s s i o n a l 2.1 . 7 Other 4 3 . 8 2 8 . 1 No r e p l y 3 . 4 3 . 4 T o t a l s 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 185 TABLE XLVII RESPONDENTS' FIRST AND THIRD JOBS CLASSIFIED BY COMPANY.TYPE (PERCENTAGE RESPONSE) TYPE OF . JOB CONSUMER i I COMPANY T INDUSTRIAL . rPE COMBINATION SERVICE F i r s t Job T h i r d Job F i r s t Job 'Third Job F i r s t ' Job T h i r d Job F i r s t Job • T h i r d Job Worker 5 6 . 2 1 0 . 4 2 7 . 9 2 . 3 4 1 . 5 1 2 . 2 . 0 1 4 . 3 Salesman 1 4 . 6 4 7 . 9 2 . 3 2 0 . 9 4 . 9 3 9 . 0 2 1 . 4 7.1 Sales Supervisor or t r a i n e r . 0 6 . 3 : . 0 4 . 7 . 0 . 0 . 0 . 0 S a l e s manager . 0 8 . 3 . 0 9 . 3 . 0 7 . 3 . 0 1 4 . 3 Foreman 2.1 6 . 3 . 0 11 .6 . 0 7 . 3 . 0 1 4 . 3 Engineer . 0 . 0 7 . 0 11 .6 2 . 4 . 0 . 0 . 0 P r o f e s s i o n a l 4 . 2 . 0 . 0 . 0 2 . 4 . 0 . 0 . 0 Other 2 0 . 8 1 8 . 8 5 8 . 8 3 4 . 9 4 3 . 9 2 6 . 8 7 8 . 6 4 2 . 9 No reply- 2.1 2.1 4 . 7 4 . 7 4 . 9 4 . 9 . 0 . 0 T o t a l s 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 186 TABLE XLVIH TOTAL NUMBER OF COMPANIES RESPONDENTS HAVE WORKED POR CLASSIFIED BY COMPANY TYPE NUMBER OF COMPANIES WORKED POR RESPONSE TYPE OF COMPANY (percentage response) # $ Consumer I n d u s t r i a l Combination Se r v i c e One 26 1 7 . 8 2 0 . 8 1 6 . 3 17.1 1 4 . 3 Two 33- 2 2 . 6 2 2 . 9 2 0 . 9 1 9 . 5 35-7 Three 30 2 0 . 5 1 4 . 6 2 0 . 9 2 9 . 3 1 4 . 3 Four 23 1 5 . 8 1 8 . 7 1 3 . 9 1 4 . 6 1 4 . 3 F i v e 16 1 1 . 0 8 . 3 1 6 . 3 7 . 3 1 4 . 3 S i x 6 4.1 4 . 2 4 . 7 4 . 9 . 0 Seven 3 2 . 0 4 . 2 . 0 . 0 7.1 E i g h t 2 1 .4 4 . 2 . 0 . 0 . 0 Nine or more 2 1 .4 2.1 2 . 3 . 0 . 0 No reply- 5 3 . 4 . 0 4 . 7 7 . 3 . 0 T o t a l s be 146 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 Average no. of p o s i t i o n s h e l d 6 . 6 6 . 8 6 . 6 6 . 5 6.1 187 TABLE XLIX TOTAL NUMBER OP POSITIONS RESPONDENTS HAVE HELD IN ALL COMPANIES CLASSIFIED BY COMPANY TYPE NUMBER OF . POSITIONS HELD TOTAL RESPONSE TYPE OF COMPANY (percentage response) # Consumer I n d u s t r i a l Combination Se r v i c e One 0 0 . 0 0 . 0 0 . 0 0 . 0 0 . 0 Two 1 .7 2.1 0 . 0 0 . 0 0 . 0 Three 5 3 . 4 2.1 2 . 3 0 . 0 21 . 4 Four 14 9 . 6 6 . 2 11 .6 1 2 . 2 7.1 F i v e 22 15.1 2 0 . 8 1 4 . 0 1 4 . 6 . 0 S i x 27 1 8 . 5 16 .7 1 8 . 6 1 9 . 5 21 . 4 Seven 27 1 8 . 5 16 .7 1 6 . 3 2 4 . 4 1 4 . 3 E i g h t 25 17.1 1 8 . 8 1 4 . 0 1 2 . 2 3 5 . 7 Nine 12 8 . 2 6 . 2 1 6 . 3 4 - 9 . 0 Ten or more 8 5 . 5 1 0 . 4 2 . 3 4 . 9 . 0 No r e p l y 5 3 . 4 . 0 4 . 7 7 . 3 . 0 T o t a l s 146 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 Average number of p o s i t i o n s h e l d 6 . 6 6 . 8 6 . 6 6 . 5 6.1 188 TABLE L NUMBER OF YEARS REQUIRED TO REACH PRESENT POSITION CLASSIFIED BY COMPANY TYPE NUMBER OF YEARS REQUIRED TOTAL RESPONSE TYPE OF (percentage COMPANY response) # Consumer I n d u s t r i a l Combination S e r v i c e 0 - 1 0 19 1 3 . 0 6 . 2 1 8 . 6 1 4 . 6 1 4 . 3 11 - 15 28 1 9 . 2 1 8 . 8 2 0 . 9 17.1 21 . 4 1 6 - 2 0 34 2 3 . 3 3 1 . 3 1 8 . 6 1 9 . 5 2 1 . 4 21 - 25 34 2 3 . 3 2 5 . 0 2 0 . 9 2 1 . 9 2 8 . 6 Over 25 27 1 8 . 5 1 8 . 7 1 8 . 6 21 . 9 7.1 No reply- 4 2 . 7 . 0 2 . 4 4 - 9 7.1 T o t a l s 146 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 Average number of years r e q u i r e d 1 9 . 0 1 9 . 6 1 8 . 0 1 9 . 0 17 .7 189 TABLE L I RESPONDENTS' AGES WHEN HIRED BY THEIR PRESENT COMPANIES CLASSIFIED BY COMPANY TYPE AGE HIRED TOTAL RESPONSE TYPE OF (percentage COMPANY response) # % Consumer I n d u s t r i a l Combination Service l e s s than 20 12 8 . 2 1 4 . 6 4 . 6 7 . 3 . 0 20 - 25 38 2 6 . 0 2 0 . 8 2 7 . 9 2 9 . 2 2 8 . 6 26 - 35 55 3 7 . 6 4 3 . 8 3 2 . 6 3 9 . 0 2 8 . 6 36 - 45 23 1 5 - 8 1 2 . 5 2 3 . 3 4 . 9 3 5 . 7 over 45 9 6 . 2 6 . 2 4 . 6 9 . 8 . 0 No reply- 9 6 . 2 2.1 7 . 0 9 . 8 7.1 T o t a l s 146 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 Average age when h i r e d by present company 3 0 . 4 2 9 . 6 3 1 . 2 2 9 . 7 3 1 . 7 190 TABLE L I I AGE AT WHICH RESPONDENTS ACHIEVED THEIR PRESENT POSITION CLASSIFIED BY COMPANY TYPE AGE PRESENT POSITION ACHIEVED, TOTAL RESPONSE TYPE OF (percentage COMPANY response) # i Consumer I n d u s t r i a l Combination S e r v i c e 20 - 25 3 2 . 0 4 . 2 . 0 2 . 4 . 0 26 - 35 34 2 3 . 3 2 0 . 8 3 2 . 6 17.1 21 . 4 36 - 45 81 5 5 . 5 5 4 . 2 4 6 . 5 6 3 . 4 6 4 . 3 over 45 21 1 4 . 4 1 8 . 8 1 3 . 9 1 2 . 2 7.1 No r e p l y 7 4 . 8 2 . 0 7 . 0 4 . 9 7.1 .' T o t a l s 146 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 Average age present p o s i t i o n achieved 3 8 . 7 3 9 - 0 3 8 . 0 3 9 . 4 3 7 . 7 191 TABLE L I I I NUMBER OP POSITIONS RESPONDENTS HAVE HELD IN THEIR PRESENT COMPANY CLASSIFIED BY COMPANY TYPE NUMBER OF POSITIONS IN PRESENT COMPANY TOTAL RESPONSE TYPE OF (percentage COMPANY response) # Consumer I n d u s t r i a l Combination Se r v i c e One p o s i t i o n 27 1 8 . 5 1 6 . 7 2 0 . 9 1 2 . 2 3 5 . 7 Two p o s i t i o n s 32 2 1 . 9 27 .1 2 3 . 3 1 4 . 6 21 . 4 Three \" 23 1 5 . 8 1 4 . 6 1 4 . 0 21 . 9 7.1 Pour \" 25 17.1 16 .7 1 6 . 3 2 1 . 9 7-1 F i v e \" 14 9 . 6 6 . 2 1 1 . 6 9 - 8 1 4 . 3 S i x \" 9 6 . 2 6 . 2 ' 4 . 6 4 . 9 1 4 . 3 Seven \" 4 2 .7 4 . 2 2 . 3 2 . 4 . 0 E i g h t \" 6 • 4 .1 6 . 2 2 . 3 4 - 9 . 0 Nine or more p o s i t i o n s 1 • 7 2.1 . 0 . 0 . 0 No r e p l y 5 3 . 4 . 0 4 - 7 7 . 3 . 0 T o t a l s 146 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 • Average number of p o s i t i o n s i n present company 3 . 3 3 . 5 3.1 3 . 6 2 . 9 192 TABLE LIV NUMBER OF YEARS RESPONDENTS HAVE BEEN IN THEIR PRESENT POSITION CLASSIFIED BY COMPANY TYPE. NUMBER OF YEARS IN PRESENT POSITION TOTAL RESPONSE TYPE OF (percentage COMPANY response) # Consumer I n d u s t r i a l Combination S e r v i c e l e s s than 4 62 4 2 . 5 5 0 . 0 4 6 . 5 3 6 . 5 2 1 . 4 4 - 6 35 2 3 . 9 2 2 . 9 2 3 . 2 2 2 . 0 3 5 . 7 7 - 9 19 1 3 . 0 6 . 2 1 4 . 0 2 2 . 0 7 . 2 10 or more 23 1 5 . 8 1 8 . 8 9 . 3 1 2 . 2 3 5 . 7 No r e p l y 7 4 . 8 2.1 7 . 0 7 . 3 . 0 T o t a l s 146 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 Average number of years i n present p o s i t i o n 5.1 4 . 8 4 . 6 5 . 3 6 . 7 193 TABLE LV SIZE OP RESPONDENTS' PRESENT COMPANIES CLASSIFIED CLASSIFIED BY EDUCATION RECEIVED SIZE OF COMPANY . (SALES) LEVEL OF EDUCATION RECEIVED (percentage response) $ Grade School High School U n i v e r s i t y Undergraduate No Degree Degree Graduate Degree Less than 5 0 0 , 0 0 0 . 0 2 . 5 . 0 3 . 0 . 0 5 0 0 , 0 0 0 -9 9 9 , 9 9 9 . 0 . 0 . 2 . 0 . 0 1 , 0 0 0 , 0 0 0 -4 , 9 9 9 , 9 9 9 2 0 . 0 8 . 3 1 8 . 8 1 5 . 2 . 0 5 , 0 0 0 , 0 0 0 -1 4 , 9 9 9 , 9 9 9 6 0 . 0 3 2 . 1 1 2 . 5 9.1 . 0 1 5 , 0 0 0 , 0 0 0 -4 9 , 9 9 9 , 9 9 9 2 0 . 0 25.O 2 5 . 0 2 1 . 2 6 6 . 7 5 0 , 0 0 0 , 0 0 0 and over . 0 32 .1 3 7 . 5 6 6 . 7 3 3 . 3 T o t a l s 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 194 TABLE LVI RESPONDENTS' FIRST JOBS CLASSIFIED BY LEVEL OF EDUCATION RECEIVED TYPE OF FIRST JOB LEVEL OF EDUCATION ACHIEVED (percentage.response) Grade School High School Some U n i v e r s i t y Undergraduate Degree Post Grad Degree Worker 8 0 . 0 4 7 . 6 3 5 . 3 21 . 9 3 3 . 3 Salesman . 0 7 . 3 11 .7 9 - 4 6 6 . 7 Foreman . 0 . 0 . 0 3.1 . 0 Engineer . 0 1.2 . 0 9 . 4 . 0 P r o f e s s i o n a l . 0 . 0 1 1 . 8 3.1 . 0 Other 2 0 . 0 4 3 . 9 4 1 . 2 53.1 . 0 T o t a l s 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 195 TABLE LVII RESPONDENTS' THIRD JOBS CLASSIFIED BY LEVEL OF.EDUCATION ACHIEVED TYPE OF THIRD JOB LEVEL OF EDUCATION ACHIEVED (percentage response) Grade School High School Some U n i v e r s i t y Undergraduate Degree Post Grad Degree Worker 2 0 . 0 1 2 . 0 5-9 3.1 . 0 Salesman 6 0 . 0 2 7 . 7 5 9 - 4 28.1 6 6 . 7 Sales Super-v i s o r or t r a i n e r . 0 4 . 8 . 0 6 . 3 . 0 Sales Manager . 0 7 . 2 . 0 2 1 . 8 . 0 Foreman 2 0 . 0 9 . 6 . 0 9 - 4 3 3 . 3 Engineer . 0 2 . 4 . 0 1 2 . 5 . 0 P r o f e s s i o n a l . 0 1.2 . 0 . 0 . 0 Other . 0 35.1 3 4 . 7 1 8 . 7 . 0 T o t a l s 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 < 196 TABLE L V I I I YEARS RESPONDENTS REQUIRED TO ACHIEVE PRESENT POSITION CLASSIFIED BY LEVEL OF EDUCATION YEARS TAKEN LEVEL OF (percentage EDUCATION response) Grade School High School Some Undergraduate U n i v e r s i t y Degree Post Grad Degree 0 - 10 0 . 0 9 . 5 5 . 9 3 0 . 3 . 0 11 - 15 2 5 . 0 16 .7 2 9 . 4 2 4 . 2 3 3 . 3 1 6 - 2 0 2 5 . 0 2 2 . 6 3 5 - 3 21 . 2 . 3 3 ; 3 21 - 25 2 5 . 0 2 9 . 8 1 7 . 6 1 5 . 2 . 0 over 25 2 5 . 0 2 1 . 4 1 1 . 8 9.1 3 3 . 4 T o t a l s 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 Average no. of years taken 2 0 . 0 1.9.1 1 7 . 3 14.1 19.1 197 TABLE LIX THE OCCUPATIONS OP RESPONDENTS' FATHERS CLASSIFIED . BY RESPONDENTS FIRST JOBS FATHERS* RESPONDENTS* FIRST JOB OCCUPATION (percentage response) Worker Salesman Foreman Engineer P r o f e s s i o n a l Other Government 1 0 . 7 . 0 . 0 2 5 . 0 . 0 1 0 . 3 Farmer 1 0 . 7 7 . 7 . 0 . 0 3 3 . 3 4 . 4 P r o f e s s i o n a l 7.1 15-4 . 0 5 0 . 0 . 0 5 . 9 Owner of Business 1 0 . 7 3 8 . 4 1 0 0 . 0 . 0 3 3 . ^ 22.1 Major Executive 1 . 8 7 . 7 . 0 . 0 . 0 4 . 4 Minor Executive 1 2 . 6 7 . 7 . 0 . 0 . 0 1 4 . 7 Salesman 7.1 7 . 7 . 0 . 0 3 3 . 3 5-9 Blue C o l l a r 3 5 . 7 7 . 7 . 0 2 5 . 0 . 0 2 . 9 T o t a l s 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 TABLE LX NUMBER OP YEARS REQUIRED TO REACH PRESENT POSITION CLASSIFIED BY RESPONDENTS' FATHERS' OCCUPATIONS \" (PERCENTAGE RESPONSE) .YEARS REQUIRED AVERAGE Government Farmer RESPONSENTS' Business P r o f e s s i o n a l Owner FATHERS' \"Business Executive OCCUPATIONS Blue • Salesman C o l l a r Other Less than 10 1 3 . 4 1 5 . 4 9.1 1 8 . 2 1 7 . 9 1 8 . 2 1 0 . 0 9 - 8 . 0 10 - 15 1 9 . 7 3 0 . 8 9.1 . 2 7 . 3 2 8 . 6 2 2 . 7 2 0 . 0 9 . 8 1 6 . 7 1 6 - 1 9 2 3 . 9 7 . 6 2 7 . 3 2 7 . 3 1 7 . 9 1 3 . 6 2 0 . 0 3 6 . 6 3 3 . 3 20 - 25 2 3 . 9 23 .1 2 7 . 3 1 8 . 2 2 1 . 4 2 7 . 3 2 0 . 0 2 6 . 8 1 6 . 7 26 and over 1 9 . 0 23.1 2 7 . 3 9-1 1 4 . 3 1 8 . 2 3 0 . 0 1 7 . 0 3 3 . 3 T o t a l s 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 Average years r e q u i r e d 1 8 . 4 1 9 . 2 2 2 . 0 1 6 . 3 1 7 . 4 1 8 . 6 2 1 . 5 2 0 . 1 2 3 . 3 VO CO 199 TABLE LXI NUMBER OP YEARS REQUIRED TO REACH PRESENT POSITION CLASSIFIED BY SIZE OF RESPONDENTS' BIRTHPLACE (PERCENTAGE RESPONSE) YEARS REQUIRED AVERAGE SIZE OF RESPONDENTS' BIRTHPLACE Rur a l 5000 -2 4 , 9 9 9 2 5 , 0 0 0 -9 9 , 9 9 9 1 0 0 , 0 0 0 -1 9 9 , 9 9 9 2 0 0 , 0 0 0 . and over Less than 10 1 3 . 4 1 5 . 8 1 4 . 3 1 2 . 5 . 0 1 5 . 0 10 - 15 1 9 . 7 1 8 . 4 6 6 . 7 1 2 . 5 1 1 . 8 2 2 . 5 1 6 - 2 0 2 3 . 9 1 5 . 8 2 8 . 6 2 5 . 0 4 1 . 2 2 2 . 5 21 - 25 2 3 . 9 2 3 . 7 1 4 . 3 2 5 . 0 4 1 . 2 2 0 . 0 26 and over 1 9 . 0 2 6 . 3 6.1 2 5 . 0 5 . 8 2 0 . 0 T o t a l s 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 Average no. of years 1 8 . 4 2 0 . 4 1 6 . 4 2 0 . 9 2 0 . 0 1 8 . 0 200 TABLE LXII RESPONDENTS' PROMOTION EXPECTATIONS BY TITLE CLASSIFIED BY COMPANY TYPE EXPECTED PROMOTION TOTAL RESPONSE TYPE OF (percentage COMPANY response) - # Consumer I n d u s t r i a l Combination Se r v i c e V i c e P r e s i d e n t , General Manager 27 1 8 . 5 27 .1 18 .6 1 2 . 2 7.1 General Sales Manager, Marketing Manager 14 9 . 6 1 0 . 4 4 . 7 17.1 . 0 N a t i o n a l Sales Manager 10 6 . 8 8 . 3 2 . 3 7 . 3 1 4 . 3 Regional Sales Manager 17 11 .6 6 . 3 1 8 . 6 1 4 . 6 . 0 D i s t r i c t Sales Manager 3 2.1 . 0 4 . 7 . 0 7.1 Same P o s i t i o n -Larger T e r r i t o r y - 14 9 . 6 8 . 3 1 1 . 6 9 . 8 7.1 Other 27 18 . 5 1 8 . 8 2 0 . 9 1 4 . 6 1 4 . 3 Retirement 9 6 . 2 4 . 2 4 . 6 7 . 3 1 4 . 3 Not Known 25 17.1 1 6 . 6 1 4 . 0 17.1 3 5 . 8 APPENDIX G INCOME TABLES 202 TABLE L X I I I PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTION OP RESPONDENTS' TOTAL ANNUAL INCOME CLASSIFIED BY COMPANY TYPE TOTAL ANNUAL INCOME COMPANY TYPE $ Consumer I n d u s t r i a l % Combination 1o S e r v i c e Under 8 , 0 0 0 0 . 0 4 . 7 2 . 4 0 . 0 8 , 0 0 0 - 1 1 , 9 9 9 3 3 . 3 1 6 . 3 2 9 . 8 1 4 . 3 1 2 , 0 0 0 - 1 7 , 9 9 9 4 5 - 8 6 5 . 1 4 6 . 3 6 4 - 3 1 8 , 0 0 0 - 2 4 , 9 9 9 1 2 . 5 7 . 0 4 . 7 2 . 3 2 5 , 0 0 0 - 2 9 , 0 0 0 2.1 4 . 7 2 . 4 7.1 3 0 , 0 0 0 and over 4 . 2 2 . 3 . 0 . 0 No r e p l y 2.1 . 0 2 . 4 . 0 T o t a l s 1 0 0 . 0 . 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 •Average Annual -Income $ 1 4 , 9 5 0 $ 1 5 , 1 7 5 $ 1 2 , 2 6 0 | M 6 . 1 5 0 •These averages w i l l be very approximate due to the large s i z e of income range and the open ended c l a s s e s . 203 TABLE LXIV FORM OF COMPENSATION CLASSIFIED BY COMPANY TYPE FORM OF COMPENSATION TOTAL RESPONSE COMPANY (percentage TYPE response) # Consumer I n d u s t r i a l Combination Se r v i c e Salary- 102 6 9 . 9 5 8 . 3 7 4 - 4 7 5 - 6 7 8 . 6 S a l a r y and Commission 38 2 6 . 0 3 1 . 3 2 5 . 6 2 2 . 0 21 . 4 Commission o n l y 5 3 . 4 1 0 . 4 . 0 . 0 . 0 No r e p l y 1 . 7 . 0 . 0 2 . 4 . 0 T o t a l s 146 1 0 0 . 0 • 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 204 TABLE LXV EXTENT OF COMMISSION INCENTIVES IN TOTAL ANNUAL INCOME CLASSIFIED BY COMPANY TYPE (COMBINATION SALARY AND COMMISSION RESPONDENTS ONLY*) EXTENT OF COMMIS-SION INCENTIVES '* TOTAL RESPONSE COMPANY (percentage TYPE response) # fo Consumer I n d u s t r i a l Combination Service Less than 5% 1 2 . 6 6 . 7 . 0 . 0 . 0 5 - U$> 5 1 3 . 2 1 3 . 3 . 0 3 3 . 3 . 0 1 5 - 2 4 % 10 2 6 . 3 1 3 . 3 3 6 . 4 4 4 . 4 . 0 25 - 34% 5 1 3 . 2 6 . 7 2 7 . 3 . 0 3 3 . 3 35 - 49% 2 5 . 2 . 0 9 . 0 11.1 . 0 50 - 74% 8 21.1 1 3 . 3 2 7 . 3 . 11.1 6 7 . 7 75% and over 7 1 8 . 4 4 6 . 7 . 0 . 0 . 0 T o t a l s 38 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 100' .0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 *This t a b l e does not include the respondents who were compensated on the b a s i s of commission only. 205 TABLE LXVI EXTENT TO WHICH BONUSES FORM A PART OF RESPONDENTS* TOTAL ANNUAL. INCOME CLASSIFIED BY COMPANY TYPE BONUS INCENTIVES TOTAL RESPONSE COMPANY (percentage TYPE response) # % Consumer I n d u s t r i a l Combination S e r v i c e Received bonus 60 41.1 4 3 . 8 4 6 . 5 3 1 . 7 4 2 . 8 D i d not rece i v e bonus 84 5 7 . 5 5 4 . 1 ' 5 3 . 5 6 5 . 9 5 7 . 2 No r e p l y 2 1 .4 2.1 . 0 2 . 4 . 0 T o t a l s 146 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 BONUS AS A PERCENTAGE OF INCOME Less than 5% 11 7 - 5 6 . 3 7 . 0 7 . 3 1 4 . 3 5 - u% 27 1 8 . 5 2 5 . 0 1 8 . 6 1 4 . 6 7.1 15 - 24% 15 1 0 . 3 4 . 2 16 .3 7 . 3 21 . 4 25% or more 7 4 . 8 8 . 3 4 . 7 2 . 4 . 0 T o t a l s 60 41.1 4 3 . 8 4 6 . 5 3 1 . 7 4 2 . 8 206 TABLE LXVII PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTION OP INCOME LEVELS CLASSIFIED BY NUMBER OF YEARS WITH PRESENT COMPANY. INCOME RANGE NUMBER OF YEARS WITH PRESENT COMPANY Less than 5 5 - 9 10 - 14 1 5 - 1 9 20 - 24 25 or more °h fo $ 1o Less than 8 , 0 0 0 5.6 . 0 . 0 . 0 . 0 4 . 2 8 , 0 0 0 - 1 1 , 9 9 9 1 1 . 0 5 3 . 0 2 8 . 2 2 5 . 0 2 7 . 7 16.7 1 2 , 0 0 0 - 1 7 , 9 9 9 66.6 4 1 . 2 5 1 . 3 5 0 . 0 66 .7 5 0 . 0 1 8 , 0 0 0 - 2 4 , 9 9 9 5.6 5-9 1 2 . 8 2 5 . 0 5.6 2 0 . 8 2 5 , 0 0 0 - 2 9 , 9 9 9 5.6 . 0 5.1 . 0 . 0 4 . 2 Over 3 0 , 0 0 0 5.6 . 0 2.6 . 0 . 0 4 . 2 T o t a l s 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 207 TABLE LXVIII PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTION OP INCOME LEVELS CLASSIFIED BY NUMBER OF YEARS IN.PRESENT POSITION INCOME RANGE NUMBER OF YEARS IN PRESENT POSITION $ Less than i 4 4 - 6 % 7 - 9 $ 10 or more % Less than 8 , 0 0 0 1.6 0 . 0 0 . 0 4 . 4 8 , 0 0 0 - 1 1 , 9 9 9 2 9 - 5 2 8 . 6 2 7 . 7 13.1 1 2 , 0 0 0 - 1 7 , 9 9 9 5 9 . 0 4 5 . 7 6 6 . 7 4 7 . 8 1 8 , 0 0 0 - 2 4 , 9 9 9 6 . 6 2 0 . 0 5-6 21 .7 2 5 , 0 0 0 - 2 9 , 9 9 9 2 . 3 2 . 8 . 0 4 - 3 Over 3 0 , 0 0 0 . 0 2 . 8 . 0 8 . 7 T o t a l s ' 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 208 TABLE LXIX PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTION OP INCOME LEVELS CLASSIFIED BY NUMBER OF POSITIONS HELD IN ALL COMPANIES INCOME RANGE NUMBER OP POSITIONS HELD IN ALL COMPANIES Less than 4 4 - 6 7 - 9 10 or more % Less than 8 , 0 0 0 . 0 1.6 1 .6 . 0 8 , 0 0 0 - 1 1 , 9 9 9 2 0 . 0 2 7 . 4 2 6 . 5 2 5 . 0 1 2 , 0 0 0 - 1 7 , 9 9 9 4 0 . 0 5 1 . 6 5 7 . 8 5 0 . 0 1 8 , 0 0 0 - 2 4 , 9 9 9 4 0 . 0 1 4 . 5 9 - 4 1 2 . 5 2 5 , 0 0 0 - 2 9 , 9 9 9 . . 0 3 . 3 3.1 . 0 Over 3 0 , 0 0 0 . 0 1 .6 1 .6 1 2 . 5 T o t a l s 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 TABLE LXX PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTION OP INCOME LEVELS CLASSIFIED BY NUMBER OF POSITIONS HELD IN PRESENT COMPANY INCOME RANGE $ NUMBER OF Less than $ POSITIONS IN 4 ' 4 - 6 • * PRESENT COMPANY 7 or more Less than 8 , 0 0 0 2 . 5 . 0 . 0 8 , 0 0 0 - 1 1 , 9 9 9 2 6 . 2 3 1 . 2 9.1 1 2 , 0 0 0 - 1 7 , 9 9 9 5 0 . 0 5 6 . 3 7 2 . 7 1 8 , 0 0 0 - 2 4 , 9 9 9 1 3 . 7 1 0 . 4 1 8 . 2 2 5 , 0 0 0 - 2 9 , 9 9 9 3 . 8 2.1 . 0 Over 3 0 , 0 0 0 3 . 8 . 0 . 0 T o t a l s 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 210 TABLE LXXI PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTION OP INCOME LEVELS CLASSIFIED BY NUMBER OF COMPANIES WORKED FOR INCOME LEVEL NUMBER OF COMPANIES WORKED FOR Less than 4 4 - 6 \" 7 - 9 10 or more $ Less than 8 , 0 0 0 2 . 4 . 0 11.1 . 0 8 , 0 0 0 - 1 1 , 9 9 9 27.1 3 2 . 0 . 0 2 4 . 0 1 2 , 0 0 0 - 1 7 , 9 9 9 5 1 . 8 5 2 . 0 7 7 . 8 5 6 . 0 1 8 , 0 0 0 - 2 4 , 9 9 9 14.1 4 . 0 11.1 . 0 Over 3 0 , 0 0 0 1.1 8 . 0 . 0 . 0 T o t a l s 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 i 211 TABLE LXXII PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTION OF INCOME LEVELS CLASSIFIED BY AMOUNT OF TRAVEL TIME INCOME LEVELS Less than AMOUNT OF TRAVEL 10% 10 - 24% TIME 25 - 50% over 50% Less than 8 , 0 0 0 5 - 4 1 .4 . 0 . 0 8 , 0 0 0 - 1 1 , 9 9 9 35.1 2 5 - 7 1 6 . 7 . 0 1 2 , 0 0 0 - 1 7 , 9 9 9 4 0 . 6 5 6 . 8 6 3 . 3 6 6 . 7 1 8 , 0 0 0 - 2 4 , 9 9 9 1 3 . 5 1 0 . 8 1 3 . 3 3 3 . 3 2 5 , 0 0 0 - 2 9 , 9 9 9 5 . 4 1.3 6 . 7 . 0 Over 3 0 , 0 0 0 . 0 4 . 0 . 0 . 0 T o t a l s 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 212 TABLE LXXIII PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTION OP INCOME LEVELS CLASSIFIED BY TOTAL COMPANY SALES INCOME LEVELS SIZE OF COMPANY Less than $ 1 , 0 0 0 , 0 0 0 $ 5 , 0 0 0 , 0 0 0 $ 1 5 , 0 0 0 , 0 0 0 $ 5 0 , 0 0 0 , 0 0 0 $ 1 , 0 0 0 , 0 0 0 4 , 9 9 9 , 9 9 9 1 4 , 9 9 9 , 9 9 9 4 9 , 9 9 9 , 9 9 9 .and over $ % % io : % i Less than 8 , 0 0 0 . 0 5 . 3 6 . 0 . 0 . 0 8 , 0 0 0 - 1 1 , 9 9 9 5 0 . 0 3 1 . 6 2 7 . 3 1 7 . 2 2 6 . 0 1 2 , 0 0 0 - 1 7 , 9 9 9 5 0 , 0 4 2 . 1 57-7 57.1 5 4 . 0 1 8 , 0 0 0 - 2 4 , 9 9 9 . 0 1 5 . 8 3 . 0 2 0 . 0 1 4 . 0 2 5 , 0 0 0 - 2 9 , 9 9 9 . 0 . 0 3 . 0 5-7 4 . 0 Over 3 0 , 0 0 0 . 0 5-3 3 . 0 . 0 2 . 0 T o t a l s 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 1 0 0 . 0 "@en ; edm:hasType "Thesis/Dissertation"@en ; edm:isShownAt "10.14288/1.0102339"@en ; dcterms:language "eng"@en ; ns0:degreeDiscipline "Business Administration"@en ; edm:provider "Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library"@en ; dcterms:publisher "University of British Columbia"@en ; dcterms:rights "For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use."@en ; ns0:scholarLevel "Graduate"@en ; dcterms:title "A profile of British Columbia sales managers"@en ; dcterms:type "Text"@en ; ns0:identifierURI "http://hdl.handle.net/2429/34999"@en .