The move towards a more knowledge-intensive sales market has increased the complexity of the sales job. Salespeople must continuously learn and grow to meet the evolving demands of the job. A critical concern for organizational leaders becomes identifying learning strategies to encourage salespeople to apply what they learn. Researchers have advanced multiple studies on the learning needs of salespeople, yet there is not a consensus as to the most effective mechanisms to increase learning transfer in the sales environment. To determine which knowledge tools better prepare the sales force for success, this study investigates whether training, mentoring and/or coaching is more effective in increasing sales learning transfer. A framework which incorporates multiple established transfer and training evaluation models is considered. Empirical testing on a sample of frontline salespeople across varying industries was performed, with statistical analysis of the results. Decreased role ambiguity and increased organizational commitment was interpreted as evidence of transfer. The findings of the study will bolster knowledge of the factors that increase personal learning and promote learning transfer which can ultimately improve the salesperson’s performance.
","abstract_html":"<p>The move towards a more knowledge-intensive sales market has increased the complexity of the sales job. Salespeople must continuously learn and grow to meet the evolving demands of the job. A critical concern for organizational leaders becomes identifying learning strategies to encourage salespeople to apply what they learn. Researchers have advanced multiple studies on the learning needs of salespeople, yet there is not a consensus as to the most effective mechanisms to increase learning transfer in the sales environment. To determine which knowledge tools better prepare the sales force for success, this study investigates whether training, mentoring and/or coaching is more effective in increasing sales learning transfer. A framework which incorporates multiple established transfer and training evaluation models is considered. Empirical testing on a sample of frontline salespeople across varying industries was performed, with statistical analysis of the results. Decreased role ambiguity and increased organizational commitment was interpreted as evidence of transfer. The findings of the study will bolster knowledge of the factors that increase personal learning and promote learning transfer which can ultimately improve the salesperson’s performance.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Bradford, Shalonda K."],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Doctor of Business Administration (DBA)","degree_level":"Dissertation","degree_discipline":"Marketing","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Dr. Brian Rutherford","Dr. Scott Friend","Dr. Richard Plank"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2014,"date_issued":"2014-11-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2014-11-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:43:00Z","subjects":["sales training","mentoring","personal learning","coaching","role ambiguity","organizational commitment","Business","Marketing","Organizational Behavior and Theory","Sales and Merchandising"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/etd/655","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Dr. Brian Rutherford","Dr. Scott Friend","Dr. Richard Plank"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Bradford, Shalonda K."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2014-12-15T08:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Marketing"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Doctor of Business Administration (DBA)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["sales training","mentoring","personal learning","coaching","role ambiguity","organizational commitment","Business","Marketing","Organizational Behavior and Theory","Sales and Merchandising"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/etd/655"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["The move towards a more knowledge-intensive sales market has increased the complexity of the sales job. Salespeople must continuously learn and grow to meet the evolving demands of the job. A critical concern for organizational leaders becomes identifying learning strategies to encourage salespeople to apply what they learn. Researchers have advanced multiple studies on the learning needs of salespeople, yet there is not a consensus as to the most effective mechanisms to increase learning transfer in the sales environment. To determine which knowledge tools better prepare the sales force for success, this study investigates whether training, mentoring and/or coaching is more effective in increasing sales learning transfer. A framework which incorporates multiple established transfer and training evaluation models is considered. Empirical testing on a sample of frontline salespeople across varying industries was performed, with statistical analysis of the results. Decreased role ambiguity and increased organizational commitment was interpreted as evidence of transfer. The findings of the study will bolster knowledge of the factors that increase personal learning and promote learning transfer which can ultimately improve the salesperson’s performance.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["A Comparative Analysis of Training, Mentoring and Coaching in the Sales Environment: Evaluating the Impact of Personal Learning on Role Ambiguity and Organizational Commitment"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Dr. Brian Rutherford","Dr. Scott Friend","Dr. Richard Plank"],"dc:creator":["Bradford, Shalonda K."],"dc:date.available":["2014-12-15T08:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["The move towards a more knowledge-intensive sales market has increased the complexity of the sales job. Salespeople must continuously learn and grow to meet the evolving demands of the job. A critical concern for organizational leaders becomes identifying learning strategies to encourage salespeople to apply what they learn. Researchers have advanced multiple studies on the learning needs of salespeople, yet there is not a consensus as to the most effective mechanisms to increase learning transfer in the sales environment. To determine which knowledge tools better prepare the sales force for success, this study investigates whether training, mentoring and/or coaching is more effective in increasing sales learning transfer. A framework which incorporates multiple established transfer and training evaluation models is considered. Empirical testing on a sample of frontline salespeople across varying industries was performed, with statistical analysis of the results. Decreased role ambiguity and increased organizational commitment was interpreted as evidence of transfer. The findings of the study will bolster knowledge of the factors that increase personal learning and promote learning transfer which can ultimately improve the salesperson’s performance.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/etd/655"],"dc:subject":["sales training","mentoring","personal learning","coaching","role ambiguity","organizational commitment","Business","Marketing","Organizational Behavior and Theory","Sales and Merchandising"],"dc:title":["A Comparative Analysis of Training, Mentoring and Coaching in the Sales Environment: Evaluating the Impact of Personal Learning on Role Ambiguity and Organizational Commitment"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Marketing"],"thesis:degree_level":["Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_name":["Doctor of Business Administration (DBA)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:43:00Z"}