A Tale of Support: Linking Perceived Supervisory Support and Work Engagement to Pharmaceutical Salespersons’ Performance

Abstract

Based on data from 619 sales representatives working in 24 multinational and 76 National pharmaceutical firms in Pakistan, prepositions of Affective Events Theory (AET) are tested. Affective Events Theory (AET) proposes that behavioral demonstrations encompassing the effects like supervisory support at the workplace stimulate emotional reactions like engagement that further influence the workers’ behaviors. In the current study, we applied this theoretical framework to elucidate the relationships between the proposed variables of our conceptual model. The study, in specific terms, investigated the relationships between perceived supervisory support and the three dimensions of work engagement i.e. vigor, dedication, and absorption. Furthermore, the relationships of these three dimensions of work engagement with the two dimensions of salesperson’s performance i.e. selling behavioral performance and non-selling behavioral performance. Structural equation modeling was applied to test the proposed hypotheses. The results revealed that perceived supervisory support is positively related to all three dimensions of work engagement, namely vigor, dedication, and absorption, and two out of three dimensions of work engagement are positively related to two dimensions of salesperson’s performance i.e. selling behavioral performance and non-selling behavioral performance.