Entrepreneurship and Business-to-Business Sales Performance–Model Questionnaire

Abstract

The Entrepreneurship and Business-to-Business Sales Performance Model, developed by Edwards et al. in 2023, is a psychometric instrument designed to investigate the complex, interconnected relationships between organizational strategy-making, an organization’s preparedness for corporate entrepreneurship (OPCE), specific entrepreneurial selling actions, and the resultant performance outcomes of B2B salespeople. The development of this 44-item measure involved adapting existing scales from influential prior research, including works by Dess et al. (1997), Hornsby et al. (2013), and Wang & Netemeyer (2004). The validation study utilized a sample of B2B salespeople surveyed online, with the data analyzed using structural equation modeling to establish robust evidence for both reliability and validity.

Keywords

Business-To-Business Salespeople, Creative Selling, Entrepreneurship, Management Support, Rewards/Reinforcements, Sales Innovativeness, Sales Performance (Individual), Simplistic, Strategy-Making Entrepreneurial, Time Availability, Work Discretion

Authors

John Edwards, Morgan P. Miles, Steven D’Alessandro, Mark Frost

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Purpose

The core objective of this measurement model is to quantitatively evaluate the influence exerted by entrepreneurial strategy-making processes within an organization on the individual sales performance metrics of its business-to-business salespeople.

By assessing how organizational factors (such as preparedness and support) translate into specific entrepreneurial sales behaviors, the scale provides a framework for understanding and improving individual effectiveness in competitive B2B environments.

Construct

The primary constructs measured by the model are organizational Entrepreneurship and individual Business-to-Business Sales Performance. The overall model incorporates nine specific latent factors and subscales:

• Strategy-Making Entrepreneurial
• Simplistic
• Work Discretion
• Time Availability
• Management Support
• Rewards/Reinforcements
• Creative Selling
• Sales Innovativeness
• Sales Performance (Individual)

Validity

The developers established evidence for both construct validity and discriminant validity during the scale development process. Construct validity was confirmed by calculating the Average Variance Extracted (AVE) for all constructs, with results surpassing the conventional recommended cut-off value of 0.5.

Support for discriminant validity was demonstrated by adhering to the criteria established by Fornell & Larcker (1981). Specifically, the square root of each construct’s AVE was found to be greater than its correlations with all other constructs included in the model, indicating that the latent variables measured distinct phenomena.

Reliability

The internal consistency, a crucial measure of reliability, was thoroughly assessed for all factors within the scale. Both the values for Cronbach’s alpha and the Composite Reliability (CR) were reported to be consistently above the generally accepted 0.70 threshold across all constructs.

These findings indicate a good level of internal reliability, ensuring that the items measuring each specific construct are highly correlated and consistently measuring the same underlying trait or dimension.

Factor Analysis

The overall fit of the measurement model to the collected quantitative data was assessed using the Goodness of Fit (GOF) index. The calculated GOF index for the model was 0.427.

According to the standards and benchmarks cited by Hair et al. (2019), this value suggests that the theoretical model provides a strong and acceptable fit to the empirical data collected from the sample, validating the structure of the latent variables and their relationships.

Instrument

Test Type: Original

Format: The instrument is composed of 44 items rated on a five-point Likert scale. The response options range from 1, corresponding to “totally disagree,” up to 5, corresponding to “totally agree” for each statement. Administration is conducted electronically via an online survey.

Language Available: English

Population Group: The test is designed for an adult human population (18 years and older), encompassing both males and females.

Age Group: Adulthood (18 yrs & older)

Population Details: The validation study sample consisted specifically of Business-To-Business Salespeople located in Australia.

Test Methodology: The development and validation process employed a rigorous methodology, including the assessment of Test Validity, Construct Validity, Discriminant Validity, Test Reliability (specifically Internal Consistency), Factor Analysis, development of a Measurement Model, and the use of Structural Equation Modeling.

Keywords

Business-To-Business Salespeople, Creative Selling, Entrepreneurship, Management Support, Rewards/Reinforcements, Sales Innovativeness, Sales Performance (Individual), Simplistic, Strategy-Making Entrepreneurial, Time Availability, Work Discretion

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Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: John Edwards: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3890-8893; Morgan P. Miles: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1389-1856; Steven D’Alessandro: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7480-232X; Mark Frost: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8909-6341

Affiliation Email addresses: John Edwards: [email protected] (Macquarie University); Morgan P. Miles: [email protected] (University of Queensland); Steven D’Alessandro: No data is Available (Edith Cowan University); Mark Frost: [email protected] (Charles Sturt University)

Correspondence Address: [email protected]

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

Permissions: Contact the Corresponding Author, John Edwards, for permission to use the instrument.

Commercial: No

Fee: No

Test Year: 2023

Reference’s

Edwards, J., Miles, M. P., D’Alessandro, S., & Frost, M. (2023). Entrepreneurial strategy-making, corporate entrepreneurship preparedness and entrepreneurial sales actions: Improving B2B sales performance. Journal of Business Research, 157, Article 113586. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2022.113586

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Items of the Entrepreneurship and Business-to-Business Sales Performance–Model Questionnaire

IMPORTANT: The following scale items must be preserved in their original language and must not be changed in any way.

• Number of Items: This is a 44-item measure.

• Test Items Available: No data is Available. The items are located in the source article: 2023-42237-001, Table 1, Pages 5-6.

• Factors and Subscales: The instrument measures several constructs: Strategy-Making Entrepreneurial; Simplistic; Work Discretion; Time Availability; Management Support; Rewards/Reinforcements; Creative Selling; Sales Innovativeness; and Sales Performance (Individual).