Ineffective managerial support in electrolux vietnam AC

The possible solutions for improvement of performance evaluation are training sales manager and supervisor on evaluating and giving performance feedbacks to their subordinates effectivel

UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS HO CHI MINH CITY

International School of Business

-Truong Hieu Lam

INEFFECTIVE MANAGERIAL SUPPORT

Table of Contents

Executive summary 5

1 Company background 6

2 Problem mess 8

2.1 Symptoms 8

2.1.1 First symptom: Low sales 8

2.1.2 Second symptom: Low customer satisfaction 9

2.2 Initial cause-effect map 12

2.3 Updated cause-effect map 18

2.3.1 Ineffective managerial support 18

2.3.2 Work-life imbalance 19

2.3.3 Insufficient training 20

2.3.4 Ineffective segmentation 21

2.4 Potential problems 23

2.4.1 Ineffective segmentation 23

2.4.2 Ineffective managerial support 24

2.4.3 Main problem validation 25

3 Problem justification 26

3.1 Problem definition 26

3.2 Problem existence 27

3.2.1 Quantitative research findings 27

3.2.2 Qualitative research findings 29

3.3 Problem importance 32

4 Cause validation 35

4.1 Literature review 35

4.2 Qualitative research findings 36

5 The set of solutions 41

5.1 Training sales manager and supervisor 41

5.2 Developing the performance management system 42

5.3 Solution selection 43

5.4 Change plan design 45

2

5.4.1 Objectives 45

5.4.2 Action plan 45

5.4.2.1 Development of an appraisal form 45

5.4.2.2 Guideline for effective performance feedback 49

5.4.2.3 Disciplinary procedure for poor performance management 49

Conclusion 55

Supporting information 56

References

111 Appendix

115

List of Figures

Figure 1: Initial cause-effect map 17

Figure 2: Updated cause-effect map 22

Figure 3: Managerial support at sales department 28

Figure 4: Managerial support at sales department 28

Figure 5: Employee satisfaction of salespeople at Electrolux Vietnam AC 2014-2018 33

Figure 6: Final cause-effect map 40

List of Tables Table 1: Sales growth of Electrolux Vietnam AC, Daikin, Toshiba and Vietnam AC market from 2016 to 2018 8

Table 2: Results of the survey collected from Electrolux Vietnam AC, Daikin and Toshiba 11

Table 3: Measurements of managerial support 27

Table 4: Cost estimation for solution to training sales manager and supervisor 42

Table 5: Cost estimation for solution to updating the performance management system 43

Table 6: Organization of actions in implementation of effective performance management system 51

Executive summary

Customer dissatisfaction undoubtedly imposes a challenge for the organization to maintain consumers’ loyalty and retention 62 Dissatisfied consumers discontinue purchasing the product or service as well as have a high potential to engage in negative word-of-mouth communication about the organization’s product or service 62 The fact that keeping customers satisfied with their product or service does have a positive influence on an organization’s profitability is non-negotiable 63 Hence, customer defection or discontinuance of purchase from consumers causes Electrolux Vietnam AC to suffer remarkable loss of sales To investigate the worrisome situation, potential problems which are identified through interviews and subsequently confirmed with theories involve ineffective managerial support and ineffective segmentation By evaluating and verifying each potential problem, a discussion to focus on ineffective managerial support is determined as the central one Electrolux Vietnam AC is confronting the ineffective managerial support that makes their employees feel dissatisfied with the job and consequently, has low commitment and intention to leave the company in the future Their low productivity causes the organization to experience low performance as well After further rounds of interviews and the support of literature, the validated and most important cause of ineffective performance evaluation is chosen to build the set of solutions The possible solutions for improvement of performance evaluation are training sales manager and supervisor on evaluating and giving performance feedbacks to their subordinates effectively or developing the performance management system Basing on the cost-benefit analysis, the development of the performance management system is feasible to efficiently solve the ineffective managerial support The solution is beneficial from available resources that are gained from the cooperation between HR department and sales department, which costs around VND 11,500,000 and takes approximate two months without a break in order for salespeople to keep up with the schedule to promote their work efficiency By taking an action, this cost-efficient solution can terminate the current problem of Electrolux Vietnam AC Not only customer satisfaction but also employee satisfaction is expected to enhanced in order to improve the organizational performance.

1 Company background

Electrolux Group which headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden is a world-leading provider

of diverse consumer appliances and electronics with more than 100 years of history The organization has 54,400 employees in Europe, North America, Latin America, Asia, Africa and Oceania It is in the company’s DNA to continuously strive to further improve efficiency and quality across the organization, from production to administration The mission of Electrolux is

to provide outstanding products in order to enrich people’s enjoyable and sustainable life.

As a member of Electrolux Group, Electrolux Vietnam which was established in 1999 specializes in distributing thoughtfully designed and innovative products for households and businesses Electrolux Vietnam has a head office in Ho Chi Minh City and representative offices

in Hanoi and Danang According to the company’s HR report in February 2019, there are 6 departments with a total of 130 employees There are departments of human resources and general administration (11 headcounts), finance and accounting (23 headcounts), corporate marketing (8 headcounts), customer service (5 headcounts) and consumer electronics (83 headcounts) that conjointly support the company’s operation The consumer electronics department has three sub functions which are air conditioning (31 headcounts), kitchen appliances (23 headcounts) and home appliances (29 headcounts) Air conditioning, abbreviated

as AC, comprises air conditioners whilst kitchen appliances include cookers, ovens, kettles and food processors, and home appliances consist of refrigerators, washing machines, and vacuum cleaners.

In the AC division, each department has their own departments to go along with to support their activities for related products Specifically, there are 4 departments which belong to

AC division The head of AC administers not only sales management but also product management, customer service and administration Product management is in charge of monitoring pricing, inventory, orders and marketing activities Customer service is accountable for handling consumers’ inquiry in terms of installation, maintenance and reparation Administration supports administrative tasks In total, there are 3 managers and 28 employees Every department in AC collaborates with each other towards a shared vision with the goal of achieving excellent business outcomes and outstanding customer experience.

In today’s ever changing business environment, Electrolux is proud of being one of the leaders in the air conditioning industry that foresees the future and continuously innovates to

develop future-proof air-conditioning solutions The product line of air conditioning contains residential air conditioner and system air conditioner The compatible models can be single-split, multi-split, single-split packaged, multi-split packaged air conditioners and VRF system For the residential air conditioners, air conditioners are used when an outdoor unit connects to an indoor unit, which are best suited to houses with a number of floors and rooms with little space for an outdoor unit For the system air conditioner, they are ideal for installation in larger areas such as larger-scale residential houses, commercial buildings, condominiums, etc A single or multiple outdoor units serving various indoor units and allows for a mixture of system types Driven by a never-ending quest for product innovation, their goal is to deliver products with superior quality and reliability and provide experience of true comfort for businesses and homes The proportion

of sales for product type is shown that residential air conditioner constitutes 65 percent of total sales which is higher than that of system air conditioner accounting for 35 percent.

Electrolux Vietnam AC division’s competitors are Daikin, Panasonic, LG and others They target B2B customers that a distribution network is applied through modern trade and traditional trade to attract customers and sell their products Regarding modern trade, ecommerce such as Tiki, Lazada, etc and supermarkets such as Dien may Xanh, Nguyen Kim, Cho Lon, Tu

Do, etc Concerning traditional trade, retailers are Truc Mai, Thien Nam Hoa, etc The proportion

of sales for consumer type is shown that modern trade constitutes 40 percent in which 15 percent for ecommerce and 25 percent for supermarkets which is lower than that of traditional trade accounting for 60 percent.

Sales department has a total of 15 members including a sales manager, a sales supervisor,

11 sales representatives and a sales administrator The role of a sales admin is to assist sales force with daily sales administration activities Sales reps are in charge of developing customer intimacy and establishing new sales opportunities Sales supervisor is responsible for ensuring customer satisfaction, increasing sales for the company, consistently monitors the sales activity of the team and tracks the results Sales manager participates in strategic and tactic planning and managing for the department Because of increasing competition between air conditioning manufacturers, it is crucial for Electrolux to foster a motivated and committed sales force which plays an important role in generating revenue for the company.

2 Problem mess

2.1 Symptoms

To indicate something abnormal in the current business operation of Electrolux Vietnam AC, the source of internal data was examined such as reports of HR department, customer report which was published by management team so that employees are aware of their performance level These internal data was found to be advantageous due to its ease to approach and availability, together with cost efficiency and useful time series data Moreover, depth interviews with sales manager and sales supervisor were carried out in order to have a better understanding about what the division is struggling with and any necessary improvements.

2.1.1 First symptom: Low sales

According to the company’s internal data, Electrolux Vietnam AC experienced an increase in sales over the last three years Nevertheless, sales growth rates declined markedly, falling from the high 17 percent to the low 11 percent in 2017 and 9 percent in 2018, even as the company added approximately USD 3.5 million of additional revenues in each of the past three years As declared by head of AC in the company’s annual meeting, Daikin has continued sales growth exceeding 25 percent from 2015 to 2018 Another Japanese-based air conditioning provider, Toshiba has achieved over 18 percent of sales growth in the same period What is more,

it is reported by Nikkei Asian Review that sales of Vietnam AC market is forecasted to grow over 14.5 percent from 2015 to 2021 In general, Electrolux Vietnam AC suffered progressive slowdown in sales growth From 2015 to 2018, its sales also experienced a slower growth rate than that of their biggest rivals, Daikin and Toshiba and local AC market.

Table 1: Sales growth of Electrolux Vietnam AC, Daikin, Toshiba and Vietnam AC

Source: Nikkei Asian Review43, internal meeting

2.1.2 Second symptom: Low customer satisfaction

Customer satisfaction is defined as a consumer’s response to the assessment of their consciousness of inconsistency between preceding expectations and actual exhibition of the product

or service as discerned in the time following its consumption 1 The measure of satisfaction can be economic satisfaction in terms of financial returns derived from the sales of the supplier’s products or non-economic satisfaction in terms of satisfaction that could be derived from interpersonal relationships with the supplier’s sales representatives 2 In today’s highly competitive market, customer satisfaction is regarded as a major contribution for organizations to not only retain customers but also assist in recognizing economic goals like sales turnover and profitability 3; 4; 5 It

is shown that there is a positive relationship between customer satisfaction and customer loyalty 6 The higher level of customer satisfaction leads to the greater customer loyalty 6; 7; 8 Otherwise, as a result of customer dissatisfaction, they will not hold commitment to

re-buy or re-patronize product or service in the future and have a potential to cause switching

behavior and negative word of mouth

It was reported that sales representatives at Electrolux Vietnam AC did not take good care

of their customers As a consequence, the number of customers who either ceased repurchasing products or left the company is noticeable In accordance with Mr Phu, customer complaints were regarded as serious problems of which must be taken notice Customers expressed their dissatisfaction towards poor service rather than products They complained about late responses

11; 12 9; 10

In some cases of emergency, salespeople are the ones that customers directly contact to ask for immediate help but they were asked to leave messages or voice mails and would be re-contacted after few hours later rather than receiving an instant support from salespeople They also complained that they were not informed about necessary information from salespeople on time such as delay in product delivery, or changes in promotion As a consequent, customers were discontented with salespeople, which brought about not only loss of existing customers but also low sales There was no denying the fact that this issue had an influence on the long-term sustainable growth of the company.

To be more specific, Mr Phu elaborated the issue that many dealers had not ordered Electrolux products for more than 2 months although he definitely guaranteed that they had been

9

sold out Most of them were air conditioner specialists, known as ACS, were qualified customers that were believed to have a potential in buying and selling to gain revenue on a monthly basis because they had sufficient resources in terms of human resources, financial resources and inventory capacity Some of them intentionally sent formal complaints to related parties whilst others complained by oral and decided to slow down the period of time from buying to selling Electrolux products as a way of not hurting the relationship with the company, which made the company challenging to figure out the problem owing to their inaccurate reasons Therefore, after receiving a large number of complaints from customers, manager and supervisor were able to aware of the main cause of this problem, which was because of salespeople As shared by Mr Quan, there were actually 3 cases that have had a close relationship with the company more than

3 years finally being out of business with the company Alongside, other 2 cases did not want to enthusiastically sell their products which mean that when individual customers come to ask their recommendation about proper products that matched their needs; however, they did not mention about Electrolux brand.

In the context of business-to-business relationship, it is proven that salespeople’s job performance as customer contact employee plays a crucial role in securing business customers’ satisfaction 13 Specifically, attitudes, expertise and traits of salespeople can impact on customer satisfaction 13; 14 To measure the level of customer satisfaction, a quantitative survey which includes quality of service in case of salespeople was distributed to 56 business customers that carry out product lines of not only Electrolux Vietnam AC but also their competitors, among which Daikin and Toshiba were particularly chosen to investigate the level of customer satisfaction of these companies and to compare with the existing situation of Electrolux All items are measured using 10-point scale ranging from 1 which indicates strong dissatisfaction or fully disagreement to 10 which indicates strong satisfaction or fully agreement By providing them with a hard copy at shop as well as an email invitation to online survey, complete questionnaires could be acquired from a total of 53 customers out of 56 in total, for a response rate of 94.6 percent.

Table 2: Results of the customer satisfaction survey collected from Electrolux Vietnam AC,

Daikin and Toshiba

about current developments that are important for

our business.

expertise.

salesman.

Source: Quantitative survey from the company’s dealers According to the table, there were 10 items measuring the quality of salespeople in Electrolux Vietnam AC, Daikin and Toshiba In case of Electrolux, the average mean is 6.4 which showed that customers did not really agree or satisfy with all of the statements of this dimension Noticeably, item 2 “my sales representative can be reached when I need him” and item 4 “my sales representative deals with my concerns quickly” had the lowest mean scores which are 5.77 and 5.86, respectively Meanwhile, the average of Toshiba was 7.28 and that of Daikin was 8.02, which indicated the highly agreement of the respondents to this dimension The quality of salespeople of Electrolux should be significantly concerned due to their lowest satisfaction of customers It is clear from this analysis that sales organizations needed to provide guidance and support for their team members’ improvement.

Taking everything into account, it is vital for Electrolux Vietnam AC to conduct an investigation into the reason why the customer dissatisfaction is so high to mitigate the risks of losing business partners and therefore, low sales The research plans to scrutinize causes that

result in customers’ action to leave the company and to suggest solutions to improve customers’ retention.

2.2 Initial cause-effect map

The depth interview was conducted in order to investigate the potential causes of customer dissatisfaction and low sales situation which Electrolux Vietnam AC is struggling with All of 7 respondents were chosen to work for the sales department and a product manager works for product management department in the company’s AC division at least 2 years in order for them to be capable of understanding the operation and management system of the company In the sales department, sales manager and sales supervisor who are responsible for the symptoms

as well as sales representatives who are directly related to the symptoms joined the interview for the data collection Interviews which were done by face-to-face interviews to reflect the customer experience under viewpoint of Electrolux Vietnam AC salespeople There are 9 causes resulting

in 2 symptoms in AC division that were clearly shown in an initial cause-effect map.

Basing on the symptoms, sales manager and sales supervisor noticed that customer dissatisfaction was due to the lack of customer follow-up from salespeople Regarding salespeople’s lack of awareness in dealer programs, the company had a policy to ensure a quality customer service that salespeople were responsible for providing dealers with special offers in special occasions Nevertheless, according to sales supervisor and a sales rep, some salespeople did not send special promotions like gifts, vouchers, etc to customers in holidays such as Christmas Eve, Vietnamese New Year, etc Some customers also complained about the lack of

PG, PB support in running promotion in their grand opening days What is more, dealers were assisted with marketing and training sessions in order for them to be well equipped to attract and serve their customers well Salespeople were those who were ready to fully support customers by any means of communication However, they were regarded as promises that made customers have a long wait Consequently, customers were dissatisfied with the service of the company.

Besides, there were some delays in delivering air conditioners to the customers Sales supervisor admitted that salespeople did not meet the deadlines because the product was not delivered and installed as promised Although it is not salespeople’s subjectivity because the main reason for this situation is due to unexpected delay from manufacturer or the longer shipping time, salespeople needed to actively contact with customers to inform them about it

instead of their irresponsibility to let customers wait Some customers show their displeasure by asking another salesperson to consult them instead of the first one who was responsible for selling the product to them before Another case was illustrated by sales manager which was about an adjustment in sales forecast of customers Some customers increased their purchasing volumes after a period of time of initial order that makes the company impossible to follow their new orders because their initial order was approved and completed It was possible that customers were conscious of this policy; however, they blamed salespeople for not spending time

on consulting them clearly about the increasing trend of that line of air conditioners in that season Likewise, another salesperson disclosed that there are some situations in which customers ordered products in advance and willing to receive products later without exact time; however salespeople believed that it was customers’ responsibility to actively contact with them to ask for their products, so they were unable to meet customers’ requests for product delivery at a specific point of time set by customers because the company’s policy allowed salespeople to order their products at one random week set by product management on a monthly basis Salespeople also did not respond to requests of brochures from dealers because they believed that marketing team would actively send brochures to them Salespeople seemed to take it for granted, which showed their unconcern about their customers’ needs Consequently, they did not provide product and service delivery on time, which made customer unhappy.

Insights from salespeople revealed that they could not follow up with all customers due to their hectic working schedules which results in work-life imbalance Salespeople performed their jobs that involved three main duties which are ongoing relationship management to grow sales from upselling or cross-selling, new consumer acquisition and non-selling activities such as paperwork, meetings, reviews, etc Salespeople received large number of emails coming in their mail box and phone calls and they were so busy to check email and answer phones every day In specific occasions, they had to travel to other regions to interact with clients and colleagues in more than one week As a rule, companies could not lie within their existing territories, so in order to be not only a survivor but also a passion to be market leader; salespeople of Electrolux Vietnam AC were required to help the company increase their market share by find new potential ones They were counted as 20 percent of each salesperson’s KPI In order to complete jobs and achieve sales targets, they had to work overtime and in the weekends besides 8 official working hours on a daily basis They had to sacrifice their personal choice such as family time, doctor’s

appointment, etc Moreover, they rarely had enough for a full breakfast or lunch meals in busy days Work-life imbalance was so common in the company that when a salesman decided to leave the office earlier than others, sales supervisor did not let him away from the office by asking him to help his urgent paperwork Salespeople also revealed that they usually had to meet clients in office hours, so administrative tasks must be done by working overtime Although salespeople were aware of customers’ needs, their high workloads made them unable to timely keep track of all customers’ requests.

Moreover, some salespeople were unable to provide answers to customer enquires about products Salespeople needed to acquire sufficient product knowledge to present benefits of their products accurately and persuasively because customers were likely to respond to enthusiastic salespeople who were passionate about their products and eager to share the benefits with them Air conditioners were complicated and expensive, so they were challenging to sell Salespeople could diversify different models with distinct designs, materials, specifications, dimensions, BTU and functions regarding energy saving, comfortable, convenient and clear However, it was not the end of selling because many business customers were more concerned about the technology

of products which were regarded as the competitive strengths between Electrolux and other competitors When being asked to make a comparison of V-PAM and i-PAM which were optimized inverter control or the function of sine-wave DC inverter control between the company and other competitors, salespeople could not demonstrate confidence and expertise that made customers enjoy Another case was shared about mistaken suggestion of the product selection because the salesperson remembered wrong indicators of the product application, which somehow showed their poor understanding of products As revealed by salespeople, their knowledge was limited due to the lack of training, so what they could overcome the situation and persuade customers to purchase products was to emphasize on their products’ attractive features and competitive price scheme It seemed that salespeople mainly focused on achieving the revenues rather than customer orientation As a result, customers agreed to purchase a small volume of the company’s air conditioners; however, some of them were not motivated to enthusiastically sell our products to their customers.

Insights from salespeople revealed that they have deficiency of product knowledge due to the lack of training opportunities It was confirmed that there was no adequate training sessions because they were only given opportunities to work alongside with more experienced colleagues

so that they were expected to learn and develop their current role In contrast to the expectation, salespeople affirmed that they could shadow a couple of people who were extremely busy with their clients and their tasks without giving any advices or responses to their questions Consequently, salespeople had to figure out everything by themselves They could learn on their own from their experience, failure, quick conversation with colleagues at their spare time, etc They also expressed their difficulties with sales supervisor; however, he did not take their concern into consideration and reminded them to actively figure out answers for their problems They believed that the main reason for lack of training provision was not because of sales manager’s busy schedule but because he underestimated the importance of coaching and training since he was a formerly successful sales professional before being promoted into sales manager For him, selling came naturally and he often could not understand why salespeople were not

“getting it.” Moreover, salespeople were recruited as they must possess more than 2 years of experience However, many of them admitted that their skills and knowledge are at a basic level Salespeople were provided with a variety of software as tools for them to utilize to improve their selling process However, how to use them depended on their capacity and time allocation because they had to learn all by themselves As compared with other departments, marketing team was given a chance to participate in a training course for digital marketing whilst new members of HR team who were had less than 2 years of experience were brought up by both unique training courses and specific on-the-job assignments, together with HR director’ involvement in coaching these talents The company also had a talent program for STEM talent

to develop their potential to be able to work in factories and laboratories What salespeople expected was a solid training program for selling skills and technical knowledge must be come down so that they were much more confident and excellent in selling and serving their customers.

Besides, as shared by product manager, the company was struggling with intense competition with other air conditioning rivals who constantly found a breakthrough to spur a cutting-edge technology Because the existing products of Electrolux remained the technology without advancement, dealers expressed their expectation for the company to make an additional innovative features in the product in such a way that increased their cooling capacity but significant energy saving such as dual inverter compressors as LG or effectively carried heat and had lower environmental impact such as R32 as Daikin Many of dealers’ customers revealed that the climate change and an increase in electricity bills up to approximately 8.4 percent which

might affect their change in buying behavior for air conditioners in the near future Therefore, the salespeople found it challenging to attract new clients who kept pace with the latest trend to be more concerned about energy efficiency.

Lastly, product manager also shared that the price of the company’s air conditioners are not really as attractive as other rivals Dealers were encouraged to purchase products with high discounts; however, there is no policy to require consistent and transparent pricing of dealers The larger volume of products were purchased, the higher discount dealers would receive from the company; however, they wanted to preserve their profit as much as possible, so they dealt with their customers with different prices and always higher than original one, which made the company unable to strongly compete with other organizations.

Lack of awareness indealer programsLack of customer

Overwhelming

Delay in servicedelivery

Difficult to find newclients

Less attractive price

Figure 1: Initial cause-effect map

2.3 Updated cause-effect map

2.3.1 Ineffective managerial support

Managerial support means that managers are willing to adjust working schedule, job tasks and provide assistance to help employees manage their work and non-work demand 57 It is

management’s responsibility for supporting employees in such a way that employees

perceive their work matters are consulted, and their needs are considered and are taken action properly 19; 20.

The value of training subordinates concerning the advantages of demonstrating support for their supervisors fosters a virtuous cycle of support between subordinates and managers 55 Management that pays attention to the occurrence of actions such as upper management involvement, pre-training preparation, support during training, job linkage and follow-up plays an important role to support the transfer of training to the job, which helps increase productivity of employees while controlling the high costs of training 56 Hence, a relationship can be established

as ineffective managerial support results in insufficient training.

Managers play an important role in introducing and endorsing work-life balance policy within the organization 57 It is suggested that employees should be given some autonomy and flexibility regarding working hours and the ability to work from home to improve work-life balance 18 Not only working parents and young employees but also employees at developing and pre-retirement career stages find managerial support for work-life balance important 57 All levels

of managers should take effort in undertaking a supportive workplace Therefore, a relationship can be established as ineffective managerial support leads to work-life imbalance.

In order to confirm the new variables and new relationships established based on the literature, manager, supervisor and employees from sales department were asked to participate in the subsequent round of interview Salespeople believed that their concerns about work-life imbalance and training opportunities were not heard by the management, so there was lack of perceived management support in this company Sales manager thought that the current number

of salespeople were not enough to manage and serve their customers as well as expected However, after the investigation of causes of customer dissatisfaction from salespeople, the actual reason lied in the management of sales department because salespeople perceived that their management did not care about the overwhelming workload that their salespeople were

15; 16; 17; 18

emotionally and physically exhausted to perform so that they had to sacrifice their personal obligations for work responsibilities Moreover, the management was discerned to not provide salespeople sufficient training so that salespeople did not have competencies necessary to have a conversational comfort level with varied technology offerings and a comprehensive understanding of what technology could do for customers.

2.3.2 Work-life imbalance

Work-life balance consists of initiatives from organization to help employees reconcile their work and personal life 57 Management support flexible work will offer advantages to both employers and their employees so that employers are beneficial from employee productivity, commitment, motivation and retention whilst employees are advantageous from better time management and less stress 21, 22 Indeed, work-life balance enhances overall well-being of employees and reduces absenteeism In order to assuage the burden of work-life balance, there should be availability of work-life policies that enable employees to enact both their work and non-work roles without threats 23 Hence, a relationship can be established as lack of work-life policy creates work-life imbalance Work-life imbalance brings about either absenteeism or work stress which generates low overall well-being.

Sales supervisor admitted that sales team was always under pressure to achieve higher growth, so they cared about employees’ achievements at work rather than their personal life Salespeople are preferred to put themselves as much as possible at work Sales supervisor realized that some employees consistently requested for absence due to sickness or family issues; however, salespeople were not encouraged to take days off without rationale As a result, employees voluntarily took sick leave before asking permission from sales supervisor, which made work behind the schedule A salesperson, Mr Anh, revealed to plan to have a break in roughly more than 2 months to let his mind free and relaxed because his mental and physical resources get drained as the consequence of insomnia and personal relationship matter In case of poor performance, another salesperson, Mr Phong, did not receive any support but a warning to suffer not only a decrease in salary but also a possibility to lose the job In addition to daily high workloads, he had to increase his effort and time to overcome the challenges of the work to reach the quotas Consequently, he got depressed and stressful because he had to stand alone to be survival The work was so much that another salesperson, Mr Minh, did not have enough time

for his outdoor activities to increase his well-being because he had to frequently meet clients in the evening after leaving the office Mr Long, the most experienced salesperson, had physical problem caused by work-life imbalance in a combination with the essence of the work that required him to drink without exercises.

2.3.3 Insufficient training

Training fulfillment refers to the extent which training meets the expectation and desire of employees Self-efficacy is regarded as the belief of an individual in his or her capability to control the work situations and handle them well 24 Thus, individuals with lower levels of self- efficacy are likely to find the work unbearable and highly stressful whilst those with higher levels

of self-efficacy perceive the job as a challenge to be mastered rather than as a threat 24 Meanwhile, motivation can be intrinsic, which shows employees’ engagement in work for its own benefits since the work itself is interesting and satisfying whilst extrinsic motivation shows employees’ motivation to work in response to something apart from the work, such as recognition or rewards 25 Training plays an important role to enhance motivation and self- efficacy of employees, so organizations should take effort to develop right training programs to enhance the training fulfillment of employees 58 Hence, a relationship can be established as insufficient training results in lack of motivation and lack of self-efficacy.

Although sales supervisor and sales manager admitted that they were not aware the need for providing employees with training workshops, employees were encouraged to learn by doing and learn from experienced co-workers From the viewpoints of salespeople, they were not performing to their best at work due to lack of required skills and knowledge Therefore, they were demotivated to hit their revenue targets by always making excuses for their poor performance without actual improvement They were also unconfident about their capabilities to perform their work better because they believed that they could not achieve excellent results since their field was extremely competitive with very complicated products and that their quotas were reached in some quarters was because of serendipity or luck Therefore, they agreed that it was necessary for the company to organize job-related training workshops to help improve workmanship of employees as well as enhance their working motivation and self-efficacy.

2.3.4 Ineffective segmentation

In order to support marketing’s goal that creates value for customers and generate profitable consumer relationships, segmentation plays a key role in helping the company to know and determine which customers to serve The company segments the market based on certain criteria that are relevant to the context of the company so that they are able to target customers effortlessly with advertising and marketing programs 53 Concentrating on customers’ desired outcomes, organizations utilize segmentation for the purpose of innovation which is regarded as a key instrument to use resources and capabilities to win customers and markets through different market offerings 53 Innovation is steered by customers and market requirements as well as competition among suppliers and shaped by the advancement of technology 26 Product innovation is regarded as product differentiation in the marketing sense although all differentiation may not be innovations 27 It is also noted that the companies can find customers

at higher prices especially for high technology innovations; however, it is suggested that in order

to achieve superior value, the organization needs build extraordinary features at bearable prices27; 53

Hence, a relationship can be established as ineffective segmentation results in insufficient product innovation and less attractive price, both of which generate the difficulty in finding new clients Being a sharp weapon in segmentation, innovation mechanism based on technology helps the company catch up with competitors or surpass the world levels When few changes in their products and most of products were of slight differences, the company utilizes price mechanism based on attractiveness to fight with competitors in the price wars 53.

Product manager agreed that the segmentation of the company was ineffective The company did not stand out to offer newness and difference in product offerings, as revealed by her, because of limited R&D resources Moreover, dealers were more likely to offer prices that made them profitable; however, they explained to her that the fact was that they compensated into the cost of marketing activities, accompanied gifts or vouchers, cost of installation, etc She believed that there should be an unambiguous policy for the pricing of dealers so that new ones would be confidently cooperate with the company.

Lack of awarenessWork stress

Delay in serviceAbsenteeism

delivery

Lack of efficacy

self-Ineffective

segmentation

Insufficientproduct innovation

Less attractiveprice

2.4 Potential problems

2.4.1 Ineffective segmentation

The availability of technology of Electrolux air conditioners was consistently taken up by their competitors Compared with competitors in the same industry, the utilities of Electrolux air conditioners are generally no different from competitors such as cooling mode, temperature sensor mode, sleep mode, powerful mode, anti-bacterial filter, inverter technology, etc Sales manager revealed that designers, marketers and engineers had to work together in cross- functional teams under pressure to add advanced technology as well as come up with new air conditioners that would appeal to a wide range of our customers Product manager emphasized

on the significance of advancement in products’ technology due to many reasons: people were more likely to spend most of their day indoors, so they highly appraised quality air to steer clear

of diseases caused by toxic contaminants, climate change, global warming and an increase in electricity bills that arise their awareness and purchasing behavior to shift to air conditioners which are ozone-safe, climate friendly, energy efficient It is noted that Panasonic’s most advanced purification system, the nanoe technology, deodorizes, inhibits bacteria and viruses, remove dust and purifies room even though cooling function is turned off Meanwhile, Daikin’s econo mode is accompanied with inverter to create a much more energy savings and minimize the monthly electricity bills LG incorporates dual inverter which saves energy up to 70 percent compared to single inverter In order to meet consumer demand and compete with other competitors to gain customers, it is necessary for the company to consistently update those utilities to exceptionally higher level of efficiency.

Electrolux Vietnam AC aims at middle class Price goes along with the technology of the product Comparing the lowest price for the Inverter line 1 HP cooling capacity between Electrolux and Toshiba, the price is at VND 8 million for Toshiba and VND 8.5 million for Electrolux Although the air conditioner of Toshiba costs customers VND 500 thousands higher than Electrolux, the saving mode of Electrolux only has inverter whilst that of Toshiba has both

DC hybrid inverter and eco Moreover, Electrolux's antibacterial technology is HD dust filter whilst Toshiba’s features IAQ filter, anti-fouling technology magic coil and mold-resistant filter.

As a result, customers are more likely to pick up Toshiba’s It was also revealed by product manager that dealers of Electrolux enjoy a relatively good discount, generally at 30 percent and it

can be increased up to 45 percent for new ones to encourage them to try our products The discount rate is believed to be competitive compared to that of other competitors Some dealers increase the price to compensate into the cost of marketing activities, accompanied gifts or vouchers, cost of installation, etc to attract their customers It is suggested by product manager that there should be an unambiguous policy for the pricing of dealers so that new ones would be confidently cooperate with the company However, doing so does not mean to help dealers because they find it challenging to compete to promote their products Some of them denied purchasing products from Electrolux and turned to its competitors As a matter of fact, the original price which is considered as not attractive because all costs and expenses have to be taken into account which can be import price from Thailand and China (50 percent), taxes (40 percent), overhead expenses (approximately 15 to 20 percent) and discount for dealers (30 to 45 percent).

2.4.2 Ineffective managerial support

Sales representatives perceived the insufficiency of support from their sales manager and sales supervisor Sales manager and supervisor did not care about subordinates’ problems and concerns regarding to their work overload and insufficient training sessions From the viewpoint

of sales manager and supervisor, salespeople were expected to devote their time and effort to work and contribute to the achievement of not only themselves but also the whole team Because

of an imbalance between work and personal lives, salespeople’s performance was negatively impacted concerning customer dissatisfaction and their low overall well-being Salespeople were believed to be well-qualified to have a capability to carry out their selling and non-selling activities effectively as all of them had prior experience in the same industry From the beginning

of their first days in the company, they were expected to start right away in to their new job as their experience and knowledge were believed to be more than sufficient However, salespeople shared that they were not confident and persuasive in selling products to customers as they focused on what they knew and thought about their products rather than showed how a particular product would address consumers’ needs The bottom line was that customers crave and need product knowledge It was how they made the buying decision and how they knew they could trust salespeople The current situation in which lack of training opportunities and lack of work- life balance policy made salespeople not satisfied with their job and would jump jobs when better

opportunities arrived Moreover, it was challenging for salespeople to satisfy and retain customers as well as attract new clients to translate into lifetime customer value.

2.4.3 Main problem validation

Electrolux is renowned for its wide range of products that segment consumers from mid

to high income Likewise, its air conditioners segment fast-growing middle class However, the combination of inadequate product development and relatively high price are not highly recommended by this consumer base It is more difficult than ever for sellers to compete on price

in order to satisfy their market while earning a profit and to foster technology innovation so as to make their products stand out and differentiate from the competition and stay aligned with customer needs in an ever-changing market To develop and impel technical innovations of air conditioners, the company has to invest millions of dollars with the involvement of personnel in the research and development of new products In spite of the fact that air conditioners of Electrolux are not exceptionally innovative, their current features are still above average that adapt to a group of consumers’ preference and purpose To set a price that equals or beats competitors’ prices, the company has to cut a proportion of cost which is added to the total cost

to determine the selling price However, it is actually not effortless to lower the price in this way since the price is allocated by the top management in the headquarter for the business’s operation

in terms of importing costs, taxes, overhead expenses, etc that maintain its existence and comply with Vietnam trade promotion policy Otherwise, the discount for dealers should be decreased in order for the final price to their customers to be more attractive and better appropriate with current features of the product However, it has an adverse effect on dealers’ profit, which results

in their low motivation to keep purchasing products from the company and sell them to their customers as well as their likeliness to turn to other competitors with more attractive discount scheme.

Ineffective managerial support in sales department should be the focus of the problem solving for Electrolux Vietnam AC due to their strong influence on both sides of employees and customers Initially, the implementation of work-life balance policy should receive support from management to create a supportive workplace environment Besides, training can be provided and supported by management to enhance motivation and improve productivity for employees Consequently, managerial support will enhance empowerment, well-being, job satisfaction and

performance of employees which are sources of a profitable organization 28 It is reported that 60

to 80 percent of customers described themselves as satisfied did not go back to do more business with the organization that initially satisfied them since lack of connection 29 Therefore, in order for the organization to survive in coming years, it is necessary for salespeople to stay in touch with each of customers because with advances in technology and increased competitive pressures, if salespeople of Electrolux do not connect, someone else probably will It is also feasible to measure the level of managerial support in the division Finally, sales manager and sales supervisor are responsible to solve the problem.

3 Problem justification

3.1 Problem definition

Managerial support could be understood as “management’s actions and behaviors to support the well-being of employees” 30 It first began with social exchange theory when a person did a favor and expected a future return, so there was a great deal of research interested in the exchange relationship between employees and organization 31 Management support is an extension of perceived organizational support The perception of management support was developed based on the organizational support theory as “developed global beliefs concerning the extent to which the organization values the contribution and care about the well-being of employees” 32 Besides, employees were assured with management support as “the aid will be available from the organization when it is needed to carry out one’s job effectively and to deal with stressful situation” 32 The term

as “employees’ cognitive assessments of management behaviors and actions (e.g., teamwork, rewards and recognition, listening to employees, eliminating fear or intimidation, degree of “walking the talk”)” was agree with previous study and explained to support the well-being of employees 30 It is asserted that the distinction between the employees’ exchange relationship with organization (perceived organization support) and employees’ exchange relationship with supervisor (leader- member exchange relationship) was due to different outcomes, but they influenced and related to each other 31 Later research divided managerial support into top management support (perceived organizational support) and supervisor support (relationship with leaders) 33 Therefore, the important roles of top management support and supervisor support influences the outcomes of organization.

3.2 Problem existence

3.2.1 Quantitative research findings

In order to justify the existence of the problem, the survey was distributed to sales

department which has a total of 13 salespeople and product management department with a total

of 6 employees A questionnaire consisting of 16 questions was adapted from the model

developed by Wayne, Shore and Liden11 The purpose of questionnaire was to provide some indicators for measuring the level of managerial support for sales department Responses were designed using 3-item scale 34 ranging from 1-disagree to 3-agree.

Table 3: Measurements of managerial support

Statements

1 Managers show very little concern for me (R)

2 Managers care about my general satisfaction at work.

3 Managers really care about my well-being.

4 Managers strongly consider my goals and values.

5 Managers care about my opinions.

6 Even if I did the best job possible, managers would fail to notice.

(R)

7 Managers take pride in my accomplishments at work.

8 Managers are willing to extend itself in order to help me perform my

job the best of my ability.

9 Help is available from managers when I have a problem.

10 I usually know where I stand with my managers.

11 Managers have enough confidence in me that he/she would defend

and justify my decisions if I was not present to do so.

12 My working relationship with managers is effective.

13 Managers understand my problems and needs.

14 I can count on managers to “bail me out”, even at his/ her own

expense, when I really need it.

15 Managers recognize my potential.

16 Regardless of how much power manager has built into his/her

position, my managers would personally incline to use his/her power to

help me solve problems in my work.

Figure 3: Managerial support at sales department

Source: Quantitative survey from sales department

Figure 4: Managerial support at sales department

Source: Quantitative survey from product management department

From the findings above, managerial support was significantly perceived by members of product management department Specifically, all items received more than 50 percent of agreement, which ranged from item 2 indicating the managers’ care about employee satisfaction

at work accounted for the lowest, at 50.9 percent to item 12 indicating the effective working relationship between employees and their managers accounted for the highest, at 90.4 percent Their relationship with managers was so good that employees felt appreciated and heard because their managers created and cultivated this healthy working environment Difficulties meant nothing to employees when they were supported and helped along the path to improvement Their potential was recognized by the way their good performance was publicly acknowledged to encourage outstanding, sustained performance whilst those with poor performance was partnered with managers to take on challenge and get back on track Employees at product management were encouraged to take risks and given the resources and support for those risks to bear fruit for both of employees and managers.

Meanwhile, management support was evaluated to be not effective in the sales department Employees received little care and concerns from the management regarding job satisfaction, well-being, goals and values as well as opinions of employees, so their concerns were often overlooked by the management Employees worked hard to accomplish their job but they did not receive recognition and praise, so they were demotivated to put extra efforts in the job Although the relationship with direct supervisors in work was fine, it did not show that managers understood the needs and problems of employees Most employees were not willing to seek help from their managers in difficult time Similarly, it was less likely that managers would exert the power to help employees in solving their problem Finally, potential of employees were not fully recognized by the managers, so the job assignments was sometimes unreasonable and there was lack of development opportunities.

3.2.2 Qualitative research findings

Besides the findings from surveys, the interviews with 5 sales representatives were conducted to justify the existence of the problem happening at sales department: there was ineffective managerial support for sales team Although sales manager and supervisor did not have much time to interact with salespeople because sales manager was usually away from the office, perhaps because he travelled to meet his partners in another region, or he had important meetings with top management and other relevant parties whilst supervisor was busy with calls and sometimes have quick conversation with salespeople about common topics, all of them confirmed that their relationships with sales manager and supervisor were fine Even when

managers were at the office, they admitted that they did not stick their noses into salespeople’s personal affairs because it was believed to meaningless and they mostly cared about results of the work Salespeople generally described that they almost did not receive the support from their manager and supervisor.

Initially, salespeople claimed that they rarely received help from management in performing their job As shared by Mr Huy, Mr Phong and Mr Anh, each person had their own quotas to achieve besides team quota Meetings were organized on a quarterly basis in order for salespeople to have opportunities to interact with their managers; however, managers did not show their intentional effort to offer them with constructive feedback and clearly articulate what they should do to reach their goals When things ran smoothly, managers did not highlight what was working and communicate their success throughout the organization Salespeople were encouraged to keep moving ahead to find new clients and sign more contracts When problem arose, managers did not consider the potential impact salespeople could have by constructively communicating their concerns Salespeople were threatened with the possibility to be withdrawn from the company and therefore, they strived to meet expectations on their own without receiving help from managers in supporting to resolve problems.

Secondly, in difficult time, regardless of managers’ position, they did not use their power

to help salespeople solve problem As shared by Mr Minh, when salespeople could not delivery products to his dealer on time because of slow process caused from other related department, he was unable to count on his manager to use manager’s power to push other departments to accelerate their speed because sales manager did not accept his request Instead, the manager asked him to regretfully inform the dealer about the change in delivery date, which made his customer disappointed before accepting the adjustment According to Mr Long, sales team was required to sell both types of air conditioners, RAC and SAC so that their sales were recognized and they would receive worthy bonuses However, if they only sold one type of air conditioners, they should be recognized Manager was totally capable of doing salespeople favor by flexibly rewarding their effort for selling products no matter what type they were so as to inspire and motivate them He could remind them that they had better sell both types for some reasons, yet they were so harsh that asked their subordinated to strictly follow the standards and did not care about how hard their salespeople suffered from this situation when their efforts were not appreciated.

Thirdly, salespeople believed that managers did not provide them with care and concerns Their overall well-being were disregarded in such a way that managers did not care about whether his salespeople were going home (or coming in to work) with exhaustion or depletion Instead of feeling challenged with their jobs, salespeople felt overwhelmed They were not encouraged to take vacation days and take regular breaks as if managers did not lose the reins and let salespeople find their own stride (Mr Huy, Mr Phong) Managers also did not care about their opinions Specifically, salespeople suggested adding a rewarding policy of incentives for their dealer’s customers to directly approach and stimulate them with the launch of new model which were not interested in by their dealers (Mr Anh) Or, the adjustment into the frequency of product confirmation regarding an issue of COO and COQ was suggested to avoid potential unnecessary issues that waste a lot of their time (Mr Minh) It seemed to salespeople that they were not encouraged to voice their concerns and suggestions since managers always came up with reasons to deny their ideas instead of taking time to consider them (Mr Anh).

Fourthly, salespeople believed that their managers did not understand their needs and problems Salespeople expected their managers to help further their personal development in order for them to take new knowledge and experience that were beneficial for their job However, they were not given opportunities of improvisation in terms of skills and competencies Especially, they were not provided with training sessions or allowed to participate in sales conferences in order for them to widen their horizon, reach their full potential and boost their performance (Mr Phong, Mr Minh) They believed that it might be because the unavailability of sales manager and supervisor in some events with the department Sales manager did not attend year-end party with sales team twice because he got stuck in his travelling schedules whilst supervisor was accidentally busy that he had to leave the event after joining with them in the first half period of event, which was regarded as a large gap between superior and subordinates was built (Mr Anh) This made salespeople challenging to build the rapport with managers Managers were also believed to care about mutual benefits by finding ways to help their team quota to be reached at the possible highest number in order for managers to receive huge commissions (Mr Long) There was a salesperson who can sell a lot whilst there was another who cannot sell anything It caused different sales and different commission that salespeople received in the end

of in the end of the quarter However, salespeople who got stuck in this situation were asked to

find ways of selling more products to my other dealers to compensate the loss from these customers (Mr Long).

Fifthly, salespeople did not think that their managers actually recognized their potential and praise their accomplishments Salespeople’s performance was known to be good or bad based on unambiguous indicators set by managers The indicators showed their final results to ensure their incentives They got proper payouts; however, commission alone is not enough Salespeople expected managers to push beyond commission for them to truly feel recognized for their achievements There could be a certification such as Employee of the quarter or year, Outstanding achievements in surpassing their sales quota, etc as other organizations did to acknowledge their employees’ accomplishment (Mr Huy) or an intimate dinner as another sales team in the company in order for the persons who hit their quota or did something great to be recognized in front of all of their peers (Mr Minh) Not only they but also others were motivated

to not only work harder but also work together The top performer was rewarded by managers with a preferential deal for his customers that made other salespeople difficult to compete with him and persuade their customers no matter how hard they had been working (Mr Long) Salespeople also were not given opportunities to branch into selling in new territories although they were not good at their current ones so that their potential could be uncovered as well as they could gain more valuable experience in the new area (Mr Anh).

3.3 Problem importance

If the problem is not resolved, potential consequences such as job satisfaction, organizational commitment, turnover intention and perceived organizational performance will be affected 30, 33 Job satisfaction is the overall affective attitudes of employees towards jobs 35 Organizational commitment, especially affective commitment is when employees feel attached to the organization and “incorporate their employee membership and role status to their social identity” 35 Turnover intention means behavioral intention to leave of employees 35 Perceived organizational performance is employees’ assessment of the organization on achieving various aspects including profitability, employee retention and customer satisfaction 36.

Job satisfaction:

Electrolux Vietnam carries out a survey of employee satisfaction on an annual basis to determine how employees feel about their company’s leadership, general work environment, co-

workers and their own opinions to make the company a better place to work A measurement of Likert scale ranging from 1 which indicates strong dissatisfaction or fully disagreement to 5 which indicates strong satisfaction or fully agreement.

Figure 5: Employee satisfaction of salespeople at Electrolux Vietnam AC 2014-2018

Source: Annual survey of employee satisfaction at Electrolux Vietnam

As can be clearly seen from the figure 5, the level of employee satisfaction of employees

in sales department experienced a slight decrease in 2017 before significantly slipping in 2018 compared with previous period from 2014 to 2017 As targeted by the division, the average score

of employee satisfaction in Electrolux Vietnam AC should reach 3.9 The middle level of all items was 3 indicating a neutral stance that is neither agreement nor disagreement Therefore, the level of employee satisfaction in 2018 was noticeably below target.

The company should take ineffective managerial support into consideration to improve the scores The line between work and personal life was increasingly wiped out because although salespeople were provided with good benefits such as free eating and moving, gym, barber shop and many other forms of entertainment, they still felt they were exploited Most of them revealed

in the interview that the management did not pay attention to employees’ concerns such as stress, work-life imbalance, lack of training and development, so their satisfaction for job was low Organizational commitment:

These unresolved concerns also reduced the emotional attachment that employees had towards the company When being asked about their current job, they were not proud of telling others that were part of the company since they were doubtful about their future in the company Support from managers was not available to them when they needed, so when their performance

was not as good as expected, they believed that they would be likely to be disregarded from the Electrolux and replaced by higher potentials Moreover, their current workload was so high that made them exhausted to complete, so they admitted that they focused on their current tasks without having enough time to voluntarily do anything else that were not formally required by the job The quota for the whole team was believed to be managers’ responsibility, or they were frustrated with being asked to lend a helping hand in other salespeople’s tasks which should have been done on their own They also did not feel a sense of “ownership” for the company but as an employee Their opinions were not considered by managers in decision making process, so when problems arose and their performance suffered, they felt lost and separated from the team.

Turnover intention:

There was also initiated intention to quit job from them Many salespeople uncovered that they often searched for other job opportunities from internet or through friends, and they also received job offers from other competitors and headhunters, so they had turnover intention The most experienced salesperson had a physical problem mainly because of work-life imbalance, so

he was eager to leave the company in a near future The problem could arise with turnover especially when some best employees left the company and brought with them special skill sets that hardly to attract in the market, so sales manager was under great pressure to find qualified replacements Sales supervisor shared that he worked for the company for roughly 5 years, along with the growth of the company, so he decided to stay even when he received better offer from competitor.

Perceived organizational performance:

Ineffective managerial support was proven to lead to unproductive and unmotivated workforce, which in turn affected negatively to organizational performance in terms of the profitability, customer satisfaction and employee retention As illustrated, employee retention might be affected because most of salespeople had turnover intention Customer dissatisfaction was shown in a high number of complaints they sent to the mail of the company and reflected from their points for salespeople of Electrolux which was 6.4 much lower than that of competitors, 7.28 for Toshiba and 8.02 for Daikin The sales growth of the company slipped considerably in the last three years, which had impeded the growth of profitability of the company As collected from the internal report, the profit of the company was estimated to be

approximately from USD 2.5 to 3 million, which was lower than top management’s expectation

to set a target of USD 5 million.

4 Cause validation

4.1 Literature review

With the aim to identify a list of real causes of the central problem, literature was reviewed prior to carry out the third qualitative research so as to make sure that all of potential causes were regarded and scrutinized in the context of the organization.

From the literature review, the causes of ineffective management support can be listed as following:

The provision of unfair rewards and recognition of employee performance 35; 38: It shows that whether or not employees are getting back as much as they were putting in If employees perceive fairness of reward and recognition from management, they will be fairly rewarded considering the responsibilities they have They will deserve a payback for the stresses and strains of their jobs They will also receive an exchange for the amount of effort they put into their jobs.

Ineffective performance evaluation 41: The performance evaluation has a direct and positive impact on employees’ perception of managerial support A structured and regular performance review creates an opportunity for employees to raise their problems and concerns as well as express their opinions about their work It is also appointments for employers to discuss each employee’s progress and to make a comparison between their job description and desired goals or other performance standards Performance evaluation is beneficial to the business in many aspects so that both employers and employees better understand their ability to add value to their organizations and their customers.

Insufficient training and career development opportunities 39; 40: In order to sustain a competitive edge in the marketplace, the organization must invest in the training and development programs of their employees They serve as signals to employees about the extent to which the organization values and cares about their employees Initially, it is the platform that emphasizes on developing employees’ competencies in terms of knowledge, skills and attitudes

for their current jobs Secondly, it helps facilitate employees to growth by developing their future roles and responsibilities for their career advancement in the organization.

4.2 Qualitative research findings

To verify the real causes of the central problem in Electrolux Vietnam AC sales department, the further qualitative research of depth interview was conducted subsequently A detailed method of this qualitative research is stated in the part of supporting information On the basis of responses from the interviews, the result of qualitative research demonstrated three main causes of ineffective management support as following:

Insufficient recognition and rewards of employee performance: Salespeople believed that their contribution at work were not recognized and rewarded worthily Their performance was evaluated on a quarterly basis and there was no detailed feedback and constructive criticism from managers to inform salespeople about their strengths and weaknesses in order for them to make improvement The lack of rewards and recognition from management is reflected through initially, the lack of peer-to-peer recognition that did not create a culture to let employees congratulate each other for personal successes or to be informed about someone's achievements

in case someone did not catch it Underperforming employees who missed the sales target were left with huge pressure and tension without being given the encouragement and motivation to go through although colleagues could understand others’ struggle much better so that overall spirit

of the group could not be enhanced Secondly, there was shortage of sales incentive programs that were conducted by their competitor, Toshiba, to offer top-selling performers with travelling incentives to encourage others to join in a healthy competition Thirdly, they did not have added benefit of a much needed mental break after every sales season such as an extra paid-time-off day

in order for them to re-energize for better come back to next sales quarters Fourthly, there were actually no certifications to acknowledge their achievements such as employees of the year or outstanding accomplishment in surpassing one’s sales quota Salespeople also perceived that they were not treated fairly in such a way that the top-selling performer was done with a favor to receive higher percent of discount than others’, which made the unable to compete with him As a consequent, they lost their motivation because there was no recognition and reward to encourage multiple winners to take part in the game.

Ineffective performance evaluation: From interviews with salespeople, the ineffective performance evaluation is reflected through unclear performance criteria and insufficient performance feedback The KPI did not reflect actual performance evaluation of salespeople because salespeople have alike KPI In other words, there was a salesperson who could sell a lot whilst there was another who could not sell anything It caused different sales and different commission that salespeople received in the end of the quarter Some people did not need much effort for their work, yet they still achieved their target on their assigned territories whilst some others were grappling with difficult channels to get sales Hence, there should be not only different KPI for each job division Besides, the evaluation process was considered as one-sided communication because managers claimed final results for salespeople without setting aside time for employees to join in the discussion with their managers Although the performance evaluation was held on a quarterly basis, salespeople admitted that it was non-sense and time-wasting The review sessions could be organized semi-annually as long as managers changed the way they reviewed their subordinates’ performance As a matter of fact, managers criticized low- performing salespersons publicly without giving them any chances to have a discussion with sales managers about their difficulties, so they were left alone with pressure and anxiety Alongside, they did not have a slack channel which was regarded as a collaboration hub or intranet platform to enable both managers and salespeople to share and listen to mutual concerns They knew others’ results that were reviewed by one side of managers in quarter meetings without encouraging the involvement of all salespeople to nominate or give feedbacks Consequently, salespeople regarded the evaluation as unfair and inaccurate measure of their performance, which made it become useless as a motivator.

Insufficient career development opportunities: Salespeople did not even know the requirements that enabled them to get promoted to the next level up in their career path It was due to the fact that similar to salespeople who must possess prior sales experience before being recruited, the management level from sales supervisor to sales manager required equivalent experience in management positions and were always fulfilled by external candidates instead of giving salespeople promotional opportunities to get a promotion within the firm with greater responsibility The lower level of sales positions was sales admin that was outsourced from HR agencies such as Talentnet even had no chance to be promoted to an official sales representative Managers did not agree to recruit more people because of currently limited headcounts, so

salespeople got stuck in their high workloads and therefore, there was no room to ask for promotion As a consequent, no development plan for salespeople made them feel that there was

no job opening and hence, they were not satisfied with managers and the company Salespeople who were ambitious about professional development opportunities would consider leaving the company to seek advancement in another organization as a sign of prestige or stability.

Insufficient training opportunities: No training made salespeople believe that they were not prospect enough to become a manager This could result in their turnover intention to move

to another direction such as selling in another field or opening their own small business Since their first days in the company, salespeople were regarded to be experienced because of their previous working experience in other organizations although the essence was that they were totally new to Electrolux, so the company underestimated the importance of training them to fit into the overall culture Managers did not spend time on communicating with salespeople in order to realize their extreme need of the training to equip them with fluent product knowledge of

a wide range of Electrolux’s products as well to enhance their selling skills with the support of appropriate sales techniques As a result of shortage of training programs, salespeople easily missed their sales targets They also believed that the company did not value them, which engendered their low motivation and loyalty to the company.

These three main causes significantly affect the ineffective managerial support in Electrolux Vietnam AC and all of them play a key role in sales force’s continual development, retention as well as enhancement of long-term customer relationships Among these potential causes, performance evaluation is regarded as a good instrument to check that employees possess the right skill, knowledge and attitude that are vital for the organization to accomplish their business objectives If the performance evaluation is done in the correct manner, they can provide the organization with a series of valuable outcomes Having an effective performance evaluation, the business can ensure that the recognition and reward disbursements are consistent with actual salesperson performance, determine the specific training and counseling needs of individual salespeople, identify salespeople that might be promoted and help them set career goals as well as improve their performance and strengthen the communication between salespeople and sales managers 44, which leads to greater efficiency 45 Otherwise, the incorrect process of employee performance evaluation can result in lower levels of job satisfaction and productivity 46 Salespeople agreed with the significance of performance evaluation that should be the top

priority to solve in order to help their sales manager and supervisor recognize their potential and have a better plan for their training and development Taking everything into account, performance evaluation is chosen as the main cause for the main problem Therefore, it is vital for the author to come up with solutions to effectively deal with the final real cause, ineffective performance evaluation of the central problem, ineffective managerial support.