The Beneficial Effect of Resilience on Sales Performance in the Presence of Role Ambiguity

Personal sellers oftentimes experience ambiguity-based role stress, which can diminish sales performance. The process that leads to this adverse effect, however, is not fully understood. We propose a framework that regards a seller’s personal accomplishment and work engagement as mediators between role ambiguity and sales performance. In addition we consider the psychological resource of resilience that may buffer the negative consequences of ambiguity-based role stress. Results from a survey among 142 personal sellers general support our framework and underscore the viability of resilience and its beneficial effect in adverse workplace situations.