How critical events shape the evolution of sales organizations: A case study of a business-to-business services firm

While the literature recognizes that sales organizations evolve as they seek to improve their effectiveness, little is known about this evolutionary process. As a first step toward remedying this important knowledge gap, this case study uses event systems theory to explain the process through which critical events shaped the evolution of a sales organization over the course of a thirty-year period. The results reveal that (1) shifts in the sales organization were prompted by events that focused the unit's attention on the desire for growth or on the need to curb excesses, (2) the primary mechanism for effecting change in the sales organization was the flattening and de-flattening of organizational structures, and (3) a high degree of correspondence exists between shifts in organizational structure and, both, a salesperson's level of social capital and the incidence of unethical salesperson behaviors. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.