Outperforming Whom? A Multi-Level Study of How Performance-Prove Goal Orientation Manifests in Sales Performance in a Context of Shared Team Identification

Abstract

Performance-prove goal orientation (PPGO) affects job performance because it drives people to outperform others. However, up to the present study, an important question that has remained unanswered by researchers is: whom do people desire to outperform? The authors argue that the shared team identification of a sales team influences which others salespeople, nested in that sales team, aspire to outperform. The study shows that the PPGO-job performance relationship is context-contingent on shared team identification. The results reveal that this interaction manifests in contrasting ways on individual vis-à-vis team level as it shows opposite effects: to attain higher levels of salesperson performance, a high PPGO is beneficial for salespeople nested in sales teams with low shared team identification. In contrast, to enhance sales team performance, a high mean PPGO of salespeople is advantageous when the sales team is characterized by high shared team identification. These findings imply that a PPGO may help, but can also hurt job performance of salespeople.