The Genesis of Relationships: Boundary Spanners' Appraisals of the Career Entry Transition

摘要

Productive relationships between a company and its customers are often the result of positive relationships between the company and its boundary spanning employees. The career entry transition marks the beginning of these interpersonal relationships, which have a significant impact on marketing performance. Using a sample of newly hired boundary spanning employees, we examine the influence of individual difference factors on boundary spanners' appraisals of the career entry transition. Significant relationships are found between boundary spanners' positive and negative appraisals of the transition and personal and non-organizational factors: perceived centrality of the work role, availability of resources (finances, social support, personal hope), and sense of coherence.