compared/contrasted their relative impacts. One of the purposes of the present study is to
achieve this task.
Of specific interest is the key role two important relational factors may play in the
emergence of cooperative behaviors of salespersons toward coworkers: commitment to
the organization and trust in coworkers. The hypothesized model posits these constructs
to have a central nomological status.
In summary, then, this study purports to add to existing research in three major
ways. First, it is the first study that simultaneously investigates several antecedent factors
suggested by several different (and I might add rival) research traditions that studied
cooperation. Second, it is argued and tested in this study that the effects of many factors
proposed by prior research to antecede cooperation are mediated by two key constructs:
salespersons' commitment to the organization and trust in coworkers. Finally, this study
expands the issue of cooperation to the salesforce context for the first time.
This introductory chapter provides a short literature review about (interpersonal)
cooperation and presents the hypothesized model of factors affecting salesforce
cooperation.
Cooperation: Conceptual Definition and Theoretical Approaches
Since the earlier studies of Morton Deutsch (1949. 1969, 1973), cooperation
across individuals, groups, organizations, and nations has become a major topic of
interest in an eminently diverse set of academic disciplines. Indeed, scholars from
various disciplines, such as economics, sociology, psychology, anthropolog, political
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