with their jobs will respond in reciprocation to those who have contributed to their positive job
experience, whether this relationship is direct or mediated by organizational commitment, or
both, is still an issue that warrants further research (cf. Tompson and Werner 1997). Much research
has found a positive and strong relationship between job satisfaction and organizational
commitment (e.g., Johnston, Parasuraman, Futrell, and Black 1990). Further more, the preponderance
of empirical and conceptual evi dence (see Brown and Peterson 1993) suggests that
satisfaction precedes organizational commitment causally in sales force settings "because it is
more specific, less sta ble, and more rapidly formed" (MacKenzie et al.
1998:90). Therefore, we suggest that the satisfaction
cooperation relationship is mediated by organizational commitment.
We further distinguish between the intrinsic and extrin sic aspects of job satisfaction. The
former refers to an em ployee's satisfaction with the specific nature of the job itself, while
the latter concerns those aspects of the job that are outside the specific scope but still within
the general context of the job (Lucas, Parasuraman, Davis, and Enis
1987). Major components of (1) intrinsic job satisfaction include the joy of actually performing
the job, feelings of accomplishment received from the job, and the degree of freedom in the job and
of (2) extrinsic job satisfaction in clude fair pay, financial earnings, work conditions, and
benefit plans (Lucas et al. 1987).
Hypothesis 4: Intrinsic job satisfaction and salesperson organizational commitment are positively
related.
Hypothesis 5: Extrinsic job satisfaction and salesperson organizational commitment are positively
related.
Shared values with coworkers. Shared values are de fined as "the extent to which
[organizational members] have beliefs in common about what behaviors, goals, and policies are
important or unimportant, appropriate or inap propriate, and right or wrong" (Morgan and Hunt
1994:25). The relationship between shared values and de
velopment of commitment and trust is well documented in the marketing (Dwyer et al. 1987; Morgan
and Hunt 1994) and organizational behavior literatures (Chatman 1991). Shared values positively
influence organizational commit ment because salespeople sharing values with coworkers can be
expected to develop stronger affinities with their overall organization. Similarly, shared values
positively influence trust in coworkers because, as Brewer (1979) ob serves, individuals tend to
perceive socially dissimilar in dividuals as dishonest, untrustworthy, and uncooperative.
Hypothesis 6: Shared values with coworkers and sales person organizational commitment are
positively related.
Hypothesis 7: Shared values with coworkers and sales
person trust in coworkers are positively related.