time management - jap 96

8/7/2019 Time management - JAP 96

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Journa l of Appl i ed Psychology Copyr ight 1996 by the Am er ican Psychological Assoc ia t ion . Inc .1996, Vol. 81, No. 6, 821 -82 6 0021-9010/96/$3.00

T i m e M a n a g e m e n t a n d A c h i e v e m e n t S tr iv in g In te ra ctt o P r e d i c t C a r S a l e s P e r f o r m a n c e

Julian BarlingQueen's University E. Kevin KellowayUniversity of GuelphDominic CheungQueen's University

Recent research (T. H. Macan, 1994) questioned the importance of time management inpredicting performance. The authors tested the hypothesisthat time management behav-iors interact with achievement striving to predict car sales performance. On the basis ofdata from 102 salespeople, moderated regression analyses supported that hypothesis.There was a significantinteraction between short-range planning and achievement striv-ing. Results show how time management is related to job performance under conditionsof high motivation.

Despite a large literature lauding the benefits of timemanagement behaviors in general (e.g., Warihay, 1978)and for sales performance in particular (e.g., Berkowitz& Ginter, 1978; Feiertag, 1991; Friedman, 1993), theavailable literature suggests some controversy regardingwhether the expected benefits of time management arerealized in practice (Macan, 1994). Empirical findingssuggest that positive time management practices are as-sociated with self-evaluations of academic performance(Macan, Shahani, Dipboye, & Phillips, 1990), objectivegrade point average (Brit ton & Tesser, 1991 ), job satis-faction (Landy, Rastegary, Thayer, & Colvin, 1991 ), andself-perceived organizational performance (Lim, 1993).However, there are also data suggesting that time man-agement behaviors may have little effect on objectivelymeasured job performance (Macan, 1994).

Julian Barling and Dominic Cheung, School of Business,Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada; E. Kevin Kel-loway, Department of Psychology, University of Guelph,Guelph, Ontario, Canada.This article is based on the management research project pre-sented by Dominic Cheung to the School of Business in partialfulfillment of the requirements for the executive master of busi-ness administration degree. Portions of this research were sup-ported by grants from the School of Business and the AdvisoryResearch Council at Queen's University and by a Social Sci-ences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Researchgrant.Correspondence concerning this article should be addressedto Julian Barling, School of Business, Queen's University,Kingston, Ontario, Canada K7L 3N6. Electronic mail may besent via Internet to [email protected].

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One explanation for these inconsistent findings is thefocus on the main predictive effects of time managementbehaviors. Previous investigations have consistently as-sessed the direct or indirect effects of time managementon job performance (e.g., Macan, 1994). In contrast, wesuggest that time management behaviors may interactwith other predictors of job performance. This hypothe-sis is consistent with the not ion that job performance is amultiplicative function of both skill level and motivation(Pinder, 1984). Engaging in time management behaviorsmay be viewed as an individual difference in skills and isunlikely to be reflected in a direct increase in perfor-mance for all individuals. Rather, increasing time man-agement behaviors is likely to enhance the effectivenessof motivated employees and have little consequence foremployees who are not motivated to perform. Our hy-pothesis is also consistent with Macan's (1994) sugges-tion that engaging in time management behaviors maybe beneficial to the job performance o f certain types ofpeople. The current s tudy was designed to test this hy-pothesized interaction of time management and otherpredictors of performance.

The achievement striving dimens ion of the Type A be-havior pattern is one such individual difference in moti-vation that has been linked to job performance. Type Abehavior has been studied as a possible predictor of di-verse behaviors in organizations. Findings based on a uni-dimensional conceptualization of Type A behavior areinconsistent, with Type A behavior positively (Jamal,1985; Matthews, Helmreich, Beane, & Lucker, 1980;Taylor, Locke, Lee, & Gist, 1984) and negatively (Strube,Turner, Patrick, & Perrillo, 1983 ) related to organization-ally relevant outcomes. Type A individuals have even


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8 22 R E S E A R C H R E P O K ~ Sb e e n s h o w n t o p e r f o r m b o t h m o r e a n d l e s s p r o d u c t i v e l ywi th in the same s tudy (e .g . , Faz io , Cooper , Dayson , &J o h n s o n , 1 98 1; M a t t h e w s & B r u n s o n , 1 9 7 9 ) .

One poss ib i l i ty fo r these incons i s ten t f ind ings i s tha tT y p e A b e h a v i o r i s m o r e a p p r o p r i a t e l y c o n c e p t u a l i z e d a sc o n s is t in g o f d i s t in c t c o m p o n e n t s . W h e n S p e n c e , H e l m r -e i c h , a n d P r e d ' s t w o - d i m e n s i o n a l c o n c e p t u a l i z a t i o n i su s e d , w i t h T y p e A b e h a v i o r c o m p r i s i n g a c h i e v e m e n ts t r iv ing and impat ience- i r r i t ab i l i ty , f ind ings a re morecons i s ten t ( see Helmre ich , Spence , & Pred , 1988 ;Spence , Helmre ich , & Pred , 1987 ; Spence , P red , &H e l m r e i c h , 1 9 8 9 ) . A c h i e v e m e n t s t ri v in g i s t h e e x t e n t t owh ich ind iv idua l s t ake the i r work se r ious ly , a re ac t ive ,a n d w o r k h a r d ( B l u e n , B a r l in g , & B u m s , 1 9 9 0 ) . S t u d ie shave shown tha t ach ievemen t s t r iv ing i s as soc ia ted con -s i st e n tl y w i t h p o s i t i v e o r g a n i za t i o na l o u t c o m e s s u c h a sjob sa t i s fac t ion (B luen e t a l . , 1990) , esca la t ing commit -m e n t t o a c o u r s e o f a c t i o n f o r i n d i v id u a l s w h o p e r c e iv e ah i g h r e s p o n s i b i l i t y ( S c h a u b r o e c k & W i l l i a m s , 1 9 9 3 ) ,a n d j o b p e r f o r m a n c e ( B l u e n e t a l. , 1 9 9 0; H e l m r e i c h ,S p e n c e , & P r e d , 1 9 8 8; N o r t h a m , 1 9 9 4 ) . I n a n a lo g u es tud ies , ach ievemen t s t r iv ing has been as soc ia ted wi ths t u d e n t s ' g r a d e p o i n t a v e r a g e ( B a r l i n g & . C h a r b o n n e a u ,1992 ; Spence , Helmre ich , & Pred , 1987 ; Spence , P red ,& H e l m r e i c h , 1 9 8 9 ) . I n c o n tr a s t , i m p a t i e n c e - i r r i t a b i l i t yre f lec t s in to le rance , anger , and hos t i l i ty (B luen e t a l . ,1 9 9 0 ) . T h e i m p a t i e n c e - i r r i t a b i l i t y c o m p o n e n t r e g u l a r l yp r e d i c t s p o o r p s y c h o s o m a t i c he a l t h ( B a r l in g & C h a r b o n -neau , 1992 ; Spence e t a l. , 1 987) , p oo r p sycho log ica l wel l -b e i n g ( B l u e n e t al ., 1 9 9 0; N o r t h a m , 1 9 9 4 ) , a n d p o o rmar i t a l re la t ionsh ips (Bar l ing , B luen , & Moss , 1990 ;M a c E w e n & B a rl in g , 1 9 9 3 ) .We sugges t tha t th i s mu l t id imens iona l concep tua l iza -t i o n o f T y p e A b e h a v i o r i s p a r ti c u l a r ly a p p r o p r i a t e f o r th ep r e d i c t i o n o f c a r s al e s p e r f o r m a n c e . T h u s , i n d i v id u a l sh igh in ach ieve men t s t r iv ing a re l ike ly to be hard -w ork -ing , invo lved in the i r jobs , and ambi t ious . These a re a l lcharac te r i s t i cs tha t a re par t i cu la r ly su i t ed to sa les success(L ee & G i l l en , 1989 ) , and resu l t s show cons i s ten t ly tha tach iev em en t s t r iv ing i s as soc ia ted wi th sa les per fo rma nce(Blu en e t al . , 199 0) . A ch ievem en t s t r iv ing i s the e f fec t ivei n g r e d i e n t o f T y p e A b e h a v i o r f o r p r e d i c ti n g w o r k p e r f o r -m a n c e , a s t h e r e a r e n o d a t a t o s u g g es t t h a t i m p a t i e n c e -i r r i t ab i l i ty i s as soc ia ted wi th sa les per fo rmance . Accord -i ng ly , w e e x c lu d e d i m p a t i e n c e - i r r i t a b i l i t y f r o m a n y f u r -ther cons ide ra t ion in th i s s tudy .O u r f o c u s o n a c h i e v e m e n t s t r i v i n g i s a l s o c o n s i s t e n tw i t h t h e p r o p o s i t i o n t h a t T y p e A b e h a v i o r r e s u l ts f r o mt h e i n d i v i d u a l ' s a t t e m p t t o c o n t r o l t h e e n v i r o n m e n t(Glass , 1977 ) . Thus , ind iv idua l s work harde r o r more in -t e n s e l y as a r e s u l t o f t h e i r h i g h n e e d t o c o n t r o l t h e e n v i -r o n m e n t . C o n s i s t e n t w i t h t h e i n t e r a c ti v e m o d e l o f p e r f or -ma nce ou t l ine d ear li er , w e sugges t tha t engag ing in t imem a n a g e m e n t b e h a v i o r s o f fe r s o n e m e a n s o f e f fe c t iv e ly

con t ro l l ing the en v i ron me n t a nd i s l ike ly to have it s g rea t -es t e f fec t fo r ind iv idua l s wi th a s t rong des i re to exe r t suchcon t ro l .

T h e r e a r e a l s o d a t a s u g g e st in g th a t t i m e m a n a g e m e n t i sa mu l t id imens ion a l cons t ruc t . B r i t ton and Tesser ( 1991 )i d e n ti f ie d t h r e e d i m e n s i o n s o f t i m e m a n a g e m e n t : s h o r t-range p lann ing , long -range p lann ing , and t ime a t t i tudes .S h o r t - r a n g e p l a n n i n g w a s d e f i n e d a s t i m e m a n a g e m e n ta c t iv i ti e s w i t h i n a d a i ly o r w e e k l y t i m e f r a m e a n d e n c o m -passed ac t iv i t i es such as se t t ing goa l s a t the beg inn ing o fthe day , p lann ing and p r io r i t i z ing da i ly ac t iv i ti es , and c re -a t ion o f " to do " l i s t s (Br i t ton & Tesser , 1991, p . 407 ) .Long-range p lann ing re fe r red to hav ing long -range goa l s( i . e ., over a quar te r ) and hav ing wel l -o rgan ized work hab -i t s (Br i t to n & Tesser , 1991 , p . 408 ) and i s s imi la r to M a-c a n ' s ( 1 9 9 4 ) n o t i o n o f a p r e f e r e n c e f o r or g a n iz a t io n . I nc o n t r a s t t o t h e s e b e h a v i o r a l a s p e c ts o f t im e m a n a g e m e n t ,Br i t ton and Tesser ( 1991 , p . 408 ) a l so def ined a th i rd d i -m e n s i o n o f t i m e m a n a g e m e n t t h a t r e l a t ed t o t h e in d i v id -u a l ' s p e r c e p t i o n s a n d a t t i t u d e s a b o u t t i m e m a n a g e m e n ta n d i s s i m i la r t o M a c a n ' s c o n s t r u c t o f p e r c e i v e d c o n t r o lo v e r t i m e . T h u s , t i m e a t t i tu d e s i n c l u d e t h e p e r c e p t i o ntha t the ind iv idua l i s in con t ro l o f t ime , the pe rcep t iontha t the ind iv idua l i s e f fec t ive ly man ag ing h i s o r her t ime ,a n d t h e p e r c e p t i o n t h a t t h e i n d i v i d u a l i s m a k i n g c o n -s t ruc t ive u se o f t ime . B r i t ton a nd Tesser sugges ted tha tthese t im e a t t i tudes re f lec t a sense o f se lf -e f fi cacy, w h ichi s p l a u s i b ly a n o u t c o m e o f e ng a g in g i n t i m e m a n a g e m e n tbehav io rs .

In B r i t ton and Tesser' s ( 1991 ) s tudy o f acad em ic per -f o r m a n c e , b o t h s h o r t - r a n g e p l a n n i n g a n d t i m e a t t i t u d e sp red ic ted g rade po in t average over the n ex t 4 years ; long -range p lann ing d id n o t . How ever , g iven tha t t ime a t t i -t u d e s d o n o t r e f e r e n c e s p e ci f ic b e h a v io r s a n d a r e q u i t el ik e ly t o b e a n o u t c o m e o f e n g ag i n g i n e f f e c ti v e t i m e m a n -a g e m e n t b e h a v i o r s , w e f o c u s e d o u r a n a l y s i s o n t h e t w ob e h a v i o r a l c o m p o n e n t s i d e n ti f ie d b y B r i t t o n a n d T e ss er :short-range and long-range planning. Specifical ly , wee v a l u a t e d t h e w a y i n w h i c h t h e s e t w o d i m e n s i o n s o f t i m em a n a g e m e n t b e h a v i o r p r e d i c t c a r sa l es p e r f o r m a n c e a n d ,m ore speci fi ca lly, whe ther the d imen s ions o f t ime man -a g e m e n t i n t e r a c t w i t h a c h i e v e m e n t s t r i v i n g t o p r e d i c ts a le s p e r f o r m a n c e .

Fo r severa l reasons , we fo cuse d spec i f ica l ly on the sa lesp e r f o r m a n c e o f c a r s a le s p e o p le a s o u r o p e r a t i o n a l m e a -s u r e o f j o b p e r f o r m a n c e . F i r st , p r e v i o u s s t u d i e s h a ved e m o n s t r a t e d t h a t a c h i e v e m e n t s t r i v i n g p r e d i c t s s a l e sper f o rm anc e (e .g . , B luen e t al . , 1990 ) , and engag ing int i m e m a n a g e m e n t b e h a v i o r s h a s b e e n c i t e d in t r a d e jo u r -n a l s as a m e a n s o f e n h a n c i n g t h e p e r f o r m a n c e o f sa l espersonne l (Berkow i tz & Gin te r , 1978 ; Fe ie r tag , 1991 ;F r i e d m a n , 1 9 9 3 ) . S e c o n d , r e l i an c e o n a s s e s s m e n t s o f j o bp e r f o r m a n c e b a s e d o n s u p e r v i s o r y r a t in g s m a y r e s u lt i na res t r i c ted c r i t e r ion , thereby l imi t ing the po ten t ia l fo r


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R E SE A R C H R E PO R T S 82 3s i g n if i c an t p r e d i c t i o n . F o r e x a m p l e , M a c a n ( 1 9 9 4 ) n o t e dt h a t s u p e r v i s o r y j o b p e r f o r m a n c e r a t in g s w e r e r e s t r i c te dt o t h e h i g h e n d o f th e s c a l e . I n c o n t r a s t , t h e r e i s c o n s i d e r -a b l e v a r i a t i o n i n i n d i v i d u a l - le v e l s a le s d a t a , a n d o u r s t u d yp r o c e d u r e s w e r e s p e c if i ca l ly d e s i g n e d t o e n s u r e a n a d e -q u a t e s c a l e r a n g e i n t h e c r i t e r i o n .

T h u s , t h e c u r r e n t s t u d y w a s d e s i g n e d t o a s s es s t h e i n -t e r ac t io n o f t w o f o r m s o f t i m e m a n a g e m e n t b e h a v i o rsa n d a c h i e v e m e n t s t r iv i n g a s p r e d i c t o r s o f s a l e s p e r f o r -m a n c e . S p e c if ic a ll y , w e p r e d i c t e d t h a t b o t h s h o r t - r a n g ea n d l o n g - r a n g e p l a n n i n g w o u l d i n t e r a c t w i t h a c h i e v e -m e n t s t r i v i n g to p r e d i c t c a r s al e s p e r f o r m a n c e .

M e t h o dP a r t i c i p a n t s

W e e x p l a i n e d t h e g o a l o f t h e s t u d y t o g e n e r a l m a n a g e r s a t 6 0c a r d e a l er s h ip s a c ro s s C a n a d a a n d a s k e d w h e t h e r t h e y w o u l dp a r t i c i p a t e i n t h i s s t u d y . A l l 6 0 d e a l e r s h i p s ag r e e d t o p a r t i c i -p a t e . T h e g e n e r a l m a n a g e r s w e r e t h e n a s k e d t o i d e n t i f y t h e i r t o ps a l e s p e rs o n a n d o n e a v e r a g e sa l e s p e r so n , m a k i n g s u r e t h a t b o t hh a d a t l e a s t o n e y e a r o f c a r s a le s e x p e r i e n c e s o a s n o t t o b i a s t h es a m p l e b e c a u s e o f e a r l y a t t r i t i o n o f l e s s su c c e s sf u l s a l es s t a f f( S e l i g m a n & S c h u l m a n , 1 9 8 6 ) .

O f t h e 1 2 0 q u e s t i o n n a i r e s d i s t r i b u t e d t o t h e s a l e s p e rs o n s , 1 0 5w e r e r e t u r n e d ( 8 7 . 5 % r e s p o n s e r a t e ) ; t h e r e sp o n s e s f ro m t h e 3f e m a l e r e s p o n d e n t s w e r e e x c l u d e d b e c a u s e o f i n s u f f ic i e n t d a t a .T h e a v e r ag e s al e s e x p e r i e n c e f o r th e r e m a i n i n g 1 02 r e s p o n d e n t sw a s 8 . 1 4 y e a rs ( S D = 6 . 4 1 ; r a n g e = 1 - 3 5 y e a r s ) , a n d t h e i r m e a na g e w a s 3 7 . 2 7 y e a r s ( S D = 9 . 3 1 , r a n g e = 2 2 - 5 8 y e a r s ) . O n a v -e r a g e, a n n u a l v e h i c l e s a l es fo r t h e s a m p l e w a s 1 31 u n i t s ( S D =6 0 . 2 2 , r a n g e = 4 1 - 4 0 0 u n i t s ) .Q u e s t i o n n a i r e s

W e u s e d a s h o r t e n e d f o r m o f B r i t t o n a n d T e s s er 's ( 1 99 1 ) t i m em a n a g e m e n t q u e s t i o n n a i r e to a s s es s t h e t w o c o m p o n e n t s o ft i m e m a n a g e m e n t b e h a v i o r : s h o r t- r a n g e p l a n n i n g ( f o u r o u t o ft h e o r i g i n a l se v e n i te m s ) a n d l o n g - r a n g e p l a n n i n g ( t h r e e o u t o f

t h e o r i g i n a l f iv e i t e m s ) . I n e a c h c a s e, i t e m s w e r e c h o s e n o n t h eba s i s o f t he i r f a c t o r l oa d i ngs f r om B r i t t on a nd T e s s e r 's ( 1991 , p .4 0 7 ) a n a l y si s . A l l it e m s a r e r a t e d o n a 5 - p o i n t s c a l e (always,frequently, sometimes, infrequently, never) w i t h 1 r e f l e c t i ng t hel o w e s t a c h i e v e m e n t s t ri v i n g . I n t e r n a l r e l i a b i l i t y f o r t h e t w o s u b -s c a le s w a s a d e q u a t e ( s h o r t - r a n g e p l a n n i n g , a = . 8 5 ; l o n g - r a n g ep l a n n i n g , a = . 7 3 ) . I n i t i a l i n s p e c t i o n o f t h e d a t a s u g g e s t e d as t r ong c o r r e l a t i on , r ( 10 0 ) = . 66 , p < . 01 , be t w e e n t he s ho r t -r a n g e a n d l o n g - r an g e p l a n n i n g s c al e s.

W e c o n d u c t e d a c o n f i r m a t o r y f a c t o r a n a l y s i s , u s i n g m a x i -m u m l i k e li h o o d e s t im a t i o n a s i m p l e m e n t e d i n L I S R E L V I I I( J 6 r e s k o g & S 6 r b o m , 1 9 9 3 ) t o a s s es s t h e d i m e n s i o n a l i t y o f t h es h o r t e n e d s c a l e s . A n o b l i q u e t w o - f a c t o r m o d e l c o r r e s p o n d i n gt o t h e s h o r t - r a n g e p l a n n i n g a n d l o n g - r a n g e p l a n n i n g d i s t i n c t i o nd e s c r i b e d b y B r i t t o n a n d T e s se r ( 1 99 1 ) p r o v i d e d a r e a s o n a b l ef i t t o t he da t a , x 2 ( 13 , N = 102 ) = 40 . 49 , p < . 01 , goodn e s s - o f -f i t i n d e x ( G F I ) = . 9 0, n o r m e d f i t i n d e x ( N F I ) = . 8 8 , c o m p a r a -t i ve f i t i nde x ( C FI ) = . 92 , a nd a s i gn i f i c a n t l y be t t e r f i t t ha n am o d e l s p e c i f y i n g o n e f a c t o r o n w h i c h a l l i t e m s w e r e a l l o w e d t ol oa d , x 2 ( 14 , N = 102 ) = 5 4 . 7 2 , p < . 01 , G FI = . 88 , N F I = . 84 ,C FI = .87; 2~fre. . . . . ( 1 ) = 14 . 23 , p < . 01 . S t a nd a r d i z e d pa r a m -e t e r e st i m a t e s f o r t h e t w o - f a c t o r m o d e l a r e p r e s e n t e d i n T a b l e 1 .T o a s s e s s a c h i e v e m e n t s t r i v i n g , w e u s e d s i x i t e m s f r o mS p e n c e a t a l . 's ( 1 9 8 7 ) s e v e n - i t e m m e a s u r e ; w e e x c l u d e d t h e i rl a s t i t e m a b o u t r e s p o n d e n t s ' a p p r o a c h t o l i f e i n g e n e r a l. A l l si xi t e m s w e r e b a s e d o n a 5 - p o i n t r a t i n g s ca l e . T h e i n t e r n a l c o n s i s-t e nc y o f t h i s s c a l e w a s h i gh (c ~ = . 87 ) .

I n a s s e ss i n g a c h i e v e m e n t s t r i v in g a n d t h e t i m e m a n a g e m e n tc o m p o n e n t s , w e u s e d s h o r t e n e d s c a le s t o m a x i m i z e t h e l ik e l i -h o o d t h a t r e s p o n d e n t s w o u l d p a r t i c i p a t e . In b o t h c a s e s , t h e u n -w e i g h te d s u m o f r e sp o n s e s w as d i v i d ed b y t h e n u m b e r o f i t em st o d e r i ve s c a l e s c o r e s.

R e s u l t sD e s c r i p t i v e s t a t is t i c s a n d i n t e r c o r r e l a t i o n s f o r a l l s t u d y

v a r i a b l e s a r e p r e s e n t e d i n T a b l e s 2 a n d 3 . Y e a r s o f e x p e -r i e n c e w a s s i g n i f i c a n t l y c o r r e l a t e d w i t h b o t h c a r s a le s a n da c h i e v e m e n t s t r i v in g a n d w a s i n c l u d e d a s a c o n t r o l v a r i -a b l e in a ll s u b s e q u e n t a n a l y s e s . A s s h o w n , i n d i v i d u a l s

T a b l e 1Standardized Parameter E st imates for Short- and Long-RangePlanning W ith the Two-FactorM o d e l

I temPlanning

Sho rt range Long rangeDo you make l is ts of the th ings you have to d o each day?Do you plan y our day be fore you s t a r t it ?Do you make a s chedule o f the ac t iv i ti e s you have to do on w ork days?Do you wri te a se t of goals for yourself each day?Do you usua l ly keep your de sk c l ea r ofeve rything othe r than w ha t you a recur rent ly working on?Do you have a s e t of goa l s for t he ent i r e qua r t e r?The night before a m ajor pro ject is due, are you u sual ly s t il l working o n i t .~

.72**.70**.83**.83**.53**.79**.78**

a Reverse scored.* * p < . 0 1 .


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824 RESEARCH REPORTSTable 2Descriptive Statistics a nd Intercorrelationsfor Average Performers

Variable M S D 1 2 3 4 5I. Year s 5.66 5.05 --2. Sales 85.49 16.26 .40* - -3. Short-range

plannin g 3.39 0.72 -. 02 .11 --4. Long-rangepla nning 3.25 0.61 -.0 1 .21 .52* - -5. Achievementstri ving 3.25 0.61 .18 .27 .51" .57*

N o t e . n= 50.* p < .05.

i d e n t i f i e d a s h i g h p e r f o r m e r s b y t h e i r g e n e r a l m a n a g e r sd i f f e r e d s ig n i f i c a n t ly f r o m t h o s e i d e n t i f i e d a s a v e r a g e p e r -f o r m e r s o n a l l s t u d y v a r i a b l e s , W i l k s ' s A -- . 3 6 , F ( 5 , 9 5 )- - 3 4 .0 2 , p < . 0 1 . I n d i v i d u a l s i d e n t if i e d a s h i g h p e r f o r m -e r s r e p o r t e d g r e a t e r s a le s ( M = 1 7 5 .1 9 v s . M = 8 5 . 4 9 ) ,F ( 1 , 9 9 ) = 1 2 5 .9 l , p < . 0 1 , a n d m o r e e x p e r i e n c e i n s a le s( M = 1 0 .3 8 y e a r s v s . M = 5 . 6 6 y e a r s ) , F ( 1 , 9 9 ) = 1 4 .9 8 ,p < . 0 l , t h a n d i d t h o s e i d e n t i f i e d a s a v e r ag e p e r f o r m e r s .M o r e o v e r , t h o s e i d e n t i f i e d a s h i g h p e r f o r m e r s r e p o r t e dh i g h e r a c h i e v e m e n t s t r iv i n g ( M - - 4 . 3 9 v s . M - - 3 . 2 5 ) ,F ( 1, 9 9 ) - - 9 9 . 5 6 , p < . 0 1 , m o r e f r e q u e n t s h o r t - r a n g ep l a n n i n g ( M = 4 . 2 9 v s . M = 3 . 3 9 ) , F ( 1 , 9 9 ) = 3 8 . 6 9 , p< . 0 1, a n d m o r e f r e q u e n t lo n g - r a n g e p l a n n i n g ( M - - 4 . 4 0vs . M = 3 .25 ) , F ( l , 99 ) - - 53 .91 , p < .0 l , t han d id t hosei d e n t i f i e d as a v e r a g e p e r f o r m e r s .

T o a s s e s s t h e p r o p o s e d i n t e r a c t i o n s , w e c o n d u c t e d am o d e r a t e d m u l t i p l e r e g r e s s i o n ( A i k e n & W e s t , 1 9 9 1 ) .T h e c r i t e r i o n ( c a r s a l e s ) w a s r e g r e s s e d o n y e a r s o f s a le se x p e r i e n c e ( a s a c o n t r o l v a r i a b l e ) , a c h i e v e m e n t s tr i v in g ,s h o r t - r a n g e p l a n n i n g , a n d l o n g - r a n g e p l a n n i n g o n t h ef i rs t s t e p , o n t h e 3 t w o - w a y i n t e r a c t i o n s o n t h e s e c o n ds t e p , a n d o n t h e t h r e e - w a y i n t e r a c t i o n o n t h e t h i r d s t e p .A t e a c h s t e p i n t h e a n a l y s i s , th e c h a n g e i n R 2 w a s e v a l u -a t e d w i t h t h e A F s t a t is t i c t o a s s e ss t h e c o n t r i b u t i o n o f t h et e r m s e n t e r e d a t t h a t s t ep t o t h e p r e d i c ti o n .

Table 3Descriptive Statistics a nd Intercorrelationsfor High PerformersVariable M S D 1 2 3 4 5

1. Yea rs 10.39 6.78 - -2. Sales 175.19 16.26 -. 12 - -3. Short-rangeplan ning 4.29 0.70 .48* -. 154. Long-rangeplan ning 4.40 0.54 .55* .305. Achievementstri ving 4.39 0.52 .61 * .53*

B

.05 --

.44* .15 --N o t e . n= 52.* p < .05.

Table 4Results o f the Moderated Regression Analyses From Models 1,2, and 3 (Data Weights and R2s)InteractionMainVariable effect 2-way 3-way

Yea rs .21 * .19* .19*PlanningShort range (SRP) .17 .17 .13Long range (LRP) .04 .12 .13Achi eve ment striving (AS) .49** .52** .48**AS X SRP .32** .31 **AS X LRP .10 .13SRP LRP -.07 -.03AS X SRP X LRP .11Overall R 2 .535** .642** .645*** p


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RESEARCH REPORTS 825

rent case, the effects varied according to individual levelsof motivation. Contrary to our hypothesis, long-rangeplanning did not interact with achievement striving topredict sales performance.Taken together, these results suggest tha t dif ferent as-pects of time management behavior may have differenteffects in predicting performance. Consistent with Brit-ton and Tesser's ( 1991 ) conclusions with respect to aca-demic performance, we found that short-range but notlong-range planning interacted with achievement strivingto predict job performance. Bri tton and Tesser suggestedthat their results might reflect an environmental influ-ence; short-range planning may be more effective thanlong-range planning in env ironments tha t are character-ized by rapid change and unpredictable demands.

Although we find this explanation plausible, thedifferential results we obtained might also be related tothe actual behaviors composing each dimension (i.e.,daily goal setting vs. long-term goal setting; prioritizingdaily activities vs. generally being organized). Future re-search could be profitably directed at identifying whichtime management behaviors are effective in enhancingindividual job performance.

In this regard, it is import ant to not e that we focusedon only a subset of time manage ment dimensions identi-fied in the literature. We did not include a measure oftime at titudes (Bri tton & Tesser, 1991 ) or perceived con-trol over time (Macan, 1994). Our rationale for this ex-clusion was our interest in focusing on time managementbehaviors as opposed to perceptions of time or attitudestoward time use. Nonetheless, previous research (e.g.,Bri tton & Tesser, 1991; Macan, 1994) has identified theseattitudinal variables as being impo rtant to a diverse arrayof outcomes, and future research could profitably inves-tigate a fuller array of time management constructs aspredictors of job performance.An additional direction for future research emergesfrom our identification of a significant interaction be-tween short-range planning and achievement striving inpredicting sales performance. In particular, our data donot allow us to conclusively identify one variable as themodera tor and another as the predictor. It is possible thatengaging in short-range planning modera tes the effect ofachievement striving on sales performance. However, it isequally plausible that achievement striving moderatesthe effect of short-range planning on performance. Fu-ture research could be directed to disentangling the na-ture o f the interaction.

Several additional avenues for future research are alsoapparent from the current study. First, we only investi-gated the tota l number of sales. However, a more accuratemeasure of sales performance should take account ofboth the quantity and the quality of sales performance(e.g., repeat business, sale of service packages, dollar

value of sales; Bluen et al., 1990). Second, future re-search should control for the nature and size of the deal-ership, as well as the city or region in which the dealershipis situated, as these local factors might affect sales perfor-mance. Third, our findings are postdictive in t hat infor-mation on the outcome variable preceded collection ofthe predictor variables. Future research should includelongitudinal analyses in which data on achievement striv-ing and time management behaviors are obtained priorto sales performance. Finally, although our results sug-gest the importance of short-range and not long-rangeplanning, it is important to note that the two forms oftime manageme nt were significantly related (r = .66) inthe curren t study and are possibly a function ofmulticol -linearity. Replication of these findings in different sam-ples and with different measures would substantially mit-igate this concern.

Taken at face value, our results, suggesting that timemanagement skills do contribute to sales performancefor some individuals, might be taken as support for thecontinued practice of implementing time managementtraining for employees. We suggest tha t no such conclu-sion is warran ted. We did no t assess the role of time man-agement training, and previous studies have questionedthe effectiveness of such training in enhancing time man-agement behaviors (Macan, 1994). Thus, contrary toMacan's conclusions, we suggest that time managementbehaviors do contribute, albeit indirectly, to job perfor-mance for some people. However, we also agree with andrepeat Macan's call for more research on the determi-nants of time management behaviors and the effective-ness of interventions designed to increase such behaviors.Should effective means of increasing time managementbehaviors be identified, our results suggest that therewould be a concomitant increase in job performance forhighly motivated individuals.

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