Is Creative Performance of Outbound Salespeople Accentuated by Ethical Leadership Style of Field Managers in Pharmaceutical Selling Context?

Purpose: Through a mediation process of engagement and creative self-efficacy, this study investigates the effect of field managers' ethical leadership style and salespersons’ creative performance. The study has also examined the moderating role of openness to experience in the relationship between engagement and creative performance. The unit of analysis for the research is pharmaceutical salespeople employed in national and multinational pharmaceutical firms. Design/Methodology/Approach: The data were collected through self-administered questionnaires using a stratified random sampling technique. The sample size for the study was 350 from 20 pharmaceutical firms, and variables were measured on a five-point Likert scale. The perceptions of respondents regarding the leadership style of their field managers, as well as their engagement level, creative self-efficacy, openness to experience, and creative performance, contributed to the analysis and the conclusions drawn. Data analysis was conducted by using SPSS 25.0 and AMOS 22.0. Findings: The findings indicated a strong positive effect of field managers' ethical leadership style and salespeople's creative performance. Salesperson’s work engagement and salesperson’s creative self-efficacy mediate the relationship between the field manager's ethical leadership style and salesperson’s creative performance. Also, openness to experience moderates between work engagement and creative performance. Implications/Originality/Value: Pharmaceutical firms should consider measures to enhance the creative performance of salespeople by encouraging and stimulating an ethical leadership style among field managers.