Impact of Type-A Behavior on Job Performance among Executives

The sales executives play an important role in the growth and development of pharmaceutical industry. They sell their company's products, which include medicines, prescription drugs and medical equipment to a variety of customers including general practitioners, primary care trusts, hospitals and pharmacies. They also work strategically to increase the awareness and use of their company's pharmaceutical and medical products. The core characteristics of these executives are highly competitive, achievement-driven and target oriented. Theories of personality explains that Type-A individuals are ambitious, aggressive, business-like, controlling, impatient, preoccupied with his/her status, time-conscious and tightly-wound. People with type-A personalities are "workaholics" who multitask, push themselves with deadlines and hate both delays and ambivalence. Type-B individuals are perfect contrast to those with type-A personalities. People with type-B personalities are generally patient, relaxed, easy-going, and at times lacking an overriding sense of urgency. In view of the above, the present study was aimed at investigating the impact of type-A and type-B personality on performance of the sales executives. The sample for the present study consisted of 480 sales executives attached to different pharmaceutical companies in both national and multinational companies were selected randomly. A well developed and used in Indian and western context, the job performance scale and type-A personality scale were used in the present study. The study reveals that the executives working in MNCs have shown better performance than the executives working in National companies. Further, the study reveals that the sales executives in the middle level have better performance than other two groups. The data were analyzed by using appropriate statistical methods.