Towards a new framework of competence sets in sales: conceptual considerations based on paradoxical ways of thinking

The academic discussion on salespeople competence sets gains new momentum. Particularly the fundamental changes in the environment cause considerable adaptations across market structures and organizations, which is also reflected in the job profiles and job requirements of salespeople. As the research paper will illustrate, salespeople are thereby confronted with various paradoxes due to their boundary-spanning role across departments and organizations. The absent discussion of these paradoxes in the literature and their non-resolution cause salespeople and their managers confusion and uncertainty. In this paper, the authors therefore aim to develop a framework for deriving customized competence sets of salespeople with respect to their individual environmental, market and organizational setting.