An Exploratory Study of the Impact of Family & Technology Issues on Sales Careers with a Focus on Gender Differences‪.‬

ABSTRACT The first purpose of this exploratory study was to add to the body of knowledge related to work-family conflict (WFC), particularly in the area of the impact of family members' health issues on careers. The second purpose was to address the impact of information technology security issues on salespeople's lives and careers. The authors designed and distributed a survey on work-family conflict and technology issues to 35 salespeople they knew. Items from two previously-developed scales were borrowed, and new items and questions were created. An overview of the responses to the questions is provided. The focus then shifts to identifying any significant gender differences. Significant differences were found for gender with regard to percentage of time spent on certain sales-related tasks, for several WFC questions relating to self-image and loss of productivity, and effect of parent's health on career plans. Limitations, tentative conclusions and suggestions for future research are then provided.