Exploring Roles, Requirements and Rewards in French and English-Canadian Business Development Job Postings

This paper examines the content of job postings in business development, a new career path proliferating around the world. Content analysis of 48 advertisements, half of which appeared in French and the other half in English, was conducted, and the results regarding roles, requirements rewards are presented according to two languages of work, the cultural expression mode of organizations. We find that business developers are heavily involved in implementing commercialization activities, mainly in the joint marketing-sales process. To a lesser extent, they also assume the roles of analysis, planning and control of these activities. Concerning the impact of cultural belonging, significant differences were noted for criteria associated with all three of the categories studied. More knowledge of business development is needed to better guide marketing and sales instructors, and to satisfy the needs of organizations seeking these commercialization professionals. This paper examines the content of job postings in business development, a new career path proliferating around the world. Content analysis of 48 advertisements, half of which appeared in French and the other half in English, was conducted, and the results regarding roles, requirements rewards are presented according to two languages of work, the cultural expression mode of organizations. We find that business developers are heavily involved in implementing commercialization activities, mainly in the joint marketing-sales process. To a lesser extent, they also assume the roles of analysis, planning and control of these activities. Concerning the impact of cultural belonging, significant differences were noted for criteria associated with all three of the categories studied. More knowledge of business development is needed to better guide marketing and sales instructors, and to satisfy the needs of organizations seeking these commercialization professionals.