Global Sales Science Institute
Current Statutes

Adopted December 2008

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Hereby the undersigned establish an international non-profit making association with scientific, pedagogical and social responsibility objectives called the Global Sales Science Institute (GSSI). The association’s office shall be established at the current office address of the Chair of the GSSI, thereby rotating every two years.

The objective of the association, which is non-profit seeking, is to provide a professional association to academics and practitioners interested in sales management, personal selling and its applications that will promote, disseminate and stimulate high quality research and promote sales education in the field throughout the world, and elevate the image of the sales profession to the general public or other constituencies.

The association shall particularly serve as a meeting and communication forum for its members. It shall offer a network for the exchange of knowledge on an international level and constitute a framework allowing for a better dissemination of information on research, teaching and engaging with practitioners. The association also aims at the development of relations with all other professional and research-oriented associations which are active in the field of marketing and sales, as well as international committees and authorities concerned with political decision making in this field.

In order to achieve its objective, the association has the purpose to:

    • Promote quality education in professional sales and sales management.
    • Bridge the gap in professional sales and sales management between academia and practice.
    • Provide financial and non-financial support for academic sales research, including an agenda of research topics.
    • Positively impact the practice of professional sales and sales management globally.
    • Facilitate international student and faculty exchange.

In order to carry out its purpose, the association will be permitted to collect funds, receive donations and sponsorships, organize conferences and research tutorials, maintain a website, publish a newsletter and any other document relating to its purpose. The association may engage in any legal activity permitting it to carry out its purpose and/or facilitating the development of high quality research or teaching in the field of sales management, professional sales.

3.1 – Members are physical or institutional bodies legally constituted under their own country legislation. Members have rights, but no legal obligations.

3.2 – Every natural person that is professionally concerned with or interested in research or teaching in the field of sales management and professional sales, irrespective of nationality, and without prejudice, can become member of the association. Applications for membership must be submitted to the association in registering on the website. The Steering Committee has exclusive decision power regarding the applications.

3.3 – Participants of the yearly conferences are regarded as members.

3.4 – Equally official bodies such as professional or commercial entities, financial institutions, governmental institutions, universities and other organizations (hereafter referred to as «institutional members») can become members. Applications for institutional membership must be submitted to the association in the appropriate form – and supplemented by the pieces of information – as defined by the Steering Committee. The Steering Committee has exclusive decision power regarding these applications.

3.5 – Membership can be terminated:

(a) upon decision of the member himself/herself, with effect three months after withdrawal has been communicated by notified and signed mail to the Steering Committee;

(b) upon decision of the Steering Committee.

Those members who are no longer part of the association have neither any rights on the association’s resources nor can they claim any form of compensation from the association.

4.1 – The General Assembly holds full powers allowing the achievement of the objectives of the association. Without prejudice to the powers that the General Assembly holds in accordance with other provisions of the statutes, particularly the following are reserved to the General Assembly:

    • The definition of the general policy of the association;
    • The modification of the statutes;
    • The approval of the accounts;
    • The voluntary winding up of the association;
    • The approval of changes in the membership fee;
    • The designation and dismissal of Steering Committee members.

4.2 – The General Assembly of the members of the association meets annually on the date and venue decided by the Steering Committee and upon convocation by the latter. The Steering Committee can also convene an extraordinary General Assembly should the interests of the association impose it. An exceptional assembly must be convened when 25% of the members demand to do so. At least 30 days before the General Assembly, the convening letter accompanied by the agenda must be sent to the members. The convening letter will be sent by postal mail, fax or electronic mail or any other way of communication.

4.3 – The Chair of the association, or in his/her absence, the Chair-elect or another member of the Steering Committee chosen by the General Assembly, chairs the General Assembly.

4.4 – The General Assembly only validly confers, if a tenth of the members or 20 members (should this last number be lower than the first) are present. If this quorum is not reached, any pressing business will be dealt with electronically in a timely manner.

4.5 – Each member has one vote of equal power. Decisions are taken by simple majority of the votes unless a special majority is required by law or by these statutes.

4.6 – The decisions of the General Assembly are recorded in a register (minutes of the General Assembly), by the Vice Chair of Communication, who holds them at the disposal of the members.

5.1 – The association is administered by the Steering Committee, which governs the association and holds the powers of administration except those vested in the General Assembly. It can give special and well-defined powers to national representatives or ad hoc committees that it has assigned including the case where the present statutes attribute specific competencies to the Steering Committee.

5.2 – The Steering Committee shall consist of the following officers (descriptions contained in Article 7).

    • the Chair
    • the Past Chair and Vice-Chair of Elections
    • the Vice-Chair of Strategy and Chair Elect
    • the Vice-Chair of Educational Collaboration
    • the Vice-Chair of Research Promotion
    • the Vice-Chair of Membership
    • the Vice-Chair of Business Engagement
    • the Vice-Chair of Communication and
    • Treasurer (appointed on-going)
    • Chair of the Advisory Committee (appointed 2 years)
    • (ex officio) Business Liaison (appointed 2 years)
    • (ex officio) Conference committee (appointed for three years)
        • Immediate past conference chair(s)
        • Current conference chair(s)
        • Immediate future conference chair(s)
    • (ex officio) Coordinator of Social Media (appointed on-going))

The outgoing Chair becomes automatically the past Chair.

If any of the officers fails to complete his/her term of appointment, then his/her replacement shall serve the term set out, except for the treasurer & social coordinator which are on-going appointments. If the treasurer resigns or needs to be replaced it should be done by majority vote of the steering committee, as are all other appointments.

5.3 – The regular annual meeting of the Steering Committee shall be held in connection with the annual conference and before the General Assembly.

Special meetings, such as Intermediate Steering Committee Meetings, may be called by the Chair, and may be held via electronic methods. At least one additional meeting shall be held per year.

The Steering Committee can validly convene if at least five of its members are present. Decisions are taken by simple majority of the votes.

5.4

    • (a) The Steering Committee can authorise any member to participate in a meeting of the committee through all means of communication, allowing for a collegial exchange (for example: teleconferencing).Moreover, in exceptional cases justified by urgency, the Steering Committee can authorise its member(s) to participate in one of the committee’s meetings by all other means of communication (for example email or fax). Decisions taken in this way have to be ratified during the following meeting. It is nevertheless required that a fully documented information notice covering all points of the agenda has been previously sent to the members of the Steering Committee willing to vote by the aforementioned means of communication.A member participating in a meeting of the Steering Committee in one of the modes specified above is considered as present during the meeting and is able to express his vote according to the agreed mode.
    • (b) The Steering Committee can also take decisions without convening its members physically but instead by organising the meeting by all means of communication that provide for a collegial exchange between members (for example: teleconferencing). Moreover, in exceptional cases justified by urgency, the Steering Committee can take decisions without convening physically – but by all other means of communication (for example email or fax). Decisions taken in this way require that a fully documented information notice covering all points of the agenda has been previously sent to the members of the Steering Committee and have to be ratified during the following meeting.It is required that the issues of deliberation and the proposed actions are communicated to all members by email, fax or any other mode of telecommunication. A reasonable time span has to be granted to the members permitting them to make known their views and their vote to the Chair.The decisions of the Steering Committee are minuted and archived by the Vice-Chair of Communication. The outgoing Vice-Chair of Communication shall forward all the minutes to the Association’s head office for permanent filing. The current minutes are also posted on the Association’s website.

5.5 – Except in the case of special proxies/ power of attorney, all deeds binding the association must be signed by two members of the Steering Committee who do not have to justify the powers endowed towards third parties.

5.6 – The Steering Committee represented by its Chair or another member assigned by the Chair pursues legal action as plaintiff as well as defendant.

5.7 – The Steering Committee is responsible for the daily management of the association and it reports to the General Assembly. The Steering Committee can delegate certain responsibilities and powers to its members. The Steering Committee makes sure that the organization of programmed conferences is proceeding well.

5.8 – The records and accounts of the Association as well as the Association’s day-to-day operations will be taken care of, under the responsibility of the Steering Committee. Specifically, accounts are handled by the Treasurer and Records by the Vice-Chair of Communication.

6.1 – National Representatives are elected to an advisory committee by the same process as steering committee officers for a term of one year. All past chairs may also serve as ex officio members of the Advisory Committee.

6.2 – The Advisory Committee is composed of the Steering Committee plus one individual representing each country for which at least one member in good standing is part of the GSSI.

6.3 – The regular annual meeting of the Advisory Committee shall be held in connection with the annual conference after the annual meeting of the Steering Committee and before the General Assembly.

6.4 – The National Representatives promote the association in their country, provide the Steering Committee with feedback from the members in their country, act as liaison with national marketing/sales organizations, and provide information to the GSSI web forum. National Representatives also recruit corporate members from their country for the purpose of fund-raising. Corporate members recruited by National Representatives are directed to the Vice-Chair of Business Engagement for further evaluation and processing.

7.1 – The Chair shall be the chief spokesperson for the association, the chair of the Steering Committee, and Presiding Officer at all meetings of the membership. S/he shall appoint committees as necessary for the activities of the association during her/his term of office. S/he shall serve or appoint others to serve as liaison with other professional bodies.

7.2 – Descriptions of the other officers are as follows:

    • Past Chair and Vice Chair of Elections (2 years after serving as Chair for 2 years) mentors the chair and oversees the nominating committee, and the electronic election process.
    • Vice Chair of Strategy and Chair Elect (elected in even years; serves for 2 years), oversees the development of an annual strategic plan by the steering committee
    • Vice Chair of Education Collaboration (elected in even years): This position promotes the development of sales curriculum and an open sharing of curricula information between GSSI members. This might be done by electronic education forums, or other venues that open up a conversation and promote sales education.
    • Vice Chair of Research Promotion (elected in odd years): This position holds responsibility for communicating business priorities to sales researchers, and for promoting collaborative relationships between those actively researching in the sales domain, particularly across national borders.
    • Vice Chair of Membership (elected in even years): Serves as the membership officer of the organization, developing a membership application, recruiting current and potential membership.
    • Vice Chair of Communication (elected in odd years): Serves as webmaster and secretary.
    • Vice Chair of Business Engagement (elected in odd years): This position has a dual function of recruiting corporate partners (including fund-raising) as well as overseeing business input into research priorities.
    • Chair or Co-chairs of Conference Programming (appointed by the officers annually two years in advance): Oversee and coordinate the annual conference. Typically the chair(s) organizations would serve as sponsors for the conference, either in terms of providing the locale and/or underwriting the conference costs.
    • Business Liaison (business person appointed by the officers for two years terms in even years) represents business interests to the board
    • Conference Committees consists of conference chair(s), plus the previous and up-coming conference chair(s). Previous and up-coming chairs are ex officio members of the steering committee.
    • The Treasurer handles the accounts and serves as the budget officer for the organization.
    • The Social Media Coordinator works with the Vice Chair of Communication to assure a regular and professional presence of the GSSI on such forums as LinkedIn and others deemed appropriate by the advisory board.
    • The Chair of the Advisory Committee (appointed by the Steering Committee for two years from among the elected members of the AC), will convene and coordinate the activities of the Advisory Committee.

7.3 – The terms of appointment shall be as follows:

    • Chair: 2 years
    • Past Chair: 2 years
    • Chair-Elect: 2 years
    • Vice-Chairs: 2 years
    • Conference Chair: 1 year (committee 3 years)
    • Business Liaison: 2 years
    • Chair of the Advisory Committee: 2 years
    • Treasurer: on-going
    • Social Meeting Coordinator: on-going

The Vice-Chair of Elections will, in the period prior to the Annual Conference, invite members to make nominations for posts falling vacant on the Steering Committee. Nominations shall be endorsed by the nominee. Nominations for the posts of Chair and Vice-Chair shall include a short policy statement by the nominee, to be sent out together with the ballot. In the event of there being more than one nomination for a post, a ballot following the Annual Conference will be held through an electronic voting process posed on the Association’s Website. A simple plurality of votes cast is required to elect a member of the Steering Committee. In the case of equal number of votes for a given post, the election process will be repeated until one candidate receives the plurality.

Each member of the association is entitled to make a nomination for any post. Self-nominations are acceptable. Each member of the association is entitled to cast one vote for the election of any member of the Steering Committee and Advisory Committee and on such other issues as the Steering Committee may choose to submit to a vote. Each member present at the General Assembly is entitled to vote on all issues presented to the Assembly by either the Steering Committee or by the members.

8.1 – The structure and the amount of the fees payable by the members are fixed by the Steering Committee and submitted to the General Assembly for approval.

8.2 – Payment of the membership fee includes the right to receive the Journal of Selling and Major Account Management, web forum of the association, provided the association maintains its relationship with the journal and hosts a web forum, and to participate in the events organised by the organisation subject to the modalities decided by the Steering Committee.

8.3 – The accounting year of the Association corresponds to the civil year.

The following rules must be respected if the statutes are to be modified:

    • (a) Proposals to modify the statutes can be forwarded by the Steering Committee or by at least 20% of the members. Alternatively, proposals may be submitted by the Steering Committee.
    • (b) The Steering Committee must vote on and if approved submit the proposal for modification as it was formulated to the members at least three months before the date of the General Assembly convened to rule on this modification.
    • (c) The proposal or all modifications thereof can only be adopted if they attain a majority of the votes of the members present or represented. These modifications will only become effective after the requirements of article 3 of the law of the 25 October 1919 have been fulfilled.

The General Assembly can decide to dissolve the association, in accordance with the rules laid down for the modification of the statutes. If the dissolution is agreed, the General Assembly appoints an official liquidator, determines his powers and allots possible surplus from liquidation to a beneficiary (s) that should pursue similar objectives to those of the association.