Handbook of Management Scales/Commercial uncertainty

Commercial uncertainty (= technological uncertainty) (composite reliability = 0.91)

Description

Survey items were developed from commonly accepted theoretical definitions and were partially influenced by the efforts of other researchers. The authors used past research to obtain general insights about the constructs as opposed to specific items. Business school professors and doctoral students who were familiar with the literature on which the empirical measures were based or who had expertise in survey design critically assessed the content validity of each item. The instrument was then pilot-tested with 30 responses from executives who had been involved in similar types of partnerships. Results from the pilot sample enabled the authors to purify the measures.

Definition

Commercial uncertainty refers to the uncertainty associated with the commercial success of a technology.

Items

• It was questionable whether this technology would be a commercial success.
• Our firm was confident that this technology would achieve our market goals. (R)
• We were certain this technology would meet our technical expectations. (R)
• We were certain this technology would meet customer demands. (R)
• It was not clear whether this technology would work as it was intended technologically.
• Our firm was confident that this technology would perform as it was originally designed. (R)

Source

• Steensma/Corley (2000): On the performance of technology-sourcing partnerships: The interaction between partner interdependence and technology attributes. Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 43, No. 6, pp. 1045-1067.