Handbook of Management Scales/Threat of opportunism

Threat of opportunism (CR = 0.67) edit

Description edit

This scale was based on Souder & Shrivastava (1985) and Simonin (1991).

Definition edit

In the article, the threat of opportunism refers to the perceived threat of opportunism associated with a sourcing decision.

Items edit

Respondents indicated agreement with the first statement in each pair with a rating of 1 and agreement with the second statement with a rating of 7.

  • Collaborating or sourcing this technology externally places our firm at risk of being unfairly taken advantage of by these partner firms. / There is little risk of being unfairly taken advantage of by partner firms or suppliers of similar technology. (R)
  • Our firm could expect complete honesty from potential partners and suppliers associated with this technology. / Our firm would need to assume that the partners and suppliers associated with this technology would act dishonestly if given the opportunity.
  • Sourcing this technology externally through licensing or collaborative development would involve extensive contracting and managerial oversight. / Minimal contracting and oversight would he required for acquiring this technology from an external source.

Source edit

  • Steensma & Corley (2001) Organizational Context as a Moderator of Theories on Firm Boundaries for Technology Sourcing. Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 44, No. 2, pp. 271-291.

Discussion edit

The reliability is a bit too low (CR < 0.7).