Handbook of Management Scales/Uniqueness

Uniqueness (composite reliability = 0.76) 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 Technological uniqueness refers to the current prevalence of a technology within an industry. Items Many of our competitors had fundamentally similar technology. (R) There were a limited number of organizations that possessed this technology. Few credible substitutes competed with this technology. This specific technology was common within the industry. (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.