Organisational routines and interfirm collaboration : measurement dilemmas and recommendations for further research steps

Abstract

Purpose: The paper aims mainly to present the results and consequences of measurement inaccuracies and to make recommendations for further research. Design/Methodology/Approach: We began our research by providing studies on the theoretical origins of constructs in survey questions. Specifically, we studied the theorems and related constructs. We then reviewed the measurement of the constructs, selecting reliable scales. We conducted an initial study on 101 firms in Poland randomly selected from the high-technology sector, specifically the IT sector. We selected an industry in which inter-firm relationships are common. They are distinguished by high innovation, short product and process life cycles and therefor require many relationships to meet customer expectations. The respondents were top managers. The inclusive criterion was their employment of at least five employees. Collected data were analysed with Statistica 13 software (TIBCO Software Inc. (2017). Findings: After solving measurement dilemmas we made methodological recommendations regarding population structure and scales revealing particular constructs. Originality/Value: The implementation of the recommendations aforementioned would allow to formulate and verify hypotheses resulting from the propositions we have formulated while proposing our research framework. Additionally, we obtained a new Propensity to Collaborate scale as the questions referred to particular dimensions joined in quite different groups. Hence, one item has been deleted and the dimensions have been combined. We propose to check the new scale (without dimensions) in the future research.