Handbook of Management Scales

The Handbook of Management Scales is a collection of previously used multi-item scales to measure constructs in empirical management research literature.

Critical Introduction
The Handbook of Management Scales was first edited by A. Wieland in 2010 and has since grown. It contains a collection of measurement scales, which are the basis for empirical research. Unfortunately, management researchers often neglect the importance of good scales. This leads to models with a high goodness-of-fit but with poor reliabiliy and validity. Construct definition and content validity are probably the most important and most neglected criteria to ensure that a scale really measures what it is intended to measure. Expert judges can help to improve content validity by capturing all important aspects that together encircle a construct.

The deletion of scale items (often called “scale purification”) may improve tau-equivalent reliability ($$\rho_{T}$$) (= Cronbach's $$\alpha$$) or congeneric reliability ($$\rho_{C}$$) (= composite reliability) or the statistical performance indicators of a model. However, important aspects to be measured may then disappear and this can bias the scale into a new direction. Content validity may then be destroyed and must therefore carefully be observed all along the scale purification process. Judges could also be asked to label a new construct giving them the items retained after scale purification to compare the judgement to the intended construct. Content validity may also be improved by adding missing aspects to an existing scale or by merging two existing scales.

Reflective scales often prevail in management research. But researchers should know when to use reflective and when to use formative scales. Too often do researchers specify a model with a reflective scale that is actually formative. Likert scales and semantic differential scales are probably the most common scales in management research. However, researchers often fail to weigh the pros and cons of such scales. Researchers should take more time to think about the appropriate measurement. The Handbook of Management Scales helps to find previously used scales, but will not release the researcher from carefully testing the scales in terms of reliability and validity before using them.

You are invited to contribute by adding new multi-item metrics (edit this page) to this Scales Handbook. Scales from high-ranked journals are preferred that are developed in a systematic scale development process and that are tested to measure a construct in terms of specification (reflective vs. formative), dimensionality, reliability, and validity (including content, convergent, discriminant, and nomological validity). For each scale at least its objective items, source, and, if available, reliability (e.g. tau-equivalent reliability, congeneric reliability, item reliability, average variance extracted) are listed.

A

 * Ability
 * Accountability
 * Achievement orientation
 * Acquiring tacit knowledge through offshore outsourcing
 * Advanced manufacturing technology: administrative
 * Advanced manufacturing technology: design
 * Advanced manufacturing technology: manufacturing
 * Advocacy participation
 * Affect
 * Agility
 * Agreement on vision and goals
 * Alliance performance
 * Alliance portfolio coordination
 * Alliance portfolio performance
 * Alliance proactiveness
 * Alliance structures
 * Alliance transformation
 * Ambidexterity
 * Ambiguity intolerance
 * Amorality
 * Apparent sincerity
 * Architectural innovation
 * Asset specificity
 * Attention focusing

B

 * Balanced processing
 * Benchmarking
 * Benevolence
 * Business process skills
 * Buyer assistance
 * Buyer communication
 * Buyer dependence
 * Buyer financial performance
 * Buyer operational performance
 * Buyer's knowledge of supplier's past performance
 * Buying firm's expectation of relationship continuity
 * Buying firm's top management support

C

 * Capability development
 * Capability evaluation
 * Cellular layout
 * Change disposition
 * Change readiness
 * Change initiation - Change success
 * Change initiation - The degree of dissatisfaction with the status quo
 * Change initiation - Clarity and strength of vision of change
 * Change initiation - Clarity of actions towards preferred future state
 * Change initiation - Resistance to change
 * Cleanliness and organization
 * Codification
 * Collective identification
 * Collectivism
 * Commercial uncertainty
 * Commitment
 * Common benefit
 * Communication
 * Communication of manufacturing strategy
 * Community-oriented CSR
 * Comparative organizational performance
 * Competence
 * Competence-enhancing, competence-destroying innovation
 * Competitive and market intelligence
 * Competitive intensity
 * Competitive priorities
 * Competitive priority: cost
 * Competitive priority: delivery
 * Competitive priority: flexibility
 * Competitive priority: quality
 * Conflict management
 * Conflict resolution
 * Consensus on appropriation
 * Consumer ethnocentrism
 * Consumer innovativeness
 * Continuous flow
 * Continuous improvement
 * Contractual completeness
 * Contractual safeguarding
 * Contribution
 * Cooperation
 * Cooperation-based firm performance
 * Cooperation-based learning
 * Coordinated logistics
 * Coordination flexibility in contingent worker skills and behaviors
 * Coordination flexibility in employee skills and behaviors
 * Coordination flexibility in HR practices
 * Coordination of decision making
 * Cost performance
 * Creative work-family management
 * Credibility
 * Cross-functional integration
 * Cross-functional product design
 * Cross-functional teams
 * Customer focus
 * Customer interaction
 * Customer involvement
 * Customer orientation
 * Customer responsiveness
 * Customer satisfaction
 * Customer-oriented CSR

D

 * Delivery performance
 * Demand uncertainty
 * Dependence
 * Design quality management
 * Desire for control
 * Desire for status
 * Disruption impact
 * Distribution service performance
 * Distributive justice
 * Distrust of others

E

 * Ease of use
 * Effect uncertainty
 * Emotional support
 * Employee empowerment
 * Employee involvement
 * Employee relations
 * Employee training
 * Employee-oriented CSR
 * ERP training
 * Estimated return on investment
 * Executive commitment
 * Exposure to external turbulence
 * Extension

F

 * Faithfulness of appropriation
 * Familiarity
 * Feedback
 * Feedback self-efficacy
 * Financial incentives
 * Firm resilience
 * Firm risk preference
 * Firm's financial performance over the past 5 years
 * Flexibility performance
 * Fluid partnering
 * Formal control
 * Functional participation

G

 * Gender equality
 * General outsourcing
 * Generational consolidation
 * Generational expansion
 * Good employer
 * Group efficacy
 * Group esteem
 * Group identification
 * Growth

H

 * Human capital

I

 * Imitability
 * Impact
 * Independence
 * Ingratiation
 * Information acquisition
 * Information and communication technologies implementation
 * Information distribution
 * Information integration
 * Information interpretation
 * Information sharing
 * Information sharing quality
 * Information technology
 * Information technology experience
 * Informational justice
 * Innovativeness
 * Instrumental support
 * Integration
 * Integrity
 * Intelligence dissemination
 * Intelligence generation
 * Interdependence
 * Interfunctional design process
 * Internal quality information usage
 * Internal task routines
 * Internalized moral perspective
 * Internet quality
 * Interorganizational altruism
 * Interorganizational compliance
 * Interorganizational coordination
 * Interorganizational learning
 * Interorganizational loyalty
 * Interorganizational tolerance
 * Interpersonal influence
 * Interpersonal justice
 * Interpretation
 * Intimidation
 * Intuition
 * IT skills

J

 * JIT delivery by suppliers

K

 * Knowledge channels

L

 * Leader-member exchange
 * Leadership
 * Leadership involvement in quality
 * Learning
 * Liquidity
 * Location flexibility
 * Logistics complexity
 * Logistics integration
 * Long-term relationship
 * Loyalty

M

 * Management leadership
 * Management style
 * Manufacturing process innovation implementation performance
 * Market acuity
 * Market volatility
 * Marketing proficiency
 * Marketing routines
 * Marketing synergy
 * Masculinity
 * Meaning
 * Measurement system
 * Mobility flexibility
 * Multi-functional employees
 * Mutual trust

N

 * Natural environment-oriented CSR
 * New application technology
 * New competence acquisition
 * New product quality
 * New service development
 * New service development culture
 * New service development process focus
 * New service development strategy
 * Network technology
 * Networking ability

O

 * Obedience
 * Offline store atmosphere
 * Offline store merchandise
 * Offline store layout
 * Offline store service
 * Online store atmosphere
 * Online store merchandise
 * Online store navigation
 * Online store service
 * Opinion leadership
 * Opinion seeking
 * Opportunity exploitation
 * Opportunity for sustainable advantage
 * Opportunity recognition
 * Organization-based self-esteem
 * Organizational memory
 * Organizational resilience
 * Organizational responsiveness
 * Output control
 * Outsourcing intent

P

 * Partner's value proposition
 * Perceived delegation
 * Perceived product commercial success
 * Performance
 * Performance measurement system design for turbulence (PMS design for turbulence)
 * Person–group fit
 * Power
 * Private benefit, competition
 * Private benefit, cooperation
 * Proactive cost improvement
 * Proactive improvement
 * Proactive performance improvement
 * Proactiveness
 * Procedural justice
 * Process control
 * Process formalization
 * Process management
 * Processes and equipment development
 * Product competitive advantage
 * Product complexity
 * Product or service design
 * Product quality
 * Professional respect
 * Profitability
 * Product and service quality
 * Product design simplicity
 * Project management
 * Prudence
 * Pull
 * Purchase intention

Q

 * Quality data and reporting
 * Quality improvement rewards
 * Quality leadership
 * Quality of information exchanged
 * Quality performance

R

 * Radical innovation
 * Range flexibility
 * Recognize organizational differences
 * Recruiting and selection for flexible employees
 * Referral
 * Relational capital
 * Relational commitment
 * Relational embeddedness
 * Relational identification
 * Relational transparency
 * Relationship management
 * Reliable and financially strong company
 * Resource flexibility in employee skills and behaviors
 * Resource flexibility in HR practices
 * Resource reconfiguration
 * Response uncertainty
 * Responsiveness
 * Retention
 * Reward system
 * Risk and reward sharing
 * Risk aversion
 * Risk management infrastructure
 * Risk taking
 * Robustness
 * Role ambiguity
 * Role model

S

 * Sales performance
 * Schedule flexibility
 * Score keeping
 * Search for new technologies
 * Selection for teamwork potential
 * Self-awareness
 * Self-determination
 * Servant leadership
 * Service culture
 * Service processes
 * Service quality
 * Service standards
 * Set up time reduction
 * Shareholder-oriented CSR
 * Skepticism
 * Social and environmental responsibility
 * Social astuteness
 * Social awareness
 * Social cohesion
 * Social control
 * Social inequality
 * Social participation
 * Specific assets
 * State uncertainty
 * Statistical process control
 * Statistical process control usage
 * Stock market performance
 * Strategic fit
 * Strategic IT planning
 * Strategic purchasing
 * Strategic risk assessment
 * Supervisee trust
 * Supervisor accessibility
 * Supervisory interaction facilitation
 * Supplication
 * Supplier commitment
 * Supplier development
 * Supplier evaluation systems
 * Supplier feedback
 * Supplier involvement
 * Supplier operational performance
 * Supplier performance
 * Supplier performance improvement
 * Supplier quality management
 * Supplier relationship
 * Supplier-oriented CSR
 * Supplier's technical influence
 * Supply base availability
 * Supply base reduction
 * Supply chain disruption orientation
 * Supply network structure
 * Supply uncertainty
 * Switching costs

T

 * Task cohesion
 * Task and work responsibilities
 * Team performance
 * Team psychological safety
 * Teamwork
 * Technical exchanges
 * Technical proficiency
 * Technical skills
 * Technical synergy
 * Technological uncertainty
 * Technology transfer
 * Technology uncertainty
 * Threat of commercial failure
 * Threat of opportunism
 * Time savings
 * Top management commitment
 * Top management support
 * Total productive and preventive maintenance
 * Tradition
 * Training
 * Transaction-specific supplier development activities
 * Trust

U

 * Uniqueness
 * Usefulness
 * Utility

V

 * Value orientation

W

 * Willingness to transact
 * Word of mouth
 * Worker expertise

Multidimensional constructs
The list in the previous section contains scales to measure constructs that were often conceptualized as dimensions of multidimensional constructs (mostly second-order constructs). The following list contains the name of multidimensional constructs and the names of their dimensions.

A

 * Absorptive Capacity: administrative, design, manufacturing
 * Advanced manufacturing technology: administrative, design, manufacturing
 * Alliance management capability: Interorganizational coordination, Alliance portfolio coordination, Interorganizational learning, Alliance proactiveness, Alliance transformation
 * Authentic leadership: self-awareness, relational transparency, internalized moral perspective, balanced processing

B

 * Business-to-business seller competence (B2B-SC): technical skills, change disposition, conflict management, market acuity, coordinated logistics, knowledge channels, fluid partnering

C

 * Competitive priority: cost, delivery, flexibility, quality
 * Control: formal control, social control
 * Corporate stakeholder responsibility (CStR): community-oriented CSR, natural environment-oriented CSR, employee-oriented CSR, supplier-oriented CSR, customer-oriented CSR, shareholder-oriented CSR
 * Customer-based corporate reputation: customer orientation, good employer, reliable and financially strong company, product and service quality, social and environmental responsibility

D

 * Driving forces: Customer focus, Competitive priorities, Strategic purchasing, Top management support, Information technology

E

 * Enterprise resource planning (ERP) competence: strategic IT planning, executive commitment, project management, IT skills, business process skills, ERP training, learning, change readiness
 * Entrepreneurial orientation: innovativeness, proactiveness
 * Environmental uncertainty: Supply uncertainty, Demand uncertainty, Technology uncertainty

F

 * Family supportive supervisor behaviors (FSSB): emotional support, instrumental support, role modeling behaviors, creative work-family management
 * Feedback orientation scale (FOS): utility, accountability, social awareness, feedback self-efficacy

G

 * Group identification: relational identification, collective identification

H

 * HR flexibility: resource flexibility in HR practices, resource flexibility in employee skills and behaviors, coordination flexibility in HR practices, coordination flexibility in contingent worker skills and behaviors, coordination flexibility in employee skills and behaviors
 * Human resource policy: human capital, reward system

I

 * Idiosyncratic deals (i-deals): task and work responsibilities, schedule flexibility, location flexibility, financial incentives
 * Integrated quality management: top management commitment, customer focus, supplier quality management, design quality management, benchmarking, SPC usage, internal quality information usage, employee empowerment, employee involvement, employee training, product quality, supplier performance
 * Intellectual capital: Worker expertise, information sharing quality, team psychological safety
 * Interorganizational citizenship behaviors (ICBs): interorganizational altruism, interorganizational tolerance, interorganizational loyalty, interorganizational compliance

J

 * Justice: procedual, distributive, interpersonal, informational justice
 * Job burnout: Emotional Exhaustion, Depersonalization, Reduced Personal Accomplishment

L

 * Leader-member exchange (LMX): affect, loyalty, contribution, professional respect
 * Lean production: continuous flow, customer involvement, employee involvement, JIT delivery by suppliers, pull, set up time reduction, statistical process control, supplier development, supplier feedback, total productive/preventive maintenance

M

 * Machiavellian personality scale (MPS): distrust of others, amorality, desire for control, desire for status
 * Market focus: market acuity, relationship management, new service development
 * Market orientation scale (MO): intelligence generation, intelligence dissemination, responsiveness
 * Metrics and standards: measurement system, service standards

N

 * New service development competence: new service development process focus, market acuity, new service development strategy, new service development culture, information technology experience

O

 * Organizational citizenship behavior (OCB): loyalty, obedience, social participation, advocacy participation, functional participation
 * Organizational learning: information acquisition, information distribution, information interpretation, information integration, organizational memory
 * Organizational performance: liquidity, profitability, growth, stock market performance
 * Organizational change success prediction: Change initiation - Change success, Change initiation - The degree of dissatisfaction with the status quo, Change initiation - Clarity and strength of vision of change, Change initiation - Clarity of actions towards preferred future state, Change initiation - Resistance to change

P

 * Perceived environmental uncertainty (PEU): state uncertainty, effect uncertainty, response uncertainty
 * Performance: quality performance, delivery performance, flexibility performance, cost performance
 * Performance measurement system use focus: Attention focusing, Score keeping
 * Personal cultural orientations (PCO): independence, interdependence, power, social inequality, masculinity, gender equality, risk aversion, ambiguity intolerance, tradition, prudence
 * Political skill inventory (PSI): social astuteness, interpersonal influence, networking ability, apparent sincerity
 * Process management: information and communication technologies implementation, service processes
 * Psychological empowerment in the workplace: meaning, competence, self-determination, impact

Q

 * Quality management practices: customer focus, employee relations, management leadership, process management, product/service design, quality data and reporting, supplier quality management, training

R

 * Relational competencies: communication, cooperation, integration
 * Resilience: agility, robustness

S

 * Servant leadership:
 * Service climate: leadership, service culture, value orientation
 * Service orientation (third-order construct): service climate, market focus, process management, human resource policy, metrics and standard
 * Supply chain: Supply network structure, Supply base reduction, Long-term relationship, Communication, Cross-functional teams, Supplier involvement, Logistics integration
 * Supply chain performance: Supplier operational performance, Buyer operational performance, Buyer financial performance

T

 * Team learning: intuition, interpretation, integration, codification
 * Technology acceptance model (TAM): ease of use, usefulness
 * Trustworthiness: ability, benevolence, integrity

V

 * Value creation in interfirm alliances: common benefit, private benefit, cooperation, private benefit, competition

Example
The following scale example can be used, if you want to add a new scale (click edit this page to add a new one).


 * Example

Journals
Rankings are recommended to assess the quality of a journal. The better the quality of a journal the more likely is a good quality of a scale published in it. Widely accepted rankings are the German VHB-JOURQUAL and the British CABS Academic Journal Guide, although the latter ranking has previously been criticized (McKinnon, 2013). In this handbook scales are used from various high-ranked management journals, e.g.


 * Academy of Management Journal
 * Decision Sciences
 * Information Systems Research
 * International Journal of Logistics Management
 * International Journal of Operations & Production Management
 * International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management
 * Journal of Business Logistics
 * Journal of Business Ethics
 * Journal of Management
 * Journal of Marketing
 * Journal of Operations Management
 * Journal of Supply Chain Management
 * Leadership Quarterly
 * Management Science
 * Organizational Research Methods
 * Production and Operations Management
 * Supply Chain Management: An International Journal
 * Strategic Management Journal

Recommended literature

 * MacKenzie et al. (2011): Construct Measurement and Validation Procedures in MIS and Behavioral Research: Integrating New and Existing Techniques. MIS Quarterly, Vol. 35, No. 2, pp. 293-334.

Related Handbooks

 * Bearden et al. (2010): Handbook of Marketing Scales: Multi-Item Measures for Marketing and Consumer Behavior Research. Sage. ISBN 1412980186
 * Bruner II, Gordon C. (2013): Marketing Scales Handbook, Volume 7. GCBII Productions, LLC. ISBN 0615846068
 * Keller et al. (2002): A Summary and Analysis of Multi-Item Scales Used in Logistics Research. Journal of Business Logistics, Vol. 23, No. 2, pp. 83–119.
 * Keller et al. (2013): A Compendium of Multi-Item Scales Utilized in Logistics Research (2001–10): Progress Achieved Since Publication of the 1973–2000 Compendium. Journal of Business Logistics, Vol. 34, No. 2, pp. 85–93.
 * Roth et al. (2007): Handbook of Metrics for Research in Operations Management: Multi-item Measurement Scales and Objective Items. Sage. ISBN 1412954517
 * Schäffer (2008): Management Accounting & Control Scales Handbook. Research in Management Accounting & Control Series. Deutscher Universitätsverlag. ISBN 3835005251