Handbook of Management Scales/Technological uncertainty

Description
Although certain items of some scales were developed specifically for the Japanese context, many were derived from existing validated scales. Respondents answered all questions using a Likert-type scale ranging from 0 to 10; field research suggested that an 11-point scale was appropriate for studying Japanese management practices because a 100 percent grading system is used in most Japanese schools.

Definition
Perceived technological uncertainty refers to an individual's perception that he or she is unable to accurately predict or completely understand some aspect of the technological environment.

Items
We list below some statements about possible technological uncertainties. To what extent do you agree/disagree with each of the following statements about the uncertainties pertaining to this selected development project? (0 = strongly disagree, 10 = strongly agree)


 * The technology involved in this project was a "well-developed science," i.e., there was a well-developed body of scientific know-how, there were many well-known cause and effect relationships and the predictive state-of-the-art is very high. (reverse-coded) (0.65)
 * The rates (speed and pace) of the changes of the technology employed in this project were very unpredictable. (0.73)
 * The technology used in this product was changing rapidly. (0.88)
 * The changes in R&D technology for this project was very unpredictable. (0.93)
 * The technology involved in this project was an "undeveloped science," i.e., the technology was not well understood, the phenomena were not well-defined and the predictive state-of-art was very low. There was much trial and error research. (1.00)
 * It was very difficult to predict where the technology used in this product will be in the next 2 to 3 years. (0.99)

Source

 * Song/Montoya-Weiss (2001): The Effect of Perceived Technological Uncertainty on Japanese New Product Development. Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 44, No. 1, pp. 61-80.

Comments
"Uncertainty" might have two dimensions: dynamism and complexity. Some items are quite long.

Related Scales

 * Technology uncertainty