Asset Specificity - Operationalization

Operationalization

Asset specificity is usually operationalized using one of the following schemes.

Anderson and Coughlan (1987): five items. Questions 2 and 3 refer to the type and duration of training you supply to employees of the firms that purchase your product.

  1. How much training at the sales office do you provide to salesmen who handle your product? 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 (0 = no training, 5 = very high level of training)
  2. How much training do you give employees of purchasers at their installation? 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 (0 = very little training, 5 = very high level of training)
  3. How much training do you give employees of purchasers in your U.S. facilities? 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 (0 = very little training, 5 = very high level of training)
  4. How many years of education do you require for sales employees to be qualified to handle this product? (Example: bachelor's degree coded as 16 years of education)
  5. How much sales experience do you require for salesmen to handle this product? (coded as the number of months of experience required)

Klein et al. (1990): six items, 7-point scale (1 = completely disagree, 7 = completely agree).

  1. It is difficult for an outsider to learn our ways of doing things.
  2. To be effective, a salesman has to take a lot of time to get to know the customers.
  3. It takes a long time for a salesman to learn about this product thoroughly.
  4. A salesman's inside information on our procedures would be very helpful to our competitors.
  5. Specialized facilities are needed to market this product.
  6. A large investment in equipment and facilities is needed to market this product.

Zaheer and Venkatraman (1994): three items, 7-point scale (1 = relatively similar to other carriers, 7 = significantly customized for the focal interfaced carrier). Please indicate the extent to which the following aspects of your commercial lines business of the focal carrier are relatively similar to other carriers, or are significantly different from other carriers.

  1. The skill level of the employees working on the interfaced carrier's business.
  2. The extent of training needed.
  3. The workflows and routines of the interfaced carrier.

Christiaanse and Venkatraman (2002): two items, 7-point scale. The extent of travel agency's agreement with the following scale:

  1. It has taken a lot of time and effort for us to learn the key factors of the focal carrier's organization for us to be effective.
  2. Our sales people have spent much time and effort learning the skills needed to sell this specific product.

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