Handbook of Management Scales/Relational embeddedness

Relational embeddedness (alpha = 0.90)

Description

To measure the construct, the authors relied on scale items previously used by Kale et al. (2000), and McEvily & Marcus (2005).

Definition

Relational embeddedness defines the degree to which alliance relationships are driven by social attachment and interpersonal ties (Granovetter, 1985).

Items

In this alliance, employees from both firms:

• Engage in joint field activities (e.g., trade shows, marketing campaigns, conferences, coordinated presale, training). (0.91)
• Meet frequently to work together on joint activities. (0.93)
• Have developed good interpersonal relationships (chemistry) that facilitate joint activities. (0.90)

Source

• Lavie et al. (2012): Organizational Differences, Relational Mechanisms, and Alliance Performance. Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 33, No. 13, pp. 1453–1479

Comments

All items contain the words "joint activities", indicating that embeddedness is closely defined by this aspect. However, this term seems to be vague, as the very different examples in the first item demonstrate.

Related Scales

• Relational commitment