closely following previous studies, were
used to measure each construct. The items that were used to
assess the latent constructs are reported in the Appendix. All
items were measured on a 7-point Likert scale and were similar
for 3PL provider sand clients. The items used to measure contract
formality were adopted from Atkin andRinehart(2006). According to Sankaran etal.(2002), the thoroughness during contract
negotiations has various indicators. Sankaran etal.(2002) identified
these indicators in a qualitative study. We used three of the
five indicators of Sankaran etal.(2002) and adapted them so that
they could be measured on a 7-point Likert scale and thus be used
in our quantitative study. We deemed the other indicators of
Sankaran etal.(2002) not suitable for our study: one indicator
was too complex and one indicator was only applicable to 3PL
providers and not clients. The survey items assessing trust and
commitment were adopted from Morgan and Hunt(1994).
Relationship effectiveness was measured with a scale based on
the work of Ruekert and Walker(1987), which was also used by
Chimhanzi andMorgan (2005) in their research.