A summary of the characteristics of respondents is shown in Table 3. They come from a wide range of industries
with a predominance of chemical and electrical/electronic firms. Their annual sales revenue was also widely distributed, in the anticipated medium to high range. The number of employees in each firm varied. Respondent’s hierarchical level was also widely distributed. Comparisons (using chi-square tests at p ¼ 0.05) between respondents and non-respondents were made in terms of industry representation, annual sales revenue, and the number of employees. The results suggested the absence of non-response bias