The product innovation, quality and competitive pricing items were measured (compared with the average in the industry) using 7- point scales, where 1 = much below, 2 = moderately below, 3 = slightly below, 4 = about average, 5 = slightly above, 6 = moderately above and 7 = much above. Numerous other empirical studies (e.g., Rondeau, Vonderembse and Ragu-Nathan 2000; Koufteros, Vonderembse and Doll 2001, 2002a,b; Koufteros, Vonderembse and Jayaram 2005; Koufteros and Marcoulides 2006) have used similar scales.