Based on Churchill’s (1979) procedure, we applied a multi-phase iterative procedure
to develop the research constructs. First, through extensive literature reviews in multiple
academic fields including operations, management information systems, and marketing,
we designed several measures. Second, we conducted field interviews with two academics
and four practitioners to ensure the conceptual and theoretical equivalence of the
constructs and to evaluate the appropriateness of the scales. These in-depth interviews
helped us investigate emergent phenomena and derive appropriate constructs and
explanations, as well as uncover key constructs and associated relationships. Conducting
interviews as a prelude to survey-based research also provides grounded and qualitative
evidence regarding the validity of key variables. Third, through content analyses of the
interview data, we generated new items for the theoretical constructs. From these newly
generated items, we developed an initial pool of questionnaire items for the survey.