1.

Our major supplier has generally been honest

2. Our major supplier is truthful
3. Promises made by our major supplier are reliable
4. Our major supplier is open in dealing business with us
5. Our major supplier has a high degree of integrity
6. Transactions with our major supplier do not need close supervision

Communication – Communication items measure the extent to which importers in

the supplier relationship actively exchange or communicate information that
facilitates importing activities with each other. However, more specifically, this
construct measures the extent to which an importer communicates business changes
to the suppliers, information that may benefit one another, information about events
and changes in the market, frequency of contact, and information about new
possibilities and problems if they arise. As the domain specification of this
measurement, three items (business changes to the suppliers, information that may
benefit one another, information about events and changes in the market) were drawn
from Coote et al.’s (2003) study where the alpha reliability score was reported as .85.
Two additional items (frequency of contact, and information about new possibilities
and problems if they arise) were extracted from Zineldin and Jonsson’s (2000) study
Md._Abu_Saleh_Thesis 2006
to cover the additional facets in the measurement domain. Most of the items were
used in other studies (Mohr et al., 1996; Mohr and Sohi, 1995; Selnes, 1998). All
questionnaire items for this construct are shown below.

1. We keep our supplier informed about changes in our business

2. Our major supplier and our company exchange information that may
benefit both
3. This supplier and our company keep each other informed about events and
changes in the market
4. Our major supplier frequently discusses and informs us about new
possibilities for business development
5. Our major supplier informs us immediately if any problem arises

Cultural similarity – This measure captures the import managers’ perception

regarding the extent of socio-business cultural similarity with their suppliers. This
construct measure represents the extent to which an import manager perceives the
similarity between the importer and supplier with respect to their style of
greeting/address, business practice, legal formalities that influence business
negotiations, standard of ethics, and the uses of contracts and agreements in business.
This was measured differently in the extant literature. Hofstede’s (1980) country

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