Measuring Uncertainty within Organizational Relationships

Abstract

The article examines the CL7 instrument as a potential measurement for organizational researchers pursuing their investigations in the area of relational uncertainty and uncertainty reduction. The article includes an overview of the CLUES (CL7) instrument, a discussion of the instrument's reliability and validity, and its application to organizational communication research. The article suggests that the CL7 instrument has demonstrated unidimensionality in low-context cultures, high reliability, and known validity in a wide array of relational types.

Rethinking guanxi and performance: Understanding the dark side of Sino–U.S. business relationships

“…Uncertainty was measured using the scale developed by Glatterbuck (1976) and later modified by Jorgensen and Petelle (1992). The scale contains seven items relating to the ability to predict a supplier's behavior, certainty that the supplier likes to do business with this buyer, the sharing of similar values, accuracy in predicting the supplier's attitude, ability to predict the supplier's preference, knowing the supplier and difficulty in predicting the future of the relationship (reverse scaled).…”

The boundary-spanning role of a cooperative support organization: managing the paradox of stability and change in non-traditional organizations

“…Individuals experiencing novel encounters are often motivated to seek information to reduce uncertainty (Berger & Calabrese, 1975). In organizations, communication can provide stability in uncertain situations and enable members to make sense of critical events (Weick, 1979;Kramer, 1994;Jorgensen & Patelle, 1992). Sufficient task information is necessary to perform appropriately, clarify role expectations, and develop appropriate scripts and schemas to understand and participate in social systems (Jablin, 1987).…”