Development and validity of a new domain-specific scale for the measurement of work-related collective efficacy

After reviewing current scales of collective efficacy we present a new domain-specific scale that taps collective efficacy in work-related cooperation. The 8-item-scale was developed as part of a quasi-longitudinal study on knowledge cooperation in enterprises. Reliability and validity indicators were tested in a medium-sized industrial company in a sample of N = 101 employees (study 1) and tested 2 years later in a second sample from the same firm of N= 93 employees (study 2). The scale turned out to be homogeneous and reliable. Confirmatory factor analysis confirmed a one-dimensional structure of the new scale with significant path coefficients for both studies. An additional principal component analysis was also one-factorial (41 % of variance). The particular role of work-related collective efficacy for knowledge-intensive tasks in knowledge cooperation and knowledge management is discussed.