Conceptualization of ‘Relational Coordination’ as Reflective-Formative Higher-Order Latent Construct

Abstract

Relational Coordination (RC) is found to be positively associated with variety of organization outcomes (e.g., quality and efficiency) and outcomes for worker (e.g., engagement & job satisfaction). Purpose of this study was to assess the psychometric properties of RC while conceptualizing it as a type II reflective-formative higher order latent construct. Using quota sampling procedure, data was gathered from employees of healthcare sector of Peshawar, Pakistan. Results of analysis using embedded two-stage approach, revealed that RC can be conceptualized as higher order latent construct, with Relational Dimension and Communication Dimension as its lower order constructs, that form overall domain of the construct. The findings imply that, while linking RC to its antecedents and/or outcomes, instead of computing RC scores via linear summation and average, it should be conceptualized as a latent construct. The study successfully applied PLS-SEM in a new context as prior literature has not analyzed RC as latent construct, particularly in the context of healthcare.

Keywords: Relational Coordination, Latent Construct, Higher-Order-Construct, Reflective-Formative, PLS-SEM