Executives’ Perceptions of Uncertainty Sources: A Numerical Taxonomy and Underlying Dimensions

Managing directors and executive vice presidents in Hong Kong were asked to identify all sources of uncertainty facing their firms. They later made similarity judgments by grouping similar uncertainty sources. We employed multidimensional scaling (MDS) to determine the underlying dimensions used by the executives when distinguishing among uncertainty sources. Cluster analysis then produced a taxonomy of uncertainty sources. This classification, based directly on executive perceptions, encompasses uncertainties that are both external and internal to the firm. We discuss the implications of our results.