Assessing Common Method Bias: Problems with the ULMC Technique

This appendix outlines some of the more prevalent techniques for controlling and for detecting common method bias. These include (1) Harman’s single factor test (Podsakoff et al. 2003), (2) partial correlation technique (Podsakoff et al. 2003), (3) multitrait–multimethod (MMTM) (Shadish et al. 2002), (4) the correlation marker technique, (5) confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) marker technique (Lindell and Whitney 2001), and (6) unmeasured latent method construct (ULMC) technique (Richardson et al. 2009). Table A1 includes descriptions of each CMB technique, their limitations and associated references. For a complete review of these techniques see Podsakoff et al. (2003), Richardson et al. (2009), and Williams et al. (2010). Rather than revisit in detail these techniques, which are familiar to IS researchers, this research note focuses on describing the ULMC technique (Richardson et al. 2009) and evaluating its ability to detect CMB when using PLS.