Interorganizational Trust: Origins,Dysfunctions and Regulation of Rigidities

This conceptual paper extends research on the downsides of developing trust to partners in interorganizational relationships. The idea developed captures that, although interorganizational trust generates benefits, a parallel process also produces undesired rigidities. Firms' flexibility in meeting a changing environment may thus be hampered rather than enabled by the created interorganizational relationship. First, we theorize on the micro‐processes of how and why such rigidities develop already at low levels of trust and accumulate in parallel to the positive trust effects as trust builds stronger over time. Second, we propose that the trust dysfunctions can be distinguished and moderated separately from trust benefits. In doing so, we identify and discuss the moderating potential of a set of handling tactics when trust develops rigidities in the relationship: competing, accommodating, avoiding, collaborating and compromising tactics. We discuss implications in relation to research on trust, inertia and interorganizational governance.     

Changing Corporate Governance in Response to Negative Media Reports

We study how organizations change their corporate governance in response to negative publicity in the media. We build on insights from the literature on interpersonal trust to theorize how organizations respond to different types of trust‐damaging information. We suggest that organizations are likely to replace key individuals involved in the corporate governance process when trust‐damaging information provides evidence of low integrity. In contrast, organizations are likely to make changes in how the governance process is organized when trust‐damaging information provides evidence of low benevolence. We test our hypotheses by using data on publicly traded Korean firms from 2006 to 2013. Our results provide general support for our argument about corporate governance changes that organizations initiate in response to different types of trust‐damaging information. We also explore how foreign ownership and state ownership moderate organizational responses to trust‐damaging information.     

Supervisory procedural justice effects: The mediating roles of cognitive and affective trust

We tested a model in which two bases of trust mediated the effects of supervisory procedural justice. Two conceptually distinct mechanisms were proposed to explain how different procedural justice effects are manifested. Structural equation modeling results using 203 individuals with matched supervisory ratings from a cross-section of organizations located in Taiwan supported our model. Cognitive trust mediated the relations of supervisory procedural justice with performance and job satisfaction, whereas affective trust mediated relations between supervisory procedural justice and helping behavior at work.     

The Origin and Role of Trust in Local Policy Elites’ Perceptions of High‐Voltage Power Line Installations in the State of Arkansas

The debate over an installation of high‐voltage power lines (HVPLs) has been intense, particularly in northwest Arkansas. Detractors claim that the installation will negatively affect both the natural environment and the local economy, which contains a large tourism component. By contrast, those in favor of installing HVPLs claim that the installation is necessary in order to reliably support the increasing demand for electric power. Using original data collected from a recent statewide Internet survey of 420 local policy elites in Arkansas, this article focuses on two key aspects. First, we examine how local policy elites’ perceptions of risks versus benefits of HVPL installation in their communities are influenced by their levels of trust toward information provided by various sources (e.g., energy industry, environmental groups, and government). Second, we utilize cultural theory to explain how the cultural worldviews of policy elites––specifically, egalitarianism, individualism, hierarchism, and fatalism––shape these levels of trust and HVPL benefit‐risk perceptions, while controlling for other factors claimed by previous literature, including levels of knowledge on energy‐related issues and demographic characteristics. In general, our analysis indicates that policy elites’ value‐oriented formation of HVPL benefit‐risk perceptions is partially due to the influence cultural values have on trust in information sources. We conclude this article by discussing broader implications for the origin and role of trust in policy elites’ decisions throughout the policy‐making process.     

Cultural Values,Trust, and Benefit‐Risk Perceptions of Hydraulic Fracturing: A Comparative Analysis of Policy Elites and the General Public

Hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) has recently become a very intensely debated process for extracting oil and gas. Supporters argue that fracking provides positive economic benefits and energy security and offers a decreased reliance on coal‐based electricity generation. Detractors claim that the fracking process may harm the environment as well as place a strain on local communities that experience new fracking operations. This study utilizes a recently conducted survey distributed to a sample of policy elites and the general public in Arkansas and Oregon to examine the role of cultural value predispositions and trust in shaping the perceptions of risks and benefits associated with fracking. Findings indicate that cultural values influence both trust and benefit‐risk perceptions of fracking for both policy elites and the general public. More specifically, we found that trust in information from various sources is derived from the intrinsic values held by an individual, which in turn impacts perceptions of related benefits and risks. We also found that while the overall pattern of relationships is similar, trust plays a larger role in the formulation of attitudes for policy elites than for the general public. We discuss the implications of the mediating role of trust in understanding value‐driven benefit‐risk perceptions, as well as the disparate role of trust between policy elites and the general public in the context of the policy‐making process for both theory and practice.     

The Influence of Feelings While Driving Regular Cars on the Perception and Acceptance of Self‐Driving Cars

Self‐driving vehicles will affect the future of transportation, but factors that underlie perception and acceptance of self‐driving cars are yet unclear. Research on feelings as information and the affect heuristic has suggested that feelings are an important source of information, especially in situations of complexity and uncertainty. In this study (N = 1,484), we investigated how feelings related to traditional driving affect risk perception, benefit perception, and trust related to self‐driving cars as well as people's acceptance of the technology. Due to limited experiences with and knowledge of self‐driving cars, we expected that feelings related to a similar experience, namely, driving regular cars, would influence judgments of self‐driving cars. Our results support this assumption. While positive feelings of enjoyment predicted higher benefit perception and trust, negative affect predicted higher risk and higher benefit perception of self‐driving cars. Feelings of control were inversely related to risk and benefit perception, which is in line with research on the affect heuristic. Furthermore, negative affect was an important source of information for judgments of use and acceptance. Interest in using a self‐driving car was also predicted by lower risk perception, higher benefit perception, and higher levels of trust in the technology. Although people's individual experiences with advanced vehicle technologies and knowledge were associated with perceptions and acceptance, many simply have never been exposed to the technology and know little about it. In the absence of this experience or knowledge, all that is left is the knowledge, experience, and feelings they have related to regular driving.     

Seeing Is Believing: The Transitory Influence of Reputation Information on E‐Commerce Trust and Decision Making

This research examines the transitory influence of reputation information on consumer decision making regarding an e‐vendor. Using social judgment theory to explain how reputation information's effect on perceptions may be fleeting, we specifically examined how user trusting beliefs related to an e‐vendor change after a simple exposure to the Web site. A total of 369 college students participated in an experiment that found that reputation information was initially strongly related to trusting beliefs regarding the e‐vendor, but a brief nonpurchase‐related exposure to the e‐vendor's Web site—that is, direct experience—reduced reputation's effects significantly. This research provides insights into why reputation information may be more important in certain circumstances than in others and enhances our understanding of how consumer decision making is affected by different purchasing contexts. This research also has implications on the design and use of trust‐building technologies.     

甄选程序公平感的来源及其负面溢出效应

如何提升应聘者的公平感、降低拒聘带来的负面溢出效应是招聘实践中亟待解决的问题。基于甄选过程采取纵向研究设计,以416名应届毕业生求职者为样本,分别在应聘前、应聘后结果知晓前和结果知晓后3个时点收集数据,运用层次回归分析方法,考察落选者报复意愿的预测变量、甄选程序公平感的来源及其中介效应。研究结果表明,工作吸引力和雇佣期望对应聘者的甄选程序公平感有显著的正向预测作用,消极情感的预测作用不显著;工作吸引力、甄选程序公平对落选者的报复意愿有显著的负向预测作用,雇佣期望和消极情感对报复意愿有正向预测作用;甄选程序公平的中介效应不显著;良好的工作设计和合理公平的招聘过程有助于降低招聘的负面溢出效应。     

Changes in the Factors Influencing Public Acceptance of Nuclear Power Generation in Japan Since the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Disaster

Public support for nuclear power generation has decreased in Japan since the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident in March 2011. This study examines how the factors influencing public acceptance of nuclear power changed after this event. The influence factors examined are perceived benefit, perceived risk, trust in the managing bodies, and pro‐environmental orientation (i.e., new ecological paradigm). This study is based on cross‐sectional data collected from two online nationwide surveys: one conducted in November 2009, before the nuclear accident, and the other in October 2011, after the accident. This study's target respondents were residents of Aomori, Miyagi, and Fukushima prefectures in the Tohoku region of Japan, as these areas were the epicenters of the Great East Japan Earthquake and the locations of nuclear power stations. After the accident, trust in the managing bodies was found to have a stronger influence on perceived risk, and pro‐environmental orientation was found to have a stronger influence on trust in the managing bodies; however, perceived benefit had a weaker positive influence on public acceptance. We also discuss the theoretical and practical implications of these findings.     

Cooperation in the Face of Conflict: Effects of Top Managers’ Trust Beliefs in their Firms’ Major Suppliers

As with any relationships, those between buying firms and their major suppliers are likely to experience situations of conflict. When facing such situations, top managers tend to approach conflict either cooperatively or competitively. However, when and why top managers tend towards cooperation or competition is far from clear. This study proposes a novel link between the theory of cooperation and competition and the discounting principle of attribution theory to argue that it is top managers’ trust beliefs in their firms’ major suppliers that influences their intended approach to conflict. Using survey data from 140 C‐level managers and business owners, the authors develop and test a model that differentiates between two attributional dimensions of trust (competence and goodwill) and the specific relational conditions that influence how these attributions operate. The results indicate that top managers’ trust in their suppliers’ competence and goodwill is, in fact, decisive in determining how they intend to approach conflict. Further, the authors demonstrate that a top manager's trust belief in the supplier's goodwill is of particular relevance in driving the top manager to cooperate in the face of conflict. However, this link seems to be contingent on the specific conditions of the buyer–supplier relationship in question.     

Trust in management and knowledge sharing: The mediating effects of fear and knowledge documentation

Knowledge sharing within and between teams is of vital importance for organizations. The influence of interpersonal trust in general and trust in management in particular on knowledge sharing is evident. However, it is not clear how the relationship between interpersonal trust and knowledge sharing works. This study provides a better understanding of that relationship by demonstrating that fear of losing one's unique value and knowledge documentation have a mediating effect on the relationship between trust in management and knowledge sharing. Specifically, trust in management increases knowledge sharing through reducing fear of losing one's unique value and improving willingness to document knowledge. These findings have important implications at both a managerial and theoretical level. For managers, this paper emphasizes the individual's central role in the knowledge sharing process in terms of knowledge documentation and fear of losing one's unique value. On the theoretical level, this study provides empirical evidence for two mechanisms that help explain the effect of trust in management on knowledge sharing. In future research, this study could be extended to include other psychosocial phenomena that enable knowledge sharing in organizations.     

Repairing and Enhancing Trust: Approaches to Reducing Organizational Trust Deficits

Abstract

Organizational scholars have long touted the myriad benefits of trust for organizational functioning and performance. Recent surveys, however, document pervasive deficits in such trust. This article addresses the important topic of reducing these deficits. Our attack on this problem is two pronged. First, we examine approaches to repairing damaged trust within organizational settings. Specifically, we assess the state of organizational theory and knowledge regarding effective approaches to trust repair after internal or external events have weakened or damaged trust in an organization. We define what is meant by trust repair, review the most common ways that trust is broken, and then explore the three major approaches that have received the most attention in trust‐repair research. We then address the question of how trust, once repaired, can be enhanced and made more durable and stable. Specifically, we examine theory and evidence regarding the antecedent conditions that support the development and maintenance of what we term presumptive trust among organizational members. We conclude the article with some recommendations of fruitful directions for future research.     

Is it All About Money? – Affective Commitment and the Difference Between Family and Non‐family Sellers in Buyouts

In this paper we investigate private equity firm perceptions of sellers’ affective deal commitment in buyout transactions. Using a sample of 174 buyouts, we test trust, goal congruence and private equity reputation as potential antecedents of perceived deal commitment. We also examine whether and how different types of sellers, family versus non‐family firms, moderate sources of perceived affective deal commitment. In sum, we find evidence that non‐financial factors play a role in buyouts, particularly for family firm sellers.     

Riding the Fifth Wave: Organizational Justice as Dependent Variable

This chapter calls attention to a paradigmatic shift in the organizational justice literature, in which fairness serves as the dependent rather than independent variable. Drawing on two taxonomic dimensions, we structure approaches to studying fairness as a consequence rather than as a cause. One dimension refers to the focal party whose reactions are being examined (the actor, the recipient, and the observer) whereas the other consists of the nature of the reaction itself (behavior, desire, and perception). We sample selectively from the nine cells emanating from the 3 × 3 classification scheme, emphasizing conceptual and empirical works that advance our understanding of fairness or connect fairness with other literatures in organizational and social psychology, such as ethics, social hierarchy, trust, self-handicapping, and construal level theory. Thus, we illustrate how the study of fairness as a dependent variable enriches not only theory and research in organizational justice, but also how it may contribute to other literatures. Additionally, we consider some of the practical implications and future research possibilities related to studying fairness as a dependent variable.     

Building Trusting Multicultural Organizations: Rethinking the Influence of Culture on Interpersonal Trust Development in the Workplace

Building trusting, multicultural organizations require us to accentuate ‘sharedness’ rather than identifying differences. This study investigates how organizational members activate multiple sources of cultural values to develop trust with their colleagues from different cultural backgrounds. Through a series of surveys followed by semi-structured interviews, data were collected from members operating in five different multinational organizations based in Germany and South Africa. Analyzed abductively, our findings illustrate the multiple sources of cultural values that influence members' disposition to trust and their assessment of their colleague's trustworthiness. We further show how four levels of trust emerge as an outcome of the interplay between these various cultural dimensions. Through our multidimensional operationalization of culture, we show how variations, not only across, but within individuals can hinder or promote trusting relationships in the workplace. This study highlights the need for more nuanced approaches towards the examination of the influence of culture on trust.     

研发联盟中的初始信任与控制战略:基于中国制药产业的研究

在技术存在高度不确定性的研究开发联盟中,信任与控制关系的处理方式是决定联盟绩效的关键因素。本研究以中国制药产业研发联盟为对象,对联盟达成前的初始信任与控制战略的关系进行了系统的考察,发现能力信任与过程控制、自我保护控制正相关;善意信任与结果控制、自我保护控制负相关;而技术不确定性对信任与控制战略的选择影响的相关性具有调节作用。     

Offshoring and Cross‐Border Interorganizational Relationships: A Justice Model*

In this article, we develop an interorganizational justice model to explain cross‐border interorganizational relationships. The model contends that cultural distance (construed as the cultural differences between offshoring partners) would influence behavioral uncertainty and the boundary spanners' perceptions of justice. Specifically, the model predicts that high levels of behavioral uncertainty are likely to reduce relational commitment, whereas low levels of behavioral uncertainty are likely to enhance relational commitment. However, boundary spanners' perceptions of distributive, procedural, and interactional justice would mitigate the negative impact of behavioral uncertainty on relational commitment. The model also predicts that culturally similar boundary spanners would be more likely to share similar perceptions of distributive, procedural, and interactional justice than culturally dissimilar boundary spanners. This model has implications for further theoretical discussion and empirical research as well as management practice. Managers could use the interorganizational justice model to assess shared perceptions of justice among boundary spanners and develop transcultural justice competencies.     

The impact of organisational politics and trust in the top management team on strategic decision implementation success: A middle-manager's perspective

The implementation of strategic decisions is a complex and demanding process that requires an open and lateral communication of free-flowing information to make sense of and champion a firm's intended changes. For the process to be effective, middle managers need to operate within an environment that nurtures a pro-social mindset and helps to cope with stressors caused by the possibility of harm done by the intended changes to their vested interests. Drawing from the job demands-resources model, we argue that organisational politics represent an organisational demand, which may hinder the implementation of strategic decisions. To cope with this demand, implementers recruit organisational resources (i.e. trust in the top management team) that may moderate the negative effects of dysfunctional politics. To test our hypotheses, we drew on a sample of 228 middle managers from 114 private Greek firms with more than 100 employees across various industries. We found that when organisational politics were high during the implementation process, implementation success diminished. However, their negative impact was reduced when trust in the top management team was high. Conversely, when organisational politics were low, middle managers reported a higher implementation success regardless of how highly the top management team was trusted. Our study is the first to test the influence of organisational politics on the success of the implementation process from a middle manager's perspective. In addition, we show that implementation success can be viewed through a demands-resources lens, which provides a meaningful contribution to research on strategy implementation.     

Follower reactions to leader trust violations: A grounded theory of violation types,likelihood of recovery,and recovery process

This paper explores how trust is violated and restored in the leader–follower relationship by analyzing rich stories in everyday trust violation situations. The results suggest a dichotomy of how violations affect trust and its propensity for repair. Recoverable violations are common occurrences from which trust can be recovered, although repeated instances of this type can destroy trust beyond recovery. The process of recovery involves leaders first openly discussing the violation(s) and then providing plans to avoid future violations. Conversely, irrecoverable trust violations destroy trust to such a degree that it cannot be restored and followers withdraw from the relationship. The study advances our understanding of trust violations by showing that recoverable violations include violations based on integrity, competence, and benevolence. Additionally, the typology of trust violations in these unique relationships promotes further investigation.     

Transaction‐Specific Investments,Relational Norms,and ERP Customer Satisfaction: A Mediation Analysis*

Integrating the perspectives of transaction cost economics, the resource‐based view, and resource dependency theory, this study analyzes the institutional settings of enterprise resource planning (ERP) implementations in China. Specifically, it examines how bilateral transaction‐specific investments (TSIs) and relational governance mechanisms influence customer satisfaction with ERP implementations. The model is empirically tested using data from on‐site interviews with 208 ERP customers in China. The results demonstrate that the effects of vendors’ and customers’ TSIs on customer satisfaction are facilitated by multiple‐stage micromediational chains. The influence of TSIs on customer satisfaction is mediated by relational norms, and the impact of relational norms on customer satisfaction is bridged by perceived service quality and customer trust. Furthermore, the influence of vendors’ TSIs is stronger than the influence of customers’ TSIs. The findings contribute to business research and practice by providing valuable insights into how ERP vendors and customers should strategize TSIs to enhance relationship performance.