Marco Tortoriello

Measuring trust in organisational research: Review and recommendations

Abstract Although the organisational literature is increasingly converging on common definitions and theoretical conceptualisations of trust, it is unclear whether the same is true for the measures used to operationalise trust. In this paper, we review the organisational literature to assess the degree of sophistication and convergence across studies in how trust has been measured. Our analysis of 171 papers published over 48 years revealed that the state of the art of trust measurement is rudimentary and highly fragmented. In particular, we identified a total of 129 different measures of trust. Moreover, in only 24 instances were we able to verify that a previously developed and validated measure of trust had been replicated verbatim, and 11 of these replications were by the same authors who originated the measure. In addition to the limited degree of replication, the measurement of trust in the organisational literature is characterised by weak evidence in support of construct validity and limited consensus on operational dimensions. What makes these findings even more surprising is that our review also identified several measures of trust that have been carefully developed and thoroughly validated. We profile those measures with strong measurement properties and discuss their trade-offs. We also present a framework for measuring trust that provides guidance to researchers for selecting or developing a measure of trust and propose an agenda for future research with an emphasis on resolving enduring debates in the literature.

More Formally: Rediscovering the Missing Link between Formal Organization and Informal Social Structure

AbstractAlthough foundational organization theory recognized the role of both formal and informal elements, for the past two decades scholarship appears to have primarily attended to the role of in...

One of Us or One of My Friends: How Social Identity and Tie Strength Shape the Creative Generativity of Boundary-Spanning Ties

Social ties to colleagues on other work teams can spur creative ideas and workplace innovation by exposing an individual to diverse knowledge. However, for external knowledge to be recombined into innovation, the knowledge must first be recognized as potentially valuable. Going beyond traditional structural explanations, we predict that the use of diverse knowledge to generate creative ideas and solutions will depend in part on employees’ psychological attachment to the organizational groups to which they belong, i.e., their social identity, and the strength of their social ties. We test our hypotheses in an R&D division of a global high-technology firm, finding that social identity influences the creative generativity of boundary-spanning ties. Specifically, stronger team identity renders interactions with colleagues on other work teams less generative of creative ideas, while identification with an overarching, superordinate group (e.g., a division) enhances creative generativity. We also hypothesize and find that tie strength attenuates the negative effect of team identity.

Media tablets for mobile learning

Tablets offer hope for improving learning and collaboration but only if truly integrated into learning settings.

The social underpinnings of absorptive capacity: External knowledge, social networks, and individual innovativeness*

Starting from the assumption that innovations emerge from a combination of different types of knowledge and are the result of collective efforts, this dissertation examines the social process through which knowledge obtained from outside an organization is used to create innovations with commercial potential. A theoretical model is developed to explain the difference between various individual contributions to organizational innovativeness. The study uses sociometric data obtained from 276 scientists and researchers from 16 R&D labs of a multinational semiconductor producer. The findings show that not all types of external knowledge are equally important to promote individual innovativeness. However, the study finds that knowledge acquired from outside an organization boosts individual contributions to organizational innovativeness. Distinctions are made between social structure and knowledge structure, as well as local and global information advantages. The findings point to the positive association of local-non-redundancy with innovativeness. However, they also suggest that global non-redundancy, unlike local non-redundancy, has a stronger impact in promoting individual innovativeness. The studys limitations are acknowledged, and directions for future research are proposed.

Lost in transition: knowledge acquisition and knowledge loss in interpersonal exchanges

In this paper, focusing on 3,429 knowledge sharing ties among 330 employees in a data solution company, we study knowledge loss by considering network features associated with incomplete transfers of knowledge from a source to a recipient. Results indicate that that while strength of direct ties does reduce the amount of knowledge lost in interpersonal exchanges, network range (i.e. ability to connect with otherwise disconnected others) increases it. Tie strength further moderates the relationship between network range and knowledge loss. By observing a “cost” to network range in terms of lost knowledge, we suggest that more attention should be paid not only to the advantages, but also to the liabilities associated with different network positions. Theoretical and practical implications for knowledge management are discussed.

Lost in transition: knowledge acquisition and knowledge loss in interpersonal exchange

In this paper, focusing on 3,429 knowledge sharing ties among 330 employees in a data solution company, we study knowledge loss by considering network features associated with incomplete transfers of knowledge from a source to a recipient. Results indicate that that while strength of direct ties does reduce the amount of knowledge lost in interpersonal exchanges, network range (i.e. ability to connect with otherwise disconnected others) increases it. Tie strength further moderates the relationship between network range and knowledge loss. By observing a “cost” to network range in terms of lost knowledge, we suggest that more attention should be paid not only to the advantages, but also to the liabilities associated with different network positions. Theoretical and practical implications for knowledge management are discussed.