Reinhard Bachmann

Trust, Power and Control in Trans-Organizational Relations

This paper analyzes trust and power as means of co-ordinating trans-organizational relationships. It is argued that, depending on the institutional environment, there are two distinct patterns of controlling relationships, where trust and power are interrelated in quite different ways. First, both mechanisms are generated at the inter-personal level and either trust or power dominates the relationship. Second, power occurs at the level of the structural framework of relationships and is highly conducive to developing trust between individual organizations. Thus, specific forms of trust and power are identified and the institutional environment is viewed as playing a crucial role in shaping the quality of trans-organizational relations. The theoretical background of the paper mainly draws on conceptual ideas of Systems Theory, Structuration Theory and New Institutionalism

The Social Constitution of Trust: Supplier Relations in Britain and Germany

Trust is analysed as a means to reduce uncertainty and risk in vertical inter-firm relationships. Both theoretically and with reference to empirical comparative research (Britain and Germany), it is shown that trust-based relations between buyer and supplier firms rarely evolve spontaneously on the level of individual interaction but are highly dependent on the existence of stable legal, political and social institutions.

Handbook of trust research

The Handbook of Trust Research presents a timely and comprehensive account of the most important work undertaken in this lively and emerging field over the past ten to fifteen years. Presenting a broad range of approaches to issues on trust, the Handbook features 22 articles from a variety of disciplines on the study of trust in both organizational and societal contexts. With contributions from some of the most eminent names in the field of trust research, this international collaboration is an imaginative and informative reference tool to aid research in this engaging area for years to come.

Understanding Institutional-based Trust Building Processes in Inter-organizational Relationships:

This paper deals with the role of institutions in the development of trust in relationships between organizations. We review various strands of literature on organizational trust and examine the assumptions made about how trust building processes are influenced by institutional arrangements. Following this conceptual analysis, we discuss four mechanisms that are pivotal in the development of institutional-based trust. We also examine four situations where the influence of institutions can be particularly conducive to building trust. Finally, we argue that each of the situations calls for specific mechanisms to be predominantly employed in order to effectively create trust in inter-organizational relationships.

Introduction: Understanding organizational trust – foundations, constellations, and issues of operationalisation

This paper gives an overview of major issues in trust research, identifying common foundations and multiple constellations of organizational trust. In doing so, the paper also addresses important implications of theory development and empirical research. First, it provides a historical sketch of different approaches to understanding the phenomenon of trust, drawing upon various social science disciplines. Second, it discusses different levels of analysing trust in organizational settings. Third, it deals with important issues of operationalisation and measurement of organizational trust. Finally, it briefly summarises the contents of the five papers that follow this introductory paper in the special issue of JMP on “The micro‐foundations of organizational trust”.

At the crossroads: Future directions in trust research

This forum paper is intended to stimulate a debate on a fundamental conceptual issue in trust research. It argues that the dominant stream of literature focuses too much on the micro level of trust building processes and hence promotes a reductionist understanding of the phenomenon. In future trust research, it is suggested to place considerably more emphasis on the ‘constitutive’ embeddedness of actors’ behaviour in the institutional environment. The latter is shown to be conducive to overcoming the limitations of current mainstream trust research and to developing new insights into the role and functioning of trust in modern business systems.

Studying Trust in Virtual Organizations

The core objective of this article is to introduce the repertory grid technique as a powerful methodology into research on trust in virtual organizations. This technique is particularly capable of yielding insights into the subjective meaning of trust. Virtual organizations have been chosen as our empirical field because the literature shows a broad consensus that trust is one of the most important success factors for the initiation, development, and continuation of activities in these types of hybrid regimes. On the basis of a discussion of the literature on trust in networks and virtual organizations, we present our empirical case study of two Swiss virtual organizations. It reveals that the emergence of trust in virtual organizations depends strongly on personal bonds and shared experiences in the practical realization of projects, whereas generalized rules and contracts play only a supplementary role. Localized and experience-based commitments as well as the proactive behavior of the partners involved are identified as decisive denominators of trust.

Trust and innovation

In innovation, trust is especially needed as well as especially problematic. One needs trust under uncertainty and in innovation uncertainty is high. If one were certain about conditions, conduct and outcomes one would no longer talk about trust. This is related to a paradox of information concerning trust (Pagden, 1988). On the one hand, trust entails lack of information, since that entails risk of vulnerability to actions of others, and if one were certain about such actions, there would no longer be risk. On the other hand, trust is seldom completely uninformed, and is to some extent based on information, in attributions of trustworthiness or lack of it based on observed or reported behaviour. Trust entails uncertainty of conditions, conduct or outcomes that maybe calculable (usually referred to as ‘risk’ in this technical sense) or incalculable (radical uncertainty). The uncertainty of trust entails a possibility of loss due to mishap or misconduct.

Co-operation at work: a process-oriented perspective on joint activity in inter-organizational relations

In this paper the authors present a conceptual framework for analysing cooperation between organizations as a situated process, highlighting co-operation, co-ordination and co-construction as different modes of joint activity. Within this framework, the analysis of unexpected events becomes a crucial issue. The analytic power of reconstructing the (psycho-) logics of unexpected events in inter-organizational relations will be demonstrated in the presentation of selected outcomes of a research project on the dynamics of producer-supplier relationships in the German automobile industry. Also in this empirical part, the significance of trust and confidence in inter-organizational relations will be reflected.

Handbook of Advances in Trust Research

The Handbook of Advances in Trust Research presents new and important developments in trust research. The contributors are all prominent and highly respected experts in the field. They provide a contemporary overview of the most crucial issues in current trust research including contracts, innovation and negotiation, trust and control, and highlight themes which have gained in prominence since the original Handbook, such as trust and the financial crisis, public trust in business, and trust and HRM. The book also explores recent theoretical advances and points the way for future research on trust.