Inter-organizational trust and the dynamics of distrust

John Paul MacDuffie
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John Paul MacDuffie: Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA

Journal of International Business Studies, 2011, vol. 42, issue 1, 35-47

Abstract: Early research on inter-organizational trust drew on theories about social ties among individuals, for example, duration of ties and amount of interaction, yet these proved inadequate to explain the diverse arrangements arising in international business. Dyer and Chu's award-winning JIBS paper demonstrated that trust was best predicted by organizational processes that developed positive expectations of predictability, reliability, and competence, not only within national boundaries but also in cross-national relationships. This review of recent trust research building on Dyer and Chu draws attention to six themes: (1) new conceptualizations that explore identity, roles, and rules as foundations of presumptive trust at the organizational level; (2) dynamics of trust and distrust over time, how violations of trust are interpreted, and what affects ease of repair; (3) pendulum swings in inter-organizational relationships, arising from plural governance and alternation between modes, but also resulting in the continuous coexistence of positive and negative states; (4) the impact of intra-organizational conflict and inter-organizational coalitions on the establishment and maintenance of trust; (5) the relative impact of nation-level vs organization-level differences in culture as influences on trust; and (6) whether intermediate modes of exchange in between transactional and relational modes are unstable, transitional hybrids or embody complementarities that yield both value and stability.

Date: 2011
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