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Abstract
Although research on trust in an organizational context has advanced considerably in recent years, the literature has yet to produce a set of generalizable propositions that inform our understanding of the organization and coordination of work. We propose that conceptualizing trust as an organizing principle is a powerful way of integrating the diverse trust literature and distilling generalizable implications for how trust affects organizing. We develop the notion of trust as an organizing principle by specifying structuring and mobilizing as two sets of causal pathways through which trust influences several important properties of organizations. We further describe specific mechanisms within structuring and mobilizing that influence interaction patterns and organizational processes. The principal aim of the framework is to advance the literature by connecting the psychological and sociological micro-foundations of trust with the macro-bases of organizing. The paper concludes by demonstrating how the framework can be applied to yield novel insights into traditional views of organizations and to stimulate original and innovative avenues of organizational research that consider both the benefits and downsides of trust.
(Trust; Organizing Principle; Structuring; Mobilizing)
Introduction
In the introduction to this special issue we observed that empirical research on trust was not keeping pace with theoretical developments in the field. We viewed this as a significant limitation and surmised that a special issue devoted to empirical research on trust would serve as a valuable vehicle for advancing the literature. In addition to the lack of empirical research, we would also make the observation that theories and evidence accumulating on trust in organizations is not well integrated and that the literature as a whole lacks coherence. At a general level, extant research provides "accumulating evidence that trust has a number of important benefits for organizations and their members" (Kramer 1999, p. 569). More specifically, Dirks and Fern's (2001) review of the literature points to two distinct means through which trust generates these benefits. The dominant approach emphasizes the direct effects that trust has on important organizational phenomena such as: communication, conflict management, negotiation processes, satisfaction, and performance (both individual and unit). A second, less well studied, perspective points to the enabling effects of trust, whereby trust creates or enhances the conditions, such as positive interpretations of another's behavior, that...