Building and Leveraging Interpersonal Trust Within and Across MNE Subsidiaries: A Social Exchange Perspective

To understand how multinational enterprises (MNEs) can make the most of an integrated global workforce, we draw upon social exchange theory to examine the antecedents and consequences of interpersonal trust among co-located and cross-border employees. With data from employees of three Greater China subsidiaries of an MNE, we assess the effects of (1) social exchange variables on two forms of interpersonal trust, (2) interpersonal trust on organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs), and (3) individualism/collectivism as a moderator. Reflecting the complex nature of interpersonal trust, our results offer mixed support for our hypotheses. On one hand, a majority of our hypotheses support our contention regarding the positive influence of social exchange in the development of interpersonal trust, and further, in the enactment of OCBs. On the other hand, some of our hypotheses were either not supported or were counter-intuitive to our propositions. With an interesting mix of results, our study highlights the complexity of the trust construct. Furthermore, in the clarification of social exchange–interpersonal trust–citizenship relationships, our study highlights the importance of individualism/collectivism as an important boundary condition.