IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/inm/ororsc/v12y2001i4p450-467.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Role of Trust in Organizational Settings

Author

Listed:
  • Kurt T. Dirks

    (John M. Olin School of Business, Washington University in St. Louis, One Brookings Drive, St. Louis, Missouri 63130)

  • Donald L. Ferrin

    (Department of Organization and Human Resources, State University of New York, 274 Jacobs Management Center, Buffalo, New York 14260)

Abstract

Numerous researchers from various disciplines seem to agree that trust has a number of important benefits for organizations, although they have not necessarily come to agreement on how these benefits occur. In this article, we explore two fundamentally different models that describe how trust might have positive effects on attitudes, perceptions, behaviors, and performance outcomes within organizational settings. In the first section of the article, we examine the model that has dominated the literature: Trust results in direct (main) effects on a variety of outcomes. In the second section of the article we develop an alternative model: Trust facilitates or hinders (i.e., moderates) the effects of other determinants on attitudinal, perceptual, behavioral and performance outcomes via two distinct perceptual processes. Lastly, we discuss the conditions under which each of the models is most likely to be applicable. The theory is supplemented with a review of empirical studies spanning 40 years regarding the consequences of trust in organizational settings. The theoretical framework presented in this article provides insight into the processes through which trust affects organizational outcomes, provides guidance to researchers for more accurately assessing the impact of trust, provides a framework for better understanding past research on the consequences of trust, and suggests ways that organizational settings can be modified to capitalize on high levels of trust or mitigate the effects of low levels of trust.

Suggested Citation

  • Kurt T. Dirks & Donald L. Ferrin, 2001. "The Role of Trust in Organizational Settings," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 12(4), pages 450-467, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:ororsc:v:12:y:2001:i:4:p:450-467
    DOI: 10.1287/orsc.12.4.450.10640
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/orsc.12.4.450.10640
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1287/orsc.12.4.450.10640?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Fulk, Janet & Brief, Arthur P. & Barr, Steve H., 1985. "Trust-in-supervisor and perceived fairness and accuracy of performance evaluations," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 13(4), pages 301-313, August.
    2. Williamson, Oliver E, 1993. "Calculativeness, Trust, and Economic Organization," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 36(1), pages 453-486, April.
    3. Schurr, Paul H & Ozanne, Julie L, 1985. "Influence on Exchange Processes: Buyers' Preconceptions of a Seller's Trustworthiness and Bargaining Toughness," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 11(4), pages 939-953, March.
    4. Nooteboom, B. & Berger, H. & Noorderhaven, N.G., 1997. "Effects of trust and governance on relational risk," Other publications TiSEM 8e83932e-064c-40e8-afe7-4, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    5. Richard L. Daft & Robert H. Lengel, 1986. "Organizational Information Requirements, Media Richness and Structural Design," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 32(5), pages 554-571, May.
    6. James H. Davis & F. David Schoorman & Roger C. Mayer & Hwee Hoon Tan, 2000. "The trusted general manager and business unit performance: empirical evidence of a competitive advantage," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(5), pages 563-576, May.
    7. Hwang, Peter & Burgers, Willem P., 1997. "Properties of Trust: An Analytical View," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 69(1), pages 67-73, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Matevž Rašković & Maja Makovec Brenčič & Barbara Moerec, 2011. "Trust and management-to-employee communication in Slovenian companies: Some evidence from the current economic crisis," Tržište/Market, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Zagreb, vol. 23(2), pages 165-187.
    2. Klein Woolthuis, R. & Nooteboom, B., 2002. "Trust and Formal Control in interorganizational Relationships," ERIM Report Series Research in Management ERS-2002-13-ORG, Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM), ERIM is the joint research institute of the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University and the Erasmus School of Economics (ESE) at Erasmus University Rotterdam.
    3. Renzl, Birgit, 2008. "Trust in management and knowledge sharing: The mediating effects of fear and knowledge documentation," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 206-220, April.
    4. Weaver, K. Mark & Dickson, Pat H., 1998. "Outcome quality of small- to medium- sized enterprise-based alliances: The role of perceived partner behaviors," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 13(6), pages 505-522, November.
    5. repec:dgr:rugsom:03g23 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Bozic, Branko & Kuppelwieser, Volker G., 2019. "Customer trust recovery: An alternative explanation," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 208-218.
    7. Francisco Brahm & Jorge Tarzijan, 2016. "Relational Contracts and Collaboration in the Supply Chain: Impact of Expected Future Business Volume on the Make-or-Buy Decision," Journal of Supply Chain Management, Institute for Supply Management, vol. 52(3), pages 48-67, July.
    8. Griessmair, Michele & Hussain, Dildar & Windsperger, Josef, 2014. "Trust and the tendency towards multi-unit franchising: A relational governance view," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 67(11), pages 2337-2345.
    9. Torsten Bornemann & Martin Klarmann & Martin Moosbrugger, 2020. "Verhaltenswissenschaftliche Forschung zum organisationalen Einkaufsverhalten: Überblick über die Marketingliteratur [Behavioral B2B Buying Research—An Overview of the Marketing Literature]," Schmalenbach Journal of Business Research, Springer, vol. 72(4), pages 447-478, December.
    10. Paul-Emmanuel Pichon, 2006. "Confiance Et Consommation Alimentaire : De L'Importance De La Confiance Dans Les Emetteurs Des Reducteurs De Risque," Post-Print hal-04097958, HAL.
    11. Yan, Aimin & Gray, Barbara, 2001. "Negotiating control and achieving performance in international joint ventures: A conceptual model," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 7(4), pages 295-315.
    12. Klos, Tomas B. & Nooteboom, Bart, 2001. "Agent-based computational transaction cost economics," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 25(3-4), pages 503-526, March.
    13. Chwo-Ming Joseph Yu & Tsai-Ju Liao, 2008. "The impact of governance mechanisms on transaction-specific investments in supplier-manufacturer relationships: A comparison of local and foreign manufacturers," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 48(1), pages 95-114, February.
    14. Delbufalo, Emanuela, 2015. "Subjective trust and perceived risk influences on exchange performance in supplier–manufacturer relationships," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 31(1), pages 84-101.
    15. Nooteboom, B., 2002. "Governance and Competence," ERIM Report Series Research in Management ERS-2002-25-ORG, Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM), ERIM is the joint research institute of the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University and the Erasmus School of Economics (ESE) at Erasmus University Rotterdam.
    16. Jie, Ferry, 2012. "The roles of trust and commitment in the Australian Lamb Retailers/Wholesalers," AFBM Journal, Australasian Farm Business Management Network, vol. 9(1), pages 1-8.
    17. Ho, Kung-Cheng & Yen, Huang-Ping & Gu, Yan & Shi, Lisi, 2020. "Does societal trust make firms more trustworthy?," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 42(C).
    18. Nooteboom, Bart, 1999. "Innovation and inter-firm linkages: new implications for policy," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 28(8), pages 793-805, November.
    19. Nguyen, Thang V., 2005. "Learning to trust: a study of interfirm trust dynamics in Vietnam," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 40(2), pages 203-221, May.
    20. Wilson, Paul N. & Kennedy, Ana M., 1999. "Trustworthiness As An Economic Asset," International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, International Food and Agribusiness Management Association, vol. 2(2), pages 1-15.
    21. Sultan, Fareena & Urban, Glen & Shankar, Venkatesh & Bart, Iakov, 2003. "Determinants and Role of Trust in E-Business: A Large Scale Empirical Study," Working papers 4282-02, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Sloan School of Management.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:inm:ororsc:v:12:y:2001:i:4:p:450-467. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Asher (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/inforea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.