IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/zbw/fubsbe/342494.html

Trusting interorganizational networks? Empirical relevance and research opportunities

Author

Listed:
  • Bachmann, Reinhard
  • Sydow, Jörg

Abstract

This paper argues that there is an increasing need to trust not only organizations but whole interorganizational networks. That is, there is a strong and growing demand for building what we call 'network trust'. Differentiating between different forms of network governance, applying a practice-based perspective and using the well-known example of the StarAlliance, the paper demonstrates how network trust can emerge within a network, and how external stakeholders, such as customers, suppliers and regulators, can develop trust in a network as whole. Also, we will show that, in turn, network trust can help produce and reproduce trust in single members of a network. The paper concludes with recommendations for future research.

Suggested Citation

  • Bachmann, Reinhard & Sydow, Jörg, 2026. "Trusting interorganizational networks? Empirical relevance and research opportunities," Discussion Papers 2026/16, Free University Berlin, School of Business & Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:fubsbe:342494
    DOI: 10.17169/refubium-52292
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/342494/1/197252061X.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.17169/refubium-52292?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. Malhotra, Deepak & Lumineau, Fabrice, 2011. "Trust and collaboration in the aftermath of conflict: the effects of contract structure," MPRA Paper 38358, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Ashley Fulmer & Kurt Dirks, 2018. "Multilevel trust: A theoretical and practical imperative," Journal of Trust Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 8(2), pages 137-141, July.
    3. Vedres, Balázs & Stark, David, 2010. "Structural folds: generative disruption in overlapping groups," RAE - Revista de Administração de Empresas, FGV-EAESP Escola de Administração de Empresas de São Paulo (Brazil), vol. 50(2), April.
    4. Akbar Zaheer & Bill McEvily & Vincenzo Perrone, 1998. "Does Trust Matter? Exploring the Effects of Interorganizational and Interpersonal Trust on Performance," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 9(2), pages 141-159, April.
    5. Mahama, Habib & Chua, Wai Fong, 2016. "A study of alliance dynamics, accounting and trust-as-practice," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 29-46.
    6. Mark de Rond & Hamid Bouchikhi, 2004. "On the Dialectics of Strategic Alliances," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 15(1), pages 56-69, February.
    7. Jörg Sydow & Arnold Windeler, 1998. "Organizing and Evaluating Interfirm Networks: A Structurationist Perspective on Network Processes and Effectiveness," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 9(3), pages 265-284, June.
    8. Anna R.S. Swärd & Ragnhild Kvålshaugen & Lena E. Bygballe, 2023. "Unpacking the Duality of Control and Trust in Inter‐Organizational Relationships through Action‐Reaction Cycles," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(8), pages 2091-2124, December.
    9. Grothe-Hammer, Michael, 2019. "Organization without actorhood: Exploring a neglected phenomenon," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 37(3), pages 325-338.
    10. Jane Bjørn Vedel & Joana Geraldi, 2023. "How Managers Respond to Paradoxical Control‐Trust Dynamics in Interorganizational Relationships over Time: A Constitutive Approach," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(8), pages 2060-2090, December.
    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. Alimadadi, Siavash & Bengtson, Anna & Salmi, Asta, 2019. "Disruption, dissolution and reconstruction: A dialectical view on inter-organizational relationship development," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 35(3).
    2. Hans Berends & Elco van Burg & Erik M. van Raaij, 2011. "Contacts and Contracts: Cross-Level Network Dynamics in the Development of an Aircraft Material," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 22(4), pages 940-960, August.
    3. Arne Keller & Fabrice Lumineau & Thomas Mellewigt & Africa Ariño, 2021. "Alliance Governance Mechanisms in the Face of Disruption," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 32(6), pages 1542-1570, November.
    4. Bill McEvily & Akbar Zaheer & Darcy K. Fudge Kamal, 2017. "Mutual and Exclusive: Dyadic Sources of Trust in Interorganizational Exchange," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 28(1), pages 74-92, February.
    5. Mi Che & Xu Jiang & Yun-Long Pei, 2024. "When does justice drive alliance success? Direct and moderating effects based on transaction cost theory," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 41(4), pages 1927-1961, December.
    6. Liwen Wang, 2023. "The interplay of contracts and trust: untangling between- and within-dyad effects," Post-Print hal-03944358, HAL.
    7. Oliver Schilke & Karen S. Cook, 2015. "Sources of alliance partner trustworthiness: Integrating calculative and relational perspectives," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(2), pages 276-297, February.
    8. Phuong Thi Minh Nguyen & Khuong Ngoc Mai & Phuong Ngoc Duy Nguyen, 2023. "Does Trust Affect Antecedents of Inter-Organizational Governance Mechanisms and Elicit Successful Collaboration via Innovation? An Empirical Study from a Market-Oriented Economy in Vietnam," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-27, June.
    9. Claudio Panico, 2017. "Strategic interaction in alliances," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(8), pages 1646-1667, August.
    10. Cao, Jiyin & Galinsky, Adam D., 2020. "The Diversity-Uncertainty-Valence (DUV) model of generalized trust development," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 161(C), pages 49-64.
    11. Fabrice Lumineau & Chris Long & Sim B. Sitkin & Nicholas Argyres & Gideon Markman, 2023. "Rethinking Control and Trust Dynamics in and between Organizations," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(8), pages 1937-1961, December.
    12. Fang, F., 2019. "When performance shortfall arises, contract or trust? A multi-method study of the impact of contractual and relational governances on performance in public – private partnerships," Other publications TiSEM 473840ee-6945-4a93-9326-5, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    13. Weber, Clarissa E. & Maurer, Indre, 2023. "Knowledge acquisition from host-country partners: The interplay of trust and legal safeguards," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 58(2).
    14. McCarter, Matthew W. & Wade-Benzoni, Kimberly A. & Kamal, Darcy K. Fudge & Bang, H. Min & Hyde, Steven J. & Maredia, Reshma, 2020. "Models of intragroup conflict in management: A literature review," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 178(C), pages 925-946.
    15. Yuanyuan Xu & Cheng Fu & Wen Tu & Fujun Zhou, 2024. "The Role of the Informal Institution: How Does It Shape the Trust Relationship Between Government and Social Organizations in China?," SAGE Open, , vol. 14(2), pages 21582440241, May.
    16. Laura Poppo & Kevin Zheng Zhou & Julie J. Li, 2016. "When can you trust “trust”? Calculative trust, relational trust, and supplier performance," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(4), pages 724-741, April.
    17. Stephanie Eckerd & Sean Handley & Fabrice Lumineau, 2022. "Trust violations in buyer–supplier relationships: Spillovers and the contingent role of governance structures," Journal of Supply Chain Management, Institute for Supply Management, vol. 58(3), pages 47-70, July.
    18. Dorn, Stefanie & Schweiger, Bastian & Albers, Sascha, 2016. "Levels, phases and themes of coopetition: A systematic literature review and research agenda," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 34(5), pages 484-500.
    19. Livia Levine, 2019. "Digital Trust and Cooperation with an Integrative Digital Social Contract," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 160(2), pages 393-407, December.
    20. Lumineau, Fabrice & Jin, Jason Lu & Sheng, Shibin & Zhou, Kevin Zheng, 2022. "Asset specificity asymmetry and supplier opportunism in buyer–supplier exchanges," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 85-100.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:zbw:fubsbe:342494. 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: ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/fwfubde.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.