ABSTRACT
Hardy, Phillips, and Lawrence (1998) provide a comprehensive overview of the literature on organizational trust that developed in the mid-1980s up to the 1998 publication of their survey. The major topics of this period include trust fostering co-operation beyond what contractual relationships can, trust as ‘an alternative or supplement to hierarchies and markets’ and rational prediction, trust as important for interorganizational co-operation, for collaboration, strategic alliances, reducing uncertainty, and uncovering innovative solutions. Many in organizational, leadership, and management studies connect productive practices to trust, covering virtually every facet of work relations and activities. Warah (2001) argues for trust building being part of risk-management models. Even prior to this period researchers were fi nding that trust greatly enhanced goal clarifi cation, information exchange, problem-solving, and commitment in implementation (Zand 1972), and enhanced job satisfaction (Driscoll 1978). Trust also promised ‘virtues’ as a ‘social resource’, by reducing organizational transaction costs, creating spontaneous interpersonal sociability, and facilitating deference to organizational authorities (Kramer and Cook 2004: 2). Most of this literature rests upon two defi nitions of trust that Hardy, Phillips, and Lawrence regard as insuffi cient since they assume functionalism and benefi ce while
ignoring problems of asymmetrical power and interest confl icts: ‘one that defi nes trust as predictability, and one that emphasizes the role of goodwill’ (1998: 64-65).
