
Management Papers
Document Type
Journal Article
Date of this Version
9-1-2015
Publication Source
Organization Studies
Volume
36
Issue
9
Start Page
1237
Last Page
1264
DOI
10.1177/0170840615585337
Abstract
Drawing upon longitudinal, dyadic, comparative case-based research, we analyze the pursuit of optimal trust, i.e. trust that is neither excessive nor insufficient, by introducing the concepts of reorientation and recalibration. First, we show that large deviations from optimal trust are best addressed by reorientation which deals with both too much as well as too little trust. Reorientation processes include substantial efforts to change parties’ attributions of the intentions underlying past behavior, to reestablish social equilibrium among the parties, and to make structural changes via adjustments to goals and incentives. Reorientation is necessary when imbalance occurs in the powerful and opposed forces associated with excessive trust (faith, favoritism, contentment, loyalty) vs insufficient trust (skepticism, impartiality, exigency, opportunism). Second, we demonstrate that there is an effective path to maintaining optimal trust via practices we call recalibration, wherein small deviations are addressed before damage to trust occurs. Recalibration maintains inter-organizational trust near its optimum through processes that proactively balance the opposed forces. Large deviations from optimal trust in either direction can unleash destabilizing dynamics, requiring significant reorientation efforts to offset. Recalibration processes are then essential for preserving the effects of successful reorientation.
Copyright/Permission Statement
Merieke Stevens, John P. MacDuffie & Susan Helper (2015), "Reorienting and Recalibrating Inter-Organizational Relationships: Strategies for Achieving Optimal Trust", Organization Studies, 36(9), pp. 1237-1264. Copyright © 2015 SAGE. Reprinted by permission of SAGE Publications.
Keywords
inter-organizational relationships, optimal trust, trust processes, trust repair
Recommended Citation
Stevens, M., MacDuffie, J. P., & Helper, S. (2015). Reorienting and Recalibrating Inter-Organizational Relationships: Strategies for Achieving Optimal Trust. Organization Studies, 36 (9), 1237-1264. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0170840615585337
Date Posted: 19 February 2018
This document has been peer reviewed.