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Moral and Amoral Conceptions of Trust, with an Application in Organizational Ethics

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  • Marc Cohen
  • John Dienhart

Abstract

Across the management, social science, and business ethics literatures, and in much of the philosophy literature, trust is characterized as a disposition to act given epistemic states—beliefs and/or expectations about others and about the risks involved. This characterization of trust is best thought of as epistemological because epistemic states distinguish trust from other dispositions. The epistemological characterization of trust is the amoral one referred to in the title of this paper, and we argue that this characterization is conceptually inadequate. We outline and defend an alternative conception of trust as a moral phenomenon: when A trusts B to do something, A invites B to acknowledge and accept an obligation; when B accepts the invitation, B takes on an obligation; in that way trust creates an obligation. We conclude with an application, drawing out the difference between the epistemological conception of trust and our own in the context of Ghoshal et al.’s (Sloan Management Review 40:9–20, 1995 , Academy of Management Learning & Education 4:75–91, 2005 ) critique of transaction cost theories of the firm. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2013

Suggested Citation

  • Marc Cohen & John Dienhart, 2013. "Moral and Amoral Conceptions of Trust, with an Application in Organizational Ethics," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 112(1), pages 1-13, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:112:y:2013:i:1:p:1-13
    DOI: 10.1007/s10551-012-1218-5
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Brenkert, George G., 1998. "Trust, Morality and International Business," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 8(2), pages 293-317, April.
    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. Coase, R H, 1988. "The Nature of the Firm: Meaning," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 4(1), pages 19-32, Spring.
    4. Soule, Edward, 1998. "Trust And Managerial Responsibility," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 8(2), pages 249-272, April.
    5. Burchell, Brendan & Wilkinson, Frank, 1997. "Trust, Business Relationships and the Contractual Environment," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 21(2), pages 217-237, March.
    6. Flores, Fernando & Solomon, Robert C., 1998. "Creating Trust1," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 8(2), pages 205-232, April.
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    Cited by:

    1. Mai Chi Vu & Trang Tran, 2021. "Trust Issues and Engaged Buddhism: The Triggers for Skillful Managerial Approaches," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 169(1), pages 77-102, February.
    2. Hervé Laroche & Véronique Steyer & Christelle Théron, 2019. "How Could You be so Gullible? Scams and Over-Trust in Organizations," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 160(3), pages 641-656, December.
    3. Virginia R. Stewart & Deirdre G. Snyder & Chia-Yu Kou, 2023. "We Hold Ourselves Accountable: A Relational View of Team Accountability," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 183(3), pages 691-712, March.
    4. Aziz, Saqib & Ashraf, Dawood & El-Khatib, Rwan, 2021. "Societal trust and Sukuk activity," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    5. Quentin Dupont & Jonathan M. Karpoff, 2020. "The Trust Triangle: Laws, Reputation, and Culture in Empirical Finance Research," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 163(2), pages 217-238, May.
    6. Johanna Kujala & Hanna Lehtimäki & Raminta Pučėtaitė, 2016. "Trust and Distrust Constructing Unity and Fragmentation of Organisational Culture," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 139(4), pages 701-716, December.
    7. Erik Rietschoten & Koen Bommel, 2023. "A Critique of Utilitarian Trust: The Case of the Dutch Insurance Sector," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 183(4), pages 1011-1028, April.
    8. 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).
    9. Tessa Haesevoets & David De Cremer & Leander De Schutter & Jack McGuire & Yu Yang & Xie Jian & Alain Van Hiel, 2021. "Transparency and Control in Email Communication: The More the Supervisor is Put in cc the Less Trust is Felt," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 168(4), pages 733-753, February.

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