IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/jtrust/v2y2012i2p137-170.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Reasons to believe: Participants' explanations of trust in an outsourcing relationship

Author

Listed:
  • Chris Hall
  • Gillian Symon

Abstract

The nature of trust in an information systems outsourcing relationship is examined by considering the explanations for trust or distrust offered by individuals working at the boundary between the two organisations. Previous studies of trust in outsourcing situations have focused either on evidential bases of trust or the process of the development of trusting relationships. This study takes an institutional perspective and examines how trust may be shaped by the institutional norms of the trustors and the trustees. Interviews with ‘boundary spanners’ suggest that trusting decisions can be explained by reference to an implicit set of rules that govern ‘normal’ behaviour in outsourcing relationships. However, competing sets of rules and contested meanings of these rules arising from different interpretations of the institutional context were implicated in conflict and trust erosion. This case study contributes an alternative viewpoint to the body of research on trust in outsourcing relationships and adds to our understanding of how institutional contexts may influence trust in these business-to-business relationships. Further research on the nature and elicitation of rules and potential organisational interventions is suggested.

Suggested Citation

  • Chris Hall & Gillian Symon, 2012. "Reasons to believe: Participants' explanations of trust in an outsourcing relationship," Journal of Trust Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 2(2), pages 137-170, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:jtrust:v:2:y:2012:i:2:p:137-170
    DOI: 10.1080/21515581.2012.708503
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21515581.2012.708503
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/21515581.2012.708503?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
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bart Nooteboom & Frédérique Six (ed.), 2003. "The Trust Process in Organizations," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 2811.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Peter Ping Li, 2017. "The time for transition: Future trust research," Journal of Trust Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 7(1), pages 1-14, January.

    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. Stea, Diego & Foss, Nicolai J. & Christensen, Peter Holdt, 2015. "Physical separation in the workplace: Separation cues, separation awareness, and employee motivation," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 33(6), pages 462-471.
    2. Bart Nooteboom, 2007. "Methodological interactionism: Theory and application to the firm and to the building of trust," The Review of Austrian Economics, Springer;Society for the Development of Austrian Economics, vol. 20(2), pages 137-153, September.
    3. C. E. Jager, 2017. "A Question of Trust: the Pursuit of Consumer Trust in the Financial Sector by Means of EU Legislation," Journal of Consumer Policy, Springer, vol. 40(1), pages 25-49, March.
    4. Ayşe Elif Şengün & Çetin Önder, 2011. "The Conditional Impact of Competence Trust on Inter-Firm Learning in a Collectivist SME Context," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(8), pages 791-812, November.
    5. Carole Howorth & Andrea Moro, 2006. "Trust within Entrepreneur Bank Relationships: Insights from Italy," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 30(4), pages 495-517, July.
    6. Devine, Anthony & Jabbar, Abdul & Kimmitt, Jonathan & Apostolidis, Chrysostomos, 2021. "Conceptualising a social business blockchain: The coexistence of social and economic logics," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 172(C).
    7. Avner Ben-Ner & Freyr Halldorsson, "undated". "Measuring Trust: Which Measure Can Be Trusted?," Working Papers 0207, Human Resources and Labor Studies, University of Minnesota (Twin Cities Campus).
    8. Bart Nooteboom, 2014. "How Markets Work and Fail, and What to Make of Them," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 15917.
    9. Perrons, Robert K., 2009. "The open kimono: How Intel balances trust and power to maintain platform leadership," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(8), pages 1300-1312, October.
    10. Laurent Karsenty, 2013. "How to apprehend trust at work? [Comment appréhender la confiance au travail ?]," Post-Print hal-04464235, HAL.
    11. Mary B. Adam & Angela Donelson, 2022. "Trust is the engine of change: A conceptual model for trust building in health systems," Systems Research and Behavioral Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(1), pages 116-127, January.
    12. Harry Scarbrough & Jacky Swan & Kenneth Amaeshi & Tony Briggs, 2013. "Exploring the Role of Trust in the Deal–Making Process for Early–Stage Technology Ventures," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 37(5), pages 1203-1228, September.
    13. Jure Kovac & Manca Jesenko, 2010. "The connection between trust and leadership styles in Slovene organizations," Journal of East European Management Studies, Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG, vol. 15(1), pages 9-33.
    14. Donald L. Ferrin, 2013. "On the institutionalisation of trust research and practice: Heaven awaits!," Journal of Trust Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 3(2), pages 146-154, October.
    15. Fregidou-Malama, Maria & Hyder, Akmal S., 2021. "Multilevel trust in international marketing of healthcare services: A five-country comparative study," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 30(6).
    16. Oghazi, Pejvak & Karlsson, Stefan & Hellström, Daniel & Hjort, Klas, 2018. "Online purchase return policy leniency and purchase decision: Mediating role of consumer trust," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 190-200.
    17. 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).
    18. Guillén, Luis Andrés & Wallin, Ida & Brukas, Vilis, 2015. "Social capital in small-scale forestry: A local case study in Southern Sweden," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 21-28.
    19. Kristin Spieler & Velibor Bobo Kovac, 2017. "Individual, Technological, and Organizational Predictors of Knowledge Sharing in the Norwegian Context," International Journal of Management, Knowledge and Learning, International School for Social and Business Studies, Celje, Slovenia, vol. 6(1), pages 5-26.
    20. Ayse Eli-super-˙f Sengun, 2010. "Which Type of Trust for Inter-firm Learning?," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(2), pages 193-213.

    More about this item

    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:taf:jtrust:v:2:y:2012:i:2:p:137-170. 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 Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/RJTR20 .

    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.