Brokering One’s Way to Trust and Success: Trust, Helping, and Network Brokerage in Organizations

A substantial body of research over the last two decades has examined the determinants and outcomes of interpersonal trust within organizations. However, little of this research has considered how the social network that surrounds an interpersonal relationship might influence the interpersonal trust within that relationship and ultimately the effectiveness and success of individuals within an organization. We address this gap by examining the role of helping behaviors and brokerage in organizational networks. Utilizing a social exchange framework, we propose that brokers have the opportunity to identify individuals who are in need of information and other resources, act to satisfy those needs by performing organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBIs) toward those individuals, and by doing so, earn others’ trust. And it is this trust that enables brokers to gain performance advantages by maximizing the resource benefits of their structural position. Network data from two empirical studies provide substantial support for our hypotheses that helping others mediates the brokerage-trust relationship and trust mediates the brokerage-performance relationship. We conclude with managerial implications and avenues for future research.