A call for trust in cross border business

Abstract

Organisations expanding their business to African countries place particular emphasis on risk management and tend to follow known practices applicable to their own context. An investigation was conducted into the experiences of the implementation of a risk management framework involving indepth interviews with role-players of an East African subsidiary of a South African financial institution. This research studied the impact of socio-cultural differences on the implementation of a risk management framework in East Africa and in particular considers the role and influence of trust. The implementation of risk management practices is often experienced negatively, and the importance of trust as a key element in the process is frequently not sufficiently considered. The management of risk should not only be based on financial criteria, but should also be influenced by psychosocial factors. Disregarding an important factor such as trust is counterproductive to risk management risk.