Facilitating contagion trust through tools in Global Systems Engineering teams

Abstract

ContextIn Global Systems Engineering teams, researchers have found that trust can be transitive to some degree or imported (swift trust) under certain conditions. We argue that trust can be contagion and seeded by tools (spread from one individual to another through tools). ObjectiveWe sought to investigate the potential for using tools to support the development of trust in such teams and facilitate contagion trust. Specifically, we sought to investigate whether any existing tools support the development of trust in such teams and which information helps such development, whether the visualization of past collaborations would help developing trust, and what tools or features practitioners would wish for, if they had a magic wand. MethodWe interviewed 71 employees from five multinational organizations. We focused on gaining an understanding of the tools that are currently used to engender trust and the information needed to facilitate contagion, in which conditions visualizations of past collaborations are helpful, and what software tool features could help develop trust. Our analysis was guided by grounded theory. ResultsWe found evidence that supports the theory of contagion trust and tools can be used to initiate the development of trust. These tools include software tools, office technologies, or organizational structures. Practitioners’ needs were functional (e.g. audio channel with remote colleagues) and/or non-functional (e.g. can be adopted in sites with poor infrastructure). ConclusionOur study illustrates that tools can be used to facilitate contagion trust and provides three main contributions. First, our exploration of how existing tools are used provides a guide to effective practices in such teams. Second, the descriptions of features that can facilitate contagion trust provide useful design implications for future tools. Third, the identification of the kind of information that facilitates contagion trust provides an understanding of practitioners’ underlying needs that can be used to develop collaboration tools.