Managerial Practices, Trust in Leadership, and Performance

Abstract

This research explores relationships among managerial practices, trust in leadership, teamwork, and organizational performance. It seeks to contribute to the existing knowledge of trust research by exploring several antecedents and outcomes. Based on the social exchange theory, the research examines whether managerial practices are associated with trust in leadership. Trust in leadership, then, is expected to improve teamwork and organizational performance by several leadership theories. Using data from an employee survey conducted for the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) in 2010, we test the ideas by structural equation model analysis. Three kinds of trust in leadership—trust in department leadership, trust in leadership team, and trust in supervisor—are investigated. The analysis confirms that several managerial practices are substantially associated with the three kinds of trust, which in turn affects teamwork and organizational performance. Trust in department leadership is directly related to performance, whereas trust in leadership team and trust in supervisor are more likely to affect performance through teamwork.