Re-conceptualising organizational trust repair: The case of repeated transgressions

Abstract

The organizational trust repair literature has traditionally focused on variance theory explanations of individual-level trust relations. However, there have been recent calls to reconsider its complex nature by drawing on contextual accounts and process theory. So, in this paper, we attempt to develop such a theory of trust breakdown and repair to explain repeated transgressions of trust by organizations. We draw on the ‘strong’ version of process theory, which combines stages and repeated cycles of transgression of trust and attempted repair, and Weick’s ideas of sensemaking. These cycles of trust breakdown and repair are embedded in different levels of context that both shape their trajectory and are enacted by key actors in the process of trust repair. Finally, we illustrate our reconceptualization with a case study of repeated trust breakdown and attempted repair in Royal Bank of Scotland, one of the largest failures in corporate history.