The emergence of perceived calculative trust and distrust: the case of a small Finnish pharmaceutical company

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to enhance understanding of the calculative bases of trust and distrust during the negotiation phase of new commercial collaboration relationships. Whereas the existing literature mostly offers quantitative snapshot pictures of inter-firm trust formation, this research followed a process-oriented approach. Analysis of interview and documentary data obtained from two sets of inter-firm collaborative negotiations showed that calculus-based perceived trustworthiness between firms arises from the presence of the following conditions: Distrust, in turn, ensues from the lack of these. These sources of perceived calculative trust and distrust provide the prospective partners with rough practical estimates of how the forthcoming partnership might eventually work out, in other words, they form the bedrock of a new social institution, the collaborative network.