The impact of trust on strategic resource acquisition through interorganizational networks:Towards a conceptual model

Abstract

In this article, we build a conceptual framework that models the influence of social capital as a multidimensional concept on strategic resource acquisition through interorganizational networks. Interorganizational networks are considered as effective when they allow for the acquisition of strategicresources. Our conceptual framework reflects that network effectiveness is dependent on the structural and the relational dimension of social capital. The main focus is on how the relational dimension of social capital – in this article conceptualized as trust – in interorganizational networks can directly and indirectly influence the acquisition of strategic resources through those networks. Based on the network literature, social capital literature and the literature on trust, we seek to develop propositions that detail the relationships among trust, interorganizational network characteristics, strategic resource acquisition/network effectiveness and performance. Basically, we argue 1) that different types of trust will have a different impact on network effectiveness, 2) that the level of trust will influence network effectiveness, and 3) that the interaction between trust and other variables, such as structural dimension variables, are fundamental for analyzing network effectiveness.