The Trust Levels, Trust Determinants, and Spatial Dimensions in Inter-Firm Relationships: A Warehousing Firm’s Perspective in the City of Busan, South Korea

Sinje Sung,Sangmok Kang

doi:10.4236/ib.2012.44046

Abstract

This study analyzes the trust level relationships of the warehousing industry firms in the city of Busan, South Korea in regards to their determinants and spatial dimensions. A firm’s environment, such as reputation and renown, forms the relationship between the firm and other firms. The trust levels between firms were determined by the determinants of the trust: Long-term and repeated interaction, information sharing and reciprocity, and interdependence and asset specificity all had an important effect upon the micro or highest level of trust. Proximity and uncertainty influenced the meso or middle level of trust. The culture and norms of the firms & institutional formality affected the macro or lowest level of trust. It was found that the higher the trust levels, the more the respective spatial dimensions generated by the relationship between firms expanded to the national and international dimensions.

Highlights

Studies on trust began in earnest in the mid 1980’s
It was found that the higher the trust levels, the more the respective spatial dimensions generated by the relationship between firms expanded to the national and international dimensions
Before testing the differences and the effects of the determinants and the spatial dimensions on the trust levels, we evaluated the reliability and collinearity of the independent variables

Summary

Introduction

Studies on trust began in earnest in the mid 1980’s. The topics on trust have attracted increasing attention, inspiring diverse studies into various other disciplines. Most trust studies focused on the relationships between firms have insisted that trust is a most important tool that firms should use to enhance their competitive advantage in three ways: First, the trust between firms enhances flexibility and adaptability so that firms can quickly react in a rapidly changing economic environment. This is because trust fosters successful collaborations between firms [1,2]. The reason trust is important is because the firms could miss new opportunities by spending too much time in contract negotiations due to a lack of trust

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion