Trust Dynamics and Organizational Integration: The Micro-Sociology of Alan Fox

Abstract

Alan Foxis one of the most prolific and original British sociologists of industry and employment. Fox's largely derivative writings on macro-sociology have received considerable attention in the literature. In comparison his original micro-sociological theory of the role played by trust in organizational integration has been neglected. This paper presents a critical evaluation of Fox's microsociological theory of 'trust dynamics' in organizations. The paper identifies conceptual, theoretical and methodological weaknesses in Fox's complex argument and concludes that Fox's theory is invalid. The paper also suggests that trust in organizational life is probably more significant as an aspect of 'social integration' than, as Fox contends, as an aspect of 'system integration'. Alan Foxis one of the most prolific and important British industrial sociologists of recent decades. Fox's work must be regarded as one of the most original corpuses of thought to emerge in his discipline, and reflects a line of development which has taken him from a theoretical position within what may be called the 'liberal consensus' to a 'radical' position, which is at the same time eclectic and distinctive. It is in fact the shift which occurred in Fox's thought, and, in particular, the macro-sociological argument to which Fox's change of outlook may be attributed, which have aroused most interest among sociologists and industrial relations specialists. ' Less attention has been focused on the micro-sociological theory developed by Fox: the theory of 'trust dynamics' in organizations. The relative neglect of Fox's microsociology can only be attributed to the circumstances in which the theory was advanced. In the years following the publication of Beyond Contract,' the book in which Fox developed his ideas, renewed interest in the 'labour process' revitalized the sociology of work and employment in the USA and Britain. The agenda for research into the labour process was set