Trust Relationships Research Articles

E-commerce adoption among entrepreneurial firms in Sub-Saharan Africa

PurposeThe study investigates the role of e-commerce adoption on Ghana’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) business performance.Design/methodology/approachA sample of 309 owner-managers of entrepreneurial SMEs was employed using LISREL to determine the nature of the underlying relationships among the study constructs.FindingsThe findings show that adopting e-commerce significantly improves SMEs' performance. The study also found that trust effectively mediates the relationship between e-commerce adoption and SME business performance. Finally, the study found that firm agility moderates the relationship between e-commerce adoption and business performance.Practical implicationsThe study recommends SMEs in Ghana seeking to grow their businesses capitalize on e-commerce capabilities to enhance their business performances while ensuring trusting relationships, especially in the delivery of e-commerce services consistently, to improve their contribution to overall business performance.Originality/valueThe findings would help managers of SMEs in Ghana to deliver optimum value in their e-commerce operations to improve their business performances in an uncertain world.

'There are things I have learned the hard way' Patient experiences on lasting challenges 4 months after Transient Ischemic Attack: A qualitative study.

Fatigue, depression, anxiety and cognitive difficulties are reported by 1/3 of patients following transient ischemic attack (TIA). To explore the timeline and how the diagnosis impacts individuals experiencing lasting challenges after TIA. Furthermore, to identify what they believed facilitated return to everyday life. Qualitative exploratory study with a phenomenological-hermeneutic approach. Individual semi-structured interviews and thematic analysis. Fifteen patients were included. Four themes were identified; (1) 'They say it is transient - no, not for me' where all participants described lasting challenges emphasizing invalidating fatigue and impaired social participation, (2) 'I am a changed person; how does this impact my future?' which reflects altered identity and elevated alertness to symptoms, (3) 'Time has been my ally and new perspectives have evolved' where most participants described improvement over time and a few considered the diagnosis a wake-up call to change lifestyle. Lastly (4) 'What would have helped me recover?' which unfolds that close, trustful relations influence positively. In addition, the system often failed to support. Participants described pressure to return to work and lack of trust and negative experiences when involving their general practitioner. During the 4 months since diagnosis, participants experienced limitations impacting physical, psychological and social domains. They felt uninformed that lasting challenges could affect them. Different coping strategies were activated, and participants with close, supportive relations managed better. A pressure to return to work and a lack of trust in the general practitioner affected their recovery negatively. Overall, return to everyday life after TIA was considered stressful and appropriate support lacking. To be able to support patients with challenges following TIA, we as healthcare professionals need to understand the identified impact and life changing circumstances. Currently the system seemingly is not able to provide timely, sufficient and competent support. WHAT PROBLEM DID THE STUDY ADDRESS?: We know from the literature that up to 1/3 of patients following transient ischemic attack experience lasting challenges measured on a variety of questionnaires. This is paradoxical to a diagnosis defined by focal neurological symptoms that resolve within 24 h. It is unknown how patients with lasting challenges experience the timeline from diagnosis and until 4 months after, how the diagnosis impacts the lives of these individuals, and what they believe as beneficial in returning to their everyday life. WHAT WERE THE MAIN FINDINGS?: These participants with self-reported lasting challenges experienced substantial impacts on physical, psychological and social domains. Further, they felt alone with their struggles and when in need of support from the healthcare system, it failed to provide this. A pressure to return to work and a lack of trust in the general practitioner affected return to everyday life negatively, whereas close and supportive relations facilitated positively. WHERE AND ON WHOM WILL THE RESEARCH HAVE AN IMPACT?: This study will have an impact on the healthcare professionals that provide support and the (limited) follow-up services to patients after TIA. These healthcare professionals are often specialized nurses who need to know what these patients experience and need in order to act upon their struggles and provide timely support. The Standards of Reporting Qualitative Research (SRQR). Patients with TIA was involved in planning this study. They participated in a panel to plan a prospective observational cohort study and emphasized the importance of exploring the subjective perspectives of impact and prognosis for those patients struggling in a longer term (through qualitative interviews).

Barriers and facilitators of access to maternity care for African-born women living in Australia: a meta-synthesis of qualitative evidence

BackgroundAdverse perinatal health outcomes are notably high among African-born women living in Australia. This problem is partly attributed to their lower engagement in maternity care services as compared to Australian-born women. Various barriers might limit African-born women’s access to and use of services; however, these barriers are not well documented. Therefore, this review aimed to synthesise current qualitative evidence on barriers and facilitators of access to maternity care for African-born women living in Australia.MethodsThe search was conducted in MEDLINE, CINAHL, Embase, PsychInfo, and Maternity and Infant Care databases on 16 April 2023. All articles retrieved were meticulously screened for eligibility by two independent reviewers with any disagreements resolved through discussion. The quality of the included articles was evaluated using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool. Studies were screened in Covidence and analysed in NVivo. The findings were organised and presented using Levesque’s framework of healthcare access.ResultsOut of 558 identified papers, 11 studies comprising a total of 472 participants met the eligibility criteria. The review highlighted provider-side barriers such as shortage of information, unmet cultural needs, long waiting times, low engagement of women in care, discrimination, and lack of continuity of care. User-side barriers identified include communication issues, difficulty navigating the health system, and lack of trustful relationships with healthcare providers. In contrast, the review pinpointed provider-side facilitators including positive staff attitudes, service availability, and the proximity of facilities to residential homes, while user-side facilitators such as cultural assimilation and feeling valued by healthcare providers were noted.ConclusionsThis review identified barriers and facilitators of access to maternity care for African-born women living in Australia. Empirical evidence that would inform potential changes to policy and practice to address African-born women’s unique health needs was highlighted. Designing and implementing a culturally safe service delivery model could remove the identified access barriers and improve African-born women’s engagement in maternity care. Moreover, reinforcing factors associated with positive healthcare experiences is essential for improving maternity care access for this priority population.Systematic review registrationPROSPERO CRD42023405458.

Calculative trust, benevolent trust and supplier opportunism: the double edged role of IT infrastructure capability

PurposeThis paper aims to explore how two dimensions of trust, calculative trust and benevolent trust, affect supplier opportunism, and further investigates how information technology (IT) infrastructure capability moderates the relationship between calculative trust, benevolent trust and local supplier opportunism.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses ordinary least square regression to test the hypotheses, using survey data from 164 buyer–supplier relationships.FindingsThe findings suggest that both rational and emotional dimensions of trust, calculative trust and benevolent trust, have negative effect on the opportunistic behavior of suppliers. Furthermore, IT infrastructure capability amplifies the inhibitory effect of calculative trust on supplier’s opportunism, while diminishing the effect of benevolent trust on suppressing supplier’s opportunism.Originality/valueThis study investigates the impacts of both rational and emotional dimensions of trust on opportunistic behavior, thereby enhancing the comprehension of the multifaceted nature of trust in interfirm relationships and contributing valuable insights into interorganizational relationship governance. Moreover, this study reveals the double-edged moderating roles of IT infrastructure capability in supply chain relationships, presenting innovative perspectives within the research on exploring the role of IT capability in business-to-business marketing relationships.

Comparative Analysis of the Personal Branding Process of Leading Hotel and Restaurant Businessmen in Vietnam

Vu Tuyet Hang has built her personal brand by shaping a professional and prestigious image in the field of tourism and accommodation services. Her strategy focuses on building a trusting and trustworthy relationship with customers, colleagues and the business community. Mr. Le Thanh Than has built his personal brand based on creating an image of a talented and dedicated businessman in developing the tourism and real estate industry. His strategy focuses on building strong partnerships and strategic alliances, while creating quality products and services to meet growing market demands. In summary, both of these Presidents are focused on building a trustworthy and reputable image in the tourism and hospitality industry, through creating specific brand development strategies and relationships. Relationships with customers, partners and the community. At the same time, they also pay special attention to community development and environmental protection to create an image of responsible and humane leaders.

Process evaluation of a New psychosocial goal-setting and manualised support intervention for Independence in Dementia (NIDUS-Family).

We report a mixed-methods process evaluation embedded within a randomised controlled trial. We aimed to test and refine a theory of change model hypothesising key causal assumptions to understand how the New Interventions for Independence in Dementia Study (NIDUS)-Family (a manualised, multimodal psychosocial intervention), was effective relative to usual care, on the primary outcome of Goal Attainment Scaling (GAS) over 1year. In 2021-2022, intervention-arm dyads completed an acceptability questionnaire developed to test causal assumptions. We conducted qualitative interviews with dyads and intervention facilitators, purposively selected for diverse follow-up GAS scores. We collected observational data from intervention session recordings. We thematically analysed data, then integrated qualitative and quantitative data. 174/204 (85.3%) dyads allocated to NIDUS-Family, fully completed it, 18 partially completed, while 12 received no intervention. We interviewed 27/192 (14%) of dyads receiving any sessions, and 9/10 facilitators; and observed 12 sessions. 47/192 (24.5%) of carers completed the acceptability questionnaire. We identified four themes: (A) 'Someone to talk to helps dyads feel supported'; (B) 'NIDUS-Family helps carers change their perspective'; (C) 'Personalisation helps people living with dementia maintain their identity' and (D) 'Small steps help dyads move forward'. Key causal pathway mechanisms were: a respectful, trusting and impartial relationship with the facilitator: supporting the development of meaningful goals and support to find manageable solutions. Core implementation factors were delivery of the modules from a consistent facilitator across regular sessions. Core contextual factors influencing these mechanisms were dyadic participation and understanding of abilities.

Knowledge Management in the COVID-19 Era

The pandemic has been a watershed in the knowledge management that is carried out in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). Studies on vulnerability and resilience risks highlight material, financial and human resources as the central axis of the knowledge network, although research on stigma indicates that mistrust prevails between decision makers and those who carry them out. Therefore, the objective of this work was to contrast the hypotheses related to knowledge management as a regulatory process of trust relationships between the parties involved. A cross-sectional, exploratory, and correlational study was carried out with a sample of 10 professional practitioners and social workers involved in COVID-19 care. The results show that a structure of nodes prevails that begins with innovation, continues with competitiveness and ends with efficiency as central, unifying and structural axes of information translation and knowledge transfer. The results are not extensive to the university community, although they are innovative because they highlight trust as the guiding principle of knowledge management.

Exploring the experience of working relationships for support workers of adults with intellectual disabilities.

Research suggests that a better awareness of how staff who directly support people with intellectual disabilities experience their working relationships, will contribute to understanding staff wellbeing and the quality of care they offer. This study aimed to gain insights into the lived experiences of support workers in supported living services in England. Six support workers participated in semi-structured interviews, about their working relationships with service-users and colleagues. Data was analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Six interconnected themes emerged: The essence of good relationships; a trusting relationship as the vehicle for meeting service-users' needs; belonging to the support team; the organisational context of relationships; the social context of relationships; 'a fine balancing act'. The findings provide insights into staff wellbeing, indicating that developing supportive, trusting relationships with both service-users and colleagues, plays an important role in delivering effective care. Potential implications for service providers are discussed.

Patients’ motives and considerations on treatment decision-making for heavy menstrual bleeding: a qualitative study

BackgroundSeveral treatment modalities for heavy menstrual bleeding are available. However, many women report being unsatisfied in their search for an appropriate and effective treatment. The aim of this study is to gain insights in the experienced impact of heavy menstrual bleeding and the motives and considerations of women during the decision-making process for treating heavy menstrual bleeding.MethodsAn interpretative qualitative study was performed, using in-depth interviews. In total, 14 semi-structured interviews were conducted with patients who consulted a physician for treatment of heavy menstrual bleeding. Participants were recruited via the Netherlands Patients Federation (N = 10) or via the outpatient clinic in the Máxima Medical Center (N = 4). The interviews were conducted by phone or online between February 2020 and March 2021. In the interviews three topics were addressed: (1) participant’s experience with heavy menstrual bleeding, (2) experience with patient journey of treatment decision-making and (3) elaborating on alternative treatments for heavy menstrual bleeding. A thematic analysis was conducted.ResultsFourteen participants aged between 30 and 59 years old were interviewed. Three main themes emerged; “Considerations in taking the (next) step to seek help”, “Various sources of information can contribute, confuse or frighten decision-making process” and “A physician’s understanding and a relationship of trust are needed to guide the decision-making process”.ConclusionOur results show that women’s considerations and decision making strongly depend on the obtained information and experience, the relationship with the physician, the influence of the social environment, the pre-visit expectations/desires, the fear of treatment complications and uncertainty of the effect of the treatment. It is a physicians role to create a trusting and open atmosphere during consultation. Patient-centered communication is helpful to share knowledge, and gain insights into a patient’s hopes, fears and worries.

Incarnation and decay: reconciling the organizational decision-making and organizational institutional theory perspectives on budgetary research

PurposeThe organizational decision-making perspective (ODM) has a legacy regarding its concern for budgeting as an essential organizational routine in decision-making. Budgeting has also become a direct concern to organizational institutional theory (OIT) because of its prominent role in institution building, where budgeting can build trust in inter-organizational relationships. This paper builds on these two perspectives to explore organizational budget processes' formation, disruption, and re-creation over time.Design/methodology/approachWe conducted a comprehensive review and critical analysis of the ODM and OIT perspectives, focusing on a fundamental paradox between ODM's emphasis on stability through organizational routines and OIT's focus on organizational legitimacy through the decoupled expression of organizational values. We then expanded on these paradoxical concerns in the context of budgeting, formalizing them into specific research propositions for future studies.FindingsTensions around the stability, decay, and re-creation of budgets as organizational routines emerge as a pressing issue requiring further empirical investigation from the ODM perspective. A critical issue in the OIT perspective is the potential for organizational budgets to provide an opportunity to decouple from practice through routinized expressions of rationality and to facilitate loose coupling in practice. These findings offer a fresh perspective and open up new avenues for future research in this area.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to the accounting and organizational research literature by shedding light on how organizations respond to the potential decay of budget routines and the manifestation of organizational values in decoupling processes by further re-creating and elaborating budget processes.

Optimization of Participatory and Collaborative Planning Methods for Accelerating the Preparation of Detailed Spatial Plans

The availability of Detailed Spatial Plans (RDTR) is crucial for supporting development implementation and ease of doing business. However, there are still problems in the preparation of RDTR, necessitating acceleration. Regarding this acceleration, it is necessary to analyze how participatory and collaborative planning methods can play a role. Participatory and collaborative approaches are important because public trust and stakeholder relationships in participatory and collaborative planning influence the implementation process and planning outcomes. This study aims to identify the relationships between implementing actors and stakeholders involved in the preparation of RDTR so that they can be optimized with a participatory and collaborative approach. The research methods used are Social Network Analysis (SNA), Organizational Network Analysis (ONA), and post-review surveys. The results show that the relationships between implementing actors and stakeholders related to RDTR preparation are not yet optimal, therefore requiring remapping and rearrangement within the legal framework. Participatory and collaborative approaches will elaborate the possibility of more effective and efficient relationships with changes in roles and media of interaction. Keywords: Collaborative, Network Analysis, Participatory, RDTR, Spatial Planning

Commentary: What young people want from psychotherapy.

In recent times there has been increasing acknowledgement of the importance of attending to the agenda of people with lived experience in psychotherapy research. In particular, young people's voices have been recognised as central to the design and development of psychotherapies that work for them. It is important to recognise the limits of professional agendas and make sure that young people's own priorities are represented in the indicators against which we measure change in research evaluations of psychotherapy. This requires an extension of evaluation research indicators from psychiatric symptomatology, to include aspects of wellbeing that matter to young people themselves. This article joins others in calling for a shift from the focus on symptom change in the evaluation of psychotherapy with youth, to acknowledge subjective indicators identified through research conducted with young people. New indicators might, for example, be centred on the degree to which young people experience increased capacity for acceptance of their emotions, a comfortable sense of identity, improved relational trust, and a stronger sense of their own agency. If psychotherapy is to be meaningful to young people, it is vital that we tailor it to young people's own needs and priorities and evaluate it against the aspects of change that matter to them.

Perceptions of informal caregivers about motivations, needs, and benefits of care for dependent older adults.

The informal caregiver provides non-remunerated permanent or regular care to dependent older adults. This qualitative study aimed to identify the perceptions of informal caregivers about motivations, needs, and benefits of caring for dependent older adults. It was conducted with ten Portuguese informal caregivers, based on an instrument with questions about the care provided to older adults and their perceptions about performing this role. The results revealed the following motivations for care: proximity and trust relationship, duty of care, more available family members, home proximity, lack of vacancies, high cost of shelter institutions, and older adults' desire to remain in their homes. The primary care activities for older adults are hydration, hygiene, food, therapeutic administration, companionship, emotional support, comfort, entertainment, and promoting autonomy and dignity. The needs identified by the caregivers were home, social security, and the caregiver's employer support, financial help, psychological support, and training to care for the older adults. The benefits of informal care for dependent older adults were prompt family support, physical and emotional security, affection, and companionship. This study gives voice to crucial citizens.

The Role of Health Literacy in Patient-Physician Communication: A Scoping Review

Objective: Our objective was to explore the influence of health literacy on patient-physician communication. Methods: We conducted a scoping review of academic papers using PRISMA guidelines and guidance from the Joanna Briggs Institute. We explored health literacy competencies in studies by examining methods used to evaluate the effectiveness of patient-physician communication and identifying barriers and facilitators to communication in the broader context of relevant health literacy domains. Results: In total, we identified 51 papers that met inclusion criteria. Barriers to effective patient-physician communication were physicians’ lack of understanding of patients’ health literacy capacity, changes in healthcare delivery (time constraints and transforming technology due to COVID-19), and language barriers. Facilitators to communication included patient health literacy level, patient trust in the patient-physician relationship leading to decision-making, telehealth/digital health services, health literacy tools, and patient education materials. Conclusion: Future research, policy, and practice should aim for comprehensive assessment of all health literacy domains crucial for patient-physician communication. Delineating health literacy competencies is essential given increasing emphasis on technological resources in healthcare, culturally and linguistically appropriate care in multicultural societies, and addressing service backlogs precipitated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Findings may inform educational programs focused on health literacy.

Rhetorical Dilemmas and Social Consequences of Trust Relationships in Social Media

Rhetorical Dilemmas and Social Consequences of Trust Relationships in Social Media

Reducing Racial Disparities at End-of-life: Using Narratives to Build Trust and Promote advance Care Planning.

Black Americans are less likely than White Americans to have advance directives, die while receiving hospice services, or have their end-of life wishes honored. The root causes of disparities include imbalance of resources, lack of trust in health care institutions, lack of adequate education regarding end-of-life options, communication differences of health care providers with black vs white patients, variable access to hospice services in different communities, and poorer pain management for Black patients compared to White patients. Because root causes are numerous, comprehensive solutions are required. When advance care planning is in place, people are more likely to choose care focused on priorities and comfort than on seeking aggressive, sometimes futile, interventions in the last weeks of life. One important component of the solution should include listening to narrative stories of Black people as they encounter life-limiting diagnoses. Gathering the stories about life events and how strength was found through adversities can be a tool for growing trusting relationships and engaging in shared decision-making. Health care professionals should invite Black patients with serious illnesses to explore the sources of their strengths and identify their core values to work toward developing directives for the nature and place of their end-of-life and help to mitigate disparities in high quality end-of-life care.

Overlapping community-driven dynamic consensus reaching model of large-scale group decision making in social network

Large-scale group decision-making (LSGDM) serves as a pivotal tool for facilitating consistent decision results through intricate interactions among individuals within the network. However, the impact of complex trust relationships within overlapping communities on consensus is often overlooked in many studies. Moreover, the dynamic interaction between overlapping communities and the consensus reaching process (CRP) is seldom taken into account. This paper aims to build an overlapping community-driven consensus reaching model for addressing LSGDM challenges in social network. Given the advantages of intuitionistic fuzzy numbers (IFNs) in uncertain information representation, IFNs are used to express evaluation information and trust information. Firstly, a novel overlapping community detection method is developed to divide subgroups and detect overlapping communities. Secondly, to determine reliable subgroup weights, this paper constructs a weight determination model that considers multiple factors and their internal correlations. Then, an overlapping community-driven dynamic consensus model is proposed, which provides a new way to resolve the opinion conflicts, considering the dynamic change of CRP. Simultaneously, the reverse effect of opinion adjustment on the social trust network is considered. Finally, the practicality of the proposed model is demonstrated through illustrative cases. Furthermore, through a comparative analysis, the superiority of the proposed model is demonstrated and the efficiency improvement for CRP is verified.

Effects of trust in government, counterterrorism policies, and counterterrorism laws on fear of cyberterrorism and fear of terrorism

ABSTRACT This study investigates the effects of trust in government, relational trust, counterterrorism policies, and counterterrorism laws on fear of cyberterrorism and fear of terrorism. The data were collected from randomly selected college students at a university in the United States (N = 353). The results of path analyses using structural equation modeling for both unmediated and mediated models indicated that trust in government was the only factor significantly reducing fear of both terrorism and cyberterrorism. Additionally, trust in government mediated the effects of relational trust, counterterrorism laws, and counterterrorism policies on fear of both terrorism and cyberterrorism. Furthermore, respondents were more fearful of cyberterrorism than terrorism. The results and limitations are discussed.

A Qualitative Landscape of Trauma: Mental Health Professionals’ Therapeutic Work Processes with Adult Clients who Have Experienced Trauma

Most people experience potentially traumatic events at least once throughout their lifetimes. Even if this event does not lead toward posttraumatic stress disorders, mental health can be affected significantly. The difficulties caused by traumatic experiences are often addressed in psychotherapy, therefore understanding the specifics of trauma work and the challenges faced both by clients with traumatic experiences and by therapists providing support is important. This study explores and describes the views and experiences of psychotherapy practitioners working in the field of trauma with adult clients. Thirty mental health professionals participated in the study. Thematic analysis of open-ended survey responses revealed three main themes: 1) the vulnerability of the therapeutic process, 2) experiencing trauma work, and ٣) helping yourself to help others. Trauma work is described as a slow process that calls for patience, high-level care, and attentiveness in addressing clients’ pain. Clients often mistrust others and therapists put a great effort into establishing trusted relationships with them. Therapists experience a high emotional load, often feel hopeless, but also find their work rewarding and meaningful when clients make progress. Most therapists emphasize the importance of helping yourself: studying and preparing for trauma work, understanding personal traumatic experiences, and taking excellent care of one’s psychological well-being. The study revealed the subjective complexity of therapeutic trauma work. The insights can be valuable for the development and/or review of therapy training programs, supervisors, and therapists looking for information about their professional challenges in working with trauma.

Study on Chinas Homemaking Service Credit Optimization in Perspective of Game Theory

In recent years, the homemaking service industry in China has developed rapidly, with a market size of trillions RMB. However, conflicts and poor trust between homemaking service provider (companies and practitioners) and consumers remain prominent. Credit issues have become the main bottleneck for the high-quality development of the homemaking service industry. These credit issues are mainly caused by factors such as intermediary enterprise model, low capability and bad service quality for practitioners, information asymmetry, lack of industry credit system, etc. This article uses game theory to analyze the integrity mechanism in the homemaking service industry and proposes a targeted optimization method for the credit system of homemaking service. The case study shows that the enterprises credit has decreased, and its production and operation have fallen into difficulties due to the dishonest operation during the game between the enterprise and consumer. Through game theory analysis, it can be found that information disclosure mechanisms and reward and punishment mechanisms play an important role in optimizing the credit of homemaking services. Cooperative games help build stable trust relationships and improve service quality.