Trust In Virtual Organizations Research Articles

Impact Assessment of Inter-Organizational Trust on Virtual Organizations Performance in Nigerian Service Firms

This investigation examines inter-organizational trust on virtual organizations performance of selected Nigerian service firms. Inter-organizational trust is the extent to which members of a firm hold a collective trust orientation towards another organization. Virtual organization is a functionally culturally diverse firm that is connected by electronic forms of communication and/or use of ICT for collaborations. In inter-organizational relationships, the most common success factor, and possibly the most critical one is trust. Trust is widely acknowledged as being important for the efficient operation of interorganizational business activities, the formation of trust remains challenging, the experience with trust despite increased interest and the acknowledged role of trust to a company’s competitiveness is that there has not yet been theoretically and empirically coherent attempts to measure trust in inter-organizational contexts to the best of my knowledge. The apparent, lack of inter-organizational trust and reliability in virtual organizations as a result of perceived risks from privacy concerns and vulnerability to fraud may impede organizations’ performance. In carrying out this investigation, three research objectives and three research questions were formulated alongside with three research hypotheses. Relevant data were reviewed, this provide an understanding of previous work in an area of investigation thereby providing basis for the researchable problem at stake. The chief instrument for data collection was questionnaire, which was designed for low, middle and top level management staff. The data was analyzed using a chi-square statistical technique. The result of the study showed that inter-organizational trust impact significantly and positively on virtual organizations commitment and performance and firm benefitted more from inter-organizational trust when the degree of interdependence between two organizations was higher. When we examine inter-organizational trust in virtual organizations from the perspective of network organizations, then we certainly conclude that interorganizational trust in virtual organizations is a new type of network. Finally, it was recommended that, the formation of organizational process should be based on trust and not on the basis of power which will result in increased commitment, job-satisfaction, performance and growth of employees and the organizations in general.

Building trust in virtual organisations: a case study of trust and gender in a scientific virtual organisation breeding environment

This paper examines an online life science virtual organisation breeding environment (VBE), an incubator of temporary or more permanent virtual organisations (VOs). In the VBE studied, scientists could connect and collaborate with one another using various social media technologies such as profiles, messaging, blogs, and forums. This article is particularly focused on the ways in which social media technologies facilitate interactions between participants in the 'WomenScientists1' group. This study employs content analysis of all textual discourse on the group and social network analysis to understand the relationship of users in this network. This paper seeks to address three core questions. First, we explore what types of interactions facilitate trust formations. We find that interactions that share personal information positively elicit trust from other users. Second, we examine which demographic attributes contribute to the growth of trust interactions. We find that a user's gender and their membership of the group are correlated with trust interactions. Third, we find that if users are unilaterally trusted (via a 'leap of faith'), they are likely to reciprocate, forming bilateral or multilateral trust relationships.

Development of interorganizational trust in virtual organizations

PurposeA virtual organization (VO) is a set of geographically dispersed and functionally diverse organizational entities interconnected by electronic forms of communication that cooperate with one another for a common valued outcome. The objective of this article is to propose a research framework that illustrates the development of trust between VOs.Design/methodology/approachThis paper provides an overview of literature on VOs, identifies antecedents of trustworthiness in virtual environment, explores the role of boundary spanners' interpersonal trust, and relates them to inter‐VO trust formation. A research analysis is developed that depicts the proposed relationships.FindingsThe propositions shed light on the overall interorganizational trust building process in VOs. In doing so, the framework also acknowledges the role of individual boundary spanners of a trustor organization in the trust development process.Originality/valueSystematic scholarly research relating to VOs has been somewhat limited. With the emergence of VOs as important organizational forms, there is an increasing need to comprehend how interorganizational trust is developed and maintained in VOs. This study attempts to fill this gap in the extant literature by exploring how social exchange factors in a virtual context relate to factors of organizational trustworthiness of the trustee organization. In addition, this paper also investigates the key role played by the boundary spanners of both organizations in the trust formation process.

Management by trust in a democratic enterprise: A law firm shapes organizational behavior to create competitive advantage

AbstractThe founder of Mumbai‐based Nishith Desai Associates (NDA) built his law firm on a few powerful ideas: a trust‐based, nonhierarchical, democratically managed organization that leverages research and knowledge to deliver premium services, high value, and a unique employer proposition that shatters many negative law‐firm stereotypes. The author discusses the rationale behind NDA's business model and its organization and talent framework, and tracks the firm's philosophical genesis, which includes ideas from Mahatma Gandhi on democracy and from Charles Handy on trust in virtual organizations. He examines the implications of Handy's Rules of Trust for HR policies and practices, and then he describes NDA's approaches for creating challenge, growth, and rewards in a nonhierarchical structure; building behavioral competencies; balancing control with freedom; and other management practices that empower employees to act in the best interests of the firm and its clients. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

A clustering analysis and agent-based trust model in a grid environment supporting virtual organisations

Grid computing enables coordinated resource sharing in dynamic, distinct Virtual Organisations (VOs), which consist of different grid entities from traditional organisations. Recently, the main solution of grid security is applying trust as an important factor in grid computing to realise cooperation between unknown entities, especially for VOs. However, most of the research work inherits the concept of trust from Peer-to-Peer (P2P) networks and does not accurately satisfy the requirements in a grid environment. In this paper, we present a clustering analysis and agent-based trust model that introduces VO trust relationships into traditional grid entities, with which we can more effectively and dynamically share grid resources. We also propose a clustering analysis method to evaluate grid entities' trust in VOs and a weighted path to compute the transitivity of trust. In addition, two kinds of agents are introduced to the trust evaluation process to collaborate on and accomplish trust computation between VOs. The VO agent is a resident agent that stays in a VO which initiates search agent to collect information. A search agent is a mobile agent and is usually dispatched to many VO nodes. The simulation result shows that our model improves the overall performance of grid systems.

Customer trust in virtual environments in service sectors (a case study in Poland)

Internet technologies are the most popular means of communicating with other people, gathering information and purchasing products. In this article the authors want to compare two service sectors: the banking sector and the medical one. Both of them use the internet as a tool for creating virtual organisations and providing services to customers. Moreover, customer trust is one of the crucial factors in the development of both service sectors. The development of the internet and the World Wide Web (WWW) has provided a new area and tools for the development of more flexible services for banking and medical (not only administrative) applications. The purpose of this study is to identify the trust which e-banking and e-health service users place in virtual organisations. The authors have ventured a thesis that customer trust in virtual organisations in Polish service sectors is high as a consequence of even higher customer satisfaction with traditional organisations and great customer trust in traditional institutions.

Trust in virtual organisations: a synthesis of the literature

There appears to be no evidence of research that has attempted to bring together the knowledge relating to trust among team members working in virtual organisations. Unlike traditional workplaces, the nature of virtual teams is such that working relationships are typically short and often there is no actual personal contact. In this environment trust must be taken to a new level as it is essential for the success of collaborative ventures. The scope of this review will involve an examination of a range of articles sourced through Proquest and Business Premier Resource databases. These will be reviewed based on a content analysis to develop patterns of issues raised. This will involve using a combination of integrative and interpretative approaches. It is anticipated the outcome of this review will contribute to a greater understanding of trust from the perspectives of key stakeholders in virtual working relationships.