Co‐worker trust as a social catalyst for constructive employee attitudes

Abstract

Research into interpersonal trust within organisational contexts tends to concentrate on managers as a referent, largely ignoring the potential social benefits of trust amongst co-workers. Hence, the aim of this study is to investigate the influence of co-worker trust on selected organisational perceptions and attitudes. Results provided empirical support for the fundamental role of co-worker trust. Co-worker trust was found to be a significant predictor of perceived organisational support, lowered turnover intention, and greater affective commitment. In view of these results, it is suggested that there may be opportunities for organisations to improve individual and organisational effectiveness by engendering trust throughout peer levels.

Ethical preferences for influencing superiors: A 41-society study

“…In the workplace, as in one's personal life, ethical standards greatly influence one's ability to develop a trust with a specific other, such as a superior. Very simply, it is difficult for people to work well together when they do not trust one another owing to congruent ethical standards (Ferres, Connell, & Travaglione, 2004). Further, there are a multitude of superior-subordinate work relationships in every organization where the level of trust in interpersonal relationships affects individual work effectiveness as well as overall organizational productivity.…”

“…Thus ethics are the standards of acceptable conduct by which individuals choose to live their lives, and are deeply interwoven in all cultures (Loe, Ferrell, & Mansfield, 2000). To the extent that there are deep cultural differences in ethical standards (Cullen et al, 2004;Robertson, 2002), differences in expected conduct can harm superiorsubordinate work relationships (Ferres et al, 2004). Despite growing concerns regarding business corruption and unethical business practices by managers operating in international environments (Jackson, 2001; Thorne & Saunders, 2002), global studies of unethical business practices and ethical sensitivity have been far less prevalent (Collins, 2000) than multi-country studies of cross-cultural differences in values (Hofstede, 2001;Inglehart, 1997;Kelley, MacNab, & Worthley, 2006;Ralston, Pounder, Lo, Wong, Egri, & Stauffer, 2006a;Schwartz, 1997;Smith, Dugan, & Trompenaars, 1996).…”

Dreamteam or Nightmare? Collaboration in Project Teams

“…Trust has also been identified as an influential factor in the context of team cohesion and involvement (Ferres et al 2004).…”

“…At the same time, teamwork can remain constructive when teams manage to uphold co-worker trust (e.g. Ferres et al 2004).…”

Knowledge and Discourse Matters

“…However, the concept of trust has proven a problematic one (Clifton, 2012). Schoorman, Mayer and Davis (2007), for instance, highlight a schism between conventional approaches to trust as being dispositional and traitlike (e.g., Ferres, Connell and Travaglione's, 2004, study of co-worker trust), and their more ecological approach locating trust in relationships. In their multi-dimensional model, trust is defined as the measure of willingness to be vulnerable to another.…”