The Nature of Trust in Virtual Entrepreneurial Networks

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to explore the nature of trust in virtual entrepreneurial networks by asking the research question, “What types of trust can be found in these networks?”. The authors argue that globalisation, the pervasion of ICT, and the growth of entrepreneurial e-trade encourage the use of virtual networking by entrepreneurs. Networks are seen as a social device to extend and embed entrepreneurs, but depend on trust for governance and operation. Through a critical thematic analysis of literature on trust and virtual networks, the authors propose a conceptual theoretical model of multidimensional trust, with emphasis on its relational characteristics. The authors find that trust largely depends on close contact among entrepreneurs for its development. Only swift trust, which is a limited form, is likely to exist in purely virtual networks. Practical implications of this theoretical article can be based on the authors’ argument that entrepreneurs must augment virtual networks with more personal contacts to realise the full benefits of networking.

Untitled

“…Also, organizational learning provides the new organizational competences needed for strategic renewal. Therefore, we follow the view of Sun and Anderson (2010) who argue that absorptive capacity should be perceived as a specific type of organizational learning that refers to a firm's relationships with external knowledge, and the view of Lis (2016) confirming the affinity between organizational learning and lessons learned processes. The empirical part of the paper is an attempt to exemplify the synergy of absorptive capacity and learning lessons through employee suggestions, upon the case study of the firm Frauenthal Automotive Toruń.…”

“…Nevertheless, we develop the assumptions of our study on the Sun and Anderson (2010) model of affinity between the processes of absorptive capacity and organizational learning which is based on the Zahra and George (2002) reconceptualization of absorptive capacity. Therefore, we will use the Zahra and George (2002) model of absorptive capacity including such components as: acquisition, assimilation, transformation and exploitation.…”

“…Inspired by the study of Sun and Anderson (2010), Lis (2016) investigates the relationships between the concepts of organizational learning and lessons learned, and observes a similar affinity between them. In his study, Lis (2016) compares and contrasts the Crossan et al (1999) model of organizational learning with the Milton (2010) lessons learned lifecycle (modifying it a little through splitting a lesson identification stage into two phases i.e.…”

“…A fourth control variable is trust (TRUST), specified as the trust of a firm toward the other members in their RINO. Trust was included as a control as it has been proven in earlier studies to significantly influence the quality of communication within collaborations, as well as the propensity to collaborate in the first place (Abrams, Cross, Lesser & Levin, 2003;Anderson, Steinerte & Russell, 2010;Büchel, Nieminen, Armbruster-Domeyer & Denison, 2013;Gausdal, 2012). Trust was measured by a set of three questions/statements.…”

“…Sun and Anderson (2010) examine the nature of relationships between absorptive capacity and organizational learning and they argue that absorptive capacity and organizational learning concepts share conceptual affinity. We take an assumption of the argument made by these authors that "ACAP [absorptive capacity] should be considered as a specific type of OL [organizational learning] which concerns an organization's relationship with external knowledge" (Sun & Anderson, 2010, p. 141).…”