Trust as sensemaking: the microdynamics of trust in interfirm alliances

Adobor, Henry

doi:10.1016/s0148-2963(03)00077-8

Cited by 111 publications

(73 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…First, research based on economics and strategic management posits that resource complementarity, quests for power, and the potential of synergistic value creation may drive firms to form alliances (Nohria and Garcia-Pont, 1991;Wassmer, 2010). Second, sociological perspectives argue that social structures play important roles in alliance formation, and firms' direct and indirect relational experiences assist the formation of future ties (Adobor, 2005;Gulati, 1999;Gulati and Gargiulo, 1999). In either case, alliances are engines of value creation, and yet not all firms engage in alliances.…”

Section: Conceptual Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Gaur et al (2011) have used a similar conceptualization of trust between a focal firm and its business partners. Trust produces organizationally valued outcomes, such as reduced transaction costs and enhanced organizational performance (Adobor, 2005;Lee and Cavusgil, 2006;Luo, 2008).…”

Section: Trust and Alliance Formationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To alleviate such concerns, trust often plays a central role early by mitigating apprehensions of potential opportunistic behaviors (Adobor, 2005). In turn, SMEs' relational capital, in the form of inter-partner trust, should encourage alliances and reduce concerns related to knowledge leakage and uncertainty.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

External and internal influences on R&D alliance formation: Evidence from German SMEs

Mukherjee

Gaur

et al. 2013

Journal of Business Research

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Relying on relational capital theory and transaction cost economics (TCE), this study identifies factors that impede or promote alliance formation in small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Environmental uncertainty and knowledge intensity impede firms' R&D alliance formation; the focal firm's overall trust in partners enhances alliance formation. Trust interacts positively with environmental uncertainty and knowledge intensity to affect alliance formation in SMEs. The findings reflect data from a longitudinal sample of 854 German SMEs, captured over eight years from 1999 to 2007.

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Section: Conceptual Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Trust and Alliance Formationmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

External and internal influences on R&D alliance formation: Evidence from German SMEs

Mukherjee

Gaur

et al. 2013

Journal of Business Research

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“…Low trust may be based on little prior knowledge of the trustee, and this may evolve into a higher level of trust or distrust as experience in the relationship presents new information that cues a further round of sensemaking (Adabor, 2005).…”

Section: The Meaning Of Trustmentioning

confidence: 99%

Trust in change managers: the role of affect

Smollan

2013

Journal of OrgChange Mgmt

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Findings -Positive and negative emotions were related to trust in the ability, benevolence and integrity of immediate supervisors and more senior change managers. The emotions were more intense for distrust than for trust. Some participants referred to challenges to their own integrity. Perceptions of organizational justice during change were important contributors to the creation and erosion of trust in management.Research limitations/implications -The relevance of propensity to trust and pre-existing levels of trust were not investigated and researching these factors, particularly in longitudinal studies, will provide a clearer picture of emotional responses to the perceived trustworthiness of change managers. Exploring cross-cultural issues in the trustworthiness of change leaders would add depth to the field.Practical implications -Developing trust in management though transparency, other fair practices and a positive organizational culture will help to gain commitment to organizational change.Originality/value -This study adds to the scant literature on qualitative investigations of trust, emotions and organizational change by presenting insights from an analysis of employees' trust in the ability, benevolence and integrity of their own supervisors and those of more senior management in a range of organizations and types of change.

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“…Indeed, Weick's work has been applied in areas as diverse as strategy (Kurtz & Snowden, 2003;Schneider, 1997), decision making (Klein, 2004;Snowden, 2005), knowledge management (Choo & Johnson, 2004;Thomas, Sussman, & Henderson, 2001), trust in organisations (Adobor, 2005), identity (Ashforth, Harrison, & Corley, 2008), and organisational change (Gioia & Chittipeddi, 1991;Maitlis & Sonenshein, 2010;Weick & Quinn, 1999 …”

Section: What Is Sensemaking?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Sensemaking in virtual settings: a practice-based approach

Marshall¹

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Since the mainstream uptake of computers and the internet, our world has become increasingly virtualised. Modern organisations are deeply reliant on virtual technologies to carry out their business across time and distance. Indeed, virtual technologies are now implicated in almost all organisational activities, from (virtual) meetings to (online) collaboration. Many scholars have been drawn to investigate the new organisational phenomena that have resulted from the virtualisation of our world, such a virtual learning, virtual leadership and virtual decision making.My research, however, tackles a more fundamental question about how organising more generally is accomplished in the virtual age. Namely, the research question is, "How does sensemaking, as the basis of organising, take place in virtual settings?" To explain, sensemaking -a foundational concept in Organisation Studies -underpins all organisational activities. Therefore understanding how sensemaking takes place in virtual settings will necessarily illuminate how organising more generally is accomplished virtually.To date, how sensemaking takes place in virtual settings has hardly been studied. Further, the studies that do exist impose Weick's (1969Weick's ( , 1979Weick's ( , 1995 theory of sensemaking (which was developed at a time pre-dating virtual technologies) on to the new context. As a result, existing studies do not illuminate what is new, unique and interesting about how we make sense in virtual settings. In this thesis I develop an alternative, practice-based conception of sensemaking (which serves as the theoretical framework for the study) that sensitises me to previously overlooked but critical concepts, namely materiality, embodiment and ongoing accomplishment. First, materiality describes how things, which in virtual settings are often digital, are implicated in sensemaking.Second, embodiment describes how physical bodies, and their digital representations in virtual settings, are involved in accomplishment of activities. Finally, ongoing accomplishment describes how sensemaking takes place in the flow of activities as they are carried out in the physical world, the virtual world, or combination of both. This framework also enables me to position activities as the unit of analysis for sensemaking. Taken together, this is a novel approach that reveals new facets of the phenomenon of sensemaking in virtual settings.This theoretical framework is applied in three different fieldsites (of varying levels of virtuality) which are selected using a virtuality continuum developed within the thesis. These fieldsites are Yammer (a social media platform), telepresence (a video-based collaboration platform), and Second Life (a three-dimensional virtual world). The methodology is a hybrid traditional-virtual ethnography in which data is collected through participant observation, ii complemented by interviews. Empirical data are presented in the form of accounts that exemplify the key activities of practitioners in each fieldsite. The analysis rev...

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Trust as sensemaking: the microdynamics of trust in interfirm alliances

Cited by 111 publications

References 29 publications

External and internal influences on R&D alliance formation: Evidence from German SMEs

External and internal influences on R&D alliance formation: Evidence from German SMEs

Trust in change managers: the role of affect

Sensemaking in virtual settings: a practice-based approach

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