Conclusion

In this chapter we have explored trust in the light of a dynamic business environment, especially from the perspective of technology partnerships. The approach is rather general and illuminates the concept and phenomenon of trust in other social contexts, as well. Our aim was to study the concept and phenomenon of trust and thus contribute both to managerial implementations and empirical research in the future.

The basic conceptualization of trust was based on Blomqvist's (2002) research on trust in asymmetric technology partnerships, in which the conceptual analyses with the four components — capability, goodwill, self-reference and behavior — was based on both literature and empirical data. In the end of the chapter we presented a set of tables to give the state-of-the art on means for trust building presented in earlier studies. The earlier literature was categorized on the basis of the four-dimensional conceptualization of trust, and some ideas for trust building for practicing managers were given.

Regarding trust through the four components can be criticized from various angles. The main difficulties concern their usefulness for further studies. Because each of the components is extensive and difficult to define clearly enough as a concept, the operationalization will also be difficult. Another difficulty concerns the question of the dynamics of trust. In this chapter we presented a preliminary model of trust dynamics. In this model the components of capability, goodwill, and self-reference were put in an interactive tension between expectations and the behavioral component, i.e., the demonstration of trust. This way we can better understand trust as a phenomenon emerging from ongoing feelings and actions more than from static components only. This preliminary model offers many interesting questions for future empirical studies concerning the interaction, significance and effect of the elements in real life.

One of the four components of trust was originally labeled as self-reference (Blomqvist, 2002). The concept resulted from the various view-points of the linked to reflections on trust. To start with, it was difficult to perceive that many of the interviewees were talking about the same phenomenon, because it contained so many different angles. Luhmann's original concept self-reference had been studied in detail in St hle's (1988) research on self-renewing systems. As such, the concept matched well with the phenomenon that the interviewees illustrated. Trust is one of the core elements of self-reference, and that is why it functions so well — not only as a component of trust, but it also offers wider understanding of the meaning and the role of trust in all kinds of partnerships. Self-reference is not only a context for trust, but also a link to the turbulent, complex and uncontrollable business life. Self-reference is an absolutely necessary antecedent for collective efficiency in a dynamic business environment, which in turn emphasizes the necessity to understand the meaning and importance of trust. The demonstration of self-reference in business organizations and the research on trust in this context open up most interesting questions for empirical study.

Only individuals are able to trust. However, individuals, teams and organizations may be objects of trust. In this chapter we have not dealt with the demonstration of trust on different levels of systems: individuals, teams, organizations and networks. Interesting questions connected to this issue still remain to be answered, for example, the possible transfer of trust and the possible changes of the criteria for trust building when moving the focus from one level to another.

In this chapter we have explored the concept and phenomenon of trust with special focus on technology partnership formation. It is evident that the importance of trust has been identified both by researchers and practitioners, but the major challenge still lies ahead: to understand the complexity and dynamics of trust building in practice. The core concepts of our research — capability, self-reference, goodwill and behavior — include various dimensions and elements with specific temporal dynamics of their own. On the way toward methods and tools for trust building in partnership formation, we are only beginning. However, we believe that this research area with its multi-disciplinary nature will be quintessential for technology firms competing in the dynamic business environment of today and the future.