Discussion


As mentioned above trust is a strongly situational phenomenon and varies from one situation to another. It is related to the organization's past and present, creating the foundation for the future of the organization. The value of trust challenges the organizations to develop their performance, practices, and structures. Trust should, therefore, be included in the strategic thinking of managers. Leavy and Wilson (1994) remark that leaders in organizations make strategies, but not always in circumstances of their own choosing. Further, they state that strategy formation is the result of interactions between history, individuals and organizations. Apparently, involving trust in management strategy is not always an easy or straightforward task. Especially in the situation where the history of the organization is full of mistrust, the interactions between the history, individuals and organization are very complicated. In these circumstances trust building as a management strategy demands a lot of work and also occasionally produces failures and disappointments. The key question is, however, what will happen if trust is not developed and maintained? As Lane (1998) remarked, the variety of exchange relations and new business environment cannot be handled without the presence of interpersonal and/or interorganizational trust.

It is apparently true that at the same time when complete distrust is too large a burden, complete trust is too great a risk and balance is, therefore, needed (Shaw, 1997). However, the managers have to take the risk. This does not mean that they should be naive and ignorant of all attempts to utilize trust without one's own contribution. However, building and maintaining trust is a crucial part of the strategic thinking and management of organizations. This is especially true in the world that is not as predictable as it used to be. The vital role of trust even requires that managers take initiatives to correct the situations that can lead to mistrust. The managers have to adopt the role of the coach and coach their organizations toward leadership organizations where trust plays a crucial role (Ciancutti & Steding, 2000).

Trust building is a very practical issue and will be tested in the everyday life of organizations. Managers should continuously carry out benchmarking and review performances in successful organizations. They should seek good examples and best practices, which could be followed in the organizational development. It is good to remember, however, that benchmarking, as well as trust building, are not only managers' duties, but should be reached everywhere in the organization.

There is a real need to develop the models for trust management in theory and to test these models empirically. This requires a close collaboration between practitioners and researchers. This collaboration is not necessarily easy because of the different background and expertise of practitioners and researchers, including their different world lives and models of work (Sonnenwald, 1995; Huotari & Iivonen, 2003). In spite of this difficulty, the collaboration will produce real benefits. On one hand, good research and theory building offers a solid basis for the development of practice. On the other hand, close ties with practice keep researchers competent to solve interesting questions and add to our understanding about the world.




L., Iivonen M. Trust in Knowledge Management Systems in Organizations2004
WarDriving: Drive, Detect, Defend, A Guide to Wireless Security
ISBN: N/A
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2004
Pages: 143

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