Chapter 5: Interpersonal Trust in Online Partnerships: The Challenge of Representation

Elisabeth Davenport
Napier University, UK

Leo McLaughlin
Napier University, UK

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Abstract

In this chapter, trust is treated as a form of tacit knowledge that can be made explicit to some extent by means of knowledge management techniques such as codification and pattern matching. The authors explore the issue of representing interpersonal trust by means of a case study. This describes the development of an online platform to support partnership among small firms where remoteness, and/or lack of time, preclude the long-term build-up of trusting relationships. The authors argue that in such a situation, infrastructure and process may be designed to support trustful interaction. They review a number of empirical studies of interpersonal trust that suggest that judgments about trust in the early stages of the formation of partnerships are indicative of relationship quality in subsequent stages. Such assessments may be seen as "representations" of trust. A specification to support such assessment is described.