The impact of environmental uncertainty on trust relationships
By: ZANINI Marco Tulio Fundão
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Contributor(s): ALMEIDA, Ana Luisa de Castro.
Material type: 
ArticlePublisher: São Paulo : FEA-USP, out./nov./dez. 2009RA - USP Revista de Administração 44, 4, p. 313-326Abstract: This article aims to analyze the consequences of environmental uncertainty on trust relations within business organizations. Specifically, this study tries to understand the possible differences in the levels of trust between two paradigms: the Old Economy and the New Economy. The unique institutional innovations that best characterize the New Economy, in the form of environmental uncertainty and instability set considerable constraints on the development of trust. In order to evaluate the consequences of uncertainty on trust we analyze the results of a large database presented by Zanini (2007). Addressing trust as a dependent variable in a cross-industrial comparison, a questionnaire survey war carried out from July to October 2004 in Brazil, assessing the levels of trust within seven private-sector companies. The study classified the companies into three different groups: 'Old Economy' companies, 'New Economy' companies, and an alternative category. Two singular trust dimensions were considered: trust in management and interpersonal trust. Whereas the first refers to the antecedents of trust, the latter refers to specific person-to-person trust relationships. This study provides substantial evidence that high institutional uncertainty and instability related to industry-specific institutional frameworks can constrain the development of trust in management and interpersonal trust.
This article aims to analyze the consequences of environmental uncertainty on trust relations within business organizations. Specifically, this study tries to understand the possible differences in the levels of trust between two paradigms: the Old Economy and the New Economy. The unique institutional innovations that best characterize the New Economy, in the form of environmental uncertainty and instability set considerable constraints on the development of trust. In order to evaluate the consequences of uncertainty on trust we analyze the results of a large database presented by Zanini (2007). Addressing trust as a dependent variable in a cross-industrial comparison, a questionnaire survey war carried out from July to October 2004 in Brazil, assessing the levels of trust within seven private-sector companies. The study classified the companies into three different groups: 'Old Economy' companies, 'New Economy' companies, and an alternative category. Two singular trust dimensions were considered: trust in management and interpersonal trust. Whereas the first refers to the antecedents of trust, the latter refers to specific person-to-person trust relationships. This study provides substantial evidence that high institutional uncertainty and instability related to industry-specific institutional frameworks can constrain the development of trust in management and interpersonal trust.
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