Trusting as a 'Leap of Faith': Trust-Building Practices in Client-Consultant Relationships
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In: Scandinavian Journal of Management, Vol. 31, No. 2, 01.06.2015, p. 232-245.
Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Trusting as a 'Leap of Faith': Trust-Building Practices in Client-Consultant Relationships
AU - Nikolova, Natalia
AU - Möllering, Guido
AU - Reihlen, Markus
PY - 2015/6/1
Y1 - 2015/6/1
N2 - Successful client—consultant relationships depend on trust, but trusting is difficultin the non-routine, high-stake context of consulting. Based on a sample of 15 clients and 16 consultants in Australia, we develop a grounded model that explains the process of trust granting in the context of client—consultant relationships. Our model builds upon two influential research streams on trust in the literature, the ABI model (Mayer et al., 1995. Academy of Management Review, 20(3), 709—734) and Zucker’s (1986. Research in Organizational Behavior, 8, 53—111) generic modes of trust, and combines their insights with a process perspective on trusting as proposed by Möllering (2001. Sociology, 35(2), 403—420). By acknowledging the process nature of trust as a leap of faith resulting from socio-cognitive (-emotional) interactions we move away from the passive evaluation of trustworthiness. Our findings suggest that trusting isa process that involves three social practices: (1) signaling ability and integrity; (2) demonstrating benevolence; and (3) establishing an emotional connection. Our study contributes to the trust literature on consulting and to trust research more generally by advancing a process approach and emphasizing the social, not merely mental, nature of trusting as involving a leap of faith.
AB - Successful client—consultant relationships depend on trust, but trusting is difficultin the non-routine, high-stake context of consulting. Based on a sample of 15 clients and 16 consultants in Australia, we develop a grounded model that explains the process of trust granting in the context of client—consultant relationships. Our model builds upon two influential research streams on trust in the literature, the ABI model (Mayer et al., 1995. Academy of Management Review, 20(3), 709—734) and Zucker’s (1986. Research in Organizational Behavior, 8, 53—111) generic modes of trust, and combines their insights with a process perspective on trusting as proposed by Möllering (2001. Sociology, 35(2), 403—420). By acknowledging the process nature of trust as a leap of faith resulting from socio-cognitive (-emotional) interactions we move away from the passive evaluation of trustworthiness. Our findings suggest that trusting isa process that involves three social practices: (1) signaling ability and integrity; (2) demonstrating benevolence; and (3) establishing an emotional connection. Our study contributes to the trust literature on consulting and to trust research more generally by advancing a process approach and emphasizing the social, not merely mental, nature of trusting as involving a leap of faith.
KW - Entrepreneurship
KW - Management studies
KW - Client-consultant relationship
KW - Field study
KW - Management consultancy
KW - Social practices
KW - Trust
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84929283914&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.scaman.2014.09.007
DO - 10.1016/j.scaman.2014.09.007
M3 - Journal articles
VL - 31
SP - 232
EP - 245
JO - Scandinavian Journal of Management
JF - Scandinavian Journal of Management
SN - 0956-5221
IS - 2
ER -