Beth Rogers

1
Trust
Sue Couchman Consultant West Sussex County
Council Sue.couchman_at_wscc.gov.uk
Beth Rogers Principal Lecturer Author of
Rethinking Sales Management
Beth.rogers_at_port.ac.uk
2
Definitions / perceptions

• Expectation that an organisation or individual
  will
• Fulfil obligations
• Behave predictably
• Behave fairly when they could be opportunistic
• Or is it a belief?

Zaheer et al, 1998
3
Definitions / perceptions

• Knowing that I need not worry.
• Being able to rely on people, to have their
  support, to be able to work together towards a
  shared aim, to know that what they say is what
  they mean
• Linked to faith and belief

Couchman, 2007
4
TRUST in a commercial setting

• Can organisations trust or be trustworthy?
• Whats the alternative?
• Interorganisational trust is established through
  regular performance to expectations
• Interorganisational trust and interpersonal trust
  are mutually reinforcing
• Interpersonal relationships can still be
  influential
• E.g. Retail purchasers with new products

5
TRUST in the public sector

• Concerns with declining public trust in
  government have become a permanent element of the
  contemporary political discourse.
• International Review of Administrative Sciences,
  Vol. 74, No. 1, 47-64 (2008)
• You don't hear much about trust these days.
  Instead, we want accountability.
• Sebastion Mallaby - Newspaper columnist

6
Why is it important?What does it deliver?

• Workshop activity

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Why is it important?What does it deliver?

• In WSCC study
• 72 of individuals involved in partnership
  working said it was a very significant
  determinant of success in delivering to
  stakeholders
• Commercial research findings
• Risk reduction
• Links to retention of key relationships
• Employees, customers, etc.
• Corporate reputation
• Indirect link to better performance for
  shareholders

8
How does it work?

• Integrity (being open and honest)
• Good communications
• Reliability and predictability
• Respect
• Fulfil promises
• Own up to mistakes
• Reinforced by behaviour
• Identified common purpose/aim

9
Where does your businessneed trust?

• Management/employees
• Us/suppliers
• Us/customers
• Us/business partners (consortia/ jv)
• Us/community?

10
The trust exercise
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Trust signals

• Reputation and/or references
• Roles/positions
• Values demonstrated
• Motives/intentions
• Initial behaviour
• Reciprocal behaviour
• Prepared to signal problems

Perks and Halliday, 2003
12
The perils of trust breaking down

• Feelings of betrayal (even grief) have negative
  power
• Unpleasant for individuals affected
• Retaliation/sabotage
• Resorting to legal redress
• Negative word of mouth
• The good things planned are not achieved

13
Provisos

• Uncertainty
• Perceptions of fairness
• Perceptions of consequences
• Human frailty
• Especially in volunteering
• Circumstantial change (e.g. timing)
• Mess-up more common than conspiracy
• Honorable exit

14
Conclusions

• Trust is an intangible prerequisite for all types
  of interaction between individuals and
  organisations
• Building and nurturing trust associated with
  success
• Easily damaged
• Reflect before exiting

15
Stakeholder inclusionat WSCC

• We dont talk about stakeholder inclusion so much
  as governance
• Governance what we do when theres low trust
• Stakeholder inclusion part of governance strategy