Trusting as a 'Leap of Faith': Trust-building practices in client-consultant relationships

Nikolova, N; Möllering, G; Reihlen, M

Trusting as a 'Leap of Faith': Trust-building practices in client-consultant relationships

Nikolova, N

Möllering, G Reihlen, M

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Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Scandinavian Journal of Management, 2015, 31 (2), pp. 232 - 245
Issue Date:: 2015-01-01

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Nikolova, N https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5916-3822	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Möllering, G	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Reihlen, M	en_US
dc.date.available	2020-05-25T19:08:36Z
dc.date.issued	2015-01-01	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	Scandinavian Journal of Management, 2015, 31 (2), pp. 232 - 245	en_US
dc.identifier.issn	0956-5221	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/33428
dc.description.abstract	© 2014 Elsevier Ltd. Successful client-consultant relationships depend on trust, but trusting is difficult in 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 is a 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.	en_US
dc.relation.ispartof	Scandinavian Journal of Management	en_US
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1016/j.scaman.2014.09.007	en_US
dc.subject.classification	Business & Management	en_US
dc.title	Trusting as a 'Leap of Faith': Trust-building practices in client-consultant relationships	en_US
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	2	en_US
utslib.citation.volume	31	en_US
utslib.for	1503 Business and Management	en_US
pubs.embargo.period	Not known	en_US
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Business
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Business/Management Discipline
utslib.copyright.status	open_access
pubs.issue	2	en_US
pubs.publication-status	Published	en_US
pubs.volume	31	en_US

Abstract:

© 2014 Elsevier Ltd. Successful client-consultant relationships depend on trust, but trusting is difficult in 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 is a 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.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/33428