Interorganizational trust within two sites of a newly merged health care system

This descriptive study explored the level of trust between two sites in a newly merged health care system. Cummings and Bromiley's (1996) organizational trust model provided the conceptual model for the researcher's topic. The model operationalized trust into a three-by-two grid. On one side of the grid are the dimensions of trust (keeps commitment, negotiates honestly, and avoids taking excessive advantage). On the other side of the grid are the belief components (affective state and cognitive state). Purposive sampling was selected to ensure that the Organizational Trust Questionnaire was administered only to managerial staff. The independent variable was the hospital sites. The dependent variable was the total trust scores. Descriptive statistics and pooled t tests revealed that there were no significant differences between the two sites' overall trust level, dimension trust level, or behavioral trust level.