| Attempts to create integrated models of individual trust have been successful, but few of these models have been extended to the interorganizational context. This exploratory project examines the question of whether interorganizational trust exists and explores its antecedents. Using exchange and agency theories, antecedents of interorganizational trust are predicted. The resulting model suggests two exogenous and independent variables (successful prior ties, positive reputation) that have a mediated relationship with the dependent variable (interorganizational trust). The mediating and independent variables (competence, efficacy, benevolence, values consistency and values compatibility) are the direct antecedents of interorganizational trust. The model is tested with data from outsourced clinical trial relationships and shows that, in large part, the predicted relationships are supported with only a few exceptions. The unsupported relationships are those that contained a construct not likely to be tracked or measured by the organizations in question (e.g. benevolence, values compatibility). The tests also show that the predicted relationship between successful prior ties and interorganizational trust, and positive reputation and interorganizational trust are fully mediated by the other variables. This finding helps clarify the uncertain role of prior ties and reputation in the trust literature. Finally the introduction of control variables reveals that features like type of firm, authority level of the organizational representatives, and preferred vendor status matter in predictions of interorganizational trust. |
