Organizational Trust

Book excerpt: Over the past two decades, the topic of trust moved from bit player to center stage in organizational theory and research. Whereas previously it often had been treated as a mediating variable in empirical studies - a variable of secondary interest, at best - trust emerged in the 1990s as a subject deemed important and worthy of study in its own right. Despite the importance of the topic, to date no single volume currently exists that provides the motivated reader with a sound introduction to, and reasonable overview of, this rapidly growing, widely dispersed, multi-disciplinary literature. Indeed, some of the most influential, foundational pieces remain scattered in obscure journals or books, some of which are not easily found or, in some instances, no longer even in print. Thus the individual scholar hoping to come up to speed with this literature currently had nowhere to turn. This reader provides trust scholars and researchers with a handy reference volume, a broad guide for graduate students hoping to understand and possibly contribute to this significant and still-growing literature, and a resource for teachers at the undergraduate level of undergraduate anthropology, economics, political science, psychology, organizational sciences, and sociology courses.