Boarding the Aircraft: Trust Development Amongst Negotiators of a Complex Merger

Abstract

We explore trust development in the context of an international merger negotiation. Based on in-depth interviews with chief negotiators of the Air France-KLM merger, we contribute to existing theory by showing that trust develops in three interrelated domains: personal, process, and outcome. Progressively, trust develops in all domains on the basis of antecedents that differ between phases and domains. Distinguishing between different domains facilitates analysis of trust asymmetry and the coexistence of trust and distrust, as well as the influence of trust in interorganizational relationships. © 2012 The Authors. Journal of Management Studies © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd and Society for the Advancement of Management Studies.