Swift Trust and Distrust In Strategic Partnering Relationships: Key Considerations of Team-Based Designs

Abstract

We explore the integration of trust and distrust as defined by Lewicki, McAllister,and Bies (1998) with its effects on team-based designs. A hypothetical long-termcontract simulation was used to study trust and distrust through a medium-term,qualitative analysis. Results indicate that teams respond differently to trust anddistrust perceptions in the development of contracts. Discussion of the Lewickiet al. (1998) model demonstrates that while trust served to loosen formalitiesbetween teams and led to higher perceived quality, the presence of distrust led tothe development of competition between teams, higher inter-team accountabilityand lesser perceived quality.