Chapter 5: Does it Matter Who Trusts?: A Multilevel Approach to Trust in an Alliance

Trust is a favored alliance concept linked to increases in learning and performance. It is well recognized that trust is multidimensional (Lewis & Weigert, 1985), and exist at different levels (Currall & Inkpen, 2002; Zaheer, McEvily, & Perrone, 1998), however few studies have looked into the multilevel and multidimensional dimensions of trust. Although trust can be studied at the individual, the group or the organization level (Currall & Inkpen, 2002), and discrepancies among these levels exist (Zaheer et al., 1998), the most common way to treat trust in alliances is to consider it a firm level construct, however measured through individuals. Therefore, in alliance studies trust ends up being represented by a single dimension, and as a single level construct measured once. In this chapter we look into several dimensions of trust developing between different levels of participants within an alliance over time. Our case study suggests that paths of trust develop on the operational as well as the managerial group levels, and that within these groups individuals form deeper forms of trust. We also show that these levels influence each another. Therefore, we claim—it does matter who trusts who, who else trusts and when these trusting relations are developed.