Flexibility and Trust – About the Meaning of Trust in Changing Processes

Fundamental economic and social changes have strongly influenced the conditions under which companies have to operate during the last couple of years. The dynamics of the business environment, which are among other things increasingly forced by the globalization of markets, development of new technologies and subsequently growing competitive pressure, requires that companies adapt to their environment not only reactive, but rather act proactively to exist on the market permanently. This means, that in companies radical change processes are not even uncommon in addition to permanent changes. Regarding the success of any change process it is of vital importance that the concerned employees and departments are involved in the success of the project and cooperate closely. For this reason trust is becoming more and more important in business environment, especially against the backdrop of economic crisis, of mergers, outsourcing, short-time work and job loss. The setup and permanent care of a trustworthy corporate culture, the content of which includes the constructive handling through management of the anxieties and emotions of the employees concerning upcoming changes, finally provides the basis for successful cooperation. Currently there is no scientific consensus about what trust is, how it can be measured, evaluated and influenced. These issues are now being investigated by empirical studies. Thus, the meaning of 'professional' trust was determined by means of a quantitative questionnaire. One aim of the empirical study was to investigate the existence of trust-promoting and trust-inhibitory factors in companies and to generate rankings regarding their importance for the employees. The perceptions should be the basis to build and maintain a reliable culture of trust in companies, especially during the implementation of change processes.:1. Introduction 2. Meaning of Trust in Research 3. To Change with Trust 4. Method 5. Results 5.1 Trust-Aiding and Trust-Repressing Factors 5.2 Measuring and Evaluating Trust 6. Perspective Literatur