Trust, mistrust, and organizational design: understanding the effects of social configurations

MBA Professional ReportTrust matters for task performance, particularly when the task involves dealing with potential threat or crisis. When faced with important decisions in such situations, the social connections between managers and front-line employees are critical. Drawing on the concept of trust and organizational design we investigate and provide a comprehensive overview of the effects of trust and mistrust on two different organizational designs. The formation of effective partnerships is influenced greatly by trust. Trust sets the stage for necessary factors for collaboration such as social interaction, communication, negotiation, and cooperation. The organizations are structured as Hierarchies or self-managing teams, also known as Edge organizations. This project analyzes the effects of high and low conditions of trust on two distinct structures of organizations offering insight to appropriate selection of design structures within varying conditions of trust. The analysis also offers a comparison of each group's performance to determine the most effective structures under certain conditions of trust. We find that collaborative, sharing practices (an organic, flat environment, Edge) in a trusting organizational climate produce the greatest levels of task performance. When decisions need to be expedited, however, trust is non-significant, and formal relationships between organization members are more salient. The implications for organizing in coalition type environments and military units are discussed.http://archive.org/details/trustmistrustndo1094510315Outstanding ThesisApproved for public release; distribution is unlimited