Trust in international joint venture relationships

Margreet F. Boersma-de Jong, Peter J. Buckley, Pervez N. Ghauri

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    Abstract

    A great deal of attention has been paid to the performance of international joint ventures (IJVs) and trust has been recognised as a key
    factor influencing it. This paper examines the emergence of trust as a process and develops a process model of trust building in IJVs, which is
    used to analyse four case studies. The main conclusions are the following: Whereas competence-based trust starts from public information,
    promissory-based trust and goodwill-based trust are individually orientated and mainly develop through direct personal interaction. Such
    interaction may lead to bonds of friendship between delegates. Before these bonds evolve, trust is mainly based on the perceived self-interest
    of the partner in the joint venture. When the bonds of friendship dominate, the main source of trust shifts towards emotional commitments.
    Thus, in the early stages of an IJV, promissory-based trust predominates, and as the joint venture progresses, competence-based trust emerges.
    Goodwill-based trust is important throughout the process. A commitment to cooperate emerges from initial self-interest. The model is capable
    of further development and testing.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)1031-1042
    JournalJournal of Business Research
    Volume56
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 1 Dec 2003

    Keywords

    • joint ventures
    • international business

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