Conclusions and Outlook

Abstract

Trust was approached in this study from the economic perspective as an implicit complementary control mechanism within hierarchies. We choose the theoretical background from Transaction Costs Theory (TCE), Economic Contract Theory and Agency Theory to explore how trust works within business organizations. We observed that the central idea of trust studies applied to management, lies in the fact that it might become a competitive advantage to create and sustain a trust-based managerial style. Trust is fundamentally important, as an implicit motivational element, to allow economic exchange built on a consensual basis through the lens of the perception of mutual benefits and advantages. To a certain degree, it plays a central role within all human relationships and becomes relevant to intraorganizational exchange. In times of high competition with companies presenting similar products and prices, the quality of the relationships within the companies might be a considerable cost-cutting advantage. Scholars on trust studies have claimed that a high trust social context avoids opportunistic behavior and fosters high risk investments, reducing transaction costs and increasing organizational efficiency. However, this study stressed that such an advantage might be achieved according to specific contexts considering a cost-benefit analysis.⁹⁰⁴