Summary
SMEs are now an important and integral part of a country’s economy and have been acknowledged as being very different to their larger counterparts (Street and Meister, 2004). The economic viability of many economies is dependent on the survival and future growth of this sector. However, small firms are increasingly exposed to competition from larger, resource-rich firms; therefore, it is not uncommon for SMEs to become involved in collaborations to grow their business, increase their competitive position and leverage opportunities presented by new technologies (e-Collaboration) (Lawson and Hol, 2007). Although emerging research suggests that e-Collaboration is vital for the future survival of small to medium-sized businesses (Henttonen and Blomqvist, 2005; Lawson and Hol, 2007), it also stresses that dealing with issues surrounding trust becomes of paramount importance. This chapter presents a discussion on the role and importance of trust in collaborative SME environments and provides a starting point from which to develop an understanding of SME e-Collaboration trust, its determinants and dimensionality.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Abdul-Rahman, A. and Hailes, S. (2000). ‘Supporting trust in virtual communities’. Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, Maui, Hawaii.
Al-Hakim, L., Bali, R. and Wickramasinghe, N. (eds) (2008). Editorial. International Journal of Networking and Virtual Organisations, 5 (1), 1–3.
Babbie, E. (2004). The Practice of Social Research ( 10th Edition ). Australia: Thomson Wadsworth.
Barber, B. (1983). The Logic and Limits of Trust. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.
Braun, P. (2002). ‘Networking tourism SMEs: eCommerce and emarketing issues in regional Australia’. Information Technology and Tourism, 5 (1), 13–23.
Brennan, L. L. and Johnson, V. E. (2008). (Eds) ‘Computer mediated relationships and trust: Managerial organizational effects’. Information Science Reference. IGI Global, Hershey, USA.
Brunetto, Y. and Farr-Wharton, R. (2007). ‘The moderating role of trust in SME owner/managers’ decision-making about collaborating’. Journal of Small Business Management, 45 (3), 362–87.
Burgess, L. and Jones, M. (2009). The Mechanics of eCollaboration: Why it Works: An Empirical Assessment of Australian SMEs. SiNet Conference, University of Wollongong, Australia, 29–30 September.
Chi, L. and Holsapple, C. (2005). ‘Understanding computer-meditated inter-organisational collaboration: A model and framework’. Journal of Knowledge Management, 9 (1), 53–75.
Coulter, K. S. and Coulter, R. A. (2002). ‘Determinants of trust in a service provider: The moderating role of length of relationship’. Journal of Service Marketing, 16 (1), 35–50.
Creswell, J. W. (2003). Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative and Mixed Methods Approaches. California: Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, USA.
Doney, P. M. and Cannon, J. P. (1997). ‘An examination of the nature of trust in buyer-seller relationships’. Journal of Marketing, April, 35–51.
Fong, M. (2005). E-Collaborations and Virtual Organisations. USA: IRM Press, Idea Group, Hershey.
Furnell, S. M. and Karweni, T. (1999). ‘Security implications of electronic commerce: A survey of consumers and businesses’. Internet Research, 9 (5), 372–82.
Glaser, B. G. and Strauss, A. (1967). The Discovery of Grounded Theory: Strategies for Qualitative Research. New York: Aldine.
Guba, E. G. and Lincoln, Y. S. (1985). Naturalistic inquiry. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
Guba, E. G. and Lincoln, Y. S. (1994). ‘Competing paradigms in qualitative research’ (pp. 105–17 ). In N. K. Denzin and Y. S. Lincoln (eds) Handbook of Qualitative Research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Gulati, R. (1995). ‘Does familiarity breed trust? The implication of repeated ties for contractual choice in alliances’. Academy of Management Journal, 38 (1), 85–112.
Head, M. M., Yuan, Y. and Archer, N. (2001). Building Trust in E-Commerce: A Theoretical Framework. Proceedings of the Second World Congress on the Management of Electronic Commerce, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
Hendrikse, G., Tuunanen, M., Windsperger, J. and Cliquet, G. (2008). Strategy and Governance of Networks. Dordrecht: The Netherlands Physica-Verlag GmbH & Co.
Henttonen, K. and Blomqvist, K. (2005). ‘Managing distance in a global virtual team: The evolution of trust through technology-mediated relational communication’. Strategic Change, March/April, 14(2), 107–19.
Jagdev, H. S. and Thoben, K. D. (2001). ‘Anatomy of enterprise collaborations, production planning and control’, 12, 437–51.
Jarvenpaa, S. L. and Leidner, D. E. (1999). ‘Communication and trust in global virtual teams’. Organization Science, 10 (6), 791–815.
Jones, G. and George, J. (1998). ‘The experience and evolution of trust: Implications for cooperation and teamwork’. Academy of Management Review, 23 (3), 531–46.
Jones, M. (2005). The Use of Qualitative Analysis Software with Grounded Theory. Paper presented at the QRC05, Johor Bharu, Malaysia.
Krishnan, R., Martin, X. and Noorderhaven, N. G. (2006). ‘When does trust mat-ter to alliance performance?’ Academy of Management Journal, 49 (5), 894–917.
Kumar, R. (1996). Research Methodology. Melbourne: Addison Wesley Longman.
Lawson, R. and Hol, A. (2007). ‘Challenges of eCollaboration among SMEs’. Bled eConference: Merging and Emerging Technologies, Processes, and Institutions, Bled, Slovenia. June.
Lewicki, R. J. and Bunker, B. B. (1996). ‘Developing and maintaining trust in work relationships’, (pp. 114–39 ). In Kramer, R. M. and Tyler, T. R. (eds) Trust in Organizations: Frontiers of Theory and Research, Sage Publications: Thousand Oaks, CA.
Mayer, R. C. and Davis, J. H. (1995). ‘An integration model of organizational trust’. The Academy of Management Review, 20 (3), 709–34.
Mishra, A. K. (1996). ‘Organizational responses to crisis: The centrality of trust’, (pp. 261–87 ). In R. M. Kramer and T. R. Tyler (eds) Trust in Organizations: Frontiers of Theory and Research, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Nooteboom, B. (1999). Inter-firm Alliances: Analysis and Design. London: Routledge.
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. (1997). Information Technology Diffusion Policies for SMEs. OECD: Paris.
Pavlou, P. A. and Ratnasingam, P. (2003a). ‘Technology trust in internet-based interorganisational electronic commerce’. Journal of Electronic Commerce in Organizations, 1 (1), 17–41.
Pavlou, P. A and Ratnasingam, P. (2003b). ‘Technology trust in B2B electronic commerce: Concepts and foundations’ (pp. 200–15). In K. Kangas (ed.) Business Strategies for Information Technology Management. Hershey, PA: IRM Press.
Ratnasingam, P. (2003). ‘Inter-Organizational Trust for Business to Business Electronic Commerce’, Idea Group, Hershey: IRM Press.
Ratnasingam, P. (2005). ‘Trust in inter-organisational exchanges: A case study in business to business electronic commerce’. Decision Support Systems, 39 (3), 525–44.
Roy, M. C., Dewit, O. and Benoit, A. A. (2001). ‘The impact of interface usability on trust in web retailers’. Internet Research: Electronic Networking Applications and Policy, 11 (5), 388–98.
Sako, M. and Helper, S. (1998). ‘Determinants of trust in supplier relations: Evidence from the automotive industry in Japan and the United States’. Journal of Economic Behaviour and Organisation, 34 (3), 387–417.
Sharif, K. J., Kalafatis, S. P. and Samouel, P. (2005). ‘Cognitive and behavioural determinants of trust in small and medium-sized enterprises’. Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, 12 (3), 409–21.
Street, C. and Meister, D. B. (2004). ‘Small business growth and internal transparency: The role of information systems’. MIS Quarterly, 28 (3), 473–506.
Tuttle, A. (2002). ‘E-collaboration: Build trust and success’. Industrial Distribution, 91 (6), 59–63.
Vakola, M. and Wilson, I. (2004). ‘The challenge of virtual organisation: Critical success factors in dealing with constant change’. Team Performance Management, 10 (5/6) 112–20.
Wehmeyer, K., Riemer, K. and Schneider, B. (2001). Roles and Trust in Interorganizational Systems. Proceedings of the Eighth Research Symposium on Emerging Electronic Markets (RSEEM01), Maastricht, the Netherlands.
Williamson, O. (1993). ‘Calculativeness, trust and economic organization’. Journal of Law and Economics, 36 (4), 453–86.
Williamson, Oliver E. (1985). ‘The Economic Institutions of Capitalism’. New York: Free Press.
Yoon, S. J. (2002). ‘The antecedents and consequences of trust in online-purchase decisions’. Journal of Interactive Marketing, 16 (920), 47–63.
Zucker, L. G. (1986). ‘Production of trust: Institutional sources of economic structure 1840–1920’. Research in Organisational Behaviour, 8 (1), 53–111.
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2012 Lois Burgess, Belinda Parrish, Michael Jones and Lorenzo Seritti
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Burgess, L., Parrish, B., Jones, M., Seritti, L. (2012). Exploring the Determinants and Dimensionality of SME e-Collaboration Trust. In: Davila, A., Elvira, M.M., Ramirez, J., Zapata-Cantu, L. (eds) Understanding Organizations in Complex, Emergent and Uncertain Environments. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137026088_7
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137026088_7
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-33120-8
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-02608-8
eBook Packages: Palgrave Business & Management CollectionBusiness and Management (R0)