Management possibilities for interpersonal trust in a business network. Case: health-, exercise- and wellbeing markets

Abstract

Trust and business networking is a wide area of research and it has gained a lot of interest among both academics and practitioners, but only a few empirical studies exist examining interpersonal trust in a business network and the possibilities for managing interpersonal trust. In this research, an interpretive understanding of building and managing trust in the early stages of networking is given. This research is implemented using the case study method including companies from the field of pharmacy, health care and research. Thematic interviews were conducted in 2013. Trust can be seen as one of the corner stones enabling business operations. This study highlights the meaning of different dimensions in the development and management of interpersonal trust, such as leadership skills, communication, actions and commonalities, the environment and atmosphere, but also those dimensions that are difficult to control.