An analysis of the organizational trust on networks: an application through small-sized businessess

The purpose of this study is to explore the type of trust that is developed between the small sized firm that take place on inter-organizational networks. The reasons for the trust developed between the disscussed firms are thought to be rational reasons, such as, decreasing the transaction costs, developing competitive advantages through reaching network resources and maximizing the organization?s benefits. It is argued that, even though firms act under the influence of the culture that they live in, their final choises are based on rational behaviour. Through a different approach, mainly by the cultural theorists, firms act according to the characteristics of their own national culture. In such a case, the firms doing business in the collectivist Turkish cultural setting should be forming their organizational structure according to the characteristics that of a fief, and are assumed to display affective trusting behaviours. Accordingly, these firms are expected to ignore the rational choises and rely upon reasons such as kinship, citizentry and vicinity for developing an affective kind of trust in doing business. In the field research, the results found are largely supportive of the previsions displayed in the hypothesis section. The firms analyzed in the research are positioned on the networks and they use these networks for their own benefits by sending/passing jobs to their counterparts. This process is supported by a kind of trust developed to fullfill mutual expectations, benefits and advantages. In this case, the trust encountered is cognitive trust. Along with the fact that the cultural influences are so important not to be ignored, it would not be incorrect to claim that the small sized businesses display their trust relations according to cognitive reasonings and rational choises.