A process view of trust

In this conceptual paper I aim to contribute to the discussion on the role of cognitive frames in inter-organizational relations, by integrating transaction cost economics and process theory. Transaction cost economics has a... [ view full abstract ]

In this conceptual paper I aim to contribute to the discussion on the role of cognitive frames in inter-organizational relations, by integrating transaction cost economics and process theory. Transaction cost economics has a solid tradition of explaining the performance implications of employing certain combinations of governance mechanisms. Process theory has gained attention as an insightful alternative to static representations of organizations. By combining the insights of these two theories, I aim to solve some of the disagreement with regards to the role of cognitive frames in inter-organizational relationships.

Some authors have argued that cognitive frames are often unaligned and hereby cause increased transaction costs. Others believe that in the majority of situations, cognitive frames are aligned, and that they are therefore not a central dimension of inter-organizational governance. Extant research often takes a static approach, and hereby ignores the flow of interactions through time that make up inter-organizational relations. Understanding this flow can help to explain the role of cognitive frames. The limited work that takes a dynamic approach to inter-organizational relationships assumes a fixed trajectory of pre-set stages that all ties go through. In this paper I build on this tradition, but argue that a dynamic framework free of predefined stages enhances understanding of inter-organizational relationship management. Instead of static borders between fixed stages, I build on the notion of triggers (internal as well as external to the relation) that can push relationships into new directions.