How Does a Communicated Vision and Shared Values Affect the General Level of Interpersonal Trust in a Company?

Abstract

Vision and values can be organizational factors that affects the general level of interpersonal trust in a company, and this paper asks: How does a communicated vision and shared values, as organizational factors, affect the general level of interpersonal trust within an organization? To answer the research question, a case study, with mainly qualitative data, has been conducted. The case company is an e-commerce company that is market-leading in logistics and web development, areas that are of high interest to the maritime industry. Data was collected by mainly semi-structured interviews and systematic observations from several grouped departments, constituting three different units of analysis. The findings identify several ways that the vision and values may affect the general level of interpersonal trust within the company. Some of the identified ways may give rise to further quantitative studies. However, a need for further qualitative studies is also identified. The study presents new perspectives on existing trust theories and illustrates connections between the research fields of trust and organizational theory. Furthermore, because trust is shown to have potential benefits to maritime safety, the paper contributes to maritime safety research. In addition, the paper may contribute to companies both inside and outside the maritime industry.