Cultural Aspects of Trust in Business Relationships
Résumé
Trust is one of the basic elements of cooperation and network building. Trust is an especially crucial factor in the shift from discrete market transactions to continuous exchange relationships. The aim of this paper is to investigate the complex effects of trust and cultural differences among organizations in existing business relationships. In this empirical paper, we used quantitative research methods and analysed 315 valid questionnaires received from organizations registered in Hungary, independent of size and economic sector. The valid questionnaires were analysed by SPSS (PASW) software using factor analysis and regressions. We understand that trust is that culture has an influencing role on trust. Due to the lack of a widely-accepted definition of trust in business and what determines it, this quantitative research may bring new thoughts to researchers or even support earlier models as well. Investigation of trust and its variables is useful for managers as well because when they are able to apply trust and its building elements efficiently, they may develop a relatively stable competitive advantage