Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/311890 
Year of Publication: 
2023
Citation: 
[Journal:] Journal of International Business Studies [ISSN:] 1478-6990 [Volume:] 54 [Issue:] 5 [Publisher:] Blackwell Publishing Ltd [Place:] Oxford, UK [Year:] 2023 [Pages:] 768-796
Publisher: 
Blackwell Publishing Ltd, Oxford, UK
Abstract: 
In this qualitative study based on 95 interviews with Chinese subordinates and their German supervisors, we inductively develop a model which advances theoretical understanding by showing how inter-cultural trust development in hierarchical relationships is the result of six distinct elements: the subordinate trustor's cultural profile (cosmopolitans, hybrids, culturally bounds), the psychological mechanisms operating within the trustor (role expectations and cultural accommodation), and contextual moderators (e.g., country context, time spent in foreign culture, and third-party influencers), which together influence the trust forms (e.g., presumptive trust, relational trust) and trust dynamics (e.g., trust breakdown and repair) within relationship phases over time (initial contact, trust continuation, trust disillusionment, separation, and acculturation). Our findings challenge the assumption that cultural differences result in low levels of initial trust and highlight the strong role the subordinate's cultural profile can have on the dynamics and trajectory of trust in hierarchical relationships. Our model highlights that inter-cultural trust development operates as a variform universal, following the combined universalistic-particularistic paradigm in cross-cultural management, with both culturally generalizable etic dynamics, as well as culturally specific etic manifestations.
Subjects: 
trust
trust dynamics
inter-cultural trust development
hierarchical relationships
China
Germany
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Creative Commons License: 
cc-by Logo
Document Type: 
Article
Document Version: 
Published Version

Files in This Item:
File
Size





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.