EGOS Report 2015

European Group for Organisational Studies

(EGOS)

Track 2: The Dynamics of Trust in

Challenging Contexts Report

Athens, July, 2015

This year, the annual European Group of Organisational studies (EGOS) took
place in Athens. The theme of this 31st colloquium was, Organizations and the
Examined Life: Reason, Reflexivity and Responsibility, attracting over 1700
scholars from more than 40 countries.
Track 2, on The Dynamics of Trust in Challenging Contexts began with a precolloquium workshop for PhD and Early Career researchers (PDW), which took
place at the main EGOS conference venue, the American College of Greece on 1 st
July. The purpose of the workshop was to provide constructive feedback to PhDs
and Early Career researchers from leading scholars in the trust field on their
current work, as well as providing them an opportunity to build up a solid
network for career progression. Six individuals presented their developmental
papers at the event before joining the other Track 2 participants in the main
conference.
After a warm welcome from convenors Dr. Ann-Marie Nienaber (Coventry
University), Dr. Sabina Seibert (University of Glasgow) and Dr. Lovisa Nslund
(Stockholm University), the delegates presented their developmental papers.
These papers covered a variety of topics around trust in challenging contexts,
such as trust in cross-functional teams, trust in the middle of war conflicts,
virtual knowledge brokers and trust repair in the banking sector. Two sessions
took place over the course of the day to provide time for discussion, with the
small group environment facilitating the sharing and formation of ideas.

This

active day ended with an informal networking dinner where participants had
further discussions and exchanged contact details with peers and leading
researchers. Participant feedback from the day was overwhelmingly positive,
with scholars finding the advice and discussion around their work invaluable for
PhD and publication progression.
The main conference began on Thursday 2 nd July where 22 papers were
presented during Track 2 from an international cohort. Convenors Rosalind Searle
(Coventry University), Reinhard Bachmann (SOAS, University of London) and
2

Shay Tzafir (University of Haifa) developed an interactive session, providing

discussion and post-session huddles for paper presenters. It was an interesting
time for EGOS participants to visit Athens given the Greek economic crisis and
impending referendum, making the track on trust in challenging contexts
particularly relevant.
The first session focused on Trust and Transgression with Yvonne Kreis and Julia
Spath presenting a model of trust and transgressions for the global financial
crisis, Ayse Elif Sengun and Nazli Wasti explored the dark side of trust in the
jewellery trade, and Robert Hurley and Kyle Emich examining organizational
trustworthiness. Next, was Trust and Sense Making, which included Rosalind
Searle, Jo Silvester, Nikeletta Giatras and Charis Rices paper, on trust in a
volunteer context; Jennifer Wilkinson and David Knights work on trust, control
and remote working; and Lovisa Nuslund and Kirsimaja Blomqvist on the
dynamics of trust in temporary groups. The day ended with a session on interorganisational-institutional trust which featured Antonia Bauman and Reinhard
Bachmann, as well as Indre Maurer and Clarissa Weber. Thursdays well attended
sessions were rewarded with a social event for track participants just outside
central Athens.

(Left to Right) Rose Narooz, Ann-Marie Nienaber, Randy Shaoi, Shay Tzafir, Kira
Gruenewald
Fridays sessions focused on trust in the workplace, with papers on trust in
leadership, including Ashley Fulmer and Cheri Ostroffs work on trust in the
military context, and the dynamics of trust in teams featuring Aviv Kidron, Shay
Tzafir and Ilan Meshoulam, among others. The final day of the track housed two
parallel sessions: one on Interorganizational Trust Alliances and Regulation, and
the other on Stakeholder Trust. The former included a paper on the impact of
perceived trustworthiness between Russian-Finish business partners (Minna
Jukka, Tatiana Andreeva, Kirsimarja Blomqvist and Kaisu Puumalainen), alongside
Randy Shoai, Rose Narooz and Ann-Marie Nienabers paper on The spill over role
of trust in the relationship between MNCs and institutional intermediaries in
heavily constrained markets: The case of Swedish MNCs in Iran. This latter paper
was awarded the coveted Best Paper of the Track and will now go forward for
consideration for best overall paper for EGOS 2015 - which comes with a prize
and free conference place for 2016 big congratulations to them!

Best Paper: Randy Shoai, Rose Narooz and Ann-Marie Nienaber The spill over role of trust in the relationship between MNCs and
institutional intermediaries in heavily constrained markets: The case of
Swedish MNCs in Iran.

The parallel session on Stakeholder Trust included Konstantina Kougiannou and

Matthew Wallis case study on organisational trustworthiness and dependent
stakeholder-organisation relations in the Milaki Plant. The track ended with highly
topical papers on Virtual to Actual Trust.
The track stimulated much conversation among participants, strengthening
existing networks and building new networks. Excitingly, during the conference,
Rosalind Searle and Ann-Marie Nienaber met with publishers Routledge about
two projects, The Routledge Companion to Trust, which they are co-editing with
Sim Sitkin (Duke University), and they also have been asked to develop a trust
book series, including research monographs and jointly authored books, plus key
edited collections in the field of Trust. Track participants were therefore
encouraged to develop and submit ideas for consideration, to provide new and
exciting developments in the field.
Next years track 2 theme will focus on Trusting Relationships and take place in
Naples as part of the overall conference on Organizing in the Shadow of Power.

EGOS Track 2 Participants