Trust unravelled in inter-organisational relationships in a regulated tender environment

Scientists say that trust in inter-organisational relationships leads to high performance, project success, and better quality in construction. The rail sector is highly regulated by the Directives from Europe and domestic law. The Dutch rail maintenance market consists of one monopsony (or buying monopoly) which has monopsony power and as countervailing power an oligopoly (four rail maintenance contractors).

The research question is: What key trust factors affects in the inter-organisational relationships in a regulated tender environment and monopsony-oligopoly markets? The research question is answered by three steps: literature review, caste study research, and simulation games. From literature review key trust factors and its sub factors are identified on multiple layers. Mostly, these key trust factors relate to single actors. The key trust factors and their sub factors are visualized in the proposed multi-layered framework of trust and distrust, which allows for the calculation of a level of trust.

The case study research takes a dyadic perspective, observing trust interactions between two actors in the markets under study. The case study research includes of eight Dutch cases and one Swiss case where both actors from the inter-organisational relations are interviewed. The multi-layered framework of trust and distrust is used to determine the level of trust of each actor. The cases show how financial incentives, external pressure, and preferred management style shape trust. The influence of these contexts is further tested in the simulation games.

They show in more detail what behaviour of the actors determines the level of trust in the inter-organisational relationship. Concluding, this research proposes a framework for the analysis of key trust factors and sub factors driving trust inter-organisational interactions, based on monopsonic and oligopolistic markets. The framework allows to calculate levels of trust as a snapshot in an inter-organisational relationship. It could be used as a trust development model in inter-organisational relationships.