The Link Between Reasoned Trust and Subsidiary Control in Intra-organizational Dyadic Relationships

To a greater degree than control, interpersonal trust is an under-researched phenomenon for which there is no generally accepted definition. There is an open debate that resists conclusion no less than irrelevance: if one trusts someone, something, in a particular situation and at a particular time, why and to what extent to do so. In the course of this doctoral thesis, the origin, configuration, evaluation and evolution of what we have identified as situational trustworthiness, which we consider the starting point and basis of interpersonal trust, has been studied, using the logic of the trustworthiness dimensions and distinguishing between those related to the personal qualities of the trustee and those to be considered situational characteristics.
 
The originality of the conclusion of this research is particularly evident in our way of conceiving the initial phase of the trustworthiness’ scope evaluation process, which we call ‘focusing’, that allows the trustor to moderate or limit its perception of uncertainty, regarding the probable and preferred behavior of the other related to the achievement of a specific objective in the context of the dyadic intra-organizational relationship, until it is reduced or focused on an inherent risk of failure of the reasoned trust in the trustee. If this risk is not tolerable based on the reasoned trust’ scope founded on the ascribed situational trustworthiness, the additional implementation of controls, which we have described as subsidiary with respect to reasoned trust, is required to achieve the effective and efficient mitigation of the intolerable excess of risk.