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12 - The repair of public trust following controllable or uncontrollable organizational failures: a conceptual framework

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 July 2014

By
Laura Poppo  and
Donald J. Schepker
Edited by
Jared D. Harris ,
Brian Moriarty  and
Andrew C. Wicks
Laura Poppo
Affiliation:
University of Kansas School of Business
Donald J. Schepker
Affiliation:
University of South Carolina
Jared D. Harris
Affiliation:
University of Virginia
Brian Moriarty
Affiliation:
University of Virginia
Andrew C. Wicks
Affiliation:
University of Virginia
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Summary

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

the situation

Prior research suggests that organizations tend to misunderstand how to repair trust. Many organizations fail to supply explanations for key events, or provide explanations that are so vague that they lack real information. As a result, trust can be easily damaged or destroyed through organizational failures and from the inability to repair it.

key questions and approach

How should organizations repair trust among external stakeholders? In what situations are communications to the public and institutional reforms likely to rebuild public trust following a competence violation or an integrity violation? How can companies rebuild trust when direct observation and interaction with the public cannot readily occur?

new knowledge

Institutional reforms can be used to prevent distrust and to signal an organization’s commitment to integrity or competence, and, as such, can effectively rebuild trust.

Controllability conditions the choice of trust repair strategies. Controllability assigns “blame” or “fault” to the organization, such as how much to hold another accountable for the failure, even if the organizational actions or inactions are deemed to be the root cause of the failure.

Public communication (such as apologies, accounts, and plans) are best conceptualized as a weak signal, but when bundled with more credible signals (such as institutional reforms), communication results in higher levels of public trust than communication or costly actions alone.

Type
Chapter
Information
Public Trust in Business , pp. 326 - 360
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2014

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