Testing The Relationship Between Trust And Positive Relationships Within A Top Management Team: A Second-Order Structural Equation Modeling Approach
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.12775/JPM.2022.008Keywords
Trust, positive relationships, top management team (TMT), trust within a teamAbstract
Purpose: The aim of this paper is to investigate the relationships between the following two main concepts: trust within a team and positive interpersonal relationships within a team based on empirical research conducted in top management teams (TMTs).
Design/Methodology/Approach: In accordance with the positive approach in management sciences, positive relationships and trust within teams are crucial resources which allow management teams to face the strategic challenges of the modern market. Based on critical literature review, the theoretical framework of the model was created to test the relationship between antecedents of trust and positive interpersonal relationships within TMTs. The study is based on a survey conducted on a sample of 123 top managers and members of teams in Poland. The verification of the theoretical model was performed based on a second-order structural equation modelling approach.
Findings: This research has shown a significant positive impact of trust on positive interpersonal relationships in TMT. In addition, it was shown that among the analysed antecedents of trust, competence has the strongest impact on positive interpersonal relations, especially connectivity.
Implications/limitations: This study has some limitations, such as the limitation to a quantitative method to focus on one specific aim. The sample size is not large, but nevertheless represents more than a quarter of the population of medium and large companies in the industry under study in which strategic decisions are made by teams. Furthermore, the cross-sectional nature of the study does not authorize causal claims, so future prospective studies are needed to develop knowledge about the nature and direction of the relationship between trust and positive relationships.
Originality/value: Studies of managerial teams in the field of interpersonal relations are rare. This paper contributes to filling this gap by selecting TMT teams as subjects for research. The study reported in this paper contributes to current understanding of the nature of relationship between trust and positive relationships in team.
Keywords: trust, positive relationships, top management team (TMT), trust within a team
Paper type: Research paper
References
Cameron, K.S., Spreitzer, G.M. (2003), “Introduction: What is positive about positive organizational scholarship?”, in: Cameron, K.S., Spreitzer, G.M. (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Positive Organizational Scholarship, University Press, Oxford, pp. 1-15.
Carmeli, A. (2008), “Top management team behavioural integration and the performance of service organizations”, Group Organization Management, Vol. 33 No. 6, pp. 712-735. DOI: 10.1177/1059601108325696
Carmeli, A. (2009), “Positive work relationships, vitality, and job performance”, in: Härtel, C.E.J., Ashkanasy, N.M., Zerbe, W.J. (Eds.), Emotions in groups, organizations and cultures, Vol. 5, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, pp. 45-71.
Carmeli, A., Brueller, D., Dutton, J.E. (2009), “Learning behaviours in the workplace: The role of high‐quality interpersonal relationships and psychological safety”, Systems Research and Behavioral Science, Vol. 26 No. 1, pp. 81-98.
Carmeli, A., Spreitzer, G.M. (2009), “Trust, connectivity, and thriving: Implications for innovative behaviours at work”, The Journal of Creative Behaviour, Vol 43 No. 3, pp. 169-191. DOI: 10.1002/j.2162-6057.2009.tb01313.x
Chin, W.W., Gopal, A., Salisbury, W.D. (1997), “Advancing the theory of adaptive structuration: The development of a scale to measure faithfulness of appropriation”, Information Systems Research, Vol. 8 No. 4, pp. 342-367. DOI: 10.1287/isre.8.4.342
Chopra, P.K. (2015), “The place of human contestability in positive management”, Journal of Positive Management, Vol. 5 No. 4, pp. 3-27. DOI: 10.12775/JPM.2014.021.
Colquitt, J.A., Scott, B.A., LePine, J.A. (2007), “Trust, trustworthiness, and trust propensity: a meta-analytic test of their unique relationships with risk taking and job performance”, Journal of applied psychology, Vol. 92 No. 4, pp. 909-927. DOI: 10.1037/0021-9010.92.4.909
Conway, J.M., Lance, C.E. (2010), “What reviewers should expect from authors regarding common method bias in organizational research”, Journal of Business and Psychology, Vol. 25, pp. 325-334. DOI: 10.1007/s10869-010-9181-6
Costa, A.C., Roe, R.A., Taillieu, T. (2001), “Trust within teams: The relation with performance effectiveness”, European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, Vol. 10 No. 3, pp. 225–244. DOI: 10.1080/13594320143000654
Covey, S.M.R., Merrill, R.R. (2006), The speed of trust: the one thing that changes everything, Free Press, New York.
De Jong, B.A., Dirks, K.T., Gillespie, N. (2016), “Trust and team performance: A meta-analysis of main effects, moderators, and covariates”, Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol. 101 No. 8, pp. 1134-1150.
Dietz, G., Den Hartog, D.N. (2006), “Measuring trust inside organizations”, Personnel Review, Vol. 35 No. 5, pp. 557-588. DOI: 10.1108/00483480610682299
Dutton, J.E., Glynn, M.A., Spreitzer, G. (2006), “Positive organizational scholarship”, in: Greenhaus, J., Callanan, G. (Eds.), Encyclopaedia of Career Development, Sage, Thousand Oaks, pp. 641-650.
Dutton, J.E., Heaphy, E.D. (2003), “The power of high-quality connections”, in: Cameron, K.S., Dutton, J.E., Quinn, R.E. (Eds.), Positive organizational scholarship. Foundation of a new discipline, Berrett-Koehler Publishers, San Francisco, pp. 263-278.
Elsbach, K.D. (2004), “Managing images of trustworthiness in organizations”, in: Kramer, R.M., Cook, K.S. (Eds.), Trust and distrust in organizations: Dilemmas and approaches, Russell Sage Foundation, New York, pp. 275-292.
Enders, C.K. (2001), “The impact of non-normality on full information maximum-likelihood estimation for structural equation models with missing data”, Psychological Methods, Vol. 6 No. 4, pp. 352-370. DOI: 10.1037/1082-989X.6.4.352
Fredrickson, B.L. (2003), “Positive emotions and upward spirals in organizations”, in: Cameron, K.S., Dutton, J.E., Quinn, R.E. (Eds.), Positive Organizational Scholarship: Foundations of a New Discipline, Berrett-Koehler Publishers, San Francisco, pp. 163-173.
Glińska-Neweś, A. (2013), “Employee interpersonal relationships”, in: Stankiewicz, M.J. (Ed.), Positive management: Managing the key areas of positive organisational potential for company success, Dom Organizatora, Toruń, pp. 125-154.
Glińska-Neweś, A. (2017), Pozytywne relacje interpersonalne w zarządzaniu, Wydawnictwo Naukowe Uniwersytetu Mikołaja Kopernika, Toruń.
Glińska-Neweś, A., Barabasz, A., Escher, I., Fu, Y. (2022), “Defence Mechanisms as Predictors of Trust and Positive Relationships in Top Management Teams”, Human Systems Management, Vol. 41 No. 5, pp. 567-581. DOI: 10.3233/HSM-211562
Hardin, R. (2002), Trust and trustworthiness, Russell Sage Foundation, United States.
Kahn, W.A. (1992), “To be fully there: Psychological presence at work”, Human Relations, Vol. 45, pp. 321-349.
Kahn, W.A. (2007), “Meaningful Connections: Positive Relationships and Attachments at Work”, in: Dutton, J.E., Ragins, B.R. (Eds.), Exploring Positive Relationships at Work: Building a Theoretical and Research Foundation, Lawrence Erlbaum, New York, pp. 189-206.
Kock, N., Lynn, G. (2012), “Lateral collinearity and misleading results in variance-based SEM: An illustration and recommendations”, Journal of the Association for information Systems, Vol. 13 No. 7, pp. 546-580. DOI: 10.17705/1jais.00302
Krackhardt, D., Hanson, J.R. (1993), “Informal Networks: The Company Behind the Chart”, Harvard Business Review, Vol. 71, pp. 104-111.
Kram, K.E., Isabella, L.A. (1985), “Mentoring alternatives: The role of peer relationships in career development”, Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 28 No. 1, pp. 110-132. DOI: 10.2307/256064
Krosnick, J.A. (1999), “Survey research”, Annual Review of Psychology, Vol. 50 No. 1, pp. 537-567. DOI: 10.1146/annurev.psych.50.1.537
Landis, R.S., Beal, D.J., Tesluk, P.E. (2000), “A comparison of approaches to forming composite measures in structural equation models”, Organizational Research Methods, Vol. 3 No. 2, pp. 186-207. DOI: 10.1177/109442810032003
LePine, J.A., Methot, J.R., Crawford, E.R., Buckman, B.R. (2012), “A Model of Positive Relationships in Teams: The Role of Instrumental, Friendship, and Multiplex Social Network Ties”, in: Turner de Tormes Eby, L., Allen, T.D. (Eds.), Personal Relationships: The Effect on Employee Attitudes, Behaviour, and Well-being, Routledge, New York, pp. 173-194.
Lincoln, J.R., Miller, J. (1979), Work and Friendship Ties in Organizations: A Comparative Analysis of Relational Networks, “Administrative Science Quarterly”, Vol. 24, pp. 181-199.
Ling, F.Y.Y., Dulaimi, M.F., Chua, M. (2013), “Strategies for managing migrant construction workers from China, India, and the Philippines”, Journal of Professional Issues in Engineering Education and Practice, Vol. 139 No. 1, pp. 19-26. DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)EI.1943-5541.0000124
Mach, M., Dolan, S., Tzafrir, S. (2010), “The differential effect of team members' trust on team performance: The mediation role of team cohesion”, Journal of occupational and organizational psychology, Vol. 83 No. 3, pp. 771-794. DOI: 10.1348/096317909X473903
Mausbach, B.T., Roepke, S.K., Chattillion, E.A., Harmell, A.L., Moore, R., Romero-Moreno, R., Bowie, C.R., Grant, I. (2012), “Multiple mediators of the relations between caregiving stress and depressive symptoms”, Aging & Mental Health, Vol. 16 No. 1, pp. 27-38. DOI: 10.1080/13607863.2011.615738
Mayer, R.C., Davis, J.H., Schoorman, F.D. (1995), “An integrative model of organizational trust”, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 20 No. 3, pp. 709-734. DOI: 10.2307/258792
Muthén, L.K., Muthén, B.O. (2018), Mplus user’s guide, Los Angeles.
Oyster, C.K. (2000), Grupy, Wydawnictwo Zysk i S-ka, Poznań.
Ping Li, P. (2012), “When trust matters the most: The imperatives for contextualising trust research”, Journal of Trust Research, Vol. 2 No. 2, pp. 101-106. DOI: 10.1080/21515581.2012.708494
Podsakoff, P.M., MacKenzie, S.B., Lee, J.-Y., Podsakoff, N.P. (2003), “Common method biases in behavioural research: a critical review of the literature and recommended remedies”, Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol. 88 No. 5, pp. 879-903. DOI: 10.1037/0021-9010.88.5.879
Pratt, M.G., Dirks, K.T. (2009), “Rebuilding trust and restoring positive relationships: a commitment-based view of trust”, in: Dutton, J.E., Ragins, B.R. (Eds.), Exploring positive relationships at work: Building a theoretical and research foundation, Psychology Press, East Sussex, New York, pp. 117-136. DOI: 10.4324/9781315094199
Preacher, K.J., Hayes, A.F. (2008), “Asymptotic and resampling strategies for assessing and comparing indirect effects in multiple mediator models”, Behaviour Research Methods, Vol. 40 No. 3, pp. 879-891. DOI: 10.3758/BRM.40.3.879
Ragins, B.R., Dutton, J.E. (2007), “Positive relationships at work: An introduction and invitation”, in: Dutton, J.E., Ragins, B.R. (Eds.), Exploring positive relationships at work: Building a theoretical and research foundation, Lawrence Erlbaum, New York, pp. 3-25.
Roberts, L.M. (2007), “From proving to becoming; how positive relationships create a context for self-discovery and self-actualization”, in: Dutton, J.E., Ragins, B.R. (Eds.), Exploring positive relationships at work: Building a theoretical and research foundation, Laurence Erlbaum Associates, New York, pp. 29-45.
Rong, P., Li, C., Xie, J. (2019), “Learning, trust, and creativity in top management teams: Team reflexivity as a moderator”, Social Behaviour and Personality, Vol. 47 No. 5, pp. 1-14. DOI: 10.2224/sbp.8096
Rousseau, D.M., Sitkin S.B., Burt, R.S., Camerer C. (1998), “Not so different after all: A cross-discipline view of trust”, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 23 No. 3.
Sprenger, R.K. (2007), Trust: The best way to manage, Campus Verlag.
Sztompka, P. (1999), Trust: A sociological theory, Cambridge University Press, United Kingdom.
Whitener, E.M., Brodt, S.E., Korsgaard, M.A., Werner, J.M. (1998), “Managers as initiators of trust: An exchange relationship framework for understanding managerial trustworthy behaviour”, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 23 No. 3, pp. 513-530. DOI: 10.5465/amr.1998.926624
Zaheer, A., McEvily, B., Perrone, V. (1998), “Does trust matter? Exploring the effects of interorganizational and interpersonal trust on performance”, Organization Science, Vol. 9 No. 2, pp. 141-159.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2023 Barbara Jozefowicz, Yusheng Fu, Rodrigo Martin-Rojas
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Copyright
Articles submitted to the journal should not have been published before in their current or substantially similar form, or be under consideration for publication with another journal. Authors submitting articles for publication warrant that the work is not an infringement of any existing copyright and will indemnify the publisher against any breach of such warranty. For ease of dissemination and to ensure proper policing of use, papers and contributions become the legal copyright of the publisher unless otherwise agreed.
Plagiarism and ghostwriting
In response to the issue of plagiarism and ghostwriting the editors of the Journal of Positive Management has introduced the following rules to counteract these phenomena:
1. Contributors should be aware of their responsibility for a content of manuscripts.
2. Collective authors are obliged to reveal the contribution and an affiliation of each author (i.e. who is an author of specified part of a paper).
3. Any act of dishonesty will be denounced, the editors will inform appropriate institutions about the situation and give evidence of all cases of misconduct and unethical behaviour.
4. The editors may ask contributors for financial disclosure (i.e. contribution of specified institutions).
Stats
Number of views and downloads: 297
Number of citations: 0
