Process of Distrust Formation

Interorganizational distrust has detrimental effects for the concerned organizations themselves but also for third parties. Moreover, once interorganizational distrust has been established, it is only hardly reversed. Yet, we know only very little about the process of distrust formation in interorganizational relationships, which assumedly includes a tipping point that can be prevented. In a nationally funded research project and a corresponding dissertation, we apply an embedded case study design with one main and ten embedded cases to gather qualitative in-depth knowledge on such distrust formation processes and therewith contribute (1) to research by theory building and (2) to practice by recommendations on distrust-preventing actions. Our preliminary findings corroborate the existence of a tipping point that is triggered by severe transgression events that exceed an existing “trust reservoir” in a relationship and indicate a central role of sensebreaking in this process. Further results will be discussed.