BGA | BUSINESS IMPACT
“Before you trust others, first verify what they say and reflect on the cultural differences when evaluating their trustworthiness”
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relating to those definitions. In this way, I explore the cultural assumptions and perspectives that exist about trust, starting by assuming that the trust concept is complex with a range of meanings. I prefer to follow this approach to avoid prescribing my own personal view. The international arena Business school students are a diverse group of people and, on graduation, may work in culturally diverse contexts. It is important, therefore, to use class time to explore how the trust construct is influenced by differing cultural contexts. Due to globalisation, businesses today have become more multinational than ever before. The trend towards increasing globalisation means that we need to recognise the growing importance of understanding how a diverse workforce works together. In Influence of trust and participation in decision making on employee attitudes in Indian public sector undertakings , S Pavan Kumar and Shilpi Saha argue that trust is essential for cross-cultural strategic collaborations, relationships and partnerships, but this does not mean that we should ‘trust all’ without considering the cultural angle. Although there will be some generalisations about trust, expectations about trustworthiness can depend on both culture and the context, according to Altman Klein. It should
also not be assumed that in every situation we should seek first to trust, while ignoring the political and economic contexts. As professionals, we should not be naïve when making trust judgements and should consider the risks of doing so. Moreover, culture and trust are linked to the extent that what is considered trustworthy may depend on our personal cultural perspective about what is deemed trustworthy. We tend to both reinforce relationships that are consistent with our personal cultural values and beliefs and punish those values and beliefs that we judge to be inconsistent with our own, says Kwantes. Dutch social psychologist Geert Hofstede famously coined the term ‘power distance’ to describe cultures in which powerful people are expected to assume authority, make decisions and take responsibility. In power distance cultures, people with less power will expect those in power to act in an assertive manner. Similarly, in such societies those with less power tend to disagree less with those in a position of authority. This power difference has an impact on whether individuals trust each other, to the extent that individuals in these cultures generally place less trust in others. In this scenario, it would not be wise to put oneself at risk by placing trust in a high-powered individual, since they may view you as a threat.
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