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Over the last decade the phenomenon of trust, within and

between organisations, has been the focus of increasing

attention, on both an international and national level. This has

resulted in a substantial growth in the body of knowledge

surrounding organisational trust. The SA Journal of Industrial

Psychology now continues this trend by gathering a number of

papers from various parts of Europe and South Africa in this

special edition focusing on organisational change and trust. Not

only do these papers come from different parts of the world, but

they also indicate the multi-disciplinary nature of organisational

change and trust, as there are Psychologists, Social Psychologists,

Industrial Psychologists, Management Scientists, Philosophers

and Sociologists amongst the contributors.

Although the papers in this edition were all written independently,

with only a general theme in mind, there is a common thread that

runs through all of them. In line with this, an attempt has been

made to introduce a logical sequence to this issue that leads the

reader through a chronological development of this body of

knowledge on organisational change and trust. The first two

articles serve as an introduction, the next five deal with trust at an

empirical level and the last two, although also empirical, relate

trust to organisational change at a more practical level.

In the first paper, Bews and Rossouw address organisational

change and its effects at the macro-level while in the second

paper Wilczycska-Kwiatek provides some insight at the micro-

level. This paper offers proof that the individuals psychological

self-portrait changes in relation to changing situations and that

the self-image of a person influences that person’s capacity to

manage in such situations.

Bews and Martins then test aspects of a model for trust, finding

support for the work of Mayer, Davis and Schoorman (1995) and

that of Engelbrecht and Cloete (2000). The next paper follows on

from the previous one in that Bews and Uys expand on the Bews

and Martins study, moving it onto a longitudinal level and

relating it to organisational change. In their study Bews and

Martins indicate the need for researchers to address the

relationship bet ween leadership and trust which, quite

independently of this suggestion and in another part of the

world, Den Hartog, Schippers and Koopman had already taken

up. Den Hartog et al examine various leadership styles and the

effect that these styles have on trust in generalised others. The

research done by Den Hartog et al indicates that trust in the

leader and trust in management were highly positively related to

transformational leadership. Andrè Büssing’s paper focuses on

personal trust and organisational commitment and job and work

involvement, while in a longitudinal study, Amanda Hay

examines what the effects of introducing new work practices

have on organisational trust. The results of this study show that

significant changes in trust occur over time, while the study by

Andrè Büssing indicates a significant relationship between

organisational commitment, trust and involvement.

The final two papers deal with trust on a somewhat different

level in that they suggest how organisations can maintain trust

while undergoing significant change. Martins and Von Der Ohe

evaluate a questionnaire to determine how employees select the

best company to work for and determine the role of trust in a

relationship where employers must attract, motivate and retain

employees. They find a correlation bet ween trust, job

satisfaction and leadership as subsequent authors have done. In

the final paper, while examining the types of culture best able to

support creativity and innovation, Martins and Martins find

that, amongst other things, trust plays a pivotal role in the

probability of successful change.

It is clear from the contributions in this special edition that

there has been progression in empirical studies that address the

phenomenon of organisational trust. It is also clear that this has

occurred on a multi-disciplinary basis. The nature of trust,

however, transcends a number of disciplines in such a way that

it lends itself to an interdisciplinary approach. Rather than

approach the issue in what is largely an independent multi-

disciplinary manner, researchers should, perhaps, give thought

to combining their skills and talents and forming project teams,

which can tackle the issue of trust in a more holistic way. In this

manner a number of research problems, particularly those of a

longitudinal nature could be addressed.

Not only do these papers provide us with new insight

concerning trust but they also point us in new directions. For

instance Bews and Martins suggest investigating pre-trust

conditions, while Bews and Uys advocate a comparative

approach with the need to focus on different social settings.

Both Büssing and Hay stress the need to undertake longitudinal

studies while Hay advocates the study of trust on different

organisational levels. Den Hartog et al suggest investigating “the

dynamics of trust and distrust between leaders and followers and

the antecedents and consequences of such trust and distrust …”.

The task of collecting and editing the papers for this special

issue has been onerous. Quite simply, it would never have come

to fruition were it not for the assistance of the authors, editors

and advertisers. Special thanks therefore to all the authors, the

language editor, Laureen Boucher, as well as to Gert Roodt, the

Managing Editor of the SA Journal of Industrial Psychology, for

trusting us when we proposed “hijacking” his journal.

REFERENCES

Mayer, R.C., Davis, J.H., & Schoorman, F.D. (1995). An integrative

model of organizational trust. Academy of Management

Review, 20 (3), 709-734.

Engelbrecht, A.S., & Cloete, B.E. (2000). An analysis of

supervisor-subordinate trust relationship. Journal of

Industrial Psychology, 26 (1), 29-38.

NEVILLE BEWS
Department of Sociology 

Rand Afrikaans University

NICO MARTINS 
Department of Industrial Psychology 

University of South Africa

HARTMUT VON DER OHE
Department of Industrial Psychology

University of South Africa

EDITORIAL

1

SA Journal of Industrial Psychology, 2002, 28 (4), 1

SA Tydskrif vir Bedryfsielkunde, 2002, 28 (4), 1