Trust in Strategic Alliances: Toward a Co-Evolutionary Research Model

This article examines the dynamic and multi-dimensional nature of trust in strategic alliances. Adopting a co-evolutionary approach, I developed a framework to show how trust, conceptualised in different forms, plays distinct roles at various evolutionary stages of the alliance relationship. Emphasising the multi-dimensional and dynamic role of trust, the framework illustrates how initial levels of a particular type of trust may co-evolve with the alliance and influence subsequent phases of the relationship – either on its own or in combination with other types or dimensions of trust. The theoretical distinction between trust as antecedent, moderator and outcome during the evolution of the alliance relationship leads to research questions that may guide future empirical research.