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Warum kann die Wirkung von Maßnahmen eines Unternehmens auf das Vertrauen des Partners kulturabhängig sein?

Konzeptionelle Überlegungen, bisherige empirische Befunde und Anregungen für die Forschung

Why may culture moderate the effects of a company’s actions on its partners’ trust?

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Zusammenfassung

Es liegen bereits zahlreiche Studien vor, in denen untersucht wurde, durch welche Maßnahmen ein Unternehmen das Vertrauen seiner Geschäftspartner fördern kann. Maßnahmen, die in einem Kulturkreis positiv wirken, könnten in anderen Kulturen aber nur eine geringe oder sogar negative Wirkung entfalten. In der Vertrauensforschung wurden mögliche kulturelle Unterschiede bisher wenig thematisiert. Verschiedene Maßnahmen eines Unternehmens lösen unterschiedliche vertrauensbildende Mechanismen aus. Die verschiedenen Mechanismen wiederum können in Abhängigkeit kultureller Charakteristika unterschiedlich wichtig für die Bildung von Vertrauen sein. Somit können Maßnahmen eine kulturabhängige Wirkung entfalten. Zu Vertrauensdeterminanten liegen bisher lediglich sehr wenige Länder vergleichende Studien vor. In zukünftigen Studien sollten kulturelle Charakteristika gemessen und in die Analyse einbezogen werden.

Abstract

Several studies give recommendations which actions a company can take to build its partners’ trust in business relationships. Studies report that, for instance, a company’s flexibility and detailed contractual agreements may positively affect the partner’s trust. However, cultural norms may moderate the effects of potential actions on the partner’s trust and this has hardly been considered in relevant literature. The present paper explains why actions a company takes may have different effects on trust in different cultures. Suggestions for future research and the design of empirical studies are proposed.

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Abb. 1

Notes

  1. Zum von Doney und Cannon (1997) vorgeschlagenen „prediction process“, der aussagt, dass Vertrauen entstehen kann, wenn das Verhalten einer Partei vorhersagbar ist, ist anzumerken, dass diese Vorhersagbarkeit auch durch die übrigen von den Autoren vorgeschlagenen Prozesse determiniert wird (z. B. ist auch das Verhalten einer Partei, der ein Verlust bei opportunistischem Verhalten droht, leichter einschätzbar). Deshalb wird hier als Repräsentant des „prediction process“ der Mechanismus betrachtet, der dafür verantwortlich ist, dass ein noch wenig bekannter Partner einschätzbar erscheint und der nicht bereits durch die übrigen Prozesse der Autoren abgedeckt wird. Doney und Cannon (1997) bezeichnen Ähnlichkeit (siehe auch Morgan/Hunt 1994; Gulati 1995) als relevant für die Vorhersagbarkeit des Partners.

  2. Der erwartete positive Einfluss der Informationsbereitstellung, der Häufigkeit persönlicher Kontakte, der Anpassung, der technischen Unterstützung und der Flexibilität auf das Vertrauen dürfte nicht monoton positiv sein, da sich der Partner durch ein zu starkes Ausmaß an „Leistungen“ der anderen Partei eingeengt fühlen kann. Diese möglichen negativen Reaktanzeffekte sind in Tab. 1 nicht vermerkt. Sie könnten in der weiteren Forschung aber aufgegriffen werden.

  3. Vertrauen wurde in den in Abschnitt 2.2 genannten empirischen Studien nicht einheitlich operationalisiert. Viele Autoren verwendeten Items, die Mechanismen wie Vertrauen entsteht (Gründe für Vertrauen) repräsentieren und fassten diese dann zu einer Vertrauensgröße zusammen (vgl. Sullivan/Peterson 1982; Dwyer/Oh 1987; Ganesan 1994; Morgan/Hunt 1994; Aulakh et al. 1996; Johnson et al. 1996; Doney/Cannon 1997; Dyer/Chu 2002; Möllering 2002; Ivens 2004; Gounaris 2005). Einige Autoren verwendeten zusätzlich Items, die das generelle Vertrauen in den Partner ausdrücken bzw. die eigene Neigung, sich dem Partner gegenüber vertrauend zu verhalten (vgl. Morgan/Hunt 1994; Aulakh et al. 1996; Doney/Cannon 1997; Möllering 2002; Ivens 2004; Gounaris 2005). Sako und Helper (1998) verwendeten Items zur Messung von wahrgenommenen positiven Absichten des Partners und seiner Neigung, sich opportunistisch zu verhalten und analysierten diese Größen getrennt voneinander. Anderson und Weitz (1989) und Anderson und Narus (1990) geben nicht alle Items an, die sie zur Vertrauensmessung einsetzten. Eine detaillierte Diskussion der einzelnen Vertrauensoperationalisierungen kann an dieser Stelle nicht erfolgen. Da alle genannten Studien positive Effekte der betrachteten Maßnahmen auf „Vertrauen“ (nach ihrer Messmethode) identifizierten, lässt sich jedoch ableiten, dass die Maßnahmen in einem positiven Zusammenhang mit dem Vertrauen oder mit den Mechanismen, die Vertrauen auslösen, stehen.

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  1. School of Management and Marketing, Marketing Research Innovation Centre, University of Wollongong, 2522, NSW, Australia

    Sandra Praxmarer

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Praxmarer, S. Warum kann die Wirkung von Maßnahmen eines Unternehmens auf das Vertrauen des Partners kulturabhängig sein?. Z. Betriebswirtsch 79, 609–632 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11573-009-0242-0

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