Interpersonal strongtruststrong in cross-functional, geographically.pdf

Information and Organization 14 (2004) 1–26 /locate/infoandorg Interpersonal trust in cross-functional, geographically distributed work: A longitudinal study a, b c Roxanne Zolin , Pamela J. Hinds , Renate Fruchter , Raymond E. Levitt c a Graduate School of Business and Public Policy, Naval Postgraduate School, PO Box 433, Marina, CA 93933, USA b Department of Management Science and Engineering, Stanford University, USA c Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University, USA Received 21 May 2002; received in revised form 19 September 2003; accepted 29 September 2003 Abstract With increasing globalization and the proliferation of communication technologies, more people are working in cross-functional, geographically distributed teams. Although trust is clearly an important ingredient in these collaborations, little is known about the challenges this new work and social environment creates for the development of trust. Different disci plinary perspectives, different regional or national cultures, and the lack of face-to-face inter action when working at a distance raise significant barriers to developing trust between distant co-workers. We, therefore, posit that traditional models of trust need to be adapted to describe the development of trust between cross-functional, geographically distributed partners. To test our hypotheses, we conducted a longitudinal study of architecture, engin eering and construction management students engaged in