TRUST THROUGH CONTROL: HOW MANAGERS’ EFFORTS TO DEMONSTRATE THEIR TRUSTWORTHINESS MODERATE THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MANAGERIAL CONTROLS AND SUBORDINATE TRUST

This paper presents research describing how the efforts managers make to demonstrate their trustworthiness (integrity, ability, benevolence) moderate the effects of managerial controls (output, process, social) on subordinate trust. When managers more actively demonstrate their trustworthiness, managers’ control applications are more positively associated with subordinate trust. Our survey of managers and subordinates indicates three primary relationships: when managers more actively demonstrate their integrity, output controls more positively influence subordinate trust; when managers more actively demonstrate their benevolence, social controls more positively influence subordinate trust. In contrast to our predictions, when managers more actively demonstrate their ability, process controls more negatively influence subordinate trust. The paper concludes with a discussion about how these perspectives advance research on organizational control, organizational trust, and trust-control relationships.