DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT OF A TRUST BUILDING MODEL FOR SUPPLY CHAIN PARTNERSHIP

Abstract

Trust is often referred as an essential element for successful supply chain partner s newlinerelationship. Trust is considered to be at the heart of managing risk and a prerequisite newlinein supply chain. Lack of trust is considered to be one of the major factors that newlinecontribute to supply chain risks. With the emergence of Radio Frequency newlineIdentification (RFID) based u-commerce (ubiquitous commerce), the issue of newlineconsumer trust actually has gained additional importance because consumers are newlineusually more concerned about the trust issue whenever new technologies are newlineintroduced in commerce. Thus, researchers and practitioners are turning their newlineattention to the concept of trust as a mechanism enabling managers to achieve newlineorganizational openness and ultimately, competitiveness while reducing social newlineuncertainty and vulnerability. newline newlineA number of authors also argue that, trust is a risky engagement; if a member trusts newlineanother he should do so with willingness to take the risk., trust is one party making newlineitself vulnerable to the other party s behavior , and trust production is related to newlinevarious types of dependence relationships and risks. The dilemma surrounding any newlinecollaborative supply chain relationship is that with closeness comes, the fear of newlineopportunism, where one supply chain member acts in its own self-interest to the newlinedetriment of others. In reality there is little evidence that one party will not take newlineadvantage of the other. The level of trust required may differ according to the level of newlinerisk, real, perceived or implied, which leads to an individual making a choice about newlinewhether to trust or not to trust. Over the years many researchers have argued that to newlinedevelop sufficient trust between potential supply chain partners, a useful starting point newlineis to develop strategies for encouraging perceptions of trustworthiness.