Interorganizational systems and trust in strategic alliances

The literature on interorganizational systems (IOSs) has paid limited attention to non-buyer-supplier relationships and to the way IOSs relate to trust. Empirical evidence on trust is also limited. In this paper, we report on a qualitative empirical study of the relationship between trust and IOSs in strategic alliances (SAs). The results support a bi-directional relationship between trust and IOS development and use, but also indicate that, paradoxically, trust in the partner may not always be considered relevant. There is also evidence that power, information systems-enabled controls, and monitoring can enhance trust, reduce trust, or even act as substitutes to trust in the partner as a means of reducing risk. A number of aspects of the relationship between IOSs and trust seem to be related to phenomena specific to, or more prevalent in, SAs compared to buyersupplier relationships, indicating that the type of relationship in which IOSs and trust are studied matters.