Vertical Trust Within Organizations and Performance: A Systematic Review

Abstract

The concept of trust within organizations, or intraorganizational trust, has been considered as a potential mechanism to increase performance and as such has attracted growing interest in the organizational literature. However, despite the increasing number of studies examining the relationship between intraorganizational trust and performance, this apparently positive link has not been consistently confirmed by empirical research, and a deeper understanding is called for. Moreover, the literature on the trust–performance link is highly fragmented and dispersed. This study carries out a systematic review of the evidence, focusing on the vertical dimension of intraorganizational trust and performance relationship in an attempt to provide an integrative picture of the existing literature and to propose new research avenues on the topic. Specifically, this systematic review delves deeper into the antecedents, mediating effects, and moderators of vertical intraorganizational trust and performance, providing a more comprehensive framework for these relationships.