What is Trust-Building Process

One of the major debates currently in the literature about trust and management relies on the perspective of trust-building in organizations. In this chapter we draw on graph-based structures in order to investigate the role of individuals’ social networks as tools for enhancing potential trust-building processes at interpersonal level. The chapter relies on two main aspects. First, we propose a theoretical approach establishing a linkage between agents’ social networks and trust-building processes among unknown agents. Second, we carry out an experimental investigation focused on a laboratory experiment developed with students of Management and Economics bachelor degrees. Furthermore, we outline some implications for managers.