Abstract

The present study proposed a five-factor model regarding determinants of company trust and leader trust, in organizations. In study 1, five dimensions were identified to explain company trust, based on preliminary interviews, field survey, and exploratory factor analyses. It was found that people trusted their company on the basis of the task dimension when the company demonstrated organizational competencies, of the person dimension when it provided consideration to themselves, of the membership dimension when it treated all other members with fairness concerns, of the self dimension when it behaved with moral principles, and of the meta dimension when it showed responsibility toward a society. A confirmatory factor analysis proved the hypothetical structure of the five-factor model. In addition, the same theoretical framework was applicable to explain leader trust, and hence items from preliminary interview were categorized into the five dimensions. People trusted their leader on the basis of the task dimension when the leader demonstrated managerial competencies, of the person dimension when he or she provided consideration to themselves, of the membership dimension when he or she treated all other members with fairness concerns, of the self dimension when he or she behaved with moral principles, and of the meta dimension when he or she showed responsibility toward a company. Again, a confirmatory factor analysis supported the five-factor model. In study 2, scales measuring company trust, leader trust, were developed. Past research on organizational trust was not clear on distinguishing the above concepts, because its measurement of trust included them interchangeably. The present study overcame this limitation by developing each scale separately and by excluding overlapping items from each scale. A confirmatory factor analysis successfully supported the measurement model of each scale.