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The issue of innovation is currently often perceived in the context of inter-organizational cooperation. In literature on this subject one of the ways to win in competition is by seeking synergies resulting from cooperation of companies with other firms, including their competitors, as well as with business environment institutions or research and development entities. The global experience indicates an important role of these ties in generating innovations. Taking all of the above into account, this paper aims to determine whether companies establish cooperation with one another and also with other institutions of their business environment and science, and whether they are ready to strengthen cooperation in the near future in order to improve their innovativeness. Quantitative research included 76 construction companies, 83 food industry enterprises, 76 enterprises in metal and machinery and 82 those in wood and furniture industry. The research carried out has allowed us to specify previous academic achievements with regard to the readiness of companies to undertake cooperation with their competition, with scientific institutions and also with other business environment entities. The obtained results indicate a large deficit both in terms of previous cooperation and with regard to the readiness to increase it in the near future, which, unfortunately, confirms previous conclusions outlined in the already available literature.

Bearing in mind the important role of trust in the creati on and development of networks, including clusters, the main purpose of the paper was to assess the level of trust of the surveyed enterprises to competi tors and cooperators, as well as to identi fy factors, which have an impact on the trust level. The text presents the results of the research collected in 317 Polish enterprises operati ng in four industries: constructi on, food, metal, and machinery, as well as wood and furniture. The basic method of data collecti on was a survey. The respondents in the study were only representati ves of the management or owners of enterprises qualifi ed for the study, possessing knowledge about interorganizati onal cooperati on, the so-called key informants. The results presented in the text indicated low trust among both competi ti ve and cooperati ng enterprises. The presented results do not inspire opti mism in the scope of possibiliti es of creati ng and developing other network connecti ons beside clusters. The defi cit of Polish enterprises in terms of trust in other companies that are not even their competi tors will limit not only their ability to establish cooperati on with domesti c but also foreign companies. The considerati ons carried out in the text contribute to bett er recogniti on of interorganizati onal trust issues in the context of networking, including clusters. Sti ll, they are not free from certain restricti ons, which result, in parti cular, from the methodological approach used and, primarily, from the inability to generalize the results. Therefore, an additi onal directi on of further scienti fi c research may be to undertake replicati on studies carried out on a representati ve sample. Interesti ng research topics also include conducti ng similar research not only in Poland but also in other countries, both similar and completely diff erent from Poland. They would allow a bett er recogniti on and understanding of the impact of culture and context on building trust. It may also be interesti ng to identi fy universal contextual factors aff ecti ng trust and their impact on changes in the meaning and intensity of trust.

Na wpływ zaufania na inicjowanie i rozwój współpracy w swoich pracach zwraca uwagę wielu badaczy. W licznych opracowaniach pojawiają się rozważania na temat tego, co jest przyczyną, a co skutkiem. Czy niski poziom współpracy jest wynikiem niskiego zaufania, czy też na odwrót. Kwestia ta pozostaje nadal nie do końca rozstrzygnięta. Mając to na uwadze, głównym celem tekstu było stwierdzenie istnienia, bądź braku, korelacji pomiędzy zaufaniem a poziomem współpracy i gotowością do jej zacieśnienia w najbliższej przyszłości w odniesieniu do badanych przedsiębiorstw z podmiotami konkurencyjnymi. Przeprowadzone analizy wskazują, że brak jest jednoznacznego powiązania pomiędzy zaufaniem i współpracą. Postawione hipotezy zostały tylko częściowo potwierdzone. Należy zatem zgodzić się z opiniami, że współpraca może wynikać nie tylko z zaufania, ale również z innych przyczyn. takich jak chociażby przymus, przewidywanie sankcji wynikających z niepodjęcia współpracy czy też doświadczenie płynące z dotychczasowej współpracy.

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