Trust Dynamics in Innovation Networks: The Chicago Life Science Cluster

Abstract

Knowledge exchange and collaboration in innovation networks is based on trust. Individuals and organizations within the network further play an important role in creating trusting relationships. Using this as a basis, the article explores the dynamics of trust when relationships and positions within the network change. Counter to the expectation that relationships are formalized in this scenario, the article shows that in the Chicago case, trust is layered. The article concludes that third-party sources of information about trustworthiness are strategically established as a layer in the network and that individuals translate past interactions into lasting organizations that can facilitate trust.

The role of trust in joined‐up government activities: Experiences from Health in All Policies in South Australia

“…Concerns may be based on issues of under‐funding, or may be linked more broadly to an appraisal of the likelihood of relatively small projects effecting large scale system change, especially in the context of internal and external structural constraints. In such situations, the effectiveness of nurturing efforts by individuals, and their ability to renew (Giest, ) and strengthen already fragile or stretched trust relationships, are most likely limited.…”

Economic Policy and Open Innovation Ecosystems: Biomedicine Case

“…Moreover, some authors point, that cooperation in the open innovation ecosystem "requires a large amount of brokerage effort to form alliances and ultimately share information", creating and sustaining "the absorptive capacity for knowledge exchange" (Giest, 2019).…”

“…As it is noted by numerous authors, trust is "a commodity that permits voluntary participation in production and exchange in such networks" (Giest, 2019). What is further important, even if explicitly managed, trust among separate members of the ecosystem has its own dynamics and raises different challenges as the relationships and cooperation among the institutional entities (business or scientific) and individuals within them evolve over time.…”

“…Henry Farrell, the assistant professor of George Washington University, presented handy to the analysis view in his work "Institutions and Mid-Level Explanations of Trust" (2009, cited by Giest, 2019). His conceptualization of trust incorporates the realm between the individual and the highly abstract level of trust.…”

Trust in Administration and Governance

“…Scholars from a number of disciplines have made important strides toward increasing general knowledge about these phenomena. Along with the recent analysis of the layered character of trust in innovation network information exchange (Geist, 2019), and a number of articles in previous issues over the past decade in A&S , the articles in this month’s issue bring significant new contributions to the body of expert and general knowledge about the intricate dynamics of trust in the public sector.…”