Trust in Buyer-Supplier Relationships: Supplier Competency, Interpersonal Relationships and Outcomes

In this paper, we develop a model that links the antecedents of trust, trust itself and outcome success. We test the model using data from a questionnaire and present the path analytical results. The data suggest that performance outcomes are based on both direct effects from objective supplier performance and indirect effects through trust. However, many of the “people oriented” trust enablers (e.g. engineering personnel exchange) have no bearing on the establishment of trust. Additional discussion and a number of suggestions for future research are provided.