Trust in the Board: A Strategic Imperative in Times of Uncertainty

Document Type

Article

Department or Administrative Unit

Management

Publication Date

2006

Abstract

In turbulent environments, investors seek to minimize risk. Many public/nonprofit organizations evoke a sense of trust in their members by maintaining boards of directors. This study examined faculty member attitudes about the public/nonprofit institutions and boards who manage their retirement funds (n = 240). A structural model revealed that investors developed trust in the board when they view the organization positively through reliable communication, a sense of shared values and retirement funds that perform soundly. As a mediator of attitude toward the organization trust in the board also diminished investor perceptions of risk, and partially explained whether members cooperated and continued with the organization. The findings support trust as a key intervening factor in member-organization relationships and suggest building trust in board governance as an effective way to reduce uncertainty.

Comments

This article was originally published in Journal of Nonprofit & Public Sector Marketing. The full-text article from the publisher can be found here.

Due to copyright restrictions, this article is not available for free download from ScholarWorks @ CWU.

Journal

Journal of Nonprofit & Public Sector Marketing

Rights

© 2006 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved.

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