An examination into dyadic trust relationships within an audit engagement team and development of a model to efficiently optimize trust.

The aim of this study is to conduct a theoretical study on the foundations of trust on an intra–organisational level, while assessing the level of trust and relationships present within the organisation. Foundations of trust with respect to i) intra–organisational management and ii) peer–to– peer relations are discussed in the literature study with specific relation to sustainable competitiveness. The literature study highlights several factors that either promote or hinder intra–organisational trust. Values can create a sustainable competitive advantage for any business, if the values are supported by the employees of the organisation on every level. Trust is one of the foundations of values – without trust there is not much on which to build an organisation that will thrive in today‘s competitive market place. A survey consisting of two established questionnaires was distributed to determine the trust levels, as well as the attributes that are present with respect to values on an intra–organisational level. The significant differences on trust levels were identified by the empirical research and it was concluded that not all employees experience trust levels equally in the organisation. A significant effort needs to be made by management on all levels and the complete population; age, race and job category in order to foster a trusting environment. This intra–organisational study will focus on the basic principles of trust in order to improve the trust relationships in the organisation. This effort will lift the trust relationship to extra–ordinary levels by identifying the significant problem areas and then focussing the trust–building activities on those areas. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012.

The aim of this study is to conduct a theoretical study on the foundations of trust on an intra–organisational level, while assessing the level of trust and relationships present within the organisation. Foundations of trust with respect to i) intra–organisational management and ii) peer–to– peer relations are discussed in the literature study with specific relation to sustainable competitiveness. The literature study highlights several factors that either promote or hinder intra–organisational trust. Values can create a sustainable competitive advantage for any business, if the values are supported by the employees of the organisation on every level. Trust is one of the foundations of values – without trust there is not much on which to build an organisation that will thrive in today‘s competitive market place. A survey consisting of two established questionnaires was distributed to determine the trust levels, as well as the attributes that are present with respect to values on an intra–organisational level. The significant differences on trust levels were identified by the empirical research and it was concluded that not all employees experience trust levels equally in the organisation. A significant effort needs to be made by management on all levels and the complete population; age, race and job category in order to foster a trusting environment. This intra–organisational study will focus on the basic principles of trust in order to improve the trust relationships in the organisation. This effort will lift the trust relationship to extra–ordinary levels by identifying the significant problem areas and then focussing the trust–building activities on those areas. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012.

Trust is a judgement of unquestionable utility - as humans we use it every day of our lives. However, trust has suffered from an imperfect understanding, a plethora of definitions, and informal use in the literature and in everyday life. It is common to say "I trust you, " but what does that mean? This thesis provides a clarification of trust. We present a formalism for trust which provides us with a tool for precise discussion. The formalism is implementable: it can be embedded in an artificial agent, enabling the agent to make trust-based decisions. Its applicability in the domain of Distributed Artificial Intelligence (DAI) is raised. The thesis presents a testbed populated by simple trusting agents which substantiates the utility of the formalism. The formalism provides a step in the direction of a proper understanding and definition of human trust. A contribution of the thesis is its detailed exploration of the possibilities of future work in the area.

This dissertation consists of four studies on the role of institutions, education and institutional reform in economic development. Three of the studies examine empirical aspects of the issue and the fourth provides an analysis of policy implications. A key theme of the dissertation is the recognition that institutions, both formal and informal, are important for development. The observation that some developing economies have been unable to substantively improve institutional structures, creates a vital agenda for studying institutional change. The first study empirically investigates the impact of education, both quantitatively and qualitatively, on the informal institution of social capital measured as social trust. Differences in levels of education are considered to find the separate effects of primary, secondary and tertiary education. The relationship between education and social trust levels in countries is found to be positive. The sample is further split into developed and developing countries which also substantiates the main hypothesis. The results can be interpreted as schooling playing a transformative role in the society. The second study develops a framework for studying education inequality and institutional development. A range of economic, political and social measures of institutional quality are used in a cross-country analysis. The study confirms that the cross-country differences in institutional variables are influenced negatively by the education inequality. Several competing hypotheses of institutional improvement are used to test the sensitivity of the results. The sample is further split into OECD and non-OECD countries, with no new results arising from this split. The third study investigates the relationship of education inequality and institutional quality using panel data techniques and an alternative data set of institutional measures, than the one used in the second study. This study initially estimates the relationship using the pooled OLS and fixed effects models. The issue of persistency in institutional variables is then investigated by using a system GMM estimator. The evidence suggests that the impact of reducing education inequality is associated with improvements in institutional quality. The fourth study analyses the implications from the first three studies with reference to the institutional reform agenda. Insight is given for improving the reform process. Areas of context specificity and sequencing of reforms are dealt with, using country examples. The intuition from this essay is that educational equality is a deliberate initiative which needs to be carried out through policy initiatives, although the process adopted would depend on the specific economy. It is suggested that there is a need to change the fundamental focus from emphasis on altering formal rules, to considering the current underlying structures in societies as a constraint, in developing a way forward to improving the reform agenda.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2007. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--York University, 2007. Graduate Programme in Administrative Studies. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 182-189). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&res_dat=xri:pqdiss&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&rft_dat=xri:pqdiss:NR29636

Thesis(M.S.)--Auburn University, 2006. / Abstract. Includes bibliographic references (p.68-78).

Thesis (Ph. D. in Management)--Vanderbilt University, May 2010. / Title from title screen. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Columbia University, 1934. / Vita. Published also without thesis note.