THE PARADOX OF SPATIAL AND RELATIONAL EMBEDDEDNESS: TIE REINITIATION AFTER A TRUST VIOLATION

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Kumar, Pankaj; Nowinska, Agnieszka; Zaheer, Akbar
• 署名单位: Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University; Aalborg University; University of Minnesota System; University of Minnesota Twin Cities
• 刊物名称: ACADEMY OF MANAGEMENT JOURNAL
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0001-4273
• DOI: 10.5465/amj.2022.1143
• 发表日期: 2025
• 页码: 81-107
• 关键词: social-structure; Structural holes; duration models; UNITED-STATES; networks; performance; alliance; DYNAMICS; COOPERATION; governance

摘要

How does embeddedness-spatial and relational-influence interfirm tie reinitiation when trust is violated? The taken-for-granted relationship between prior ties and repeat tie formation becomes complex when trust violations are introduced. Two divergent schools of thought emerge: an embeddedness as a buffer logic, wherein embedded partners may be more forgiving, versus an et tu Brute logic, wherein embedded partners feel betrayed. We tackle this theoretical tension by examining brokerage relationships. When spatially or relationally embedded, focal firm-broker ties further enhance trust but the ensuing higher expectations also make embedded trust more brittle due to the broker's divided loyalties, resulting in a steeper decline in trust after a violation. Our central hypotheses thus highlight a paradox of embeddedness: while spatial and relational trust foster repeat ties under normal circumstances, it takes proportionately longer for such embedded ties to be reinitiated when trust is violated. We use a unique hand-collected data set in the global dry cargo shipping industry with voyage-level data on 3,618 exchanges between a Copenhagen-based shipowner-operator (the focal firm) and 235 shipbrokers from 2011 to 2018 and a Weibull hazard rate estimator. We find support for the paradox of embeddedness when trust is violated in brokerage relationships.