Trust after the global financial meltdown

Patricia Werhane

David Bevan

pp. 387-408

in: David Bevan, Regina W. Wolfe (eds), Systems thinking and moral imagination, Berlin, Springer, 2019

Abstract

In the wake of the global financial market collapse of 2007–2008, Werhane and her co-authors Hartman, Archer, Bevan and Clark reconsider the issue of trust. Trust is considered here as invaluable and essential metaphorical glue in the smooth running of any globalized economy. The causes and effects of such a breakdown in this dynamic are identified, and the generally institutional barriers to any remedies are discussed with positive and negative examples. The paper proposes a range of organizational and cultural transformations which include adopting: (i) a preference for collaborative, rather than authoritarian, leadership; (ii) a more dynamic approach to corporate responsibility; and (iii) a more egalitarian and democratic approach to managing and communicating with stakeholder constituencies.Original publication: Werhane, P., Hartman, L., Archer, C., Bevan, D. & Clark, K. 2011. "Trust After the Global Financial Meltdown." Business and Society Review, vol. 116, no. 4, pp. 403–433. ©2011 Reprinted with permission.