Why Trust Matters

Is trust always a good thing?

What determines our trust—or lack thereof—at work or of a particular company or brand?

Public interest in trust has soared over the past two decades. And in the work world, trust is critical where important financial, personnel and structural decisions are made every day.

Yet we also live in a world that seems increasingly divided and untrusting. In this webinar, Oliver Schilke, associate professor of management and organizations and director of the Eller College’s Center for Trust Studies, will share research on why trust matters in the workplace, how it can be produced and what we still need to learn about it to be effective leaders, employees and co-workers.

Oliver Schilke, associate professor of management and organizations, joined the Eller College of Management in 2014 after earning his PhD in sociology from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). He also spent two years as a research fellow at Stanford University’s Department of Sociology. Schilke studies micro-institutional processes such as trust, routines and legitimacy. His research addresses inter-organizational relationships, R&D and entrepreneurship. In 2021, Schilke launched Eller's Center for Trust Studies, of which he serves as director, though a grant from the National Science Foundation. His research has been published in Organization Science, Journal of Management Studies, Journal of Applied Psychology, Academy of Management Journal, and more.