Trust and Formal Control in interorganizational Relationships

There is a tendency to see trust and control by formal agreements as substitutes. According to transaction cost economics trust is unreliable, and some form of control is needed to reduce hazards of opportunism. According to others, high trust allows for a limited extent of formal control. Formal control signals distrust and thereby evokes reciprocal distrust and formal control. This paper studies all combinations of high/low trust and high/low formal control in four longitudinal case studies. We find that trust and formal control are at least as much complements as they are substitutes. We find that like trust contracts can be both the basis and the outcome of relations.governance;inter-organizational relations;trust;contract

Trust and Formal Control in interorganizational Relationships

There is a tendency to see trust and control by formal agreements as substitutes. According to transaction cost economics trust is unreliable, and some form of control is needed to reduce hazards of opportunism. According to others, high trust allows for a limited extent of formal control. Formal control signals distrust and thereby evokes reciprocal distrust and formal control. This paper studies all combinations of high/low trust and high/low formal control in four longitudinal case studies. We find that trust and formal control are at least as much complements as they are substitutes. We find that like trust contracts can be both the basis and the outcome of relations

Training specialists to write appropriate reply letters to general practitioners about patients with medically unexplained physical symptoms; A cluster-randomized trial.

Objective: To evaluate effects of a communication training for specialists on the quality of their reply letters to general practitioners (GPs) about patients with medically unexplained physical symptoms (MUPS). Methods: Before randomization, specialists included ≤3 MUPS patients in a multi-center cluster-randomized trial. In 14 h of MUPS-specific communication training, 2.5 h focused on reply letters. Letters were discussed with regard to reporting and answering GPs' referral questions and patients' questions, and to reporting findings, explaining MUPS with perpetuating factors and giving advice. After the training, all doctors again included ≤3 MUPS patients. Reply letters to GPs were assessed for quality and blindly rated on a digital scale. Results: We recruited 478 MUPS patients and 123 specialists; 80% of the doctors wrote ≥1 reply letters, 285 letters were assessed. Trained doctors reported (61% versus 37%, OR=2.55, F(1281)=6.60, pgroup*time=.01) and answered (63% versus 33%, OR=3.31, F(1281)=5.36, pgroup*time=.02) patients' questions more frequently than untrained doctors. Conclusion: Training improves reply letters with regard to patients' questions, but not with regard to the following: GPs' referral questions, somatic findings, additional testing, explaining, and advice. Practice implications: Training specialists to write appropriate reply letters needs more focus on explanation and advice

Trust, contract and relationship development

Contains fulltext : 45386.pdf (publisher's version ) (Closed access)28 p

DiAlert: a lifestyle education programme aimed at people with a positive family history of type 2 diabetes and overweight, study protocol of a randomised controlled trial

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Family history is a known risk factor for type 2 diabetes (T2DM), and more so in the presence of overweight. This study aims to develop and evaluate the effectiveness of a new lifestyle education programme 'DiAlert' targeted at 1st degree relatives of people with T2DM and overweight. In view of the high risk for diabetes and cardiovascular disease in immigrants from Turkish origin living in Western Europe, a culturally appropriate Turkish version of DiAlert will be developed and tested.</p> <p>Methods/design</p> <p>In this RCT, 268 (134 Dutch and 134 Turkish) overweight 1st degree relatives of patients with T2DM will be allocated to either the intervention or control group (leaflet). The intervention DiAlert aims to promote intrinsic motivation to change lifestyle, and sustain achieved behaviour changes during follow-up. Primary outcome is weight loss. Secondary outcomes include biological, behavioural and psychological indices, along with process indicators. Measurements will take place at baseline and after 3 and 9 months. Changes in outcomes are tested between intervention and control group at 3 months; effects over time are tested within and between both ethnic groups at 3 and 9 months.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>The DiAlert intervention is expected to be more effective than the control condition in achieving significant weight loss at 3 months, in both Dutch and Turkish Dutch participants.</p> <p>Trial registration</p> <p>Netherlands National Trial Register (NTR): <a href="http://www.trialregister.nl/trialreg/admin/rctview.asp?TC=2036">NTR2036</a></p