Outcomes of inter-organizational trust in supply chain relationships: a systematic literature review and a meta-analysis of the empirical evidence

Purpose – This study’s purpose is to improve the understanding of inter-organizational trust outcomes in supply chain relationships. It focuses on synthesizing the empirical researches published from 1990 to May 2010 in order to establish both what we know and do not know about this topic, thereby identifying areas for future research. Design/methodology/approach – The research methodology used is the systematic literature review. It differs from traditional narrative reviews by being more systematic and explicit in the selection of the studies and employing rigorous and reproducible evaluation methods. Fifty-six studies in total were selected from three databases: Business Source Premier; ABI/Informs; Ingenta. A meta-analysis was conducted to examine the correlated outcomes of inter-organizational trust in supply chain relationships. Thirty-three outcome variables, 96 independent samples with an overall sample size of 69,452 were included in the meta-analytic process, providing insights for dissemination and discussion. Findings – Three major themes emerge from the analysis: direct, indirect and relational outcomes. The review identifies a number of theoretical opportunities for future investigation as well as methodological challenges. Research limitations – Inherent limitations could appear with regard to the methodological approaches used. The main research challenges refer to: (a) the conceptualization of inter-organizational trust; (b) the definition of supply chain relationship typologies; and (3) the availability of primary data for the meta-analytic synthesis. Originality/value – This is the first study employing a combination of systematic literature review and meta-analytic methodologies to explore the supply chain literature on inter-organizational trust outcomes. The findings are of value to academics and practitioners alike.