How to Deal With and Repair Broken Trust in an R&D Partnership

• Main Author: Anna Brattström
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Carleton University 2018-09-01
• Series: Technology Innovation Management Review
• Subjects: conflict; Open innovation; R&D partnerships; trust; trust repair
• Online Access: https://timreview.ca/article/1182

This article offers an actionable framework for dealing with trust violations in R&D partnerships: it explains how to turn around a conflicted R&D partnership, repair trust, and learn from the experience. As innovation becomes more open, firms increasingly find themselves involved in R&D collaborations with suppliers, customers or even competitors. Trust plays a fundamental role in such partnerships to work. Yet, trust cannot be taken for granted. In fact, trust in R&D partnerships is often violated – and without executive intervention, trust violations can soon turn even the most promising partnership into a value-destroying predicament. Although much has been written about trust formation in R&D partnerships, this article focuses instead on what to do when trust has been broken. The analysis is based on a review of academic research and is illustrated with real-life examples of trust repair processes.