Exploring the Mediating Role of Perceived Organizational Commitment in the Relationship between Trust Repair Mechanisms and Trust Restoration in Organizations

Abstract

The research suggest a holistic framework to comprehend trust repair mechanisms in organizations with a focus on major independent antecedents: acknowledgment and apology, transparency and communication, restorative actions, and stakeholders' involvement. The model has its basis in Social Exchange Theory, stressing the reciprocal nature of trust and the buy-in of organizations involved in the trust restoration. The Onion Model by Saunders was applied to systematically structure the design of the research through its six layers, thus providing a more robust method of examining the phenomenon. The study followed a positivist philosophy and deductive reasoning in putting harm to an existing theory by collecting empirical evidence. A sample survey will be administered to get quantitative data on any trust-renewal activities in organizations from employees of the public and private sector intermingled to the cross-section of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK), Pakistan. With a sample size of between 250 and 300 employees, it is proposed that statistical significance will be reached in testing hypotheses, with data gathered through a structured questionnaire designed to tap perceptions of trust repair mechanisms. For data analysis, descriptive statistics would be computed using SPSS, whilst Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) would evaluate the measurement and structural models, allowing for an in-depth evaluation of all the relationships among the proposed variables. This study's implications for academia, organizations, and policymakers can thereby arrive at a better understanding of how trust may be nurtured and sustained for workplace relationships to be resilient. Future research may include cultural settings, longitudinal studies, and understanding the role of digital communication in trust repairs. This proposed model is an important first step to the practical applications of and empirical work on trust management in organizations.