Trustworthiness and Its Impact on Leadership

Company A manufactures and sells valves and pumps, and it operates worldwide. The company's headquarters are in Finland. At the time the research was done, 43 people worked in the company. Four of them were middle managers and one was a general manager. Half of the employees worked in the manufacturing department and the rest were office workers in marketing, purchasing, sales, and financial administration. Some of the functions, such as cleaning and maintenance, were outsourced. The company has sales representatives all over the world.

The leadership style in company A was fairly authentic and the organization structure was quite hierarchical. Middle managers had formal responsibility, but this was not actualized; the general manager made all the decisions. Also, the behaviour of the general manager was neither predictable nor equal toward employees. Open dialogue between managers and subordinates did not occur. Fear and suspicion were prevalent reactions to the general manager's attitude. Thus, co-operation and co-creation could not develop between employees and management in the organization.