Trust in knowledge exchanges between service providers and clients: a multiple case-study of KIBS

For some sectors the management of client-provider knowledge exchanges is the core element of the business. This is especially the case of knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS) whose delivery entails intensive supplier-client cognitive interactions: KIBS firms supply clients with precious elements of technical and applicative knowledge, while the latter give KIBS companies the knowledge items needed for designing a successful solution. Although trust has proved to be an essential ingredient of knowledge exchanges, the empirical studies about its actual role are still scarce, especially as regards KIBS. The paper contributes to fill this gap by discussing the results of a multiple case-study of computer services. Particularly, it a) offers a knowledge-oriented description of client-provider interactions; b) investigates the main mechanisms that govern such interactions; c) analyses the role played by trust as antecedent and consequence of the interaction; d) discusses the issue of development of trustworthy interactions between KIBS and clients.