From Control to Trust: Redefining Practices Through Multidimensional Theory

In the last few years, several scholars underline the importance of the relationship between trust and performance measurement and management (PMM), proposing theories to understand this relationship. However, most studies focus on few trust dimensions, often overlooking its multidimensional nature and its overall relationship with PMM. Therefore, the existing research typically adopts isolated theoretical lenses that try to explain the relationship between single trust dimensions and PMM, losing the overall vision of the phenomenon. To contribute to this research gap, this paper reviews Management control (MC) and Human resource management (HRM) literature research streams to: (1) identify the PMM activities affected by trust, (2) define the trust-building PMM practices, and (3) map the theories supporting the understanding of trust in PMM. This review offers a novel theoretical contribution by defining and categorizing trustbuilding PMM practices, mapping their influence on specific trust dimensions, and integrating multiple theoretical lenses (e.g., social exchange theory, organizational justice theory, …) to reframe how scholars conceptualize the relationship between trust and PMM.