Moments of trust: temporal and spatial factors of trust in organizations

Different forms of trust in the contemporary organizational settings of virtual organizations and time management (e.g., just‐in‐time, lean production, and total quality management) are discussed in conjunction with some Greek philosophical notions of human action, namely theoria/episteme , poiesis/techne , and praxis/phronesis , together with the two notions of time, chronos/kairos and their spatial counterparts, chora/topos . It is suggested that time management concepts in production line settings are frequently based upon asymmetric power‐relations and rigid time‐control making most forms of organizational trust instrumental and/or weak. Virtual organization settings, on the other hand, are more likely to contain trust that appears to be fragile and temporal, and in demand of communication based on right moments to act judiciously.