13
TRUST - ITS BENEFITS
Deon Rossouw, South Africa
13.1 Introduction^159
Declining levels of trust have been troubling organisations and their
leaders over the last two decades. A clear indication of this concern over
trust is the Edelman Trust Barometer that has been published on an an-
nual basis by the World Economic Forum since 2001. In the 2016 Edel-
man Trust Barometer it was found that just over half of the global gen-
eral population trust NGOs (55%) and Business (53%). The same survey
found that less than half of the general population trust the Media (47%)
and Government (43%).^160
These low levels of trust are a matter of great concern for organisa-
tions and their leaders as was illustrated by Ewald Kist, CEO of the ING
Group, who said: “Restoring trust is the principal challenge that leaders
of big companies have to face”.^161
159
This chapter is based on two earlier publications by the same author:
Rossouw, D. & Bews, N., Ethics and Trust. In Rossouw, D & Van Vuuren, L.
2010.
Business Ethics (Fourth Edition). Cape Town: Oxford University Press.
Rossouw, GJ. 2005, Corporate Governance and Trust. African Journal of Busi-
ness Ethics 160 , 1(1): 1-7.
161 cf. Edelman, 2016.^
Kist, 2002:1.