Trust as a strategy of interaction: Three logging companies in one district

This paper consists of an analysis of the interaction of three logging companies with each other and with local stakeholders. The main context of this case is that all of these companies are daughter companies of large international forest holdings and they have been certified by an international voluntary forest certification system. The author pays attention to the role played by experts from NGOs in building up trust as a communicational strategy used by companies. The analysis focuses on the factors and barriers of trust relations between companies, and on the mechanisms involved in the construction of trust between companies and local stakeholders, including strategies of corporate social responsibility and constructive dialog with local stakeholders.