Testing project-based work via relationships of trust

The article uses analysis of an industrial information processing project to scrutinise project-based operations, a paradoxical form of management that consistently relies upon the presence of trust yet makes it difficult for this to take root. Trust relationships tend to assume imposed and precarious forms due to the fact that they are subject to contradictory tensions associated with a project's temporality, but also because of the ambivalence felt by actors contributing to composite groups. The chief issue associated with trust pertains to the construction of mutual exchanges, and, beyond this, the permanence of inter-departmental alliances superseding a particular project framework. Alongside of this, individuals' need for recognition and professional inclusion also requires the establishment of stable relationships of trust. Project analysis reveals that developers feel a sense of insecurity in terms of how they relate to both the final user and their working environment. This causes mistrust (and even defiance) and impacts upon individual subjectivities.