Trust is the foundation of development both in relations among humans, as well as in relations between institutions such as the firm and its stakeholders. As the world continues to get smaller, the mutual interdependence of the corporations and their stakeholders grows larger. To achieve success, institutions rely increasingly upon the utilization of not only their own resources, but also those of others. In order to gain access to the resources of others, institutions need to create trustworthy relationships. Therefore, the key to success and development is gaining the trust of present and potential stakeholders.

For example, in order to be able to grow fast and compete globally firms need to gain access to global credit or equity capital markets. Similarly, as the role of corporations in the development of the world’s economy increases and the scope of their influence widens, so does the breadth of their responsibilities. License to operate increasingly requires fulfillment of the firms’ responsibilities toward the community. The trustworthiness of corporate architectures, processes, and behaviors becomes an indispensable characteristic of the corporation not only for their shareholders, but also for their stakeholders and in particular for financial markets. The quality of management is a function of the competencies of the people, as well as the organizational infrastructure and culture.

Corporate governance refers to the reliability and transparency of the organizational infrastructure that defines not only the principles of the relations between the large and small shareholders, the board of directors, the top management, and the employees, but also the way responsibilities and authority are distributed throughout the organization. The relevance of corporate governance is not limited to the aforementioned groups, but extends further to creditors, suppliers, customers, and society as a whole. Corporate governance is the foundation of corporate trust.