The Role of Trust in Workers’ Attitudes Toward Automation Implementation

This thesis investigates the development of trust during the implementation of automation and its impact on workers’ attitudes and behaviors in a high-risk operational environment. Drawing on a case study of the Port of Norway (PONW), the research examines the lived experiences of engineers, stevedores, contractors, operations, the project team, and managers as automation transformed their work processes, roles, and identities. The study reveals that the initial optimism shared by engineers and stevedores, anchored in professional identity, technical pride, and trust in the institution, gradually gave way to skepticism and fatigue. Engineers and stevedores increasingly perceived automation as something done to them rather than with them, undermining their sense of inclusion and shared purpose. Meanwhile, contractors, operations, management, and the project team were often living in a parallel reality. Over time, as communication fractured, inclusion narrowed, and managerial transparency diminished, confidence in both leadership and technology eroded, reframing automation from a collective achievement to a top-down and contractor-driven imposition. Using a constructivist, qualitative case study design, the data was collected through semi-structured interviews, internal records, and public communications. A combined thematic and narrative analysis traced the temporal dynamics of trust across three phases: anticipation, implementation, and renegotiation. Findings revealed that trust in the automation project was dynamic and contingent, oscillating between moments of confidence and disillusionment. Episodes of transparency, such as demonstrations, joint problem-solving, and technical collaboration, temporarily restored belief in the project’s competence. At the same time, communication breakdowns, perceived exclusion, and symbolic secrecy eroded the moral and institutional foundations of trust among workers. Building on Hoff and Bashir’s (2015) layered model of trust, this study introduces aspects of temporal and process dynamics showing embedded feedback loops. This thesis concludes that sustaining trust in automation requires much more than technical reliability; it demands transparent communication, inclusive participation, and recognition of expertise. This thesis makes four key contributions: firstly, extending Hoff and Bashir’s layered trust model by introducing a dynamic, temporal lens. Secondly, that model conceptualizes trust as a socially constructed, affective, and relational process that involves decision-making processes. Thirdly, it emphasizes affective processes and how they anchor the significance of institutional transparency and occupational identity in influencing trust in automation. Finally, it positions trust calibration as central to how individuals anticipate, implement, and renegotiate trust throughout technological change. The study also offers practical insights for managers around consultation, inclusion, and engagement.

Name thesis:degree_name

PhD

Level thesis:degree_level

Doctoral

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Management

Grantor dc:publisher

ResearchSpace@Auckland

Year dc:date.issued

2025

Author dc:creator

• Hubbard, Patricia

Advisors dc:contributor.advisor

• Smith, Peter
• Myers, Michael

Statement dc:rights

• Items in ResearchSpace are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• https://researchspace.auckland.ac.nz/docs/uoa-docs/rights.htm

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/2292/75496

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:researchspace.auckland.ac.nz:2292/75496