This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

According to the Edelman Trust Barometer, trust in business and financial institutions has scarcely risen above 50 percent for most of the last decade. The business scandals of the 1990s (e.g. Enron, WorldCom, etc.), followed by the Great Recession, have created an environment of skepticism among many Americans. This trend of distrust can be troubling, especially to future business leaders.

However, according to Matt Mouritsen and Shaun Hansen, professors at Weber State University's Goddard School of Business, public distrust of business is a trend that can be successfully navigated by future managers. In fact, professors at Weber State University's nationally ranked executive MBA program argue that for business-minded people, the future has never been brighter, as long as they possess, along with their advanced managerial skills, an understanding of the psychological trust-based processes that underpin all exchange in business.

Weber State University MBA professors have developed an innovative program that uses trust as an undergirding platform for MBA coursework. "The purpose of an MBA education, if it is to truly help future managers succeed in the markets of the future, must be to help them learn how to strategize in ways that maintain and build stakeholder trust over the long run," explains Dr. Mouritsen, director of WSU's MBA program. Dr. Hansen agrees, adding that being able to build and maintain trust with key stakeholders has never been more essential. "We're finding that when companies truly understand the psychology of trust and use it as a foundational strategy, it can significantly reduce risk, cut costs, and boost performance- at all levels of a company."

Mark Carter, owner of Sure Steel Inc. in South Weber, Utah, offers real-world evidence in support of the new teaching platform's value. "The stakeholder trust model was brought to our organization a few years ago by an employee who was studying in WSU's MBA program. The model and its trust-based approach to strategy has changed the way that we approach business. We now have clients bringing us business not just for what we do, but because of who we are. That is success to us."

Weber State University's MBA program is currently the country's only program using a psychological trust-based platform for MBA coursework. Weber MBA students begin the program with a course focusing on the role that psychological trust plays in business. As they continue through the program, the stakeholder trust theme underpins their coursework. Hansen explains: "After our foundational class, our students might take a course in marketing, for example. In marketing, they learn specific strategies for strengthening customer trust. Similarly, in our organizational behavior class, they learn how to strengthen employee trust; in finance, they learn how to strengthen shareholder trust, and so on and so forth," says Hansen. "We help our students see how all business objectives must, for purposes of long-term profit maximization, center around the goal of building long-term stakeholder trust."

David Hulme, a student in the MBA program who chose WSU over Ivy League opportunities, says he has learned invaluable lessons that he's been able to apply in his role as an operations manager. "Studying the stakeholder trust model as part of Weber State's MBA program has provided me with the tools I need to effectively interact with each of my company's key stakeholders," he says. "I am firmly convinced that as this model catches on and spreads throughout the corporate world, an atmosphere will emerge where owners, employees, customers and society mutually benefit from improved working relationships."

Professors Mouritsen and Hansen also have high hopes for the new MBA pedagogy. "We know that trustworthy individuals and companies tend to prosper; but, when people are trustworthy on a societal level, entire societies can prosper. Our hope is that our program will play a significant role in Utah's prosperity."