Exploratory Research on the Role of Trust as a Relationship Dimension that exists between the Students and the University of Mumbai

Abstract

The future course of a society can ultimately be determined by the relationship that exists between public organizations and its publics. Fruitful relationships produce results that typically advance the objectives of an organization. Therefore, it becomes imperative to study the various components also known as the relationship dimensions that will enable us to evaluate the existing state of relationship between a key public organization, which in this study is the Mumbai University, and its strategic publics, which being its students itself. One of the most crucial relationship variables that is thought to be useful in determining the nature of the relationship between students and their university is "trust". The exploratory research aimed to measure the degree of trust that the students share with the university of Mumbai. Since measuring something as intangible as trust would be challenging, a qualitatively quantitative methodology was adopted that quantified ‘trust’ by breaking it down into three measurable sub-dimensions – ‘Integrity’, ‘Dependability’ and ‘Competence’ based on well-established Public Relations measurement scale developed by Dr James Grunig. The research aimed to understand the relation of the level of trust shared by the students and its effect on the image of the university in the student’s mind. It was found that the three sub-dimensions of trust were of a reasonably high degree in the students’ mind in relation to the University of Mumbai.