In business, trust means the prospect of the partner behaving according to the four principles of integrity: honesty, consideration, responsibility, and transparency.

Honesty is no longer just a matter of ethics; it has also become an economic problem. If they want to enjoy relationships based on trust with employees, partners, customers, shareholders and the public, organizations must communicate the truth, accurately and completely. No lies by omission, no confusion due to complexity.

Consideration in business often means a fair exchange of advantages and disadvantages that the parties will realize in good faith. But trust presumes genuine respect for the interests, desires, or feelings of others, and the ability for the parties to act with mutual goodwill.

Responsibility means making clear commitments and respecting stakeholders. Both individual and institutions must demonstrate that they have honored their commitments and acknowledged that they have broken their promises, and that is preferable for their verifications to be carried out even by interested parties or by independent outside experts without throwing responsibility on the shoulders of others and without playing mutual blame.

Transparency means action in sight, in daylight. „What am I hiding?” it is a sign of low transparency that leads to mistrust. Of course, companies are perfectly entitled to have secrets and other types of information on which there are property rights. But when it comes to information relevant to the customer, shareholders, employees and other stakeholders, active openness is essential to gaining trust. Instead of „dressing up” to attract success, corporations may rather „undress” to be successful.