Trust issues in the development of group relations in China, 2014 to 2018: analysis and interpretation of key events

Abstract

This article explores key events in the Beijing Group Relations Conferences 2014, 2016, and 2018 through key events regarding multiple leadership roles and lenses. This study analyses these key events utilising trust theory, and concludes that the development of group relations in China is based on the development of trust on multiple levels within a temporary experiential learning organisation in which the primary task is the study of authority, leadership, membership and covert/overt processes in groups and organisations. These events are described, analysed, and interpreted to illustrate how trust evolved in three group relations conferences and its implications for the development of group relations in China and other cultures unfamiliar with these in the Tavistock tradition.